Inside
Pregnant with promise continued through the words of another
Too many boxes sit on a shelf
Locked tight by fear and pride
It’s not too late to open up
Share all the beauty trapped inside.
–Russ Towne
Religious Services: NaBloPoMo
Came across this blog today…. Are you with Destino or do you have a different experience of God? And that song? What do you make of that?
Do you like attending religious services?
I’m at what they call a C&Eer. I like to go to church on Christmas & Easter. Why don’t I go any other time? I’m not really sure. When I say I’m not sure, I mean I’m not sure what denomination I am anymore. According to the Internet quizzes, I’m a Quaker. Or maybe it was a Shaker.
Regardless, I haven’t found my religion. That reminds me of the REM Song “Losing My Religion,” which doesn’t mean what we think it means. It means “at wit’s end,” with something. I think I might be losing my religion in a general sense. Or I just might need a vacation in a serious way.
Although I don’t go to church, I do like Gospel music and movies about church choirs. I love “Sister Act” – I & II. There is a movie, “The Fighting Temptations,” with…
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So what would Jesus do then?
The question is not, “What would Jesus do?” The question is, “What are you doing? Is it showing God’s love in action?”
This is an age of badges, posters and wrist bands saying things like WWJD (What would Jesus do) etc. To me, that isn’t the real question….. I only found the wiki-answers version today of how they feel the phrase rose to popularity and its an interesting one – so I’ve included the link above.
The question is if you believe
- that Jesus really is God
- and that He died on a cross for your sins so you could be forgiven
- that He and rose again from the dead conquering death
- so He could help you live a better life and get a place in heaven
- And you are willing to accept of a relationship with God through prayer
How are you going to live that out in your life?
- What difference will it make to your own life and that of others around you?
- Will you focus on the potentially narrow world of church or will you live it out in your daily life helping others….
When I was a kid there was a bookmark with a picture of a judge which asked the simple question:
“If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?”
Please don’t feel I am judging you – I am writing this to challenge myself as much as anyone else. If you were to look back on your life in a year’s time, how would you like it to be different from a personal point of view – and how would you like it to be different from a spirtual or Christian perspective?
© Copyright Michelle Sherlock 30/05/2011 (Updated with photo in 2014)
Delighted to Support Desmond Tutu’s Forgiveness Challenge
This Forgiveness Challenge looks like an amazing project to get involved with. Are you up for giving it a go? It could change our lives, our children’s lives, our world…
Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his daughter, Mpho Tutu are trying to change the world with the Forgiveness Challenge. Get involved!
What is the Tutu Global Forgiveness Challenge?
The Forgiveness Challenge is a free 30-day online program developed to help people learn the practical steps to forgiveness so they can live with greater love and joy in their life.
How does the Forgiveness Challenge work?
Each day, participants receive an email from us that directs them to a new post on the website that presents an important insight into forgiveness and that offers them…
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Grace on legs – Who are your Grace role models?
There are certain people in my life that I have referred to as “grace on legs”…. Hope you don’t mind but I am going to name a few of you…. and those I miss out get to practice grace 😉
- Ron and Audrey Johnson – You were fab home group leaders and model parents to me when I was looking for that support!
- Darren Johnson – You modelled grace to me in so many ways – I’ve always appreciated it! So thank you.
- Phil Fell – Walking talking example of grace. You always amazed me with everything you fit in…
- Eldin and Vivian Corsie – Great models of grace. Thank you for helping put me back together when I was falling apart.
- Vernon and Pat Fuller – It was a joy to have you in our lives… we really must re-connect!
- Joel Lamour – You have always been a great example to me through difficult times!
- Paul Hampton – another model of grace. How do you do it?
If you made a list – who would be on it? What is it you admire about them? Have you told them?
How’s your grace rating for today?
I have received lots of grace at work, from family and from my doctor. My husband took me out for a meal – and my children are happy away on a Christian camp… That’s a gift in itself! How much grace have I shown? I don’t know, only others or God can answer that for me…. What matters more, is that I made an effort…. What have you put your effort into today?
© Copyright Michelle Sherlock 01/06/2011
Grace is the essence of God and true Christianity
Are we showing grace to one another? To ourselves?
Grace is to me is the essence of what God and Christianity is all about. God’s grace means unmerited or unearned favour or blessing. So this blog is written for all those who feel they can never measure up, never reach the right standard, never be good enough – because do you know what you’re right – you can’t on your own and neither can I. There’s hope for both of us, and that’s what I want to write about – Grace, Hope and “this little thing called Love”.
I believe that through God’s grace and through the birth, death and ressurection of Jesus Christ His Son, we can however experience living life to the full, enjoying God’s abundance without being dragged down by false guilt or shame. We can also guarantee our place in heaven and have God’s seal of approval – just by accepting that Jesus Chris is the son of God, asking Him to forgive us for everything we’ve ever done wrong and everything we ever will do wrong (believe me its a long, long list) and asking God our Father in heaven to accept us as His child and show us the right way to move forward in life – in His strength not just our own.
God’s grace means we can move beyond a never-ending list of rules and regulations that we can never measure up to and just focus on loving God and each other (even the people we don’t like and who don’t like us)! Oh, I didn’t say it would be easy…. believe me loving your enemies is far harder than loving your friends, but God will bless and honour us for it. Did I mentioned – Jesus promised that we can do anything at all in His strengh – even the things we couldn’t do alone and that “With God nothing is impossible”.
For anyone out there feeling patronised or irritated by what I just wrote – forgive me – I’m a beginner at blogging…. Just putting it out there and see where it leads. At some point we have to get off the fence and start standing up for what we believe in – and today this is my way of doing just that.
© Copyright Michelle Sherlock 30/05/2011 (Updated with photo in May 2014)
graceincorporated 