Your Mission for Today

Your mission today, should you choose to accept it . . .

Your mission today is NOT to witness to anybody. Your mission is to make as many friends as you can. Listen to their spiritual journeys, their stories. Find out what God’s doing with them, where God’s already working in their lives. Just listen. Listen to the Spirit as well. If given a chance, tell what Jesus is doing with you right now, too. But first just listen to them, love on them a bit, and see what happens.

from Tossing Aside the Tract

Freedom in Christ

I've been hearing and learning a lot about freedom lately. Here's a verse I was reading and thinking upon today . . .

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. Galatians 5:13

This whole thing of freedom is great. I am no longer bound to the legalistic chains that bind. I grew up with a horrible double standard.

"Don't listen to secular music." I was told this while many in the church secretly listened to secular music, but told no one because they'd be looked down upon.

"Don't listen to contemporary Christian music." It was treated as if it were of the devil, yet those people that shamed it were listening to secular music. Hmmm, I'd rather be listening to contemporary Christian music that uplifts the Lord then to hide my secular music in shame. These rules just make no sense.

"Men should not wear shorts." One time my husband came straight from work to a men's softball practice and he was wearing knee length military shorts. The pastor came to him and asked him not to do that again. Also, at one time the church/Christian school had a note on the door that said, "Thank you for not wearing shorts inside our building." This was by far the worst one ever! We used to have a van that would go around and pick up Marines for church. If the van driver saw Marines walking down the street, he would just stop and ask if they wanted to come to church. Of course, they were usually wearing shorts since they were out walking. Imagine how badly it made them feel to be invited to church, but then get there and see that sign. A few years ago, I found out that the school's boys' basketball team was wearing knee length basketball shorts. I was pretty much livid. It made me so angry that they had shoved these rules down my throat, put up signs, and shunned others that wore shorts, but suddenly it became ok. Whatever!!!! I do not have a problem with people wearing shorts, but don't shun them for it and then say it's ok. Geez!

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Now, there are some issues with freedom too. Some people take it as a license to do whatever they want. If you'll look at the verse above again, you can see that it says, "in your freedom, do not indulge in sinful nature".

Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin." John 8:34

Something Funny

My husband found an ad on the computer today for a youth and children's pastor. The position paid $125 per week and the required hours were 10 per week. It is so humorous that some churches still think of pastors as working only on Sundays or when the doors are open. It sounds as though that church is looking to pay a Sunday School teacher.

Elderly woman witnesses to man trying to rob her

Wow! This is pretty cool!

Chris Tomlin - Enough

A Bit About Me

Since I can remember, I have always attended church. That's not to say that I've always done the right thing.

I was raised in a very legalistic church. It's a wonder I didn't rebel. I'm thankful that I didn't. Being raised in the legalistic environment is a part of who I am. Now that I'm away from it, it is easier for me to see the faults of this kind of teaching. Sometimes it's hard not to see things in that light. Sometimes I have to give myself a check up.

Liberals will say I'm too conservative. Conservatives might say I'm too liberal. I'd call myself very conservative though.

I hope you enjoy this journey with me as I share my thoughts.

Until then . . . I'm desperately seeking.

First Post & Bit of Info

I've been tossing around this idea of starting a blog about things I've questioned and learned. The problem is, I could never think of a name that seemed appropriate. After a lot of thought, prayer, and more thought, I finally decided on Desperately Seeking. That is what I'm doing. I'm Desperately Seeking to Know Him More.

Although blogger is not my preferred format, it is the easiest and most inexpensive way to get started. I have to admit I was a bit annoyed though. I wanted the url desperatelyseeking.com, but it was already taken. That's not what annoyed me; it was that the url was taken by a blog that hasn't been updated in years!!!! It's becoming harder and harder to find a unique url because of everyone that's on the web now a days. The same is with email addresses. Blogger really should come up with some rules on deleting idle blogs.

After I saw that the url I wanted was taken, I mulled over this for a few more days. We now have desperatelyseekinghim.blogspot.com.

Although I have been blogging for over a year, I prefer to keep my identity here confidential. I'm not ashamed of my beliefs, but I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings by the things I say here. You'll learn more about that later.

Thanks for dropping by.