Pushing the envelop

This Sunday morning meeting time is going to to be different. We have been doing lessons on discipleship and last week the sermon was on the beatitudes. This week we are continuing with the beatitudes, but with a different method of presentation. We are opening up with some of our youth acting out the beatitudes and then later we will be watching the part of the Matthew video that includes the beatitudes. Then the conclusion will be a group discussion on the beatitudes. I hope it will get us to seriously consider the meanings of these verses and not just think, "oh, the beatitudes again." When we get together I feel we need to get as much participation as possible and as people are willing to do. We also need to make the informationn(teaching) we share helpful during the rest of the week. Bible knowledge that you don't know how to use on Monday morning at work, or at home with the kids is not what God intended. I pray that our effort will help us and praise God.

possible parable

I had a chance to learn about striping the stain and sealant off a log house this weekend. I spent a few hours helping a friend do this to his house. He has been at it for almost a week now. Different friends have been helping him as they can. It is something I would never try and he said he never would again either. Since I was just a helper, basically the gofer, I stood around a lot and had time to comtemplate. One thing I learned was that the part of the house that didn't get much sun was harder to take off than that which was exposed to lots of sun. A sand blaster machine was used take off the stain, but instead of sand he used ground up corn cobs. Sand is too abrasive.
Now to the point, since I have been teaching about the parables, the thought came to me could this be a parable. What if the stain on the logs was sin and the cob was the blood of Jesus which takes away sins. The use of sand would also take off the stain but it would also destroy the wood. Our dying for our sins will pay the penalty as Jesus' blood did but our death will destroy us. I am not sure about the application of the sun or lack of sun. Could more exposure to God made forgiving easier? I am not sure about that.
Well, gotta stop and get to work.

good news gospel vs bad news gospel

I was reading a forum this morning and the question was asked to describe what it means to be a disciple. The first answer was a good response to define it, but the second one was a response of what being a disciple is not. Why do we feel so compelled to always have to mention the "not". Is it something in our tradition that causes us to use the negative for definitions. I do admit the negative does help define something, but wouldn't it be better if we exhausted the positive aspects first.
I think it is much better to teach the "good" news of the gospel instead of the bad news gospel. John 3:17 says Jesus came to save not condemn.
The thread did continue in a positive vein which was good.
Blogging is good, I can express my opinions and no one has to listen if they don't want it.

Morning thoughts

Here I am at work. I have a pretty unusual work environment. I am the only one working in a retail store that doesn't get very much foot traffic, but from the people who do come in most buy a bed. So I have a lot of free time. I drive 25 miles to work every day from one small town to a little bit bigger one. They are rebuilding the highway. It is being expanded from a 2 lane road to a 5 lane, big improvement. But it isn't even done yet and they had to tear up a portion and work on a culvert - one of my pet peeves. It seems like new pavement demands to torn up.

Joining the world of blogging

I have thought about setting up a blog for a while now and have finally taken the plunge. Now I will see if I have anything to say.