The Fruit of the Spirit...hmmm. OK, so today's Encounter lesson was on the Fruit of the Spirit, and as I was prepping, God really spoke to me and taught me something I thought I would share. This important passage of scripture can be found in Galatians chapter 5.

As I was preparing, I was struck with how clear it is that there is a stark difference between the Christ-controlled life and the me-controlled life. I mean, that's nothing shockingly new to a Christian, I mean, its the basis of why we need Christ. As I read this scripture passage several times, and I prayed in order to allow God to speak to me about it, I began to think about the "black and white-ness" of it. A life controlled by the Spirit is so very different than how I live so often.

So to make a really long story short, well, the Fruit of the Spirit is PROOF. This passage says "those who belong to Christ..." The fruit of the Spirit is proof of the presence of the Spirit. "Those who belong to Christ..." It makes me think of that time that will come where God looks to see if my name is written in the book of life. I know that my salvation is not something that I can earn on my own. I know it is not anything that I do, but rather that God does in me. And I think it is awesome that God tells me exactly what He wants to do in me. He wants to make me loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, gentle, faithful, self-controlled.

I guess It was an important time for me because it clarified for me what I need to be praying for. I think I need to shift my prayers from situational prayers...things that I want or things that are going on around me...to character prayers...asking God to make me fruitful.

Emotions make us do crazy things...a hard lesson I continue to learn so regularly. Today, I was supposed to have a day off, but as is the norm for my days off, I didn't. Well, to be completely truthful, I was able to take about half of the day off, then it was back to work. Things at The Zone (the teen ministry center at CCC) are going really well, but some of the community kids are testing the boundaries. They're just beginning to learn what the rules are and how far they can push them. They're learning rather quickly that I will not be pushed too far! All that is beside the point anyway. I just mention it because I am realizing this is the reason that my emotions probably were a little more...how shall I say this...umm...present and accounted for.

Anyway, there's no need to go into the specifics, but recently I found myself in a situation where I was faced with the realization that when push comes to shove, and I'm the one being shoved...well, it can get ugly. I seem to check my Christlike, fruit-of-the-Spirit self at the door. Don't get me wrong, I dont become a fist fighting, sailor swearing, irrational idiot (that's a really funny picture if you know me...haha). I know, though, that my patience wears thin, and I am ready for the fight. It's in those moments that I forget to practice the patience of Christ and put myself in the other person's shoes. I instead see the situation,and for that matter probably the entire universe, from one and only one perspective. And that perspective is through the eyes of someone who is being wronged.

There is usually another perspective though. It's the other person's reality...the shover. And usually, it's a really different reality. Tonight in my situation, I actually did this. I tried hard to be in that person's world...that shover's reality. And it was an amazingly different perspective. Amazingly different. And all of the sudden, I didn't feel so wronged anymore. In fact, I wasnt focused on myself at all anymore...even though I had been a huge casualty in their shoving match. The thoughts of "that's not fair" and "you better back up" were instead replaced with "how can I help" and "that's not fair...for them". My emotions went from ones of anger to ones of peace.

I know this isn't really any Earth shattering revelation for anyone above 9 years old...haha...I mean, we've been taught this since we were 5. But I was thinking tonight that maybe there are some other people out there like me that forget these early childhood lessons. Isn't there? So I thought I would share. Ya, it's late. Time for bed.

Stress, Stress, Stress! Oh my gosh. So I wrote this really funny post about the top 10 things that stress me out. Then something happened when I tried to spell check it and it got lost in cyber space. Fitting, dont you think, since the whole post is about being stressed. I'll write it again another time. Can't handle another ounce of stress tonight. More to come later.

Maybe There's More That Needs To Be Considered

Today was my first experience at golfing in a scramble. It was really fun. I dont think I performed real well, my partner carried me, but it was fun none the less. Afterward, I had a great chance to have some stimulating conversation with adults at dinner, which was great, since I dont get that chance often enough. We had some spirited conversation about the welfare system, the poor, and the answers to mankind's problems. In retrospect it was pretty funny conversation...more in the spirit of "we know all the answers to solve the world's problems."

So after this, I then came home to do some cleaning and relaxing. It was then that I re-read my blog entry from the other night. Sometimes I crack myself up when I get on a roll. I mean, it is so easy to fall into the trap of boiling everything down and then taking a stance based on only part of the picture. Now dont get me wrong...I still feel the things I wrote in my last post, but maybe there is more to the picture.

I mean, here is something I have been thinking about. It seems to me that George Bush is very vocal about his "defense of marriage." He talks about how he would support a marriage ammendment. Our churches are often the same way. I cant count how many times I have heard preachers talk about the sin of homosexuality. They powerfully speak out against homosexuality and are very passionate about it. I agree totally. Homosexuality is a sin...no if's, and's, or but's about it. So since we know that, let's go a little deeper.

I mean, what I always walk away from these speeches with is that maybe it should be a more personal take on the issue. Homosexuality is kind of like the last accepted prejudice in the church. Why aren't our churches or passionate politicians talking about how today's Christians are sinning when they reject homosexuals instead of loving them. It seems to me that our churches are failing in this arena.

Or what about adultry. When over 50% of today's marriages are ending in divorce, and a HUGE percentage of those divorces are due to adultry,why arent our passionate politicians taking a stand on this "defense of marriage?" Have you heard any presidential candidates state a position on adultry? Interesting since it is talked about clearly in the Bible, the book we love to quote in regards to other issues, as a sin. I mean, I am tired of talking to kids who's lives are being ripped apart because of the immoral and immature actions of parents who arent living their lives according to the Word of God.

There's definitely more to the picture. I want to see our candidates talk about some "mainstream" issues...those things like adultry, gluttony, pride, or lust. I wonder how many people would be openly supporting them when the issues start to hit a little closer to home!

A First...Encouraged In The Political Arena

It's been almost a week since I have posted anything on here. There are a lot of reasons why, which can pretty much be summed up in one word. Busy! It has been a pretty good week, very productive, but very tiring as well. Things are going well in GROWTH, The Zone is busting at the seems with kids, and I'm having a lot of fun with friends. All is well, just very busy.

I have been reading a great book lately. I havent had much time to read lately, so tonight when I was home for a quiet night, I made a pot of coffee and promised myself time with this book. It is Uprising by Erwin McManus. I've read some of his other stuff, and I really think he is one of my favorite authors...mostly because he is an intellectual, a humorist, and a realist all at the same time. This book is great though. I really feel myself being challenged as I read each chapter. The deeper I get into the book, the more personal the challenges become.

Tonight there was an interesting perspective in the book that I wanted to mention. McManus talks about integrity and how it is at the core of who God wants us to be. He talked a lot about power, and how a lot of people say power corrupts, but really it just exposes what is already there...the real integrity of the person. This was a personally challenging piece for me to read, since often I find myself in positions where I am the chief decision maker and am frequently looked to for leadership. I am now spending time examining that which is within, so I can make room for God to do the necessary work to make me more like Him.

This section also made me think about some other stuff too. I have been watching the Republican National Convention this past week and I have to say it was the first time I really enjoyed it. I'm not normally a person who is prone to strong political views, mostly because I think you can only trust politicians as far as you can throw them. This week, though, I thought I would spend some time expanding my political knowledge and partake. One of the things that I have always been careful of, since I am in a church leadership position, is openly expressing strong political views. This is "high emotion" territory often times, so I make my decisions based on my faith, I have interesting conversations, and I will even debate a little here and there. But rarely do I "go for it" in a political conversation. And, I havent spent a great deal of time studying the politics of George Bush, but I am somewhat aware of his stance on several issues.

So with all that said, as I was reading tonight, I started to think about our President and the speech that he made the other night at the convention. I believe integrity is wrapped up in making decisions based on right and wrong...not on feelings. And I have to say that our President, I believe, is a man of integrity. His stances on abortion rights, gay marriage, and even the war in Iraq (I'm still workin this one out in my mind) I believe are based on right and wrong. And I was so encouraged to hear him give credit to God as His reason for making such decisions! I'm sure there may be things that I dont agree with George Bush on, but for tonight, I was encouraged and that is a rarity when it comes to politics for me!

Someone said to me this week, when asked if they were democrat or republican, that they vote for whoever is going to put the most money in their pocket. I was amused and saddened by this statement all at the same time. I will be voting for the person I think displays the most Christ-like character...the one that displays the most integrity. This is simple to discern since we have the Word of God and can know Christ's character with a little effort. So that's the challenge I have given myself. Know Christ's character more...Know the candidate's characters deeper...and not vote for the one that you think is gonna stab you in the back and steal your wallet!