Putting people on Pedestal

What a dangerous thing to do.  I was speaking to my ex-sister-in-law a couple of weeks ago and our conversation turned toward putting people up on pedestals.  I began to think of all the times we do this in life and how very unfair it is for those poeple to be put there.

There are so many people I used to put on a pedestal, parents, spouse, other christians, pastors, etc, the list could go on forever.  Why do we do this, do we assume (and I am going to focus on Christians for a moments since everyone in my list - for the most part- fits into this category) that these individuals are above being human.  Being human means making mistakes and dealing with them properly.  None of us are free of Sin/mistakes.  Why do we assume that they will be everything we hoped and not do things that would hurt us, and when they do why are we so quick to judge and treat them acccordingly. 

I look to my own life and a spouse that I had up on a pedestal my entire life.  How could someone I respect, trust, and love so much do something so "bad".  Well the answer is, becuase she was not God.  The second part to that revelation is that I am not God either.  I have been evaluating my life as of late and realize that I couldn't even put myself up on a pedestal.  Not a day goes by that I don't make a decision to go against Gods word.  How can I hold people (who I have no control over) to a standard that I cannot even hold myself to.  And I have total control over my actions and know what is right and still go the opposite direction.

I challenge everyone reading this to forgive like we have been forgiven.  I am so thankful that God doesn't forgive me in the same manner that I forgive others. 

"Somewhere in you is the you whom you were created to be" -Rob Bell

Being Blessed

Are Christians (the version of the word as it was originally intended - being Christ like, not the crappy watered down version of today) truly blessed? 

The answer, in my opinion, is undoubtingly YES!!!

But what is being blessed?  In the movie I watched a couple of weeks ago called Facing the Giants, it meant having everything in life work out the best way it could.  Before the main character (a Christian) made the decision to turn everything over to God he was, driving a beater car, about to be overthrown as head coach of the football team, barely making ends meet financially, unable to have kids, and was unable to find the weird smell coming from inside the house.  After he made the committment and effort to trust God everything changed.  He got a new car (which was given to him), he won the state title for football, he found the dead rat in the register, his wife got pregnant, and he got a raise.  There wasn't one thing that didn't work.  Is this what we believe will happen if we only trust God and turn our lives over to Him?

The true blessing of God comes in knowing that he always there for you, He will never forsake you, and the comfort in knowing that He is in control.  We are all so very blessed but that has nothing to do with thing working in our favor.  I guess this has just been on my mind so I thought I would share it with the very few people who read this.

Instant Gratification vs. Long Term Satisfaction

It has been weighing on my mind as of late just how many time each day one (mostly meaning myself) chooses - yes I believe I spelled that incorrectly, instant gratification over long term satisfaction.  Anything from making decisions that don't honor God and which you know will result in consequences later, to eating a pizza instead of a salad.  It is just amazing how often I succumb to my own desires instead of those that will be more beneficial later in life.

On a more light hearted note I just got some pictures from wal-mart, so feel free to check some out.

Yes my attention span is up.

Random stuff

First off let me just say that I am basically using this post as e-mail since I know the only people that will ever see this are people that I could just send an e-mail to but that wouldn't be a fun now would it.  Excluding Betsy, who by my own fault I don't have an e-mail address for. 

Right now I feel like that guy watching a movie with an attractive woman, your arm around her and it begins to ache.  What do you do?  Move it and ruin the "moment" or suffer and be distracted?  I have been gone for a couple of days and (warning: this current sentence is going to take away any "manhood" I have left) my/our cats obviously want attention.  They are both laying on me as I am typing and don't intend to move in the near future. 

If you tithe because it is the "right thing to do", should you really tithe at all?  I was watching on of those Rob Bells videos on the subject and this is what I took from it.  Obviously God doesn't need our money but is knowing that by tithing (sp) you are making a concious sacrifice and therefore are becoming more christ like?  Or does God not really want/need you to tithe if you don't want to in your heart?  Does anyone really want to give thier money away, deep down everyone has something that they could do with it, don't they?

Listening to a commercial on the radio today talking about a womans sexaul desires and how if you don't have them then you need to get on these drugs.  Why is this?  Is the stereotype of a man sexual desire accurate?  Of all the married men I have talked to I don't believe so.  It should also be noted that "all the married men I have talked to" does not include anyone I am related to, honestly, atleast not by blood, have agreed that ... ok getting too indepth.  Basically, sex is good, and should be but it is not the reason to marry and it is also not the only thing on every mans mind all the time.  Society pushes sexuality in our face all day long and then tells us to be monogomous in marriage.  Yes Adam you can have everything you ever need/want except this, and don't eat any, thats all I ask.

I'm not one for continunity of thought so if you don't like the randomness then don't check my posts from here on out, for the rest of you more of the same will follow shortly I am sure.

Pray more than you do now.

Divorce

No matter how right or wrong you think your or the other person is with reguards to divorce, no one wins.  My neighbor was talking to me about representing individuals in divorce cases (as she is a lawyer) and people would ask her how many cases she won.  To which her response is a sarcastic chuckle followed by "I lost them all".

There are so many questions that goes through ones head when they are going through a situations such as this, and I hope to post some of them soon.  For now however I must go tile my kitchen countertops.