Well, Christmas is almost over for another year. It always surprises me how prolonged its coming is, and how speedy its departure. It's my favourite time of year simply because of the time I can spend with family with no work commitments or other things to fill the day. But now that it's gone, I wonder at the significance I place on it. Christmas is just another day of the year, and it seems to be revered as if it were a celestial being. The pagan roots of Christmas are shocking, and if I'm not careful, it can take presidence over Christ. I'm not yet sure what I should do or what this means to me, but the doubts remain and I am at a loss for words.

the Word is alive

"Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry." (1 Samuel 15:22-23)

God taught me what this meant in a very sobering way this morning.

I was in a sulky mood... feeling sorry for myself, throwing a pity party, whatever you want to call it. Work was the last place I wanted to go, and I was refusing to trust that God would carry me through the day. I guess you could say that I had a rebellious attitude. For me, it would have been a sacrifice for me to go to work--my selfishness would be up on the altar. But that was okay, because at least God would notice, right?

Wrong.

As I was praying, God showed me that He wanted me to go to work NOT because it was a sacrifice, but because I would be obeying Him by doing it. That's when the phrase "to obey is better than sacrifice" popped into my head. God showed me that He would rather have me at work with an obedient spirit than at work confidently putting my desires on the altar. The message was loud and clear, and I was thankful that God had met with me when I needed Him the most.

He wasn't done teaching me, though.

I went to read more Scripture, praying that He would show me where to turn. As I sat there, flapping the page corners of my Bible, I felt my thumb stop at a specific spot. I couldn't move it from there! When I opened my Bible, the words "to obey is better than sacrifice" screamed at me from the page.

Wow! Did God actually cause me to open to that passage? I could hardly believe my eyes. There was no way I knew where that verse was found, and there it was before me. I figured that God didn't just want me to read the verse, since I already knew it. I read the whole chapter to see what the context was.

I read about King Saul, and how he disobeyed God's command to destroy the Amalekites and everything they possessed. Instead, he kept the choice lambs and offered them as a sacrifice to God. God was disappointed with Saul, and His prophet Samuel told Saul that the Lord had rejected him because he had rejected the Lord. Nothing more was recorded until Saul's death, at which point it says "And the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel."

After I had read this, I was grieved that I had ever thought I was doing God a service by sacrificing rather than obeying. I do not want my God to regret having put me where He did after I die!

I am so thankful that God uses these stories from history to reveal sin in my life. It just goes to show that God's word is "living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughs and intentions of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12)

The Word is alive.

A Christmas Revelation

WOW! It's only two weeks until Christmas? HOW IN THE WORLD DID THAT ONE SNEAK UP ON ME?!? There's so much to do... and so little time!

Ahhh, yes, Christmas seems to be famous for making people feel under pressure. I think it's understandable, though, considering the scores of people one has to find meaningful gifts for, the huge dinner to prepare (and not to mention the clean up afterwards!), and the many relatives and questions to entertain. Christmas has become the holiday of all holidays, even for Christians.

This revelation made me think "why is it that Christians celebrate Christ's birth more than His resurrection?" I suppose the coming of a Saviour to the world is quite a memorable event, but the people of the day had very different expectations of Him. They expected Christ to overthrow the authorities, to divide and conquer and lead His people victoriously forever more. Wow, were they ever mistaken.

I think that if I were living in Jesus' time, I would be thinking the same thing. Of course I would be looking for someone to liberate my people from the physical bondage experienced for ages! But Christ did not come to liberate our bodies... he came to liberate our souls from death and an eternity without Him. Freeing them from authorities would have been nice at the time, but Christ did not come to bring vengeance to the corrupt government once for a few... He came to pay sin's toll ONCE for ALL.

This Christmas, I will think a little more about Christ alive today.

I have my heading!

All my anxious longings have finally been fulfilled! Yes, I no longer sit in fidgety suspense... I am going to Millar!

Haha, ok.... I guess I wasn't really that concerned about getting in. But it is official now. I received an acceptance letter in fax form yesterday--which is so cool! Now I can know for sure what I'm doing and get ready for it the best I can.

It's interesting how God makes things "fall into place" if it's His will.

I can't wait!

white board stop motion

This is so incredibly random!!! I love how smooth the film is, considering it's stop motion.

all that glitters

Autumn as a child—
Leafy, Luscious, and Golden—
drifted by Indifferently
with Sweet, Spiraling scents,
silently transforming my world
of bright, carefree colours
into Regal tones of Aureate hue,
Mysterious, Majestic;
An astonishing realm of Beauty
beyond the grasp of my juvenile mind.

I was the intruder
in a Secret kingdom of Fantasy,
crunching dry leaves like bones
and sheepishly spying
on a Passionate performance
of Extravagant grace.

While boastful birds of song
subdued their lusty refrains,
while wild geese driven by wind
soared hastily far and away,
while tiny creatures of secrecy
shied back to dark places unseen,
I soaked in the Luxurious sun,
breathed in the Exhilarating fall air,
and claimed all of its Natural glory
for myself.

But it sensed my self-interest
in taking a Selfless gift,
and, like the boastful birds,
the wild geese and the tiny creatures,
it shied away to a place indefinite.
I was abandoned,
left alone, and
cold.

The glow that so Generously warmed
and shone Unashamedly bright
faded,
becoming evermore rusty,
dull and dirty.
No longer caressed by a Gentle breeze,
I found myself assaulted
by a cruel, callous wind.

It exposed the inborn naivety
which had eternally governed
the Romanticized world I dwelt in.
Leafy, Luscious and Golden,
It drifted by Indifferently…

And with Sweet, Spiraling scents,
it left me alone, and
cold.

a tolerant nation

Yesterday I received an email regarding a certain group on Facebook that blasphemes the name of Christ. I was hurting so deep within for my saviour that I could not help but respond. The following is the email I received and my response.

this got me thinking what is wrong with the world? this guy hates what jesus stands for when he himself and the people in this group are as narrow minded as the tightest church goer around...

ironic i thought... but it kinda made me sick to think that there is no tolerance in the world on either side... there may be some but obviously not enough.

one side believes god is helping peace and is for peace. the other side believes god is inhibiting it... no one has definate proof so why do we have to fight so vicously over it. for the simple fact that its a "core" belief? thats not right nor is the fact that people will continue arguing like this for years to come...

I'm sure we can all agree no matter what our personal belief's are on this subject and lets do our part and raise tolerance... and learn a lesson from the christ haters and some of the so called christ worshipers in this group

I can't be tolerant when God is mocked. Christianity is not believing "god is helping peace and is for peace." God is not a politician in a political campaign hoping against hope that we vote for him. In fact, Jesus himself said,"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." The gospel of Christ is the most controversial thing this world has ever beheld because it flies in the face of free will. When we start to stomp our feet and say "I deserve to choose what's right for me, and you can't take it away", then we are being selfish. Free will is God-given, which means that we should never grab it from Him and wag it in front of His face, saying, "Whatcha gonna do about it?.

I truly believe that the day tolerance reigns and truth is on the back-burner, then we will be desecrating Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. The following verses depict the battle that is evident today:

"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn 'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law...' A man's enemies will be the members of his own houshold." (Matt. 10:34-36).

Jesus foretold this struggle of being politically correct (aka tolerant) vs. standing for truth so that we can look at His words today and know that the only peace we will ever have will be in the presence of the King.

I challenge you to read through the book of John, the book of Romans, even THE WHOLE BIBLE, and not be offended. If you're not, then you're probably the only perfect person, besides Christ, to ever live.

I only "argue" because "so called Christians" still bear the name of Christ, and I can't stand to see my Saviour scourned when I am the one to blame.

Biblical tolerance is still respecting people although they may not believe God's word, but not by saying, "that's your truth, and this is mine." I don't see how the definitive TRUTH can ever be subjective to people's own preferences. It wouldn't be definitive, then, and therefore would not be truth.

In all of this, I believe that Christians should not be the initiators of arguments just because they feel offended by what the "Christ haters" are saying. It's not the fact that we are being put in a bad light that's so bad... it's that God is. We should stand up for truth when God is being mocked, but the real battle belongs to the Lord.