“We are told to let our light shine, and if it does, we won’t need to tell anybody it does. Lighthouses don’t fire cannons to call attention to their shining- they just shine.”

Education and the Heart
-
In October of 2009, a terrible gang rape happened in California.  An estimated 10 males gang raped a girl for over two hours after a homecoming dance one evening.  As if that wasn’t tragic and horrifying enough, an additional 10 or more people were standing around watching this atrocity go on. 

-

Shortly after the news hit the airwaves, media outlets immediately launched in to discussions about how such a horrible thing could have happened.  Yes, it is indeed a terrible, terrible thing that happened to this young girl.  What prompts such acts to evil?  How do we prevent such acts of evil? 

-

The parents of the young girl released a statement⁽¹⁾ urging people in their outrage over the issue, to please take a constructive approach to resolving this issue.  They then implied about the need for better education, and a change in atmosphere within schools, to prevent this type of thing from happening again.  News outlets discussed with several people about ‘the solution’ for this problem over the next few days… Better security and better education were the top listed ideas.

Read the rest of the entry »

I wanted to take a great point I was reading about on another blog and share it with you here in my own words.  There has been an endless amount of coverage on the recent Tiger Woods tragedy or scandal or what have you.  News channels have brought in a wide range of ‘experts’ to analize why and how Tiger could have done such a thing.
-
The “expert opinion” given by most of these people has been all over the board, but, notice carefully which type of ‘expert’ you never see giving their analysis… We have the publicist, psychologists, lawyers; We have friends of Tiger, and friends of his mistresses and the ladies themselves; We don’t have any ‘experts’ giving a spiritual analysis.  Why is it that a pastor or other Christian leader (or, to be fair, other religious leaders) are not considered part of the panel that discusses the analysis of what the problem is?
-
Why could this be?
-
One person in the media, Brit Hume, recently “appealed to Tiger Woods to find redemption and forgiveness in Christianity… and presents the issue as one of objective truth …and gets right to the heart of the matter of alienation with others and God and our need for forgiveness and reconciliation. He doesn’t present Christianity as a placebo, faith makes us feel better. He offers what Woods needs, what we all need: redemption.”⁽¹⁾  He was soon thereafter ransacked with attacks from other media outlets and even comedian Jon Stewart, who openly and blatantly mocked the Christian faith, using Hume as his primary target⁽²⁾.
-
I propose that the Christian worldview… the Christian message that we call the Gospel… the Good News, is a threat to todays western culture.
Read the rest of the entry »

Sometimes, some days, we find ourselves thinking that it’s just hard to get out of bed.  Sometimes, some days, we wake up, and just don’t want to go on.  We look at our lives and see the vicious cycle, day in, day out, over and over again.  Nothing changes.  Nothing rearranges.  Nothing new. 
“How did I get to this place?” we ask ourselves.  “Why am I stuck in this place, this job, this house, this situation?”
Sometimes, some days, we wake up and look back over our recent days, weeks and months and think that maybe it’s all just a waste.  Maybe we’re just wasting our time and our energy and efforts… all for what?  For some vague existence in some hole in the wall job, or some life situation you can’t seem to get out of?
“What’s the point?” you ask yourself.  “What’s my purpose?”  “There has to be more to it.”
-
You’re right.  There is more to it.  But it’s probably not how you think…
-
In the book, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, the main character, Eddie, was a maintenance man at an amusement park called Ruby Pier.  He had worked there most of his life, and died working there.  In this fictional story, he finds himself talking to a little girl after he dies:
“I was sad because I didn’t do anything with my life.  I was nothing.  I accomplished nothing.  I was lost.  I felt like I wasn’t supposed to be there,” Eddie says.
“You were supposed to be there,” she said.
“Where?  AT Ruby Pier?
She nodded.
“Fixin’ rides?  That was my existence?  Why?”
She tilted her head, as if it were obvious.
“The children,” she said.  “You keep them safe… It’s where you were supposed to be,” she said.^{(1)
Read the rest of the entry »}

Sometimes, we just need someone to give us, and allow us, that chance for a fresh start… a clean slate…

“He came to my desk with a quivering lip,
the lesson was done.
“Have you a new sheet for me, dear teacher?
I’ve spoiled this one.”
I took his sheet, all soiled and blotted
and gave him a new one all unspotted.
And into his tired heart I cried,
“Do better now, my child.”

I came to the Throne with a trembling heart;
The day was done.
“Have you a new day for me, dear Master?
I’ve spoiled this one.”
He took my day, all soiled and blotted
And gave me a new one all unspotted.
And into my tired heart He cried,
“Do better now, My child.”"

Written by an elementary school teacher
~Unknown~
Possibly written Kathleen Wheeler

I’m going to start a new “piece” to A World Between… in hopes to draw some of you in and create good conversations, either designed to make us all think, or just have fun chatting, or even occasionally try to answer some really tough questions and ponderments in life.  Hope you enjoy!

Conversations: An Angels Sin

Before I begin, let me just state, that I haven’t done any extensive homework on these issues, so I have no one sided opinion at this point.  I am simply raising the questions, and seeing what answers you can give, and myself as well.  So please chime in.

I was thinking today about the story of when Lucifer chose to go against God.  In short, the story goes, “Satan fell because of pride. He desired to be God, not to be a servant of God… Satan was likely the highest of all angels, the most beautiful of all of God’s creations, but he was not content in his position. Instead, Satan desired to be God, to essentially “kick God off His throne” and take over the rule of the universe. Satan wanted to be God, and interestingly enough, that is what Satan tempted Adam and Eve with in the Garden of Eden
Read the rest of the entry »

The Trials [part 3]

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

In this third and final part, I want to just wrap up…

In the book of Matthew it says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs.  (11)  “Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of Me.  (12)  Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:10-12 HCSB)

As Christians, sometimes we expect things to get easier for us, since we are on God’s side…  We face Trials…  Besides persecution, I’m sure you can think of 100 other examples of types of trials we might face in life…  Why do we have to go through them in the first place?!

I dealt with that question a little bit previously in a post called The Suffering, but perhaps that is a question left to God.  Perhaps each time, there is a different reason with each person.  Perhaps there is only one reason.  I do not know exactly.  But what I do know is that there is a reason.  There is a hope at the end of all the trials, the suffering and the pain.  A true hope.  One that will not fail us.  One who knows and has felt all that we have been through…

At the end of time, billions of people were scattered on the vast plain before God’s Throne. Some shrank back from the brilliant light before them. But many other groups talked heatedly, not cringing with shame, but with belligerence.

“Can God judge us? How can He know about suffering?”, snapped a pert brunette. She ripped open a sleeve to reveal a tattooed number from a Nazi concentration camp. “We endured terror … beating … torture … death!”

 
Read the rest of the entry »