:::Climbs on soap box:::

Jesus IS the Messiah. He IS God. He IS a part of the Trinity, which cannot be fully explained away with mere vocabulary or human thought. Just wanted to make that clear... I am on a journey to know Him more fully, but I can take those things as TRUTH because HE SAID HE WAS GOD. I don't have a buffet-style theology...I don't pick and choose what I would like to believe about Christ. He made some lofty claims--one of which was in fact that HE is I AM-- YHWH. That is all... :::climbs off soap box:::

Messy

Life is messy. Love is definitely messy. I suppose that anything worth investing in could be described as being messy at some point. But, why? Is it because people are stupid and don't know how to attempt life, love, and other mysteries successfully? Is there a formula that we have neglected to remember? Perhaps. Perhaps it's more along the lines of what Rob Hadding, Pastor at Harmony Ridge, has been talking about lately. Here's the low-down: We're made to be in community with one another. In Genesis, this idea is introduced when the Three-In-One God says, "Let US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness...(Gen.1:26a, emphasis in caps mine). Notice the words us and our. God speaks of Himself here using two plural pronouns. He creates us, male and female, to dwell together in unity...as one. Genesis 2:18 says that is isn't good for man to be alone. Notice that this is pre-fall. Even before sin entered into the picture, God said that it wasn't good for man to be without man. Rob said that the fall brought disintegration. There was a loss of cohesion. We like to be separate because of the fall. It's our bent since the fall. But in Christ, he says, this is reversed. Christ has restored the individual and He commanded that we be together, saying that it is evidence that we are kingdom citizens. But it's hard... right? "'Classic.' A book which people praise and don't read." Mark Twain Why? Because classics are generally hard to read. It's grueling at times. Rob says that it's hard to love people because they're annoying. They complain.etc. Sometimes we neglect to realize that WE are included in that "people." We isolate ourselves... Our culture is very anti-community...but Christ has commanded it from us. He will give us the ability to carry out this call. It's messy. It's labor. It's good. It's right. It's amazing.

Between Two Worlds: January 2009

Number of Abortions Since 1973 The number of abortions performed in the US since 1973 is approach 50 million. An easy number to read, and a hard one to comprehend. The Mississippi Baptist Convention has sought to put together a visual reminder: the Memorial to the Missing (pictured to the right), being filled with 50 million pennies. Here's another way to try to get your mind around the number. If you add up the populations to the following states, they equal about 50 million. Kentucky Oregon Oklahoma Connecticut Iowa Mississippi Arkansas Kansas Utah Nevada New Mexico West Virginia Nebraska Idaho Maine New Hampshire Hawaii Rhode Island Montana Delaware South Dakota Alaska North Dakota Vermont Wyoming Proverbs 24:10-12: If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work? HT: Justin Taylor Between Two Worlds: January 2009

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