shine

So, last May-ish, some of my students were asked to sing together for Baccalaureate... and they asked me for some song ideas. I spent well over an hour pilfering through all the music resources at our local Family Christian Bookstore... and all I left with was the new Matt Redman CD and the songbook for it - there was one song that might work and the sheet music was on sale, so why not? Ridiculous. I ended up not even sharing it with any of the students.

Sunday afternoon I was working on some playlists to share with a friend... and I came across that CD. hmmm. Hadn't seen it in a while. That night I went to a church service... and they sang THE song. ??!!??!!

A week earlier a student told me at the aforementioned service that it's weird how I know every song they play. Truth is I don't. I know most of them. And I did go online and download a few that I have since learned.... but what's so weird about knowing worship lyrics??

So, at first, I laughed a little. One more song I "knew." Then today I went on Matt Redman's Myspace... of course he's got the song (Shine) playing there AND he's posted a blog entry about it too!

I figure if things echo that many times I'm supposed to take notice... and perhaps some people around me are too.....

long time, no write

So, I haven't been writing... I haven't been reading much, and I HAVE not had regular access to reliable internet in a good while...

So, while I work on some essays - yes, multiple writings, I really liked this piece of prose as I judge life for the rest of my year of almost 30....

And randomly, this probably deserves more attention later... but I was reconsidering some ideas I have about marriage... and read THIS this week.

The consideration was regarding Ruth and Boaz. I love their story. I love that she leaves her old life to join this new crazy people of faith... I identify with her story. I love that Boaz is a gentleman- he protects Ruth, he provides for her, he waits to make a move b/c their might be a better person for her. I hope for my own Boaz. Then, something struck me last week... What if God called you to be Boaz instead of Ruth? Could I do it in reverse? And it's something that still messes with my mind.... something I'll need to continue to wrestle with. God hasn't asked me to do it, so it's a little silly, and yet, something I think needs attention...

think for yourself, ok

my October church newsletter submission...

Last night I attended the Stand for the Family Rally at Mellon Arena. Dr James Dobson and friends are basically travelling around the country promoting the idea that Christians need to come out and vote and that their values/morals should help them to vote. The speakers don’t tell you who to vote for – they discuss issues and give you resources to see where different candidates stand on those issues.

As we walked from the car to the arena we had to walk through a path surrounded by protestors. You see, I tend to laugh when I get nervous. This mob of people with such contempt in their hearts for me as a person simply because I would go hear what they had to say at the rally made me nervous. Being forced to walk straight through the center of them – made me nervous. To laugh in front of them would appear to be laughing at them – and that didn’t sound like a good idea to me. I made a point of making NO eye contact. And just as I made it through a young man stepped right into my path to make eye contact with me and said, "Think for yourself, okay?" I just said, "Alright." Think for myself?? THINK for myself? Well, it made me think.

Last Sunday in a church service back in Maryland the Associate Pastor preached on the idea that most Christians do not know how to share what they believe or tell their faith story. The church is starting a series to help the congregation learn how. This is a church that had about 30 members 5 or 6 years ago and now they have 3 services to fit the 400 plus people that show up every week. Their growth has hit a plateau and they acknowledge it is because no one is sharing and this because they don’t know how. And all of that made me think about something I read in a book called Velvet Elvis.

"…Everybody has faith. Everybody is following somebody. What often happens is
that people with specific beliefs about God end up backed into a corner, defending
their faith against the calm, cool rationality of others. As if they have faith and
beliefs and others don’t. But that is not true. Let’s take an example: Some people
believe we were made by a creator who has plans and purposes for his creation,
while others believe there is no greater meaning to life, no grand design, and
we exist not because of some divine intention but because of random chance… Both
perspectives are faith perspectives, built on a system of belief…. Think about some
of the words that are used in these kinds of discussions, one of the most common
being the phrase "open-minded". Often the person with spiritual convictions is seen
as close-minded… What is fascinating to me is that at the center of Christian faith
is the assumption that this life isn’t all there is… that existence is not limited to what
we can see, touch, measure, taste, hear, and observe… Those who oppose this insist
that this is all there is, that only what we can measure … and see with our eyes is
real. There is nothing else. Which perspective is more "close-minded"? …"

I’m not saying those protestors at the rally were close minded. I just heard a report before we got there that "if they were going to bash homosexuals inside, we're gonna be outside to bash Christians." And I found myself thinking about it as "the haves" and "the have-nots". They have faith. They have hope. They just place them in really different things. And it’s not so much that I need to bring God to them – as much as it is that I need to help them see what they already believe about Him, and how they may not acknowledge Him but He’s been there all along. When I listen to their stories, they will listen to mine… and maybe even HIS. And I will take this moment to acknowledge that to tell you what I was thinking I had to quote two other people – but I do agree with them :0)

How long has it been since you’ve shared your faith story? Have you ever? Do you think you could? And what about His story? How well do you know it? If I called you and asked, "Why? Why with everything else out there, why Jesus? Why did you pick Jesus?" What would you say? All I can say right now is that I’m revisiting my answer. It’s gotten a little dusty and rusty – and I’m not okay with that. I’m not saying you have to as well - You can think for yourself.

Peace be with you,
Teri <}}><

A RANT!!!!!!!!

I was on the phone with an old friend and she was venting about a commercial that really really ticks her off. I listened. And because I'm a jerk, I had to add on to the conversation... You know what commercial really ticks me off?

Well, I get mad every time I see it. No really. I get REALLY mad.

Tell Someone. The shots of different aged women finally revealing to the world that most types of cervical cancer are cause by a "common virus."

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

They tell you that virus is called HPV - human papillomavirus. They tell you that you need to get pap tests done.

AND HPV, BY THE WAY, IS AN STD!!!!!!!!!!!!! genital warts anyone?

okay, okay. There are like 100 strains of HPV - which basically cause warts on the skin. But the commercial is referring to some specific strains (30 are genital HPV's) - and the strains that cause genital warts are not the same strains that give you cancer...

Recently ANOTHER commercial about HPV has started airing - which say, by the way, a pap test might shows effects of HPV, but not HPV. That would actually require getting THE HPV Test with your pap smear (which tends to miss pre-cancerous cells 15-50% of the time).... great odds.

And conveniently - GlaxoKlineSmith has just passed an HPV Vaccine - to fight four particular strains - 2 that cause cancer and 2 that cause warts - the most... but acknowledge you should still get Pap tests annually or semiannually to be safe. Some vaccine, eh?

Oh yeah - and as far as "protection" and "safe sex" - "recent studies have concluded that condoms only offer partial protection, at best, against the transmission of genital HPVs (Holmes 2004; Winer 2006). This may be due to the fact that HPVs can infect genital skin areas that are not covered by condoms." So apparently, it's not so "safe" after all.

Wikipedia goes on to say "The fact that prostitutes have much higher rates of cervical cancer than nuns was a key early observation leading researchers to speculate about a causal link between sexually-transmitted HPVs and cervical cancer (zur Hausen 1994). It remains clear that people with greater numbers of sexual partners are at increased risk of developing genital HPV-related diseases."

Dude. I'm gonna tell someone. Geez oh man. Reason number 8,745 to wait til marriage. Good grief. Are we that dumb? No, really. Are we? Have we gone to scare tactic commercials that act as if they are laying it all out but really aren't... Well, now we both know the truth. You gonna tell someone?

adios :o(

so bittersweet. i can totally remember my youth leader blasting us awake with Big House on a retreat... and just playing it on repeat all weekend....

And this summer my Youth Group was sent out to their worksites at workcamp to the blasting of Dirty.....

ever had a hero let you down?

"...We all like to have something or someone to look up to (including our idealized version of ourselves). As much as I dig Superman and movie heroes in general, I'd much rather follow The One whose complete Story I can't figure out by studying the Happy Meal toys at McDonald's. Rather than looking for someone with a towel on his back to follow, I suggest we look for the one with the towel around his waist... as he sits and washes our feet..."

read the rest of this blog

the "christian" table...

"I had friends who told me how difficult it was dealing with rude and demanding people. I’d also heard from countless others that the “Church crowd” is hands down the worst group of people to wait on. I never believed them, mostly because I was always part of the Church crowd. Unfortunately, I’ve come to find out how right they were."

I thought this was an interesting article...

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