Thursday night we had a great service at church.  There was a man there who (I found out later) had been a Christian before, but had quit.  While he was in Iraq, a Humvee rolled over him.  A year later, he is suffering seizures from it.

The preaching was straight, and I heard him crying during the service.  At the altar call, he went up to pray at the altar.  I play the piano, and generally can’t see what’s going on directly in front of me because of my music book.  While I was singing, I saw a forearm and hand jut out beyond my book and put a pack of cigarettes on the altar.  How cool is that?

Being a musician can be challenging at times.  My first reaction was to jump up and down.  My second was to cry.  But I couldn’t do either while I was singing, so I just tried not to choke up in the middle of a sentence—because God was dealing with me, too.  I knew there were things I needed to fix, and the song was very appropriate.  I was singing to myself, too.

That was awesome.  I don’t remember anything being said about cigarettes or smoking during the preaching.  But, like the guy had told us, he had been serving the Lord before, and he probably knew what he needed to do. 

After reviewing my last post, I realized that, you know, maybe people just don't know where to turn.  I ranted about, "Why don't people just give their lives to God?"  But on second thought, maybe I should instead ask, "Do they know anything about God?"  Most people follow whatever their parents do, church-wise, for at least their childhood years, and they tend to keep some form of it with them through their adulthood.  If a person is never shown a reality of faith--not a formality or a system of tradition--he may never know the realness of Jesus Christ.

...having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.

I like what my husband says:  he wants common-sense Christianity.  I agree.  Who wants something off the wall and powerless?  If I'm going to invest my life in something, I want results, and I want it to make sense.

This morning we were in the car and were talking about marriage and people cheating on their spouses.  (It stemmed from a discussion about a Country song we had both heard before, "Do You Want Fries with That?")  I'm thankful for a Christian husband.  It's like we've got two-fold protection.  First, when temptations come, the Holy Spirit helps us and keeps us on the right track.  Secondly, when two spouses treat each other and conduct themselves the way the Bible says, it's going to work!

That's the good thing about the Bible:  in anything you undertake, if you use the Bible as your, well, Bible, it will unfailingly succeed.  To me, that's common sense:  God set it up, do it God's way, it will succeed.

So anyway, back to my questions.  There are people who know better, but just don't want it.  And there are a lot of people who operate under the guise of Christianity, but have no more desire for God than a goat.  But there are tons of people who have been steeped in popular religion or family tradition, what they've seen on TV, or what some friends told them about God; but know neither the true character and abilities of God, nor those of a person who dedicates himself to God.  The sad thing is, it's not a big secret.  It's in the Bible, which is available in every bookstore, most hotels, department stores, dollar stores, churches, on the internet, from the Mormons knocking on your door--everywhere!  Ask people if they have a Bible and they'll generally say yes, at least somewhere.  Ask them if they read it.  Well, uhhh...

Sadly, people generally will make a decision about God based not on any personal study of the Bible, but on other things that have absolutely no authority or weight at all--other people's opinions, a movie, etc.

When I started seeking God, I didn't take anyone's word for anything.  I wanted to SEE it in the Bible and then prove it for myself.  I guess I was skeptical.  Like I said, if I was going to invest my life in something so serious, I wanted to know why I did the things I did.  My first pastor had a saying that I love:  "Know what you believe, and why you believe it."  He was referring to being a Christian, and was saying that I shouldn't fall for anything that someone feeds me--even him.

Yes, I talk about Christianity a lot.  You know why?  I believe in it; as in, I know it will work for everyone, if they truly devote themselves to seeking the Lord.

There's another reason I set up this blog.  I want people to know ME--not what someone has told them about me, or some preconceived idea of my life.  Someone sent us something funny that had to do with Jesus, and he noted that he was sorry if it offended us.  (It wasn't dirty or disrespectful at all; it just referenced Jesus in a funny way.)  My husband read it and said, "He doesn't have any idea who we are."  I am not a nun.  I am not "sanctimonious", petrified, perpetually under a cloak of sad longing, oblivious to the realities of life, or the humor thereof.  I am a real person.  I live life. 

I'm going to clear the air and set the record straight.