debate: God initiated?

So do we act righteously as our decision?

Is all righteousness God intitiated?

Can I decide to be good? Do what is right?

Isaiah 54:17
No weapon formed against you shall prosper,
And every tongue which rises against you in judgment
You shall condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,
And their righteousness is from Me,”
Says the LORD.

(italics mine)

Does Jesus imply that he expects more from us and we can be righteous...

Matthew 8:23-26
Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"
26He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

27The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!"

hhhmmmmmmm (thinking to self)

show me your ways

“ For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.
“ For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts. ”

“ For a mere moment I have forsaken you,
But with great mercies I will gather you.
With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment;
But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,”
Says the LORD, your Redeemer.

U2 44

wake up dead man

But now you've walked off and left us,
you've disgraced us and won't fight for us.

You sold your people at a discount—
you made nothing on the sale.

If we had forgotten to pray to our God
or made fools of ourselves with store-bought gods,
Wouldn't God have figured this out?
We can't hide things from him.
Get up, God! Are you going to sleep all day?
Wake up! Don't you care what happens to us?
Why do you bury your face in the pillow?
Why pretend things are just fine with us?
And here we are—flat on our faces in the dirt,
held down with a boot on our necks.
Get up and come to our rescue.
If you love us so much, Help us!

Being a good neighbor

How do you be a good neighbor when his wife is killed in a car wreck and he was driving?

What if he and his wife are strong christians, authentic christians, flaws and all, out there interacting with your neighbors, using tennis as a method to socialize and witness, and then this happens?

Cheryl now is home with her savior. But her children and husband carry on.

25 And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”
27 So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’[h] and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’”[i]
28 And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”
29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 On the next day, when he departed,[j] he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ 36 So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”
37 And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

icons part 1

My office took a retreat and went deep sea fishing. We caught some good fish. This image is my fav, with the two little fish with giant nails thru their eyes! The other is me in my sunburn proof hat, and I am trying to hold up (off camera, well not camera, but off icon) a twenty pound plus red fish that was bigger than the legal limit (27"). My coworker made messenger icons for each of us. I thought it was interesting, we went fishing and these icons seem so different from the full image. Context.

Ole! Italia!

Social Apathy

Could it be that self righteousness breeds social apathy?

I have found two separate scriptural references to this, one in each testament.

Wow this really has me reeling...

Nice Job/Good decision

So...this is an email from my dad...they came to our church Sunday and I was teaching Sunday school...this is the second time my parents have been when I was teaching (and coincidently both have been on mother's day)...

Great job covering the two books today... You kept the presentation concise, added side bar information, encouraged group participation, and beat your time deadline.

Your approach was better than any I have seen from name deleted, and boy would I like to see our group leader use your approach. Our group leader would have taken three one hour seessions to do what you did in about 40 minutes..., and with much fewer side information.

We are proud about who you are, but today's session made your mom ( on a day very special to her to spend time with you) and me "super proud".

Plus taking the time to visit your Grandmother was a nice decision. I am sure she was thrilled. Thanks for doing that.......

Love,
Dad

btw my grandma was in the hospital on saturday. she stopped taking her meds and eating. We beleive she was dehydrated, but now she is back on the mends. We just wonder if this was a cry for help or a hey I'm still a mother. If the latter, then our visit got her exactly what she wanted, attention. Sad.