Spiritual Stuff

Read this today in "Our Daily Bread":

"An antique dealer thought the wrinkled old baseball card she found might be worth $10. After posting it on eBay, she began to wonder if it might be more valuable than she had thought. She removed the posting and consulted a professional evaluator who confirmed that the photo on the 1869 card showed the Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first professional baseball team in the US. The card sold for more than $75,000.

Mike Osegueda’s article in The Fresno Bee said that even though the card was creased and discolored, the most important thing was its authenticity—it was real." (http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/our-daily-bread/2010/02/24/devotion.aspx)

You make me smile, but you make me nervous.
I look at you and see beauty and strength and love.
In you I see all that I want and everything I'm afraid of.
You have taken me to my greatest height and sent me to my deepest valley.
I want to give you everything of me.
In you, I have experienced great joy, but also great anger.
You have been a fierce ally.
You are probably one of the few who would truly understand me, if you wanted to and if I would let you.
My heart sinks when I think of you, because of great love and fear.
You can give me my greatest adventure or my loneliest despair.
Knowing your complexities makes me tremble a little more, but doesn't make me love you any less.
If I could unlock the the secrets of who you are, I believe I would have the greatest fulfillment in life.

I think today was the first time I've done that. The sign said "Faith never complains because it sees the answer". WTF? So, if I complain or have troubles, then it just means I don't have enough faith.

No wonder people are tired of the church. Such smug self-righteous attitudes are so alienating.

Playing on the iPod: "Cut Me, Mick" by Yellowcard, "Split Screen Sadness" by John Mayer and "If Trouble Was Money" by Mint Condition.

The title says it all. I started 2008 with high hopes thinking this would be my year. I had a good job. Mackenzie makes me love her more every time I see her. I was confident about dating: I had a few prospects that I felt positive about pursuing. Yep, 2008 was going to be a good year for me.

Playing on the iPod: "Carry Away" by Shane & Shane and "Nothing But The Blood" by Matt Redman.

I finally picked up and started reading my copy of Hank Hanegraaf's "The Bible Answer Book". I came across the section titled "How Can I Be Certain That I've Not Committed The Unforgivable Sin?" One sentence stood out to me - "Be assured that those who sincerely desire God's forgiveness can be absolutely certain that they will never be turned away".

What a promise!