An Apology

Sometimes during my quiet times of meditation, I think back to what was said or done by me that was thoughtless, misunderstood, or rude. Like everyone else, I've had my bad days. Sometimes in the madding crowds and din of noise, my anxiety and frustration can flare up. A flash of anger, an unkind word spoken, or nothing said at all. So to all hurt and offended, I would like to offer an unequivocal apology.


However, as a Christian, I'm called to higher standard. I am supposed to be witness to the Good News, and the accompanying joy of being a disciple. When I fail, I feel I failed as a someone who told others of the Faith, but did not live up to its promise. I only pray that those I shared with did not become disillusioned with the Christian message for any perceived hypocrisy.


I think of when I lied to avoid embarrassment or shame, cut a corner to get something done, or anything contrary to the commands of God, I would apologize to those I let down. Not to only to God, but those I shared my faith with, and when it mattered, fell short of the mark when you were watching. If anything, the result has been more humility and understanding of other's weaknesses.


Please remember, as much as I want to be a good example, don't confuse the messenger with the Good Message: love, redemption, and a code to live by to please God. When asked how I would like to complete my life when I'm called home, I would like to say that would be "I'm Squaring accounts."

Introverts

As an introvert, I wanted to to defend ourselves to the extroverts at large.

First, we don't like to be corrected publicly, like anyone else. Please don't ever spout out something like "How come you don't talk?" when we are in a group. This useful question usually comes up while we are in a group of people we just met and have no commonality with. It's like being dragged along to your wife's class reunion, and you know none of her classmates, and weren't there at the parties they talked about. You're there to be there, and not to really contribute anything to the conversation. The aggravating thing is your wife is of no help by not helping you get into the conversation, even though you're her guest, and not there by choice.


Which is related to my next peeve: if you invite someone along to your group you already know well, such as work, school, or jail, please don not leave s hanging. Don't introduce me to your friends by name as an outsider, and then delve into a conversation only understood by insiders. Please, understand we are your audience, too. It could help by asking us about how we feel about what is discussed and not left to fend for ourselves in the conversational wilderness.



Another thing that can be irksome with extroverts is for some, everything that comes out of their mouths is supposed to be so doggone interesting. Just because you sit next to someone at a diner or bar, that should not obligate you to be their bosom buddy. Social pleasantries are fine, but long winded yarns about nothing particularly interesting or relevant are frustrating. You may enjoy telling the story about what happened at the wedding of your nephew, but if I wasn't there, please don't expect me join in as though I was.  If the extrovert initiates a long conversation, the topic should be of mutual knowledge and interest, otherwise he should be obliged to pick up the check. Just please understand, we do not want to be the bad guy, antisocial lout, or arrogant just because we don't want to engage in your stories. Please understand and appreciate our differences, and think the worse from us.



Introverts, rather, enjoy solitary pursuits, such as reading or just being introspective on what's going on in life (not just daydreaming, although that is not such a bad thing). There have been times I have been reprimanded in diners for reading a paper instead of engaging in surrounding conversation, even though I came in by myself. Reading is not arrogance, or, to be high schoolish, "stuck up." Reading opinions and works of others means you are open to other ideas and concepts.


A helpful suggestion would be to engage in conversations that are more ideal for them to take place. It is very frustrating when I am standing five feet away from a band, and you want to talk about problems on your property owners association. If you want to further engage, please don't call me on my cell phone for a long talk. Although I appreciate it you want to talk me, I would be more flattered  if you would actually get off your couch, go outside, and meet me for coffee face to face, rather than having phone glued to my ear for an hour and losing minutes. And instead of referring me as "the quiet one," I would prefer being known as a loving father instead.


One final request: Please do not ever ask us if we can talk just because we don't join in and you don't hear us talking. Just because I don't see you read anything, I won't accuse you of being illiterate, either, or ask you why you can't shut up, okay?


Because in a world of cell phones, ringtones, and talking over one another, contemplation and silence can be a beautiful thing.

Why Limit God?, Part Two.

WHY LIMIT GOD? Part Two.

Occasionally an athlete will praise God in an interview or be seen praying at a sporting event. Some skeptics will comment that an athletic contest is infinitival compared to the tragedy in the world, such as war, crime, and hungry children. Why, they ask, isn't God more concerned about such sadness than who wins a football game?

I would respectfully disagree, and perhaps they miss the point. To say God can only concentrate on the bigger issues in life and not be concerned about our trivial desires, such as the outcome of a game or an award limits His sovereignty and power. He is omnipotent and all powerful. If He can know when the lone sparrow falls, He can be willing to give your wish. What is important to you is also, I believe, important to God. He wants acknowledgement, just like a parent wants his child to tell him his wishes.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 states: "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." In everything. Not just the all important things or world changing concerns, but everything. If He wants you to give thanks in everything, why just pray for the large issues. It's not that he will accommodate us every time, or cater to our every whim, but He wants for us to seek Him as an acknowledgement of our love of Him. If something is only important to one person, it is important to God as well. He seeks in us a relationship much like a worldly father would do anything for us out of love. Prayer is our way of recognizing his love for us as He seeks our love.

God wants us to acknowledge Him, and to come to him with our desires. I something is on your heart, even if its trivial to other people, seek Him out in prayer, and I'm sure He will be glad to hear from His child.

Why Limit God?

WHY LIMIT GOD?

Occasionally an athlete will praise God in an interview or be seen praying at a sporting event. Some skeptics will comment that an athletic contest is infinitival compared to the tragedy in the world, such as war, crime, and hungry children. Why, they ask, isn't God more concerned about such sadness than who wins a football game?

I would respectfully disagree, and perhaps they miss the point. To say God can only concentrate on the bigger issues in life and not be concerned about our trivial desires, such as the outcome of a game or an award limits His sovereignty and power. He is omnipotent and all powerful. If He can know when the lone sparrow falls, He can be willing to give your wish.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 states: "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." In everything. Not just the all important things or world changing concerns, but everything. If He wants you to give thanks in everything, why just pray for the large issues. It's not that he will accommodate us every time, or cater to our every whim, but He wants for us to seek Him as an acknowledgement of our love of Him. If something is only important to one person, it is important to God as well. He seeks in us a relationship much like a worldly father would do anything for us out of love. Prayer is our way of recognizing his love for us as He seeks our love.

God wants us to acknowledge Him, and to come to him with our desires. I something is on your heart, even if its trivial to other people, seek Him out in prayer, and I'm sure He will be glad to hear from His child.

Why Limit God?

An atheist ridiculing Christianity once stated how anyone could believe that a God could be His own Son, create the planets by Himself, and take people from the Earth to the Heavens in the blink of an eye.

Imagine two hundred years ago if someone said that someday there will be boxes sold that will have moving pictures and sound coming from them, that there will be machines that fly hundreds of miles, and a hand held device that can let you talk another person far away. Or just try explaining the internet, and you would be shunned or become the village laughingstock, or worse. Minds two hundred years ago could not conceive of these innovations of today, so it is like trying to reason with an atheist.

The skeptic has elevated mankind and his intellect the highest form of belief on the planet. The Universe and its vastness with complex living organisms, thousands of galaxies and stars, the regeneration of life and the miracle of the human body, and the idea there is a Grand Designer is ridiculed. If Man cannot grasp or touch something in a cold, scientific method, then it it is to be dismissed as fantasy, or illusion of a world of myths and stories. They worship on the alter of the physical world and their own comprehension of it within the realm of their own intellect. No Higher power exists, and it seems a very lonely and cold way of having an outlook on life.

In John 3:1-21, Jesus talks with the Pharisee Nicodemus and the concept of being born again. Nicodemus thought Jesus meant literally born again, and asked Jesus how this was so. "If I have told you people about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?," was His reply. I think the same concept applies to Man in general as well. There is enough proof of a God around us. The oceans deep, mountaintops crowning the clouds, the emerging butterfly from a cocoon, a newly born baby, a bluebird in flight, the endless expanse of the Universe, the gracefulness of a gazelle, and the ingenuity of technology from man from the depths of his developed mind. "

I'm glad there is an all seeing Heavenly Father above guiding and loving us, rather than us floating in this galaxy alone by our own devices and shallow understanding.

Religion and Arrogance of Man

An atheist ridiculing Christianity once stated how anyone could believe that a God could be His own Son, create the planets by Himself, and take people from the Earth to the Heavens in the blink of an eye.

Imagine two hundred years ago if someone said that someday there will be boxes sold that will have moving pictures and sound coming from them, that there will be machines that fly hundreds of miles, and a hand held device that can let you talk another person far away. Or just try explaining the internet, and you would be shunned or become the village laughingstock, or worse. Minds two hundred years ago could not conceive of these innovations of today, so it is like trying to reason with an atheist.

The skeptic has elevated mankind and his intellect the highest form of belief on the planet. The Universe and its vastness with complex living organisms, thousands of galaxies and stars, the regeneration of life and the miracle of the human body, and the idea there is a Grand Designer is ridiculed. If Man cannot grasp or touch something in a cold, scientific method, then it it is to be dismissed as fantasy, or illusion of a world of myths and stories. They worship on the alter of the physical world and their own comprehension of it within the realm of their own intellect. No Higher power exists, and it seems a very lonely and cold way of having an outlook on life.

In John 3:1-21, Jesus talks with the Pharisee Nicodemus and the concept of being born again. Nicodemus thought Jesus meant literally born again, and asked Jesus how this was so.  "If I have told you people about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?," was His reply. I think the same concept applies to Man in general as well. There is enough proof of a God around us. The oceans deep, mountaintops crowning the clouds, the emerging butterfly from a cocoon, a newly born baby, a bluebird in flight, the endless expanse of the Universe, the gracefulness of a gazelle, and the ingenuity of technology from man from the depths of his developed mind. 

I'm glad there is an all seeing Heavenly Father above guiding and loving us, rather than us floating in this galaxy alone by our own devices and shallow understanding.

Why Limit God,? Part Two

WHY LIMIT GOD

WHY LIMIT GOD?

Occasionally an athlete will praise God in an interview or be seen praying at a sporting event. Some skeptics will comment that an athletic contest is infinitival compared to the tragedy in the world, such as war, crime, and hungry children. Why, they ask, isn't God more concerned about such sadness than who wins a football game?

I would respectfully disagree, and perhaps they miss the point. To say God can only concentrate on the bigger issues in life and not be concerned about our trivial desires, such as the outcome of a game or an award limits His sovereignty and power. He is omnipotent and all powerful. If He can know when the lone sparrow falls, He can be willing to give your wish. What is important to you is also, I believe, important to God. He wants acknowledgement, just like a parent wants his child to tell him his wishes.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 states: "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." In everything. Not just the all important things or world changing concerns, but everything. If He wants you to give thanks in everything, why just pray for the large issues. It's not that he will accommodate us every time, or cater to our every whim, but He wants for us to seek Him as an acknowledgement of our love of Him. If something is only important to one person, it is important to God as well. He seeks in us a relationship much like a worldly father would do anything for us out of love. Prayer is our way of recognizing his love for us as He seeks our love.

God wants us to acknowledge Him, and to come to him with our desires. I something is on your heart, even if its trivial to other people, seek Him out in prayer, and I'm sure He will be glad to hear from His child.