This morning in church, our minister, Pastor Tom, sang a solo at the end of his sermon.  In his sermon he talked about how salvation isn’t just for getting a ticket to keep us out of hell.  It’s a ticket for a joyous life.  (I hope I didn’t butcher the main point too badly!) 

(Note added later:  Pastor Tom read this post and told me I had gotten the basic sermon idea, but he added: “Another point is that we are to serve because we love Christ and not use the gift offered in Him just as ticket.  In fact one without the other is useless. One cannot have a true abundance until we get a real glimspe of the intentional, circumstancial, and ultimate will of God found in and through Christ.”)

The song he sang was “His Eye Is On The Sparrow.”  Click the title if you’d like to hear the music and read the history of the song.

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father…So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” Matthew 10:29-31

Ruth at Ruthlace has written a great post about women’s role in the church.  The few times I’ve written about the topic I’ve been bombarded with folks telling me about how wrong I am.  It always amazes me how many women are so eager to let an inaccurate interpretation of scripture limit what God can do in their lives.  Not so amazing  is the number of men who are eager to believe that they’re the only ones God wants to serve Him as a minister and in church services. 

Whenever I read something as well written and theologically sound as Ruth’s post on the topic, I want to mention it.

Just click over to Ruthlace and read it for yourself.

(1) “Be still, and know that I am God.” — Psalm 46:10

(2) “If you need wisdom — if you want to know what God wants you to do — ask Him, and He will surely tell you. He will not resent your asking.” — James 1:5

(3) “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” — Jeremiah 29:11

(4) “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” –Luke 12:34

(5) “Love Suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” — 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

(6) “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we all live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” — Galatians 5:22-26

(7) “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth. Where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is there your heart will be also.” — Matthew 6:19-21

(8) “But one thing I do; forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 3:13-14

(9) “And I know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son.” — Romans 8:28-29

(10) “I tell you solemnly, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it unto me.” — Matthew 25:40

(11) “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.” — Isaiah 40:31

(12) “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” — 1 John 5:14

(13) “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” — 2 Timothy 1:7

Every Tuesday and Thursday morning, when I’m on the way to work, I make sure my radio is on 97.9 so I can hear “Faith Break” by Dr. Harold Olds around 7:45 a.m. Dr. Olds is the pastor of Brentwood United Methodist Church, and “Faith Break” is a short, positive message for the day.

This morning’s topic was a particularly good one. Dr. Olds talked about “conspicuous consumption competition” and how people feel the need for more and more “stuff.”

Then he ended with a really good quote. I was driving and couldn’t write it down immediately. So my quote may not be exact. However, it’s close:

“Identity isn’t determined by what you have. Identity is an inside job.”

Amen.

Kat at Cathouse Chat has a wonderful post on the role of forgiveness after the Amish children were murdered last week. Kat makes several valid points.

As an individual, I am commanded to forgive. The thing is, God doesn’t say “After that person apologizes, then you forgive.” No. He says, “Forgive.” The reason for this is quite simple: to hold on to rage and anger and bitterness harms no one butourselves. . . .

Vengeance is God’s business, not yours.

However, this moves us to the responsibilities of governments. One of the ways that God exercises justice is through the governmental process. The government bears the sword of justice, and it is supposed to wield it upholding the law and protecting the innocent. Romans 13: 1-4:

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. [emph. mine] . . . .

The government is not called to forgive, it is called to uphold and enforce the law.

I’ve seen that the Amish have gone to this man’s family, offering love and support and forgiveness. I think this is a splendidly gracious thing to do, and a beautiful example of the Christian worldview. I think this will help them in healing their shattered lives, and provide peace and comfort in the midst of this terrible tragedy.

But what has this man’s family done that needs forgiving? They are victims of his actions as much as the Amish families are. I am glad that the Amish did it, because this family needs to know that they’re not blamed, and that they will not be ostracized. But in the strictest sense of forgiving a wrong, it is not required, because they did no wrong.

Just to remind you that there are more victims of this atrocity than we usually keep in mind…

Here’s today’s news about part of what happened to the Amish girls in their last moments:

The oldest of the five Amish girls shot dead in a Pennsylvania schoolhouse is said to have stepped forward and asked her killer to “Shoot me first,” in an apparent effort to buy time for her schoolmates.

Rita Rhoads, a midwife who delivered two of the victims, told ABC News’ Law and Justice Unit that she learned of 13-year-old Marian Fisher’s plea from Fisher’s family.

What’s more, Fisher’s younger sister, Barbie, who survived the shooting, allegedly asked the gunman, Charles Carl Roberts IV, to “Shoot me second,” Rhoads said.

“They were amazing,” Rhoads said, “absolutely amazing. There was a tremendous amount of calm and courage in that schoolroom.”

“Marian, the oldest one, did ask to be shot first,” Rhoads said. “The faith of their fathers really was embedded in them. … How many adults are willing to do that? Not many.”

Marian Fisher is being buried today, along with Naomi Rose Ebersole, 7, and sisters Mary Liz Miller, 8, and Lena Miller, 7.

Anna Mae Stoltzfus, 12, is to be buried on Friday.

When I read of such incredible courage and compassion for others - especially in someone so young, I’m even further sickened by such morally bereft low-lifes as Bill Clinton, O.J. Simpson and Ted Kennedy who don’t even have the courage to own up to their despicable behavior - much less be willing to sacrifice themselves for others. A 13-year old Amish girl is more of “a man” than they could ever be.

That’s right. We should release Saddam and let him go back to Iraq AFTER we give him a sex-change operation. As a matter of fact, we could release ALL the Islamic terrorists we have in custody. We’ll be very gentle with them - no torture or discomfort. Just give them lots of painkillers, do the sex change operation - let them recuperate with the best nursing care, and then send them home. A few days as a Muslim woman should put out the fire of their Islamic fanaticism.

(I heard that on the radio the other day - but I don’t remember what show it was.)

Crossposted aat Jihadi du Jour.

RT has a flair for making me laugh with his comments. The other day we were watching TV and saw a news clip about ministers who preach the “God will make you rich gospel.” (Of course the people must send the ministers money before God can start the rich-making process). RT remarked, “There will always be a wealth of dumb ass gullible people.” Then he told me about someone he was interviewing who, with stunning ignorance, talked herself out of the job. He said that she displayed CDA, or classic dumb assedness.

I once worked with a teacher who complained about all the HMPs (high maintenance parents) that she had to deal with. Then there were the kids who were OTL. You can probably guess that one without my assistance.

I wrote before HERE and HERE about RT’s and my wedding on September 5th at McHugh Park outside of Anchorage, Alaska. We woke up that Tuesday morning and realized we had just a few hours before our flight home from Alaska. Our Plan A for our wedding hadn’t worked out, but we still had our Alaskan marriage license, and we didn’t want it to go to waste. We could have waited until we got home to get married, but we had planned on being married in Alaska, and we didn’t want to give up that idea. The resulting Plan B was much better than Plan A ever could have been.

RT got the Anchorage phone book and started making phone calls around 9:00 that morning. He found a minister who could do the ceremony that day, we made a mad dash to Wal-Mart and REI for clothes, and met the minister at 1:00, drove to the park, and the wedding occurred around 1:45. By 8:00 that evening, we were on the plane back to Nashville. It was a whirlwind, but it was truly perfect.

The minister who performed the ceremony was Dr. Michael Mitchell. I don’t recall everything that Michael said during the “sermon” part of the ceremony. However, one thing did stand out. He used 1 Corinthians 13 as the text, and as he quoted each characteristic of love, he gave examples.

When he came to the part, “Love does not take offense,” he said, “Resolve today not to let your mate offend you. Only you can control whether or not you feel offended.” Then he went on to say that whenever we start to feel offended or annoyed by our mates, we should immediately make ourselves think of the things we love about them.

I realize I’ve been married less than three weeks - so it’s still the honeymoon phase for me - even though RT and I were married for 28 years previously. However, that is good advice, and it’s the one thing from Michael’s sermon that has really stuck with me.

Okay. I TOLD you here and here about how St. Joseph has helped me sell houses - within 24 hours of burying the statue in my favorite place in the yard. Now, it seems that others agree with me.

Joseph, the carpenter husband of the Virgin Mary, is the patron saint of laborers and house hunters, among others. The belief that St. Joseph aids home sellers traces back to St. Teresa of Avila, a nun in the 16th century who buried a medal of the saint and prayed to him to help get land for convents. The ritual seemed to work, and the practice, or variations of it, spread.

The modern tradition in the United States dates back at least four decades and is believed to have first gained in popularity on the heavily Catholic East Coast.

“In times of crisis, people try anything,” said the Rev. Harvey Egan, a professor in Boston Colleges theology department. “Many people turn to God or they turn to the saints or they turn to religion in times of crisis. It shouldn’t be like that, but that’s the way it is.”

Phil Cates, whose StJosephStatue.com of Modesto, Calif., offers 4- and 8-inch white statues, said he expects his business to grow 200 percent to 250 percent this year over 2005. Roman Inc. of Addison, Ill., which sells four styles to stores, has seen its sales increase 33 percent this year, chief executive Dan Loughman said.

The Society for the Propagation of the Faith of Boston, which runs a small store downtown, reported no trouble getting rid of its monthly supply of 100 statues or more.

“It’s going gangbusters now,” Loughman said. “I think it’s just tough times in the real estate market that’s driving them mostly.”

Demand isn’t limited to Catholic homeowners or real estate agents.
“We look at St. Joseph as really a nondenominational saint,” Cates said. “I think that what St. Joseph is about is about wakening the hopefulness in people. That hopefulness can lead to expectations, can instill confidence. We all know that confidence has led to miracles throughout the centuries.”

John Stastny of Denton, Texas, said his Catholic faith — and faith in the St. Joseph ritual — helped him sell two homes in Colorado. He is now trying to sell his current home without a real estate agent and expects his old, white St. Joseph statue to come through again.

“I think it helps me build my confidence that I can do it, and I know I can,” he said. “If you have faith in anything, you can accomplish quite a bit.”

Homeowner Diana Grammont is not Catholic but decided to give St. Joseph a try after her friend sold a home within a week of following the ritual. Grammont and her husband buried a painted, china statue upside down in the front yard of their Lexington home, which has been on the market since the summer began.

“Who knows what will come of it? It’s worth a try,” she said. “We’re just both kind of open to possibility.”

We’ll be selling RT’s cabin soon, and you can be sure my so-far-100%-lucky St. Joseph statue will be put to use again.