... Uncompromising?????

uncompromising.... what an offensive word this has become in our "post modern, politically correct, all is good if it is good for you- world"
sounds as bad as when we claim we know truth... your truth, my truth... NO, TRUTH!!!

one of the marks of a great church ( this was a sermon on 1 Corinthians chapter 16 , which concluded the sermon series of the last year through the whole book of 1 Corinthians ) is that we are uncompromising!

other points where: Generous, Relationships, Optimistic, Welcoming, Robust, Loving and Submissive..
so Uncompromising...
I love it... I love how black and white the Bible is.. very outspoken and VERY clear...

I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand.  If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come.
 ( 1 Corinthians 16: 21+22)

no love for the Lord? no love for His church? if you have no love for the Lord, if you look for  answers, help or comfort in something other than the Lord.. as in belief systems you might have had before you were saved  ( like the people in Corinth, going back to the temple of Aphrodites for example) you will be accursed....

if you are not fully committed to Jesus, who is the Truth, the Way and the Life... if you are not fully committed to Jesus, who is the Word... if you are not fully committed to standing up for and living the way His Word and Truth tells you ( failing, but striving always, being transformed)... then let you be accursed...
you will end up being someone the Lord will say to: "get away from me I never knew you..."
there is no grey, no lukewarm, no "creating your own idea of what Christianity is"... why do you think we have been given the Bible... why do you think it is still around today... duh... it is He who has made sure that we can have a copy and be able to understand His Word.. no excuses...

very passionate about this.. yes, I am.
there is more that spoke to me today in church... there will be more.. this though... it is the most important... because, He moves on and "shakes off the sand off His sandals" the Holy Spirit that is...if we do not uphold His Word as the authority of our life, our personal life and that of the church..
and that IS the truth...

.."A fib" or " A Day in the Hospital"...

... so this morning , after taking my puppies outside I had decided that sleeping in was a great plan.. when the phone rang and my father told me my mother was feeling poorly.. problems with her heart..
I jumped out of bed and got ready quick time.. drove over and ended up taking my mother to the hospital..
there is something about someone that feisty and strong to be so obviously in distress..
so thankful we did go even though my mother hates hospitals after last year's months of suffering..
"A fib" or atrial fibrillation.. leading to an irregular and way to fast heart rate is what was diagnosed..
not life threatening today, but dangerous enough to need to be managed with medication....
spent many hours waiting for her heart to calm down and blood work to be okay again..
 a day turning out much different than planned reminded me again of a verse from Proverbs 16:9

In his heart a man plans his course,

    but the Lord determines his steps.

back home after getting her prescription filled and her settled comfortably for the night I spent the night listening to this great young Christian band called Leeland... one song touched my heart in a special way tonite:

On the African plains,

A young mother weeps, for her hungry child

She prays he’ll survive, with tear-filled eyes

She looks up to heaven, and calls your name

She pours out her pain

You know her name, and you hear her cries

Friend of the poor, help me through the night

Help me in the fight, come to my rescue

Friend of the poor, take this skin and bones

Make this heart a home, come to my rescue

On the streets of L.A.

An old man lies in his cardboard home

He feels so alone, with tear-stained eyes

He looks up to heaven, and prays a prayer:

“Is there anyone there?”

You know his name and you hear his cries,

It’s getting dark, it’s getting late

It’s cold outside the rich mans gate

And I’m wondering,

Do you have any friends around here?

today was another gift from the Lord, another day I didn't have to say Good bye to my mother.. the Friend of the Poor, a Friend to all that need Him, He was with us today, gave the Dr's wisdom and made the medication work.. The Friend of the Poor.. the One who made my heart His home.. I pray that today He will make her heart His home.. thanking Him for His good and perfect plans...