The first step in the acquisition of wisdom is silence,
the second listening,
the third memory,
the fourth practice,
the fifth teaching others.
Solomon Ibn Gabriol
Tag: postaweek2011
Christ vs. Christians
I have a few non Christian friends; some belong to other beliefs, some non active Christians (saved but not living for Christ), “spiritual” (those who know that God exists somewhere but have no desire to live for him) and some professed atheists. Ironically, we have a lot of religious conversation and to my surprise sometimes they know more about what Jesus said and his expectations than some of my own Christian friends. Some of them ask me to pray for them when they are in the middle of a situation.
In our conversations I’ve identified certain trends of why some of them are not attracted to Christianity, so I wanted to share them with my fellow believers, because they do have a point.
- It’s not Him, it’s y’all-I’ve never heard even atheists’ bad mouth Jesus or Christ. It’s not Him who bothers them, they don’t like Christians. As soon as someone proclaims to be a Christian in front of them they form an expectation of how we should behave and we tend to fall really short in that expectation, giving us very little credibility to our words. In other words, our walk doesn’t match our talk.
- Judgment-We are perceived to function out of judgment and not out of love. Some unbelievers are living lives that according to the Christian walk is outside of the “acceptable”. Some of them have had experiences were they have attempted to reach out to learn about Christ and have been received with judgment about how they are going to “burn in hell” for their actions instead of loving them through their circumstances. I have to stop here and say that this happens to Christians who leave the faith as well or to some of those non active Christians that I was talking about. As humans, we can all fall short of the glory and what are we to do. Galatians 6:1 reads “’ Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted” If the sin of that person is a personal struggle for you, don’t go there, the point is not for you to fall, but help directing the person to someone that can actually help, in love. If it’s a struggle for you, seek help, because it means that you have unresolved situations yourself. Be honest about it. But how many times have people been humiliated and condemned for what they have done instead of pursuing their restoration.
We also sometimes forget how we got to the feet of Christ. I’ve been on both sides of this equation. Personally, when I became a Christian I was very young, so I didn’t experience the redeeming life with Christ after big fallout. I was prideful. I didn’t understand why people couldn’t get it together, until I fell on my face and didn’t know how to come back. It was then when I understood mercy and grace. God placed loving people in my life to show me the way back, but those people never made me feel like I was scum and they were holy, which brings me to my next point.
- Being genuine- Life in Christ is a journey not a destination. I think much is emphasized in the church and the rules than the relationship with God. With this I’m not saying that church and guidelines are not important or necessary, but many times we try to make people act a certain way that they are not ready to instead of loving them through the process and allowing the Word of God and their personal relationship to Jesus to flow and do the changes that GOD wants to make in a person, not the ones we want to see.
Just like a child knows when someone loves them or not, wounded people know too. If you honestly don’t love someone, don’t try to fake it, they will know and your words will mean nothing, especially if you’re saying that you love them in Christ.
- Authenticity-Trying to fake life and present a holier than thou image just because you’re a Christian and present that once you received Christ live was a bed of roses repels unbelievers more than anything. When people are struggling, thinking that there’s no way that God would accept them where they are now, keeps them away from Christ.
I have a friend who has had some of my same struggles, she was key in my return to Christ because I saw how even though she had gone through, God made it happen for her. She taught me the steps to take out of the gutter and how I had believed the lie of no redemption and how God really wanted me, but she didn’t do it by Bible thumping although we did speak of the Word. She did it by sharing with me how through the Word, God spoke to her in her darkest moments. Wait! She has dark moments being a Christian…Huh, there’s hope for me!
I knew then what to pray for and how to stand on the Word of God, because of her story. Is she perfect? No! Is she living a perfect rosy live now? No! She has a real life with the same struggles that everyone has, the difference is how she overcomes them and that inspires me to overcome mine and hang in there.
Why was this instrumental? Because even though I knew the Lord, up until that time those speaking into my life were just pointing out what I was doing wrong and how I was going to burn too if I didn’t get it together. If I, who knew the Lord couldn’t get back, how do you think someone who doesn’t know his love would feel even compelled to try? Someone said that you may be the only bible someone reads. If you’re condemning other people’s lives, that’s what their erroneous bible is teaching them about a life in Christ. If you’re not real with your own struggles and your own difficulties then, they will know that you’re not trustworthy and that the god that you claim to serve is just as phony as you are. Is that how you want to present Christ to others?
When this subject has come up I’ve told my friends to look at Christ and not at us, because we are human and jacked up. All I can do is try to live as genuine as possible, pray and allow God to work in their hearts and in mine (because I’m still a work in progress), because at the end of the day Salvation is a personal decision and it’s not me who saves, but He who lives in me. So you my fellow believers are you living an authentic life or do you wear your Sunday mask every time you have to talk about Christ? Do you talk about Jesus, or do you try to live like Jesus?
Food for thought,
Blessings
Want Chocolate!
I heard from a local radio station that today was National Chocolate Day? First of all I’m really disappointed as a chocoholic that I didn’t get the memo sooner about such day even existed. I had been using Valentine’s Day, Easter, my birthday, Sunday and any other day to make it Chocolate day.
Now, I don’t know if the people from the radio station have accurate information or my Google search does, but from what I found there are three National Chocolate days, which makes my outrage grow that I didn’t know such things…LOL! According to my sources there’s a Chocolate Day celebrated on July 7th. I wonder if that’s why my mother chose that day as her wedding date.
Then there’s the US National Chocolate Day, which is celebrated October 28th. I can see that given that the colors of the fall are brown, beige and terracotta tones. Also the weather starts to cool off so hot chocolate is in order. Chocolate fits right in.
Finally is the World Chocolate Day, which is celebrated on September 4th. Pretty close to Labor Day, nothing better than some chocolate after a hard day of work.
So mark your calendar my friends! If the radio station was wrong, it doesn’t matter, we’re celebrating Chocolate Day today too, for those of us who have discovered the passion for chocolate. If you were to ask my opinion on chocolate, if I have not made it obvious yet, let me just say… Any kind of nut covered with chocolate or anything that has raspberry and chocolate as an ingredient was personally made by the hand of God. : P
Now remember not to over indulge.
Enjoy!
Let the writing begin!
To all my readers:
I’m dropping just a little note to let you know what’s going on in my writing world. The short story “Loud Silence”, yes the same one on the e-reads will be submitted today for the “Snag Today” magazine writing contest.
My two new short stories, “Hope” and “George” were already submitted this morning for “Nurturing Paws” the new anthology by Whispering Angel Books….
If any of my fellow writers would like to enter their stories, the information is in my upcoming calendar on the Publications and Achievements page. There’s still time.
So, cross your fingers and say a prayer, 2011 here I come!
Monster
It’s rare that I would speak about someone in specific, but I think this particular situation warrants me to call out the particular person behind it. To be honest, since I don’t listen to hip hop music, I didn’t know who Kanye West was until the whole Swift Taylor incident. I do understand that people think that bad publicity is publicity anyway, but people have to measure the responsibility that comes with being in the public eye.
After the said incident, he has been involved in other less than desirable situations. In his public apology, he said he had been affected by his mother’s death and that he needed time to get himself together. I’ve read some feedback about him being mentally disturbed, but it makes me wonder if his whole crew it’s mentally disturbed as well when they go along his shenanigans.
The last Kanye thing is the upcoming release of his video “Monster” in which from the leaked preview, shows dead women, clad in lingerie, hang by chains around their necks. West making sexual moves toward dead or drugged women propped up in a bed, and a naked dead or drugged woman lays sprawled on a sofa.
I wonder how he would feel if this was one of his relatives being displayed in this video. This is another way to denigrate women, promote the numbness of violence towards women, which we have way enough of that. Women were not created to be men playthings or to be objectified. Women are a gift from God and as such they should be treated.
With so many campaigns against domestic violence and against violence against women, this video promotes exactly the opposite. This is not what we want our children to learn. I encourage you to sign the petition below and send a message to our media producers that we are really done with just accepting anything that they flash in front of our eyes.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/prevent-official-release-of-kanye-wests-women-hating-monster-video
Related Articles
- Tell Universal Music Group and Kanye to Stop Eroticizing Violence Against Women (humantrafficking.change.org)
Right where you are
Last week was quite unusual. At least in the south US, things came to a halt. Airports, schools and workplaces were closed due to traffic and weather conditions and many were stranded on the streets. It got me thinking to never underestimate the places where you were assigned to be at any moment in a situation.
Sometimes God’s places us in weird places or even alone for a purpose. You don’t know when the place where you think that you’re uncomfortable and stranded is an opportunity to witness to a person. A simple conversation that starts about a delay can end up in a healing conversation. Isaiah 43:10 says“You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me”
If you were like me, locked inside your house there are many things that could be done. If you have family, when was the last time that all of you spent time together? Take opportunities like this to get out, play with your children, and find out what’s going on with that teenager that’s been giving you a headache. Use that fireplace that you’ve never used and burn marshmallows on a stick and create the perfect time for a conversation. Look at your spouse, when was the last time that you had a romantic moment?
If you live alone, It was a good time to rest from the craziness of life, instead of trying to craze out of the house. Contact those family members or friends who you haven’t talk to in years. Write that letter that you’ve been putting off forever. I know I did. Anyway, seek God and find out why in this time and in your current circumstances what is the purpose of your place, as it is no coincidence that you are where you are. (Matthew 10:29-31)
I hope you enjoyed this time in a way or another.Now that we’re back to the everyday routine, take time to evaluate how every second of your life has a purpose an enjoy your life, right there were you are. Live with purpose. Live intentional, regardless of your surroundings
Seize the moment and live every moment with purpose to live a fulfilled life.
Blessings
Process of writing this blog
I was asked how long it usually takes me to write a blog post. The answer, it depends. I try to write often because it usually means that I’m connected to the source of my inspiration, God. Also through the process of writing I can learn and understand the spiritual impact of my surroundings and compare it with what the Word says regarding my experiences. There are days were I can be sleeping, and I’m awaken and I just turn on my laptop and start writing and the words flow. Sometimes just a scripture or a situation triggers me to be inspired and write. If I’m connected and inspired I can even write two or more postings in one day and save the extra ones for rainy days (days where I can’t even remember my name).
On days when I’m not inspired or not connected with God and I’m trying to write just to make sure that all my readers don’t think that I’ve fallen from the face of the earth, a post is like pulling teeth. Nothing makes me flow, nothing makes sense and I end up writing ramblings that I end up not publishing. This is an inspirational blog, so if I have nothing to say that can enrich my reader’s lives, it’s better for me to shut and see why I don’t have anything enriching my own life that day to share.
After I write the content, I look for the specific scriptures that will exemplify what I’m talking about. I know the words in the bible but not the biblical references and that’s when biblegateway.com becomes my friend. For example I know that the Word of God says he will renew our strength and that we will be able to fly like eagles, but I have to look up where it says that. (It’s on Isaiah 40:31 by the way)
The last part of the process is the visual additions. Looking for the perfect picture or the perfect song to add can take some time, especially when Google is not cooperative or when our internal WordPress Zemanta (an image system) thinks that we’re talking about dogs when we’re talking about burgers and it gives you all the wrong images.
Back to the original question, how long does it take me to create and publish a post? On a good day, thirty minutes. On a hard day, which is a day when I can’t find the right or perfect images or sounds, then it can take me up to two hours in any given day.
So now you know the secret behind this blog’s writing.
Have a great day and enjoy this song!
Poll: Script vs Novel
As always, I like to include my readers in my creative process. Right now I have a debate that I hope you guys can help me sort out. I’ve been looking into a plot. It’s a romantic comedy that for now is called “Christmas in London”. It’s the story of a New York marketing director who meets this English hotel heir, who is trying to bring his brand to the US. Imagine an English male Paris Hilton in a bad mood.
The literary challenge for me in this story is the places. Most of my stories are created in a town, an island, but not a specific place giving my readers the opportunity to imagine their own. This time I wanted to challenge myself to give a specific scenario. To prepare for this, I have inquired with a dear English friend of mine, Google (of course) and I’m looking into some research history books. So what’s the problem with this story? Keep on reading.
Last year I participated in Script Frenzy, which is coming up in April. This is where you write a script of 100 pages or more in 30 days (see a pattern here…LOL) Last year I didn’t even finish the challenge, and I was so close. I gave up at 85 pages. I’ve been encouraged to try again this year and I’m giving it serious consideration. Here’s the dilemma, should I write this plot as a novel or should I experiment with it as my Frenzy Script… What do you think? What would you like?
I have created a poll on the side of the page that I will keep up until February 28th, 2011. Your participation is encouraged and appreciated. Your comments are appreciated and well received too.
If you had a time machine…
I’m sure that given the opportunity and if time machines existed, most of us would take the opportunity to go back and change some things from our past. When presented with the question, it’s kind of hard for me to precise the moment I would like to change. I guess that even when I’m not proud of all my choices and decisions, I’ve come to the conviction that I am the result of my experiences, positive and negative ones, and at this point in my life I’m pretty happy with who I am, so probably other than accept my first credit card, I may now have much to change.
When we live in the land of ifs we don’t learn to appreciate our experiences as learning, growing life lessons. Every bruise, scratch and praise formed us into who we are now. Sometimes I see people who have had what in my eyes was a more supportive and provided upbringing and I wonder if some of the things in my childhood would have been different, if my life would have been easier or different. At the same time, I think I wouldn’t have the life tools that I have if my past would have been different. I believe that we are born with an ordained mission, and without proper training and the necessary tools I would not be able to accomplish my purpose.
Life for us who believe should mean an honor, like in the military we were chosen for a purpose. Our purpose is battle against an enemy and we all have specialized services to accomplish in each mission. Our training is different depending on our position in the field. The difference is we’re never fired from our position, unless we chose to relinquish it.
Back to the time machine illustration and the things that we need to change, sometimes we make mistakes, we stray away from our mission, we act against our plan and you may say that even though those are still life lessons we want to change those out of our lives. It is there were the Grace of God covers our weakness and gives us the opportunity to start over, the only thing is that our new beginning finds us stronger and wiser from those same mistakes we would have wanted to avoid.
So then think again, given the opportunity to have a time machine, would you still change something?
Blessings
Handling New Year Resolutions
At the beginning of each year we decide that we’re going to do everything new, those resolutions usually last until the second week of January because routine sets in and life goes back to normal. Part of why we tend not to come through with our resolutions it’s because we set unrealistic goals.
So, does that mean not making New Year’s resolutions? Not necessarily… These were my lessons from 2010.
- Look at the root of the problem- Sometimes we are addressing the symptoms and not the real issue. When you don’t resolve the actual issue, your chances of success decline significantly because the behavior will either return or transform. The most common issues are food and finances, but this applies to anything as well. People enter into diets or financial plans to resolve debt, but within months they return to their bad habits, that’s an example of treating the symptoms and not the issue. Why do you eat or spend or drink or whatever the issue is? Is it loneliness, self esteem, boredom, lack of skills. Once you identify what’s really causing the problem, even though it may take a little longer to see results in the changes, you may experience more permanent changes and more satisfying results. (Matthew 13:20-22)
- Identify the reasons for the change- Are you making these changes for you or for someone else? Sometimes we have the tendency to join a wagon because our peer jumped in it, but are those things that you’re pursuing beneficial to you. Look if your goal will have a physical, emotional, spiritual or even financial benefit for you. This may be extreme, but for example, I have a friend who is anorexic and the last thing I would want for her is to go on a diet with me. (Romans 12:2)
- Find out what works for you- We are not truly created equal, we are as different as the stars in the sky. Find something that works for you in the accomplishment of your goal.
- Divide your big goal into small steps. I think the principle of one day at a time and small changes very well applies here. I get it! In the microwave mentality world that we live in, we want immediate results, but are those the ones that really last? Whatever you’re trying to change in your life didn’t happen over night and it will not go away over night. You will feel like a failure when you don’t get the results you want or when the results are not lasting. However if you start with smaller goals and celebrate those smalls victories, then once a goal is achieve you can up the bar to another one higher. By the end of the year you will be able to look back and see not only that you have accomplished more than you honestly expected ( Ecclesiastes 3:1-17;7:17)
- Seek help- if you have tried to achieve this goal before and the things you’ve tried has not work, there’s no shame on seeking help. Having someone to guide you through the process, encourage you and celebrate with you your success may be the formula to finally conquer that obstacle that you’re trying to overcome. (Deuteronomy 1:12-13)
So start working on your game plan and much success in 2011!!
Naty Matos 