Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Our Christian Witness


Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

This letter is to Christians who outwardly profess their faith (myself included, as I am no better than anyone else).

How do we conduct ourselves? How do we come across? What do our mannerisms reflect? Where do we go? How do we speak? Who are our friends? How do we dress?

There are an innumerable amount of questions that we can ask ourselves. We, as Christians who profess our faith outwardly, are in a bright unceasing spotlight. The world is watching us. Other Christians, secularists, agnostics, and people from other religions have their eyes on us.

Christians watch each other, because we are all one in the body of Christ. We help each other, encourage each other, correct one another, and strive to live like someone “not of this world”. It’s hard. Without the Holy Spirit, without God, without the word of God, without each other, it would be impossible to do.

Non-Christians see us. If we conduct ourselves in a God-like matter, we may help to bring them to the gift of salvation, to Jesus Christ. We do not give them a reason to question the foundation of our faith, or give them a chance to mock us because of how we contradict the Scripture that we supposedly follow. I say this because Scripture commands us to repent of our sins, and if we conduct ourselves as unrepentant sinners, then we would be considered hypocrites and the things we say and do come into question.

If our conduct does not reflect Christ, we open ourselves (and ultimately, the Gospel message, as well as the Bible in it’s entirety) up to negative scrutiny. To live a Christian life takes a lot of effort, both outwardly and inwardly. A lot of prayer, Bible study, and encouragement from Christian friends and family help to keep us on track.

What sparked me to write this particular post is the hashtag #ThingsTheGodlySay. If you look that up on Twitter, you’ll see people who believe in God just say that most unGodly things. I am aware that not all people who believe in God are Christians, but the hashtag is not limited to just people who say they believe in God. There are quotes from people who claim to be actual Christians, which is quite upsetting. What makes it worse is that non-believers quote these "Christians", and use the hashtag as a form of mockery.

The bottom line is, if you say you’re a Christian, act like it. Talk like it. Be like it. Talk the talk and walk the walk. Don’t be a fraud. Don’t be a hypocrite. Be a true Christian. And take joy in doing so! There is no other way of living life to the fullest! 

It’s for so many more reasons other than our witness. But, our witness is so very important. Reaching non-believers is hard enough, but reaching them whilst displaying a worldly, unrepentant nature is even harder. It’s very heartbreaking to see a person believe that they are saved, and continue on living like they were, carelessly and unchanged.

So please, take my words to heart. Take a few minutes and look in the mirror, recall and examine the conversations you had today, and do a real once-over of how you are, and who people think you are. Pray about it, and read the Bible. The underlying message of this letter to you all is not my own, but God’s, according to His word.

Monday, May 27, 2013

The Head Covering Movement

Surprise!!!

I was snooping around Twitter a few days ago, looking up hashtags that are most important to me. While searching #headcovering, I came across a Twitter account called "Covering Movement" (@headcovering). My interest piqued, I clicked on it and read the bio:
The Head Covering Movement is a campaign that seeks to spark a return to the practice of head covering during corporate worship. Read 1 Corinthians 11:2-16.
Reading this was a surprise to me. Undoubtedly a very GOOD surprise, and resulted in uplifting both my husband and I. The head covering for a Christian woman is very important for many reasons, and it's a shame that in this modern age it is either ignored, thought to be a cultural implication, or misinterpreted.

Note that the bio says "head covering during corporate worship". I asked the user for further information on this, seeing as it is written:
But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. - 1 Corinthians 11:5
to which he or she responded, in a nutshell, I used to think that too, looking forward to discussing it.

And I, too, am looking forward to this discussion!

The website is not up and running per se, however, there is a homepage that notes it will be soon. You are able to sign up with your email address so you are notified as soon as it is running. As well, there is a fantastic R.C. Sproul quote at the bottom of the page, which is so inspiring because not a lot of modern day pastors and teachers support the wearing of the head covering.

Have a visit! The Head Covering Movement

"A New Creation"

"Clean funnies! Not always of Christian origin, but clean nonetheless."

A New Creation


Over the course of a few thousand years, give or take, scientists came together and decided that man had come a long way, and did not need God anymore. They conversed amongst themselves and ended up picking one of them to go and tell God they did not need Him anymore.

This scientist came up to God and said, "God, we do not need You anymore. We can do our own miracles, live our own lives, and can clone. We have everything under control. Get lost."

God patiently listened to the scientist, and replied, "Very well. Before I do, let's have a man-making contest. Let's start all over from the beginning, from the time when I created Adam."

The scientist thought about this, and then happily agreed. He then went to pick up some dirt.

God interjected. "No, no. You get your own dirt."

Friday, May 10, 2013

Disturbing Truths

"The Earth is going to hell in a hand basket" - My Husband

Wanting to know a little bit more about just how depraved and lost the world is, I did a bit of research online. Really, how bad could it be? Personally, I haven't been exposed to any of the horrors firsthand, nor do I know of anyone [close to me] who has been either. And I thank the Lord for that, a million times over.

Out of curiosity, interest, concern, and a need for understanding, I delved into some of the tragedies that occur, and that have occurred over the past century. I thought perhaps that I could pray for those who are currently suffering, for those who may in the future be subject to suffering, and pray for thanks that so far, my family and I have not had to endure anything of the sort, including, "testing of faith". 

Sure, I know about some of the things on the news that they talk about now, being an avid news reader. However, breaking and sometimes meaningless news stories come up everyday, hence drawing attention away from some more important, and sometimes disturbing things that happen. (Maybe sometimes that's not a bad thing.)

For example, coming on Yahoo news just right now on the front page, I read the Most Popular section, in this order:


That really doesn't prove my original point, that horrendous cases such as murder, rape, child abuse, etc., happen way too often, and on a regular basis. Things like that are kind of just "everyday" news. They do not make headlines for very long as they are quickly pushed down on this most popular list for the next news story (whether it's about make-up, the next best movie, the top ten things your guy lies to you about, Kim Kardashian's horrible red carpet mistake) to grab the readers attention. It's a sad state of affairs, but maybe necessary. Who wants to go on the news and just read about horrible things that happen?

But, carrying on to the issue at hand, "disturbing truths"! 

Why are there no steps in place to stop such heinous crimes? Of course, there are some things in place but only band-aids for a more serious problem, requiring much more than that.

Moral declination happens more and more every day, yet North America keeps worshipping their entertainment, money, sex and whatever/whoever else idols. There are serious problems that no one seems to want to address. 

People in general do not want to have an authority over their head (GOD), and end up making their own morals and rules as they go along, dismissing the fact that the Bible is our moral rulebook. And, people who have been given over to depraved mind commit unthinkable crimes. Kids nowadays (usually raised by the unGodly) are just unbelievable, what - with shooting other kids, being unruly and disobedient to almost any and all rules - it's ridiculous! Women, taking the lead and usurping authority in everything, against their God given role. The world is falling apart!

The root of all this monstrous evil, without a doubt, is the result of taking God out of the equation.

I don't want to go into any real detail about the things I researched and read about that urged me to write this post, but know that the saying "curiosity kills the cat" really does hold it's meaning in this case. Besides being already aware of the moral declination across the globe, I felt (and am still feeling) queasy from reading and seeing some horrific, TRUE events that have occurred. Amongst some of these events, know in specific that Christian Persecution is very real in some parts of the world. Lord, help them. Please, dear readers, say a heartfelt prayer for them.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with having general news knowledge. The truth is the truth. But there really is no need to "examine and rummage" into the grody details of any certain story. I will keep this scripture on the forefront of my mind, when I feel as if I need to "know" how bad things really are: 

" Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things." - Philippians 4:8