abc's of life

What do you do when you are stressed?

2011-10-01T17:53:00.000-07:00

When stress comes to your family related to your time, don’t go look at your calendar - look at your heart! Too often I find my self stressed out and I am looking for someone else or something else to blame. My work schedule, my family commitments, my lack of free time. Is it possible that we are learning that there is no one else to blame but our own heart. The lack of white space is our choice.

Do you know what white space is? White space is the boarders in a book. Have you ever read something that was printed from one edge of the page to the other. It's hard. White space brings a calmness to our reading time and white space brings peace to our life. We need space, margin, down time. Who are you blaming? Maybe today you need to start looking inward and asking God to bring His peace.

Here's the new one, What do you think

2011-09-23T10:51:00.000-07:00

Here's the article, what do you think? Is saying that homosexuality is wrong now something that can be defined as bullying? So is it now okay to say that same sex marriage is right, but if you say that marriage is a man and a woman you are now bullying? You are now in violation of law. Is this another example of the definition of tolerance is I can believe anything I want, but you can not believe what you want if it is at all a Christian belief. To me, that is what it sounds like. Anyone have a thought?

A Fort Worth high school student says he was suspended from school for expressing his Christian beliefs in class. His teacher, however, saw it differently, labeling the student's comments about homosexuality as bullying.

The comment came during a German class, where conversation turned to vocabulary for Christianity and the Bible. Dakota said one student asked about translations for homosexual terms.

"I said, ‘I'm a Christian, and I don't think being gay is right,'" he said. "If the same situation comes up, just different scenario, I think I'd do the same thing," he said in comments made to local Fort Worht television station.

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His decision to speak out earned him a full day of in-school suspension, and he was banned from campus for two more days.

"I was blown away that this led to a suspension," said Matthew Krause with Libery Counsel, a nonprofit law firm. "Once we got into it and found out that's the only thing he said to a classmate, we knew pretty quick there had been a violation of his constitutional right to free speech."

Fort Worth ISD would not comment, other than a statement saying, "Suffice it to say, we are following policy in our review of the circumstances and any resolution will be in accordance with district policy." Krause said the teacher opened the door to the topic and the student's statement.

After initially reducing the suspension to just one day, administrators dropped it completely on Wednesday.

A Home Bible Study Now Required To Get Permit??????

2011-09-21T08:30:00.000-07:00

Below is the article. What do you think? Does a home bible study require a conditional use permit the same as a church? Does that mean that a weekly poker game should also have to have a conditional use permit? What about the red hat club? Book club? Read the article and tell me what you think.

A city in Southern California is demanding that a small home Bible study group stop meeting unless they obtain a cost-prohibitive permit.

The homeowners, Chuck and Stephanie Fromm, were fined $300 for holding the Bible study. Mr. Fromm appealed the ruling to the City of San Juan Capistrano, which was founded as a mission in the late 1700’s and is home to California’s oldest building still in use, a chapel where Father Junipero Serra celebrated mass. Fromm was told by a hearing officer that regular gatherings of more than three people require a conditional use permit. Officials also stated that further religious gatherings in the home would be subject to a $500 fine per meeting. The City eventually rejected the appeal and Pacific Justice Institute has taken the next step by appealing the decision to the California Superior Court in Orange County.

The Bible study group, which met on Sunday mornings, until the City threatened further fines, was perfectly suited for his home, said Chuck Fromm. There was no noise beyond normal conversation and quiet music on the home stereo system. They met inside their family room and patio area. Many neighbors have written letters of support, denying they were disturbed by the presence of the Bible study. The group is not affiliated with any particular church, nor is it seeking to establish a church in the home.

The City of San Juan Capistrano is insisting the home Bible study is not allowed because it is a “church,” and churches require a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) in residential areas. Pacific Justice Institute represents the Bible study participants and will fight the city’s decision. In other cases, PJI has represented larger churches that have been required to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars as part of the CUP process, such as engineering and traffic studies, architectural designs and seismic retrofits. CUP’s require public hearings and can be denied outright or granted with numerous limitations.

“Imposing a heavy-handed permit requirement on a home Bible study is outrageous,” said Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute. “In a city so rich with religious history and tradition, this is particularly egregious. An informal gathering in a home cannot be treated with suspicion by the government, or worse than any other gathering of friends, just because it is religious. We cannot allow this to happen in America, and we will fight as long and as hard as it takes to restore this group’s religious freedom.”

Would you like a 25 foot cross in your neighborhood?

2011-09-21T08:28:00.000-07:00

I was reading this article and had to stop and ask myself how I would feel. So I thought I would see if anyone would respond to the article. What do you think? Keep it, take it down.

A nearly 25-foot cross in the front yard of an elderly woman's home is stirring controversy in a Los Angeles neighborhood.

Neighbors complain the cross is an eyesore that is attracting unwanted attention to their San Fernando Valley cul-de-sac and hurting their property values.

The cross has drops of blood-red paint in the area where Jesus' hands and feet would have been nailed. It also features a crown of thorns and a sign that says, "Jesus I trust in you."

"When you turn down our cul-de-sac, it looks like there is a church on our street," Laurie Biener of the West Hills neighborhood told the Daily News

Neighbors' complaints have prompted city building inspectors to take a look at the cross. They're expected to determine this week whether it complies with zoning rules or should be removed.

Homeowner Laly Dobener said she erected the cross to express her devotion to her Catholic faith and hopes her religious freedom will be protected.

"I don't understand what my neighbors are so upset about," the 72-year-old told the newspaper. "This cross isn't hurting anyone."

Is it possible I'm getting old?

2011-08-25T14:48:00.001-07:00

I have spent my life pretty much pain free. Then I came home this week from church and my whole right side decides to begin to swell in the joints. My ankle, my knee and my right pointer finger. Then my wife says, it feels like you have a low grade fever. Great. Well, it's Thursday and it really did get some of the best of me. Walking has become a major chore. I hurt.

I am reminded of so many in my life who have gone through life threatening, life taking times and through them all, they have been a pillar of encouragement and grace. I think of Anthony, who finished chemo (good news - he is cancer free) and is now waiting for a new born baby at any time. His life was a reflection of the grace of God. So, while I am going through this little thing, why is it that I am reminded of the difference between major and minor sickness? Minor is what you have and major is what I have.

To often I allow the things and circumstances of life to overcome my walk with Christ. It also takes my eyes of the creator who knit me together in my mothers womb. I guess what I am asking, what does it take to side track you? Major or minor. I found out this week it may not be as big as I thought. But that changes today. Lord, you have me, good and bad. Use me in this time too. On the other side, don't let me forget what you have done now.

Godly Actions Preceed Godly Feelings

2011-08-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

I found myself praying again for God to give a feeling of well being toward someone only to be reminded of something I said two weeks ago: Godly Actions Preceed Godly Feelings. But I want God to zap me with the warm fuzzy s. It doesn't work that way. You don't feel yourself in to godly behavior. You do have act yourself that way. It's not as easy.

In other words, sometimes I have to do the thing that i know I should do even when I don't feel like it. And for to experience that feeling, I first have to do the action. For example, I may feel jealous, but if I'm waiting for the feeling of envy and jealousy to go away, it's not going to happen. Sometimes I have to do the act of kindness before I feel kind. And with the very act of being Godly, by the very act of showing kindness, the act of kindness begins to melt away the sin, and it begins to melt away the envy that is within me.

It's not easy to do, but the moment you start being kind to the person you envy, that envy will begin to melt away and you will be happier. There's an old saying: kill them with kindness. Why not try that this week. Why not try being kind to the person with whom you are struggling. Kill them kindness and watch them squirm. But watch a relationship begin to be healed.

Why do make church so difficult?

2010-01-29T22:44:00.000-08:00

Have you ever stopped to wonder why we make church so difficult? Why church seems to be about all we do instead of what he does through us? Is it possible that that we have been trying to use the Holy Spirit instead of the Holy Spirit using us? This year I am committing to make church simpler. Isn't that what Jesus did when he the pharisees came to him and asked, What is the greatest commandment of all? He narrowed it from more than 650 rules and regulations surrounding the 10 Commandments to 2. We are going to follow the simple church suggestion: Let's make our purpose and our process the same: Loving God, Loving Others, and Serving The World! If you are following this blog, know that we are going moving forward with Mission Clinton. Follow along. It truly will move us from using the Holy Spirit to being use BY Holy Spirit.

How Are You Serving God?

2009-09-18T18:24:00.000-07:00

I really think that Rick Warren is correct in that we all have a unique SHAPE that helps us to serve Him. How are you serving God? Have you stopped to think about if you are serving God out of your unique SHAPE? Have you discovered your passion? your ability? Are you serving God in your joy spot? So tell us, what do you see your shape and how are you serving God using that?

Does God still talk to us today?

2009-05-21T08:03:00.000-07:00

We all hear people saying that God told them this or that. How does He do that? Has He spoken to you? How did He do it? How do you know? Is there anyone willing to take on this thought?