i just read this in Lewis' "The Problem of Pain"-- props to c.s. lewis for being so smart and thanks to God for creating lewis and for bringing clarity about an issue i've been struggling with.
"The demand that God should forgive such a man while he remains what he is, is based on confusion between [b]condoning[/b] and [b]forgiving[/b]. To condone an evil is simply to ignore it, to treat it as if it were good. But forgiveness needs to be accepted as well as offered if it is to be complete: and a man who admits no guilt can accept no forgiveness," (p. 124).
07.27.04 (4:17 pm)
interesting quote about forgiveness [edit]
07.23.04 (6:15 pm)
dissenting [edit]
Whoa... life is a whirlwind sometimes. I wish there was never a reason to disagree with someone. I am learning a lot about being a dissenter. It's not an easy job and not many are too happy with you. Check out the movie "12 Angry Men." I have gotten some good advice about dissenting- my tone is sometimes too blunt and sometimes I can just be too angry for my own good.
I think my biggest problem is that I get angry at being angry or having to be angry which makes me appear 10 times more angry- ha that sentence probably only makes sense to me.
Anyway... the dissenter usually goes unloved or unlistened to because the status quo is always the easy way out. However, sometimes we as Christians need to speak the truth in love- even if it goes against the status quo. Yet, how can we do that effectively? (any ideas?)
I am frustrated by the ambiguousness (I don't know if that's a word- but o-well) of the phrase "speak the truth in love." Because when one speaks the truth it doesn't always sound like love.
I am reading Lewis' "The Problem of Pain" right now. In it he talks about how pain may seem nasty to us but in reality it is the most loving thing possible for creatures as nasty as us (i just shrinked his whole argument into a sentence- so go read it to find out more). Therefore, love often comes in the guise of pain and we only see it as pain and never as love.
What makes being a dissenter so hard is that you have to scream with a painful love that you can almost be sure that others will not see as love but will see as nasty pain, personal attacks, and sin on the dissenter's part. Certainly the dissenter can fall into many traps as well, such as judging others, and becoming too volatile, or even worse in my eyes- too passive.
When one needs to go against the status quo for himself and others, what is the best way to do it? There is the choice of running away from the Ministry, but is that the greatest act of love?
There is another choice of running towards the ministry, screaming, with both hands in the air and be thought a lunatic by your peers and leaders, but is that act of love even useful?
Then there's the choice of zipping the lip and passively enjoying the pleasures of passivity, but would that be loving when the people on the playground pushing your swing wouldn't be so concerned (or wouldn't appear to be so concerned) if it was you on the swing or someone else
In other words- once your passivity let up and you questioned your swinging methods and started pumping that swing for yourself- the swing pusher would just move onto the next kid who was trying to figure out how to make his swing go.
On the way to the other kid, the playground swing pushers would even cut your swing from the tree as punishment for trying to disagree with the status quo- "the right way and only way to swing is to be pushed" and would even withold their blessing as you hit the gravel below.
I am not accusing anyone- I just am very confused and am learning a lot about ministry and what it means to love and act in love.
Friends, please comment because a few of us can barely move on and we need you and especially your prayers. Let's not get angry or annoyed with each other but let's attempt to understand each other.
"I need love
not some sentimental prison
I need God
not the political church
I need fire
to melt this frozen sea inside me
I need love
I left my conscience like a crying child
locked the door behind me put the pain on file
broken like a window I see my blindness now
driving into town tired and depressed
like a flare the streetlight bursts into an s.o.s.
peace comes to my rescue and I don't know what it means
I need love
not some sentimental prison
I need God
not the political church
I need fire
to melt this frozen sea inside me
I need love"
"I Need Love" Sixpence None The Richer
I think my biggest problem is that I get angry at being angry or having to be angry which makes me appear 10 times more angry- ha that sentence probably only makes sense to me.
Anyway... the dissenter usually goes unloved or unlistened to because the status quo is always the easy way out. However, sometimes we as Christians need to speak the truth in love- even if it goes against the status quo. Yet, how can we do that effectively? (any ideas?)
I am frustrated by the ambiguousness (I don't know if that's a word- but o-well) of the phrase "speak the truth in love." Because when one speaks the truth it doesn't always sound like love.
I am reading Lewis' "The Problem of Pain" right now. In it he talks about how pain may seem nasty to us but in reality it is the most loving thing possible for creatures as nasty as us (i just shrinked his whole argument into a sentence- so go read it to find out more). Therefore, love often comes in the guise of pain and we only see it as pain and never as love.
What makes being a dissenter so hard is that you have to scream with a painful love that you can almost be sure that others will not see as love but will see as nasty pain, personal attacks, and sin on the dissenter's part. Certainly the dissenter can fall into many traps as well, such as judging others, and becoming too volatile, or even worse in my eyes- too passive.
When one needs to go against the status quo for himself and others, what is the best way to do it? There is the choice of running away from the Ministry, but is that the greatest act of love?
There is another choice of running towards the ministry, screaming, with both hands in the air and be thought a lunatic by your peers and leaders, but is that act of love even useful?
Then there's the choice of zipping the lip and passively enjoying the pleasures of passivity, but would that be loving when the people on the playground pushing your swing wouldn't be so concerned (or wouldn't appear to be so concerned) if it was you on the swing or someone else
In other words- once your passivity let up and you questioned your swinging methods and started pumping that swing for yourself- the swing pusher would just move onto the next kid who was trying to figure out how to make his swing go.
On the way to the other kid, the playground swing pushers would even cut your swing from the tree as punishment for trying to disagree with the status quo- "the right way and only way to swing is to be pushed" and would even withold their blessing as you hit the gravel below.
I am not accusing anyone- I just am very confused and am learning a lot about ministry and what it means to love and act in love.
Friends, please comment because a few of us can barely move on and we need you and especially your prayers. Let's not get angry or annoyed with each other but let's attempt to understand each other.
"I need love
not some sentimental prison
I need God
not the political church
I need fire
to melt this frozen sea inside me
I need love
I left my conscience like a crying child
locked the door behind me put the pain on file
broken like a window I see my blindness now
driving into town tired and depressed
like a flare the streetlight bursts into an s.o.s.
peace comes to my rescue and I don't know what it means
I need love
not some sentimental prison
I need God
not the political church
I need fire
to melt this frozen sea inside me
I need love"
"I Need Love" Sixpence None The Richer
07.16.04 (6:03 pm)
holes to heaven [edit]
Sup Friends?
I haven't heard from you all in awhile because I haven't been around, I guess...
Anyway, I am blogging to you from Tampa, Florida- Lazy Days Campground resort. Can you believe that some campgrounds have wireless internet- what is wrong with the world?:) My sister and I just had some good times in the swimming pool. We tried to play the pool games we used to play- like "dunk the sister" and "marco polo"-- we probably looked pretty silly playing our games, but it sure was fun. Then I went to take a shower-- after drying my hair, I realized that it was pouring outside (I was at the showerhouse by the pool and our campsite is a good couple blocks from the showerhouse)-- so I pulled my book out of my wal-mart bag of shower stuff and read for awhile. Soon I heard my Dad pounding on the Ladies room door-- "Holly, are you in there? Are you alright?!" I opened the door and was like, "Yeah Dad, it's just raining." He was in his swim trunks carrying my swim suit for me to put on. I tied up my dry clothes, hair dryer, and my book in my Wal-mart bag- suited up, and my Dad and I ran back the long way... Sometimes it is good to just run in the rain and thank God that we have other weather than sunshine. I was getting tired of the sun anyway;)
Anyway- enough about vacation stuff. The family has had some fun and some usual Griswold Vacation mishaps- but it's all pretty boring to the reader.
I have been reading a book for our IMPACT summer reading called, "Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed"-- the title is taken from a verse in Deuteronomy (19:7-10)- "Therefore I command you, you shall set apart three cities... then you shall add three other cities to these three, lest innocent blood be shed in your land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, and the guilt of any bloodshed be upon you." This verse motivates a whole village in France to disregard the law in France at the time- the Vichy, and hide, shelter, and ultimately practice Christ's compassion. They feel that this is one of the most superior commands from God- to protect life, especially innocent life, and to do this- make compassion a habit it every action they make.
So I've just been thinking a lot about compassion and what that meant to our capital punishment debate. In most cases, we cannot determine 100% guilt; therefore, we cannot be sure that innocent blood is not being shed in our land. In other cases- cases where there are tons of eyewitnesses- or guilt is 100%- what would Christ have done? What does compassion mean in these cases?
Another topic I've been thinking about: Abortion-- I know... it's something that is talked about all the time, but I have a few questions that I wonder if we could discuss? I have discussed with my Catholic friends about when life begins? When are we killing and when are we not? They argue that by preventing (ie. birth control) pregnancy that one is preventing God's will. However, one could take that argument to an extreme and say that whenever one gets the inkling to have sex, is married, and does not have sex, that s/he is hindering God's will. But I could be just creating a slippery slope in their argument- what do you all think?
The next two questions someone else posed to me: Why is Abortion such an important issue in politics for Christians- so much so that it clouds many more issues that could be more important?
And: What would you do if you had a baby- it was a vegetable baby and 5 other babies needed organs? If the doctors euthanized (sp?) the baby, the 5 other babies would be saved- if he did not those babies and my baby would most likely all die. Which is the more compassionate act? My gut instinct would be to not kill my baby- but would that be selfishness on my part? This is actually a real case- except that the parents wanted to kill their baby to save 5 others but the law would not let them and their baby ended up dying after his organs were of no use anymore.
One more question totally unrelated to abortion: what is your answer to the problem of pain? In other words: if there is so much pain and suffering in the world, how can a loving God be controling it? How do we know that tension is to be loved if we cannot understand God's plan?
These are things I've been talking about with people and some I've just been thinking about...
To quote Jack Johnson:
"There were so many fewer questions when stars were still just the holes to heaven."
Well... can you tell I haven't blogged in awhile?
threes and eights to you, this is boo, over and out
I haven't heard from you all in awhile because I haven't been around, I guess...
Anyway, I am blogging to you from Tampa, Florida- Lazy Days Campground resort. Can you believe that some campgrounds have wireless internet- what is wrong with the world?:) My sister and I just had some good times in the swimming pool. We tried to play the pool games we used to play- like "dunk the sister" and "marco polo"-- we probably looked pretty silly playing our games, but it sure was fun. Then I went to take a shower-- after drying my hair, I realized that it was pouring outside (I was at the showerhouse by the pool and our campsite is a good couple blocks from the showerhouse)-- so I pulled my book out of my wal-mart bag of shower stuff and read for awhile. Soon I heard my Dad pounding on the Ladies room door-- "Holly, are you in there? Are you alright?!" I opened the door and was like, "Yeah Dad, it's just raining." He was in his swim trunks carrying my swim suit for me to put on. I tied up my dry clothes, hair dryer, and my book in my Wal-mart bag- suited up, and my Dad and I ran back the long way... Sometimes it is good to just run in the rain and thank God that we have other weather than sunshine. I was getting tired of the sun anyway;)
Anyway- enough about vacation stuff. The family has had some fun and some usual Griswold Vacation mishaps- but it's all pretty boring to the reader.
I have been reading a book for our IMPACT summer reading called, "Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed"-- the title is taken from a verse in Deuteronomy (19:7-10)- "Therefore I command you, you shall set apart three cities... then you shall add three other cities to these three, lest innocent blood be shed in your land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, and the guilt of any bloodshed be upon you." This verse motivates a whole village in France to disregard the law in France at the time- the Vichy, and hide, shelter, and ultimately practice Christ's compassion. They feel that this is one of the most superior commands from God- to protect life, especially innocent life, and to do this- make compassion a habit it every action they make.
So I've just been thinking a lot about compassion and what that meant to our capital punishment debate. In most cases, we cannot determine 100% guilt; therefore, we cannot be sure that innocent blood is not being shed in our land. In other cases- cases where there are tons of eyewitnesses- or guilt is 100%- what would Christ have done? What does compassion mean in these cases?
Another topic I've been thinking about: Abortion-- I know... it's something that is talked about all the time, but I have a few questions that I wonder if we could discuss? I have discussed with my Catholic friends about when life begins? When are we killing and when are we not? They argue that by preventing (ie. birth control) pregnancy that one is preventing God's will. However, one could take that argument to an extreme and say that whenever one gets the inkling to have sex, is married, and does not have sex, that s/he is hindering God's will. But I could be just creating a slippery slope in their argument- what do you all think?
The next two questions someone else posed to me: Why is Abortion such an important issue in politics for Christians- so much so that it clouds many more issues that could be more important?
And: What would you do if you had a baby- it was a vegetable baby and 5 other babies needed organs? If the doctors euthanized (sp?) the baby, the 5 other babies would be saved- if he did not those babies and my baby would most likely all die. Which is the more compassionate act? My gut instinct would be to not kill my baby- but would that be selfishness on my part? This is actually a real case- except that the parents wanted to kill their baby to save 5 others but the law would not let them and their baby ended up dying after his organs were of no use anymore.
One more question totally unrelated to abortion: what is your answer to the problem of pain? In other words: if there is so much pain and suffering in the world, how can a loving God be controling it? How do we know that tension is to be loved if we cannot understand God's plan?
These are things I've been talking about with people and some I've just been thinking about...
To quote Jack Johnson:
"There were so many fewer questions when stars were still just the holes to heaven."
Well... can you tell I haven't blogged in awhile?
threes and eights to you, this is boo, over and out
07.03.04 (7:38 am)
i don't blog very often, do i? [edit]
Hey all,
Sorry it's been awhile again... I guess that I just do not have a whole lot happening to me me. The stories from the factory are just not all that interesting.
Right now I am at Tessica's apt. visiting for the day. I spent some time yesterday with Lee, Becca, Brian, and Tess. We had a good time with the fart machine, even though I was a bit tired.
So yeah... we have 6 more weeks of summer to go. I will definately be ready by then to get back to school. Just being here in BG and remembering the freedom I have when I am not at home is wonderful. I love my family, but I don't get to see many other people when I am at home in the summer- so yeah... I am ready to come back to school:)
I will be on vacation for the next two weeks in sunny Florida. Then I will work like crazy a week or so. Then a road trip may be in the mix at some point. THEN the summer is over! Geez... it went by soooo fast!
Well, almost time to go out to lunch (that was intended to be breakfast) with Tess and Becca.
boo
Sorry it's been awhile again... I guess that I just do not have a whole lot happening to me me. The stories from the factory are just not all that interesting.
Right now I am at Tessica's apt. visiting for the day. I spent some time yesterday with Lee, Becca, Brian, and Tess. We had a good time with the fart machine, even though I was a bit tired.
So yeah... we have 6 more weeks of summer to go. I will definately be ready by then to get back to school. Just being here in BG and remembering the freedom I have when I am not at home is wonderful. I love my family, but I don't get to see many other people when I am at home in the summer- so yeah... I am ready to come back to school:)
I will be on vacation for the next two weeks in sunny Florida. Then I will work like crazy a week or so. Then a road trip may be in the mix at some point. THEN the summer is over! Geez... it went by soooo fast!
Well, almost time to go out to lunch (that was intended to be breakfast) with Tess and Becca.
boo
