Complementary Journey

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon ear...

2011-12-22T03:53:28.289-05:00

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
- Matthew 6: 19-21
One of the ironies of hoarding is that a person can't take anything that he or she hoarded with them when they die. But a relationship with God will last them forever.

I agree. I had a thought recently that I think go...

2010-12-21T18:23:07.913-05:00

I agree. I had a thought recently that I think goes along with this...My salvation is no longer my greatest point of thankfulness. I'm more excited about who God is than for what He did for me. Sometimes I'm afraid that sounds like I'm not grateful for salvation - I am! But I think it's because I've gotten to know God better, and my life, my walk, my fall, and my salvation are minute in His story. I am glad He saved me - not because I get to go to heaven, but because I get to know Him.

I agree that we all have filters and they make it ...

2010-04-29T09:05:40.497-04:00

I agree that we all have filters and they make it possible to function on a daily basis. You know when your filter out your wife, I'm sure she tells you (I know my husband tells me when I filter him out), what I worry about are all the things God's doing around me that I filter out without ever being aware that I'm filtering. Someone, I believe it was Robert Pirsig, said that we only see what we're looking for. Are we looking for God to show up in our lives?

Thnks for the reminder George. I think too often ...

2010-04-28T09:23:40.961-04:00

Thnks for the reminder George. I think too often I get hung up on the ashtrays and remote controls and forget what's really important. It's good to have a reminder every now and then.

I thought the same thing as I was reading through ...

2010-04-26T13:25:15.674-04:00

I thought the same thing as I was reading through Leviticus a few weeks ago!

Well George..."Pop Culture" is really an...

2010-02-09T18:59:26.198-05:00

Well George..."Pop Culture" is really an oxymoron you see, as true culture is almost never popular and anything popular never really becomes cultural in the end.

I'm Black Irish.

We go to 3 day wake funerals like some people go to Superbowl games.

Sooo, I grew up thinking (or at least my thinking basically grew up at age 6...it's really the same thing for me...sigh...) that whatever you could line your coffin with - two sides naturally with YOU in the middle - was really all that was important to care about materially...

Soooo, at the wise old age of 6, I decided two things: my Barbie-doll collection on the one side and dollar bills (Heh, Barbie's used to be cheap in the 60s ya know!) on the other side, to buy MORE Barbie's in Heaven, of course!

Always the jaded personality even then, I was taking NO CHANCES assuming that Barbie's would be free up in Heaven, better to be safe than sorry, right?

Well, I'm 45 years old now, and for the life of me, and the stupidity with which people pray to the God of Money, I wasn't far from the truth at age 6 nor can I really substitute those two items from my coffin, even to this day...

I psychologically peaked at age 6...and quite likely most North Americans did too...sadly...

But damn if I won't have a kick-ass Barbie-doll collection when I kick It!!! (tee hee)

If you're ever inclined for Murder, Manson-style (TLB2)or for a virtual cocktail at my Social Commentary blog (B3), stop by my blogs any old time.

I can't promise upbeat but I might serve as the blogging Ying to your blogging Yang!!!

Cordially, (If Not Entirely Sober!)
MsBurb,

High Chief Mucky-Muck of

Burb's Buck & Buntline Inn (B3) http://burbsbuckandbuntlineinn.blogspot.com/

2nd Official Tate-LaBianca Murders Blog (TLB2)
http://2ndofficialtate-labiancamurdersblog.blogspot.com/

I give this post a B-

2010-01-18T14:04:07.602-05:00

I give this post a B-

I'd never heard of YouVersion until today. It...

2010-01-12T13:32:03.853-05:00

I'd never heard of YouVersion until today. It's great! Thanks for the source. :)

I like this one George! You wanna go outside and b...

2010-01-06T10:59:35.447-05:00

I like this one George! You wanna go outside and build a snowman with me? You get the rocks for the eyes and mouth and I'll get the sticks for the arms!

Thank you George. I needed to read this right now...

2009-12-17T12:54:50.206-05:00

Thank you George. I needed to read this right now.

I talked with students this morning about what the...

2009-12-09T08:12:00.084-05:00

I talked with students this morning about what the message of Jesus was. They came up with His Kingdom Coming to Earth, Love and Salvation. Jesus knew what his message was, and its simple. We make it complicated and we make it something that its not.

Wow, it really does look like mush! We haven't...

2009-12-02T09:25:50.044-05:00

Wow, it really does look like mush! We haven't eaten ours yet, but I am looking forward to it. Good blog today!

Good stuff George! Hope you, Cassie and your famil...

2009-11-25T15:50:22.903-05:00

Good stuff George! Hope you, Cassie and your families have an awesome Thanksgiving! Come back with some good stories! I'm sure I'll have some for you.

And you answered it well. :-)

2009-11-15T19:19:19.833-05:00

And you answered it well. :-)

Thank you.

2009-11-10T15:30:57.202-05:00

Thank you.

I probably should have said, "How can we get ...

2009-11-05T09:51:24.724-05:00

I probably should have said, "How can we get out of God's way..."

I love the word "Probletunities"! You a...

2009-11-04T09:26:14.642-05:00

I love the word "Probletunities"! You asked, "How can I turn them into God's opportunities?" but I think it's not our responsibility to turn problems into God's opportunities. I think God does that all on His own, we just have to be willing to listen to what He has to say. Is my thinking off?

My life is full of "bumps" and "kno...

2009-10-26T10:43:17.625-04:00

My life is full of "bumps" and "knots". I used to think they were just worthless scars, but recently God's been them in pretty amazing ways. Sometimes when someone sees our knots they realize that there is hope and grace that they don't know right now. It can be remarkable. :)

As always you're making me think. I do so enj...

2009-10-23T22:50:18.214-04:00

As always you're making me think. I do so enjoy reading you blog. I agree that we have to love people first. I think we have to learn to love and how can we do that without people?
Thanks for always making me think. :)

If coming back from the dead was scientifically po...

2009-10-20T11:59:58.810-04:00

If coming back from the dead was scientifically possible, I think God would have saved us in a different way (at least I hope He would have).

Thanks Linzey!

2009-10-20T08:15:31.922-04:00

Thanks Linzey!

I really like the way you look at scripture. Thank...

2009-10-19T17:02:23.197-04:00

I really like the way you look at scripture. Thank you for this post. I needed the reminder.

Question is: "Was there a man who led a simil...

2009-10-14T10:31:02.997-04:00

Question is: "Was there a man who led a similar life, but couldn't change like Paul, so he stayed in his old life (or stayed blinded because he couldn't bear to submit)?

My answer is: Absolutely! His name is Tim. I became friends with Tim during my ministry in NC. When I met Tim I had only heard stories of his past of him being so addicted to crack cocaine that his life was in shambles and was unable to break free. (Having not seen his past, I couldn’t even imagine that side of him!) When he encountered and embraced the love of God, he pursued a relationship with God in such a passionate and vigorous way that it reminded me about Paul’s pursuit of God!

Tim felt God calling him to carry an 8ft cross from NC to NY and back! Sounded crazy to me, but honestly…“Does God call people to do safe and comfortable things in order to reveal Himself to them and others?” (Maybe, but I’ve certainly read about and have seen proof that it’s not usually this way.) This was CRAZY to me, because if carrying an 8ft cross wasn’t strange enough, he didn’t take ANY money with him to eat on! He believed he would simply pray and rely on God to provide the money for him to eat! But even stranger yet…day after day, he found enough money along the side of the road to eat off of. Then some people would stop their cars and give him money to eat on because of his willingness to be so bold.

I wish I could say that Tim’s stories keep going in this direction. Let me stop there. Maybe they have or maybe they will! However the last story that I remember from Tim was when he showed up at my front door asking for $20 to pay for his insurance on his car so he could keep driving it to work. (I had heard Tim was possibly back to his old ways, but hadn’t seen proof until I saw him that day.) Long story short, it was about a year later when I saw Tim again. He handed me a $20 and apologized that he used my $20 for drugs that day.

Question is: "Was there a man who led a similar life, but couldn't change like Paul, so he stayed in his old life (or stayed blinded because he couldn't bear to submit)?

Answer is: “Yes, I know him as Tim.”

It is not so much a problem with using reason as a...

2009-09-19T11:24:41.703-04:00

It is not so much a problem with using reason as a guide, but a problem of the parameters used in reasoning. When we reason if something is right or wrong, who do we consider? All parties involved or just ourselves? What time period do we consider? The present moment or the next week, month or year?

Too often, reason looks only at the "what's best for me right now" parameters, which results in moral selfishness, not moral relativity.

As for an alternative to reason, I would fall squarely into the ultimate moral law from a divine rule giver camp. I happily confess, however, that while I may share that camp's ideas on where divine moral laws come from, I certainly don't stand by everything they choose to do with them.

If one is not to use his reason as a guide, then w...

2009-09-18T20:32:49.734-04:00

If one is not to use his reason as a guide, then what should be used to guide moral action?