SelahV Today

When Things Go Wrong

we tend to assume the worst.

One would think when you pay 180.00 a year for a website service that it would have some sort of virus protection on it.  You think it could never crash and wipe out all the years of writing I have done.  You think.  However, since no one I know who has Typepad is having the same problem as I am, I have to assume the worst.

A worm has got into my website and eaten my copy.  It gobbles it up as soon as I hit save or publish or place my in a draft.  When I go back to my draft to continue working on the post in any one of my blogs, the worm sucks out the words like a vacumn cleaner sucks up crumbs.  So, before I post anything, I have to be doubly sure that it is edited as I want because I cannot come back to it to re-edit the copy.  When I finish anything, I have to publish it right then and there.  And even when I publish it, the only place I have as an original is in a cloud on Typepad's website url.

Those of you who write blogs every day know what I am talking about.  It's not fun.  It's annoying.  And by the looks of things, Typepad is not doing anything about it.  I hope they resolve it soon.  If not, I will probably be moving to another platform and re-writing all my copy from scratch.  I don't dare take the chance that downloading from the settings available to me would not pass the worm into another composer's system.  Alas, alas.  I should have listened to Glenn Beck and backed up all my writing with that company he uses.  Ya never think it is going to happen to you, though.  So, here I am.  At the mercy of cyber-optics and under the attack of some goofball out in blogland.

Can you imagine if this bug were to get into a banking system and eat everyone's deposits, checks and debits?  Or if it got into the IRS it might be a good thing.  Ha ha.  They couldn't charge us taxes.  Or if it got into the medical records and wiped out the procedures you've had or the medicines you are allergic to.  Or if it got into the Pentagon and wiped out all their data.  Of if it wiped out the prison records and released all the criminals.  Or if it wiped out the control systems for flight control patterns.  Or if it wiggled its way into electrical or utility grids and wiped out their mode of operation?  WOW.

When things go wrong, we cannot assume the worst.  The worst can always be worse than we assume.  And then again, it can be better than we think.  God is still on the throne.  Jesus has still overcome the world.  And I am still here peck, peck, pecking out my thoughts.  The thought of all my thoughts being wiped clean actually is appealing in a strange sort of way.  Old thought out, new thought in.  Hmmn...there might be an upside to this mess after all.  selahV

What to Say and When to Say It

Several years ago I wrote a post entitled:  Words Unfit To Print.  I revisted that post recently and felt it was probably a good idea to ponder my own words.  I wonder if there are those who find themselves struggling with what is acceptable to print, but more-so, what a person needs to say while balancing what one should not say.

Of late, I have found that when we are accused of specific things, and are wrongly perceived, our first reaction to diffuse the stick of dynamite placed in our pathway and the paths of others, is one of defense.  We defend ourselves.  We do that in several ways.  We try to pull the fuse that has been lit.  Then we gather others to our side to defend our actions.  Then we go on the offense.  We circumvent what others say by saying things to make ourselves less "guilty-of-charges".

I do believe that blogging can be one of the most destructive things on earth, with the exception of Facebook.  The world has entered a new age with multi-media and social-media.  Things which use to be said in private, dealt with in private, has become completely public.  Much of what we might never have voiced in a face-to-face, is easily squeezed out of the proverbial toothpaste tube with no way to squish it back in.  Many areas of disagreement that were once settled over a cup of coffee, or private sidebar discussion, are now displayed in the living-rooms and office laptops for all the world to witness.

Blogging provides the perfect outlet for an instantaneous "letter-to-the-editor/writer".  That letter then invites the next response.  Admittedly, I have hastily written a few of those myself and been on the receiving end of a response.  Some warranted, some unwarranted.  However, if we are going to jump into any frying pan in life, we must accept the fact that we are liable to get burned in the sizzling fat.  Clearly, the best way to avoid blisters is to stay out of the pan.  In fact, sometimes the pan is so hot, it is best to station oneself far beyond the fryer, or  chance an errant hot oil hitting your hand or popping you in the eye.

So, what is the best thing a person can do?  Stop entering conversations--whether invited or uninvited?  Stop thinking our viewpoint is necessary to a conversation?  Refrain from opining?

Let anyone say anything, write anything?  Stop challenging opinions?  Stop debating issues with others whether or not the issue is germane to us or those we love?  Stop reading blogs?  Let the world do what it wants to do without any input?  Ignore unseemly stuff?  Refuse to wallow with pigs?  Just keep your toes clean and stay away from pig-pens?  Do not hold anyone accountable for their views and actions?  Keep your thoughts to yourself?

Scripture offers muliple instruction on controlling our tongue, our thoughts, our attitude, our spirit.  Several bloggers I know have given some really sage advice on these things through the years.  I have written multiple posts--most of which have received little attention.  When a person is a peacemaker or an encourager, we tend to have less company in the midst of strife, struggle, and sour situations.  That does not mean others are not reading or hearing our words.  Nor does it mean our words of wisdom and admonition return void upon a hearer's or reader's mind.  It just means, we follow what the Lord leads us to say, then leave the fall-out and the consequence of our seed-sowing, watering, and fertilizing to Christ for manifestation of obedience to Him.  I am not the Holy Spirit; I'm merey an ambassador.

I shall not grow weary in well-doing.  I shall not faint in the day of adversity.  I shall choose this day Whom I shall serve.  I shall do all I can to live at peace.  So does the Lord want from me?

"He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8

"DO justice?  love kindness?  walk humbly with your God?  How does one "do" justice and condone the unjust?  How does one "love" kindness and behave unkindly?  How does one "walk" humbly with God and run proudly with man?  It's quite a balancing act, isn't it?  What is "good" to me, may be totally bad to another.

Search me, O, God and know my thoughts.  Give me discernment in what is wise, what is good, kind and just.  Help me walk in that discernment with humility before You.  selahV

Sunday Afternoon, Kindle Fire, Facebook, and Friends

Dinner has been consumed.  The dishes are clean and put away.  My granddaughters are laughing and squealing as they hide their colored eggs, over and over again outside.  Oklahoma skies are filled with grey un-threatening clouds.  The sun has taken a vacation day. It's a sleepy afternoon.

Hubby is sitting here reading his new birthday-Kindle Fire... well, not really.  He's trying to figure out how to get on Facebook and read my wonderful blogs....hee hee.  I think his interest was piqued since he discovered someone deleted one of my, uh-hmmmn, brilliant, yet, not so politically correct comments on a blog a week or so back.  Hubs has kinda sat in the shadows of my internet connections and watched me flit from place to place talking about all the people I meet on the world-wide-web.

I think until, a fellow blogger from Fort Worth, Texas stumbled into our church sanctuary today and wanted to see me, my hubby thought all this bloggin' stuff was a figment of my virtual imagination.  Now, he sees that people are real, and, that some real men still wear ties and suits on Easter morning!!  Hey, hey, hey!  I must say I was quite honored to have Ron Phillips, Sr. drop in on our church service to meet me while in town visiting his family.  Quite honored.  We took a photo for posterity.  I hope Ron doesn't get a bad reputation, hangin' out with the likes of me.  We talked about a bunch of things, and touched on, my deleted comment.  I had to laugh.  Much ado about so little.  BUT...

Now, hubby wants to know: "So what does it mean if someone deletes your comment?"  Guess I'll have to educate him on the finer points of SBC bloggin' and the dangers of talking to just anyone who wants to call you "friend" on facebook.  Scary world we live in, ya know?

Anyway, it is Sunday afternoon.  Nascar has no races.  So what else can hubby and I do but read books and play with our gadgets (we don't want to find colored eggs).  I'm having fun watching my Bob trying to figure out how some of this internet stuff works. 

He keeps trying to log on to a Facebook account I set up for him a long long time ago.  It wouldn't let him get on.  One time he can get on the web without problems, the next, they are giving him flack...ha ha.  Now, he's just pecking around, trying to find his way around our virtual world.  He's been searching for answers (he's not one to give up easily).  He keeps getting a message that tells him they've lost him.  I'm so glad God never loses sight of him....nor me.

Even though I may follow all the wrong links at times (or get dumped off a few others), God keeps me linked to Him.  I may click all the wrong buttons one day, and say stuff He would rather I didn't, I may forget all the rules and throw caution to the wind at times, and find myself disconnected from my internet server.  But, God stays connected to me...and I to Him...always.  We may forget my husband's password to connect to Facebook, but it doesn't mean we can't connect to our Lord.  We'll figure out a way to make a new password for him on Facebook.  But we always have our password saved to reach God.  His name is Jesus.  What a glorious Easter afternoon it is.  Amen?  selahV

Do YOU Desire to See GOOD Days?

Do you love life?

Do you want to see days where the sun shines and rainbows form from crystals in the rain-blessed sky?

Do you want to see your seeds sprout, your corn grow, the tares controlled, and reap a bountiful harvest of "good" days?

1 Peter 3:10-12 offers some help:

" For whoever desires to love life
              and see good days,
let him keep his tongue from evil
              and his lips from speaking deceit;
let him turn away from evil and do good;
let him seek peace and pursue it.

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

I thought about this passage a lot in the last few days.  I wondered when I shared the heartaches I had, the brokenness I felt, the misunderstandings and false perceptions of others toward me.  Does anyone really know what I desire with the words I use?  Is what my tongue utters "evil"?  I wonder this because, when I feel no animosity, nor anger in my heart, nor any ire, nor wish no ill-will against anyone, how are my words "evil"?

I think if I do my best to be as forthright, forthcoming and honest with my words, not hiding behind flattering phrases or pacifying language, is that "speaking from deceit"?  If not, then what must I do to have better days?  Days empty of angry emails, days where the emails do not notify me of canceled subscriptions to my words, days where people are as friendly as the waitress who hopes to gain a tip for serving me.  Days wherein folks I know who hold a different opinion than I, find I have not changed my heart, simply because I share a thought or two from my mind.  Where are those days if my words are not intent on doing the work of Satan in a faith-based community?

Could it be?  Could it be I am in the midst of evil, and darkness and had not seen the forest for the trees of ego-mania and self-centeredness towering over me?  Could it be I am in a meadow filled with thistles, tares and poison ivy?  Perhaps that is it...perhaps the problem rests in turning away from that attractive meadow of brilliant colors, where stately cactus stand ready to prick the life out of me as I pass through.  Perhaps, another path is where I need to turn.  I need to get out of the briar-laced thickets.  I need to get back on the beaten path, one walked by the saints before me, then "seek peace and pursue it".  At all costs.  No matter what seeds are carried and implanted around me.  Then I will find the "good" at the end of each day.  I will find the peace and joy and love by the still waters.  And my heart will overflow with God's grace and love.  Do you desire "good days", too?  Let's see if we can make a few together...okay?  selahV

Yet Another Reason to WEAR CLEAN UNDERWEAR and NOT BURY BLOGPOSTS of VITAL IMPORTANCE in a Sea of Mundane Blatherings by hariette petersen

No.  Unfortunately, this post is not really about mama's sage advice for you to don clean boxers or undergarments, in case you are in an accident and wind up in the emergency room of life.  It is about a court system that makes us wonder about the brain cells of aging Supreme Court Justices and ANY Justice appointed by any president--be they conservative or liberal, with liberal or conservative majorities in the House and Senate of the United States.

Thanks to Marty Duren for calling attention to this obscene ruling and unreasonable logic of the highest court in the land of free-thinking, law-abiding, countrymen who just happen to believe in the 4th Amendment and have read the Bill of Rights when they were school-children.

In what is certainly one of the most grotesque disemboweling of civil liberties since Congress last took a vote, the Supreme Court of the United States has granted unfettered authority to police or jail officials to conduct strip searches on any person arrested for any crime. So, dear reader, the next time you are stopped for a traffic violation by an officer who decides to make you an example, you could find yourself standing naked, exposed and exposing while a police officer or jailer looks you over in a way that would make a nearsighted urologist blush.

Duren writes:

"In what is certainly one of the most grotesque disemboweling of civil liberties since Congress last took a vote, the Supreme Court of the United States has granted unfettered authority to police or jail officials to conduct strip searches on any person arrested for any crime. So, dear reader, the next time you are stopped for a traffic violation by an officer who decides to make you an example, you could find yourself standing naked, exposed and exposing while a police officer or jailer looks you over in a way that would make a nearsighted urologist blush.

This kind of corrupt, Third World, dictatorial ruling opens the door for unreportable, unprovable molestation and rape."

I have not read all the briefs and opinions of the Supremes (Justices on the United States Supreme Court).  However, if what Marty Duren, respected pastor, author, and voice among Christians, is right in his understanding of this ruling, my stomach turns, my mind goes beserk, and my spirit groans.  How could this be?

How can a panel of robed elitist, and highly respected wise men and women come to such disgusting ruling?  Do they not see how their decision ushers in sanctioned abuse of power?  That's right...sanctioned and approved abuse of power.  Do they think that this ruling exempts themselves and their children and grandchildren--their moms and sisters and little cousins?  Are there any...I say, ANY, exceptions to their ruling?  I do not know--according to Marty's well-researched article, it does not appear so.  Surely the advocates of all-things-legal and right are looking into it with precedent-set microscopes and scapel-driven precision.  To think that "anyone arrested" of the least infraction of the law, shackled in handcuffs--be they guilty of any alledged violations or not--could find themselves stripped down to bare skin, is absolutely dehumanizing.  It begs for better definitions of the words absurb, deplorable, irrational, and insane.

It's sick!  Demented.  Beyond the pale of reasonable thinking.

Given the unreasonable violations of human dignity imposed (upon little old ladies wearing Depends and Poise pads, and toddlers wearing Huggies and Pampers when boarding jets to fly from Podunk, Kansas to Disney World), by TSA agents who show no respect for humanity, nor the common sense of a snail, we can only foresee the most horrendous of violations and constitutionally guaranteed rights of the electorate.

Folks, we do well to get to the bottom of this ruling.  We need to strip-search the entire wording of every brief and if need be, expose it to the world in its unflattering naked truth.  [All puns intended.]

If this is a ruling that negates and shackles law-enforcement officers from doing the unthinkable, and the most demeaning of actions when a preacher is arrested for reading the Bible in front of a DMV office, or a young woman is arrested for a sit-in protest at the Occupy Wall Street gatherings, or a teenage girl who stands too close to an Abortion Clinic...then we need to know.

We need to know when we parents and grandparents, send our unsuspecting (and sometimes foolish), children out into the highways and byways with their brand new shiny driver's licenses to pick up a gallon of milk, that if they weave, or roll to a stop, or heaven forbid, forget to buckle their seatbelt, then they will be arrested and strip-searched without the presence of an attorney or parental permission.

We need to know, to walk the line of law, set our cruise controls, air up our tires, and obey the rules of all cities, counties, and states before we dare hop in our cars and drive to grandpa's house to hunt ducks, or deer and not check the laws of the land for transporting weapons across state lines.

We need to know.   We need clarification.  We need details.  We need more folks to find out what in the world we are doing talking about Obama's ire regarding the decision of the Supremes concerning his unconstitutional Health Care Bill, when stripping that bill of a forced compliance to purchase insurance, is nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to strip-searching of Americans and foreigners alike. But when you consider the fact that uninsured Americans could be strip-searched if Obamacare as it is written, is ruled legitimate, and we fail to purchase health- insurance, we have got to rethink EVERYTHING we think.

Tell me you are mistaken, Marty.  Tell me I'm over-reacting to an over-zealous blogger's opinion and interpretation of the Supreme's recent ruling.  Tell me I'm a reader gone wild.  Please. Otherwise, I'm gonna move to Canada, sit inside my cabin in the woods, shut down all communication with the outside world, and never come out. God have mercy.  selahV

In what is certainly one of the most grotesque disemboweling of civil liberties since Congress last took a vote, the Supreme Court of the United States has granted unfettered authority to police or jail officials to conduct strip searches on any person arrested for any crime. So, dear reader, the next time you are stopped for a traffic violation by an officer who decides to make you an example, you could find yourself standing naked, exposed and exposing while a police officer or jailer looks you over in a way that would make a nearsighted urologist blush.

This kind of corrupt, Third World, dictatorial ruling opens the door for unreportable, unprovable molestation and rape.

In what is certainly one of the most grotesque disemboweling of civil liberties since Congress last took a vote, the Supreme Court of the United States has granted unfettered authority to police or jail officials to conduct strip searches on any person arrested for any crime. So, dear reader, the next time you are stopped for a traffic violation by an officer who decides to make you an example, you could find yourself standing naked, exposed and exposing while a police officer or jailer looks you over in a way that would make a nearsighted urologist blush.

In what is certainly one of the most grotesque disemboweling of civil liberties since Congress last took a vote, the Supreme Court of the United States has granted unfettered authority to police or jail officials to conduct strip searches on any person arrested for any crime. So, dear reader, the next time you are stopped for a traffic violation by an officer who decides to make you an example, you could find yourself standing naked, exposed and exposing while a police officer or jailer looks you over in a way that would make a nearsighted urologist blush.

In what is certainly one of the most grotesque disemboweling of civil liberties since Congress last took a vote, the Supreme Court of the United States has granted unfettered authority to police or jail officials to conduct strip searches on any person arrested for any crime. So, dear reader, the next time you are stopped for a traffic violation by an officer who decides to make you an example, you could find yourself standing naked, exposed and exposing while a police officer or jailer looks you over in a way that would make a nearsighted urologist blush.

In what is certainly one of the most grotesque disemboweling of civil liberties since Congress last took a vote, the Supreme Court of the United States has granted unfettered authority to police or jail officials to conduct strip searches on any person arrested for any crime. So, dear reader, the next time you are stopped for a traffic violation by an officer who decides to make you an example, you could find yourself standing naked, exposed and exposing while a police officer or jailer looks you over in a way that would make a nearsighted urologist blush.

BORING "Church" May Just Be a Thorn in An Average Joe's Flesh

THEN AGAIN...

it might just be a figment of a Christian's imagination.  "Boring church" could be the inability to focus on more than three words at a time, absent of vowels. I read where some folks are having a tough time sitting in front of a computer without web-surfing to eleven things in a twenty-minute period.  They get antsy.

Many folks go to work, turn on their computers, and don't feel like balancing the books from last month's checking account. They get bored entering data, analyzing business particulars.  So they let their fingers run wild finger-clicking from eBay, to Craig's list, then back to the spreadsheet they're working on for the boss.  Within ten minutes they get bored with themselves and their inability to think creatively, so they click on over to the latest BUZZ, or check their Twitter feed, and Facebook "walls", to stimulate their braincells and get some inspiration for how to make the boss believe they worked all day on a project that only took thirty, very interrupted minutes.  

Or "boring church" could be the need to be entertained with Hollywood-style productions-- the bling, the lights, the dry ice and fake snow.  Of course, it could be that a few preachers just don't know how to preach and walk and dance and act and sing and dramatize and sit still on those uncomfortable, but trendy stools.  Some old preachers have a bit of a problem balancing their floppy Bibles without a podium.  Others don't like that little wire, draped around their ears and down their backs.

Others just wanna have fun.

I went to the directory of SBC Voices today to see if my post had loaded into their website correctly (sometimes it gets caught up in a time-warp somewhere).  In reality I think it's because Satan is battling Michael and trying to keep my warm fuzzies and witty wonders from getting to you in a timely manner.  While I was scanning to see if my last post made it out of the gate and into the pool of greater thinkers than I, I happened to notice a question in the titles.  I love titles with questions, don't you?  you can sit back in your recliner and answer that question without even bothering to read the post.  After all, we have a right to answer a question posed to us don't we?  No?  Uh, oh, I need to go back and tell a blogger friend of mine, that I answered his question instead of reading his post to get his answers.

Rhetorical questions are sooooo annoying, aren't they?

Just when you think you have the right answer, the questioner whips out their own.   Kinda like google's search engines.  They automatically type in what you are thinking before you even have it figured out.  Gee.  Anyway, I was ready...I'm talking greased-and-primed ready... when I saw fellow blogger, Joe Thorn's question in the featured blog titles.  He asked: "Are You Tired Of Your Boring Church?"

...yeah, buddy.  I had the comeback.

I was gonna tell him my church ain't boring.  Between choruses of hand-clapping praise harmoizing with tradition Victory-in-Jesus-style hymns, then a few minutes of shaking hands, and hugging on people, we switch to specials that reach inside your ears and melt your heart to tears, till you know God is in there--stuck there stirring up an appetite in your spirit for the main entre.  Bro. Doug stands, and walks up all calm and cool to our portable podium, opens up his Bible, and begins to break the Bread of Life in expository fashion.  Soon you're so filled up you don't even notice that it's time to leave and go home for dinner. (You were so caught up in the Words, that you didn't even remember to think about the roast you have cooking at home or whether or not it's getting dry).

But before you head for the back door, you realize you have a front row seat to the next hand-clapping, celestial celebration of the angels in heaven, as some lost soul hears God telling 'em He wants 'em to join His family forever and ever and ever.  So you get to go and introduce yourself, and let them know that you are gonna be around for eternity, so you hope they get use to your chubby cheeks and happy face while they are here on earth.

After answering that rhetorical question inside my brain, I clicked on over to see how Joe Thorn answered it, and if you think I'm gonna spoil the whole thing for you, well...you're gonna be sorely disappointed.  Go HERE if you are "tired of your boring church" and see what (the not-so-average) Joe says.  Never let it be said that I think I have all the answers.  Oh, no.  Not I.  selahV

Smacked Down, Rebuked, Admonished and WELL...

overestimated, I suppose.

FRIENDLY WARNING...this is longer than my usual 600 to 800 words.  Should you choose to stop reading and lodge complaint, do so in the comment box.  I may not respond, but I will read it.  Not promising I will publish it.  You see, that way I will not be accused of deleting or altering it. (tongue-in-cheek TIC)  On with my post:

Today I received a very very kind word via automatic subscription from a man I truly respect.  He is among many Calvinist ministers and reformed-thinking Christians I know and love.  In 2006, a former 5-point Calvinist introduced me to the wild and wooly world of internet blogging.  The first time I ever heard of a blog is when I heard of Rosie O'Donnell's diatribes of controversy over gay-marriage.  Imagine that!  I thought web-sites were for folks with tons and tons of money.  I had a computer, albeit an antiquated 1990's model which had been refurbished a couple of times to accomodate web connections with the world beyond my tiny sphere of AOL Instant Messaging and eBay selling.  I had no knowledge of Calvinism or their identification with the TULIP.  I did not even know my friend of many years ever wore a 5-point Calvinist badge of honor. 

Rambling and reminiscing ends.  Point begins.

I don't consider myself a "player" in the interworking machinations of SBC politics...or any politics for that matter.  I'm a lone voice in a very tiny space.  I speak for no one but myself (and my Lord on higher issues).  My friend who got me started in blogging did so because he thought I needed to write to purge the pangs of all-consuming grief over the loss of my 33-year-old son.  My longstanding friend also knew my heart and how deeply I loved the SBC for which I attribute a great deal of credit for my salvation of mind, body and soul. 

I'm going somewhere, I promise.

As I stepped into the baptismal waters of blogging, I discovered that sometimes the water is extremely frigid, and other times uncomfortably boiling.  Very rarely did I find any lukewarm or bathtub temperatures in which to wade, splash about, or drop a line into and sit a spell.  Rarely were there any nibbles on my line.  In fact, one dear Calvinist friend of mine told me after I'd been blogging for several months at the same fishing hole as he, that he'd usually skipped over my words of wit and wisdom.  Can you believe?  Then one fine day he got tangled in my line.  After that, he decided he'd always make an effort to read what I had to say.  We became fast friends, moreso because of God, but partially because I came to his defense in a discussion along the SBC watering-holes of life.  We were already brother and sister in Christ.  I often prayed for him in his ministry and in his studies at SWBTS. He shared concerns on being a young and eager minister in an "established" church.  I still mention he and his family in my prayers today, though I haven't chatted with him in a very very long time.  He got tired of all the quibbling amongst the SBC brethren and retired from blogging to minister to the sheep in his flock and seek the lost in the fields ripe unto harvest. (I know lots of men like him.)

I met other bloggers along the way in the midst of controversy and muddy waters.  Some, I debated ad nauseum.  One in particular, seemed to follow me around and snipe my every remark and comment.  She had this uncanny way of twisting everything I said to mean something I'd never intended it to mean.  She read every single word I wrote and accused me of some rather seedy things.  She presupposed every post or devotional I wrote, was written with her in mind.  I even had a special file-folder for emails she continued to write.  I stopped reading them and answering them, I simply deposited them in the file-folder of fodder.  I did my best to converse and communicate, but ya know?  Some folks ya just need to avoid...you need to ignore...you need to forgive, pray for, and accept as Jesus would.  Then kick the dust from your feet and move on down the road.

I was invited to write for every collaborative blog I was a part of.  I did not beg or push my way into those forums.  I was usually asked to be a part of them at their conception.  As they gained notoriety, and other contributors, my voice and presence was a little more than tolerated for my token view.  Most times, things moved along like a barge on the Ohio River...calmly, peacefully, steadily.  I tried to ignore the logs in the river and tend to the one in my eye.  Whenever I felt welcome in the area in which I wrote, I stayed.  And I wrote.  I even defended those with whom I did not agree at times.  Other times, I remained silent.  I met some very gracious and grace-filled folks along the way.  I've prayed for many I've never met...and they have prayed for me. 

Far more blessings and friends have come my way than warts and toads.  Even ones who might count me enemy, I count as brother or sister.  I may not see eye to eye with them on subject, style, and substance, but I will not question the probability that we will share space at the heavenly feast someday.  The best part about that is, we will each be perfected and complete--one mind--one spirit.  In full and perfect fellowship and accord.  Won't it be grand?

One time, early into my writing ministry, I found that my antiquated computer could no longer meet the needs of my perpetual pecking.  I wrote about it on my blog.  It was near the time, as I recall, that my husband had a major heart attack.  Simultaneously, our financial situation became so grave that I decided the internet connection and my web-service would have to go.  Our budget could not include such luxury.

Out of the blue, an internet friend (who happens to be Calvinist), invited me to lunch in Wichita Falls, Texas. After luxuriously dining at the Olive Garden, she took me to her trunk and presented me with a brand new computer, printer and keyboard.  Before I made it home I was penning a letter in my mind to another internet friend (and virtual stranger, who asked to remain anonymous). I'd met her when I encouraged her to hang tough in the SBC, there was a place for her.  This same person had already contacted me and was boxing up a refurbished computer for me to have "free of charge".  When I told her I was already given another computer, she told me I could let my husband have it for his ministry.  God provides, my friends.  He really really does.  I was privileged and honored to pray for her and her husband when the IMB commissioned them as missionaries abroad.

Within a few days of receiving the Olive Garden computer, a person I did not know sent me his book about his father.  In the book was three twenty-dollar bills.  I could not believe it.  At the time, it was the exact amount I needed to keep my internet connection.  Again, God provided.

The same person who sent me his book, asked if he could share my overwhelming financial strain and health problems with others.  I said, "Of course."  We needed all the prayers we could garner.  Within a few weeks, my husband received a letter from a church in the "southern" reaches of Texas.  The church informed my husband that they'd been contacted about us, and had a ministry for retired ministers in which they sent a monthly love-gift to them in gratitude for faithfully serving  Christ.  At that time, they supported over 179 retiree ministers.  Again, we were amazed at the generosity of God's people in the SBC.  Each month we cash their Macedonian-style gift to us to help us continue the study and writing ministry we each seek to follow as led by God.  There is so much more I could write about all this; it would fill a book or two.

Suffice it to say, dear friends...my journey in blogging far exceeds any one post.  It goes far beyond the import of any one comment in any particular stream. There are times I'd rather not write.  Times I'd rather just ignore the muse which clamors for voice.  Times I'd rather not read what I read about our beloved convention.  The squabbles.  The divisions.  The changes.

I am not perfect.  I do not pretend to be.  I am not wise or intelligent, educated,  knowlegable, theologically astute, or righteously pure.  I have faults and I admit them.  When I wrote a rather innocuous comment on a sister blog, to a particular post, I weighed the impact of its content, the possibility of it annoying some who'd read it and accuse some commenters of trolling and "watch-blogging".

Yet, I also thought that the simplicity in which I wrote it spoke volumes to the substance of the post I'd started reading.  Prior to and upon deletion of my comment, I read it several times.  It's okay that others found it unacceptable.  It's okay that a fellow brother wrote and told me he thought about deleting it before someone else beat him to the punch.  It's okay that folks do not agree with me.  It's a free country.  The first ammendment applies to us all.  And, furthermore, the dime in which another pays to keep a website afloat is theirs to choose who comments and who does not.  And it is, now, equally okay for me to voice my dissent for which my original utterance found itself cremated forevermore.  Below...BEHOLD the comment that seems so offensive it could not be left afloat in the stream:

"Well, Brandon, I didn’t read your post. My mind shut down at the introduction of who Steve is: Director of Acts29 Western Europe.  I said to myself, Acts 29?  I’m not in Kansas anymore. I checked the link to ascertain I was at “SBC” Voices.   Acts-29 is not a voice I am interested in hearing. No offense…".

Testy? yes.  Angry? no.  Pointed? yes.  Elaborating? no.  Snarky? a bit.  Harsh?  hardly.  Insulting? unintentional.  Unequivocable? Yes.  Unclear? No.  Succinct? unquesitionably.  Fallible? of course.  Substantive? debateable.  Without merit? Unlikely.  Pithy?  Most definitely.  Consequential? oh yeah.  Dishonorable?  judge not lest ye be judged.

Confession is in order:  Since I posted my comment, and before it's deletion, I finished reading the larger portion of the post on which I'd commented.  I concluded that my comment met the same criteria as I'd first written it to mean.

UNDERSTAND:

I was a "Southern Baptist" voice.  In a Southern Baptist forum of voices where "most" folks find liberty to confess they drink in moderation, rebuke those who abstain, support those who cuss, admonish those who cannot see beyond a flaw, find sport in calling some Georgia boys the "anti-Christ", yet embrace any and all who are anything but traditional Volunteer Fans, accuse brethren (who give invitations, hand out tracts, and sing Just As I Am) of fundamentalism, hypocrisy, legalism, heresy, and plain old ignorance and fuddy duddiness.  It's a place where SBC leaders are lauded for calling we who "see things", too, senile old bathrobed troublemakers in the twit-less-sphere.  It's where we are mocked for wanting bylaws adhered to, and convention messengers votes to be honored.  It's a forum where writers and contributors feel free to reduce the name of "Southern" Baptist to a racial slur and shameful epithet of heretical proportion which must be endured forevermore.

So, unless I moved to "Kansas" in the last series of tornadoes here in Oklahoma, that is where I dared to post an opinion of disinterest.  If I wasn't in the right forum for speaking as a Southern Baptist then, someone please send me a pair of "ruby slippers".  The yellow-brick road to Oz is more than my old hips can endure.  selahV (a.k.a. The Dragon-Lady)

ONE VOICE CRYING...

is all that's necessary at times. And sometimes one voice is unnecessary amongst the throng of other voices.  While some voices are meant to dialogue, converse, debate and discuss...others are bound and determined to contend.  For the latter, I tend to avert and sit on the sidelines.  Every now and then, I've stepped into the waters of controversy and (as I've stated many times), found the water above my head.  Such is my lot today.

I happened upon a post today that sparked an urge in me to stand against the current of opposition.  One portion stated: 

"As the song says, “it only takes a spark to get a fire going.” It only takes one man (or woman) to take a stand against authoritarianism to make a difference. When the right person begins to speak up and to put feet to their words, it’s amazing how quickly the floodgates open." Howell Scott

Lately, some folk shared concerns and questions regarding my thoughts on various posts.  Some have been "seeing things" change in me.  They are curious as to what is going on in my mind and my world.  Alas, there are some questions that cannot be answered...some arguments that cannot be countered.  No matter how close we've become to one another, some things must be left unsaid.  Or left to other voices to share.  I find I no longer have a desire to tread turbulent waters where floodgates seek release.

One voice crying amongst the throng is but a whisper in the wind when accusations fly and preconceived notions determine the volume of the voice.  Judgment has been rendered.  Case closed.  For me, anyway.

Suffice it to say, I am still me.  I am still standing where I've always stood.  I have not changed.  My eyes are opened a bit wider since 2006.  Some folks I've met along the way have been invaluable in helping me see and understand the changing times.  Others folks I've met do not know me.  They may think they do, but they do not.  They never have.  And, there is nothing wrong with that, nor is there anything offensive in that.  It is life.  It is the way life is.  C' est la vie.

It's definitely not worth losing sleep over, or even typing another word of dissent.  Nope.  Not worth it.  It doesn't affect me personally, anyway.  I am secure.  Sealed. Bought and paid for.  Sanctified and justified.  Holy and acceptable in Christ, my Lord.  I do not need man's approval, nor do I seek it.

Opinions are funny things.  Ones we agree with are acceptable.  Ones we do not, are unacceptable.  Yet even that is debatable to some.  Viewpoints are ostracizing or accommodating.  Attitudes are kind or unkind.  Intention and motives are only pure in the eyes of the beholder, I suppose.  Nevertheless...silence is what one wants, then silence is what one gets.  I am an accommodating kinda gal.  Squeeze me long and hard enough and I will fold like a deck of cards.  Not because I have no voice to cry out...nay, but because I have no desire to play the games some folks play and bend to every wind of doctrine.  I'll find another stream in which to dangle my line.  There are far more fish in the sea than in the streams around stocked moats, anyway.  If anyone asks, just tell them I've "gone fishing" in saltier waters, okay? saint selahV

[A Blogger's Comfort Zone/link]

WORDS OF WISDOM from DR. STEVE GAINES interviewed by SBC Today

Among so many words, it's hard to say what touches a chord more in my heart.  I picked these as my favorite from this interview with Dr. Steve Gaines:

"What good is a prayerless conservative, a prayerless preacher, or a prayerless professor? We must talk with God before we try to talk for God. We need daily prayer. Yesterday’s manna won’t feed us. Yesterday’s anointing won’t empower us. Yesterday’s prayers won’t help us make it through today." Dr. Steve Gaines, SBC Today

My spirit echos these words to add, what good indeed?

For that matter..."what good is a prayerless" blogger, prayerless writer, mother, father, Sunday School teacher, politician, or church committee member?

Sometimes I wonder how much thought goes into a person's email before they send it.  I wonder how much thought goes through a person's mind before they reply.  I wonder how much thought is given before one posts a comment, or into a post before one publishes it?  Do we test the weight of our words?  Do we examine our thoughts? our hearts?  Do we place them in the "light" of the Word?

"We must talk with God before we try to talk for God." Dr. Steve Gaines

Lord, teach us to pray.  Let us reach for You each morning before we do our coffee, before we grab our laptops and ipads.  Let us seek Your face before we link to facebook, a favorite blogsite, check an email box, or Twitter account.  Let us spend time before You and with You before we tip-toe, or charge, into the world beneath our feet...or, beyond our fingertips.   Let our thoughts be compatible with Yours, oh, Lord, our Savior and Redeemer.  Feed our thoughts with Yours.  Fuel our spirit with Yours.  Fill our minds with Your discernment.  And let as we go, let us speak the truth as best we know how.  selahV

WHEN The Dragon-Lady Is Caged...

She gets a bit grumpy...epecially when she is force-fed a bunch of foreign stuff that doesn't agree with her diet.  When that occurs, she gets indigestion.  It kinda reminds me of a comment I encountered on a particular website wherein the "keeper of the castle", felt threatened by the beasts in the field, and a certain Dragon-Lady's breath.  Said "keeper" wields the defining sword of peace and issues warnings of "new commenting guidelines".

No longer can The Dragon-Lady exhale dissent of that which she inhales.  As she reads the subjective "new guidelines", she speculates wherein she's become "aggressive" and "insulting", not in keeping with normal guidelines she has met in days of yore.

She wonders what she says that "does not deal with issues in the post".  She considers what is "substance" and what "is welcome" in the stream of thought.  "Discuss.  Disagree.  Make a point."

So they are just not "going to places...gone in the past".  They may risk "offending".  Forewarned are we who read their site, that "more comments are likely to be deleted than have been in the past".  A challenge across the bow:

"Advance the discussion in a collegial, Christ-honoring way. That’s how we are going to do it."

The Dragon Lady...sits in her cage and contemplates further.  Is not the subject of a post "substance"?  Is not the affirming juxtaposition of a "personality" consistent with that personality's viewpoint, a portion of the "substance"?  Does dissent equal dishonoring Christ?

A warm sigh of resignation floats through the air; the Dragon-Lady takes a sip of water from another Well.

The "beast" has spoken.  The moat is secured.  Cremating viewpoints may make rapid disposal of dissent, however, it does not change the battlefront.   Odd, that it is only "we" who "are going to do it" this way.  "We are not going to permit aggressive, insulting, commenting that does not deal with the issues...".

Is there no sting in those words?  No flaming arrow?  No sword drawn? 

Hmmmph...I say, "yay, there is".  Just because one chooses to announce the battle is over for them, can we assume they have surrendered? or set forth a treaty to be signed?  Not likely.  They cannot deny they continue the battle with their control of the bridge across the moat.  Confession is good for the soul, but actions speak louder than words.  And often words are but a ruse.  In fact, words well-spoken and articulated may be so sincerely believed in the heart of the "beast", that the world cannot see the leaven in the words.  Nor can the "beast" recall his reflection as he leaves the water's edge.

Should The Dragon Lady respond with firey retort?  To avail what?  Her tummy growls.  Indigestion deals with unappetizing fodder she is fed.  A battle is not a battle because those who battle surrender under a banner displaying a Trojan Horse. The Dragon-Lady sleeps, full aware that all the "beasts" are charging forth in the dead of night--unbeknownest to all the resting knaves.  Oh, yes.  Yes, they are.  And there's nothing wrong with that, I suppose.  selahV

HOW TO WIN BLUE-COLLAR BLOG MADNESS by Anonymous Guest Writer

1: Agree with as many people in the world as you can in three weeks and follow instructions in #5.

2: Compliment all the people who write on the reformed blogs.

3: Support the other reformed bloggers and link to their posts.

4: Write for any of the reformed blogs.

5: Beg everyone you know to vote for you.

6: "Friend" and "Follow" all the commenters at Founders, SBC Voices, and every other person you can.  Be very very nice and heed #4 and 5.

7: Be pro-nickname passage.

8: Write articles dissing Peter Lumpkins, and praising Mark Driscoll, Jonathan Merritt & the YRR and Dr. Al Mohler.  (Just kidding)

9: With any leftover time, try and write something that someone wants to read.

10:  And for pete's sake...be a man! 

[Disclaimer: I'm just kidding! selahV]

Taming the Dragon Lady

It could be said that I have a long way to go in this endeavor, I suppose.  I told you yesterday that a friend of mine rationalized about fellow-bloggers at the site where he blogs and said it's a "simple fact that every one of us who logs on...drags along this beast we call the sinful flesh with us."  I simply can't let go of that provocative assertion.  It's like cling-wrap that clings more to me than the bowl of leftovers I want to cover.  It certainly kept me from logging on and commenting.  I was so afraid I'd unleash my "beast" I not only stopped typing a comment, I stopped reading the comments.  I could not quell the hold his words had on my pscyhe, so I wrote a few posts and tried to purge the "beast" from my thoughts.  Then I got to thinking a bit more and decided "beast" is a bit too masculine a descriptor for a lady.  Perhaps "dragon" is better suited for me.

You know what a dragon lady is don't you?  She's a lady who drags on and on and on about an issue till she arouses the "beast" within a man.  I don't care how calm and meek and mild a man's personality is, if the dragon-lady appears and hovers for hours, eventually, the beast will show its teeth.  

My friend's post, most certainly, was intended to bring readers to a better understanding of taming the shrew, tongue, beast and dragons encountered in the life of blogging.  Most especially?  Us--our own shrew.  His challenging words literally reached out and grabbed this old Dragon Lady by the tail and carried me away from my decorating and devotional posts.  Can you tell?  Thus the need to tame it.  I do this by writing ad nauseum.  Normally, you wouldn't see what I write.  I write in my drafts.  I don't publish those thoughts as I release the dragon.  Oh, but sometimes.  Sometimes I tell my husband about the beasts who rouse my ire or pinch my nose.  I read the posts to him and give "highlights" of hidden agendas and back-stories on things going on in the blogworld.  Often, my husband is the greatest part of me.  He gives such sound calming advice.  He never lights a torch, very rarely gets emotional and always has some funny little quip that makes everything seem so silly in the scheme of things.  However, when the clingwrap won't let go of my fingertips, I turn to the only Person I know for peace-punch.

I feel the Holy Spirit tug my leash.  Does He tug yours?  Sometimes He urges me to keep silent.  Other times He urges me to speak.  Most often He settles me down till I pray about things, and walks me through the green pastures beside the still waters of His presence.  He's taught me several things since I started blogging in 2006.  I give a lot of thought to where I comment nowadays.  I use to follow several blogs and comment quite often.  Everything seemed soooo important.  Now, I mostly read blogs.  I get them in my feed-reader.  I don't get caught up very often in the streams of conversation.  They can get along quite nicely, or not, without me.  When I do read the comments, I find most conversations lack substance and tend to become a tit-for-tat kinda gibberish unbecoming a Christian growing in grace.  While some folks make very salient points and offer edifying ideas, the vast majority of conversations are little more than ego-padding, pride-punching competitions.  They can be quite humorous if you aren't too thin-skinned.

I've read several secular and political blog posts and find their streams absolutely outrageous.  They're filled with animosity, bitterness, rancor, cursing, and downright meanness.  Snarling, growling beasts of monstrous proportion abound.  It's plum scary.  Occasionally the "beast (or dragon)" in me wants to growl back or breathe out threatenings of fire and brimstone.  But I don't.  Why add more fire to coals already burned beyond recognition?  No one would heed my flames anymore than they do God's Word and warnings.  Doesn't seem like much moderating goes on in those blogs either.  Talk about beasts!  Whew!

So...can a beast be tamed and trained to exert its presence without indulging in fire fights with other beasts?  Of course. I've witnessed it in others.

I believe the Holy Spirit gives us the ability to tame the beast within us.  He gives us gentleness, self-control, kindness, humility, meekness and mercy.  He bestows wisdom, knowledge, faith and hope.  Jesus gives us new life and creates a new creature within us.  Therein lies the key to taming the beast (or dragon)--dwelling on the blessings and sufficiency of God rather than the curses and insufficiency of man.

When we encounters folks in life who want nothing more than to feed the beast within us--to goad, prod and taunt-- then it's time to ignore those folks.  Don't eat the tainted sinew or chew on bones offered from their hands.  If the Holy Spirit so leads us to speak to an issue broached, or respond to a comment placed into the sphere of conversation, then we must walk bravely into the ring of fire.  But only in His power and in His Spirit.  Otherwise, we end up becoming the beast we so desperately want to tame.  selahV

The POST that stoked the dragon lady: [TAMING THE BEAST by Hariette Petersen, SBC ENCOUNTERS/link]

JUMPSTART OF SBC Encounters

I interrupt my irregularly scheduled blog for this commercial announcement:

I have things that concern me about the SBC in general and encounters within the sphere of internet conversations. These things revolve around our Convention of cooperating churches and the mission to reach the world for Christ.  SelahV Today's serves another purpose in my writing ministry.  So...

I decided to jumpstart SBC Encounters once again.  There, my posts center on or have a connection to Southern Baptists I encounter.  If interested, check out my thoughts about Chris Roberts on "assigning Calvinist moderators to comment streams at SBC Voices".  I'm not offended...really...just a bit...well...wary.  So thought I'd share my SBC Encounter/link with whoever wants to chat on subjects I find noteworthy in SBC conversations.  Now...back to our regularly scheduled blog.  Coming Up Monday: Taming the Dragon Lady. 

By No Other Name

I have a friend who is writing a book.  And she's been getting all kinds of advice on what to title it.  I keep telling her that it is her book.  Its content is her thoughts, not someone else's.  Seems to me, if they want to name a book, they oughta go write their own.

I'm working on a book, too.  I've picked its name.  And I have my reasons for its title. Some folks will never read my book because it is me who wrote it and they have a preconceived idea of who I am and what I believe.  My reputation preceeds me.

I love the name of this blog.  I fell in love with my moniker the moment I made it up.   I pronounce SelahV the way the French say, that's life, or such is life: C'est la vie.  I gave a lot of thought to SelahV Today.  Then I started other blogs.  And really, none of them completely tell the whole story of who I am.  Yet, combined, they paint an abstract picture of Hariette Petersen...Christian, writer, wife, mother, grandmother, friend, Southern Baptist, Political Conservative, and enthusiast for various things.  I am interested in the machinations of our country, and the history of my faith. 

Some folks who read my various blogs, know me by SelahV, others by Hariette.  Some see my passion for sharing encouraging words through Devotional Writing and become fans.  Others read an opinionated piece of blather I write and never return.  Some folks like what I say, others, not so much.  It's okay.  That's life.  Even I don't like everything I say (I'm still learning).  Not every person who reads my writing can know me completely.  And often folks can take a pinch of what another is, and make that the sum total of who they are...they do not want to go beyond the "pinch".  Sometimes they don't even take a pinch, they take a smidgeon of what another thinks and form an opinion that way.

I'm not always dogmatic or narrow-minded.  Nor am I always whimsical and ooey gooey.  I state what I know, what I believe about what I know, and sometimes...I speak before I think and say stuff I don't know.  I once had someone call me "The Ubiquitous One" in our blogging community.  I had to look that one up.  I thought.  Is he picking on me?  I was surprised to discover it's meaning.  Who woulda thunk?

I don't think it's possible to actually assign one characteristic to a person and consider it the sum total of who they are.  Do you?  I know some folks who profess to be Christians with whom I wouldn't want to be associated or linked to as "believers".  I know some Republicans who could not possibly speak for me.  Shucks, I know some Southern Baptists who don't believe what I believe theologically, philosophically or morally.  There are even some very notable people who would never endorse my writing and I wouldn't want them to endorse my writing.  "SelahV Today" is life as I see it, today.  And for what it is worth, I am happy with it.  Even if some folks aren't.  You can't please everyone...no matter how hard you try.  I've learned that the hard way.

But, you see, I know that the foundation of my blog, the purpose for which I write, is grounded in my faith in an awesome, forgiving, compassionate, long-suffering, merciful God.  And when I flub a post, He is there with me...flooding me with His grace to make me a better writer, a better person.  I depend on Him.  By His name I am called His child.  By no other Name do I want to live my life today.  selahV

Don't Write About Yourself

That's what prolific author of 20 books, Gary Smailes, said.  I receive this writer's blog in my email via subscription.  He blogs about writing because he knows how to get published.  He shares his insights with wannabe authors and bloggers to help them reach their writing goals.  He's the man!  When I opened his email yesterday, I felt my face warm.  My heart skipped a beat at his blog-title:

"Don’t Blog About You"

Oh, my word! Imagine my muse jumping out of my head and grabbing my fingertips.  I could hardly read his post without my brain taking off in a thousand directions as I argued with Gary.  If I don't write about me, Gary, then who can I write about?  You?  I can't write about you, I don't know enough about you to write about you.  So, I'm game, what do I write about?  I'm not That-Artist-Woman, The-Pioneer-Woman, Scribe-Artist, Theologian/Christian-Culture-Writer, A tech-guru-informant, Tim Challies, or Cycle-Guy's Spin on life!!!  You mean to tell me that no one cares what I think about stuff?

Friends, let me tell you something; it was like Gary could hear my argumentative rant.  He wrote:

"The golden rule for thinking up blog post ideas is to remember that everyone is selfish. People want to read blog posts that entertain and add value to their lives. The brutal reality is that they don’t want to hear about your thoughts and everyday problems. Instead, they want to know what you know that will help them reach their goals."

Great day in the morning.  I'm toast!  Where was Gary when I first started blogging?  Over 2,000 posts under the bridge and I am just finding out I shouldn't write about me?  Imagine how I felt.  No, don't.  If you do, you'll be buying into my ruse of blogging about myself, my thoughts, my feelings, my perspective.  I guess Gary is right.

You see, yesterday morning I got one of those "unsubscribe" messages in my email inbox.  Someone who "was" subscribing and reading my blog, (or at least allowing Feedburner to send a copy of my blog and to be opened in their email box-- no telling if they opened it or not), decided they no longer wanted me in their inbox.) Sigh....what's a person to do?  Gary warned me.

I have a decent following for a person who writes about herself, her woes, her struggles, her triumphs, her questions, her pet peeves, her opinions, her relationships with others, her faith and her grandchildren.  However, I really have no super duper clear understanding who reads me.  I only know "some" who read me.  It's only when someone "UN-subscribes" to my blog, that Feedburner sends me a message to let me know.  For what, I do not know.  It kinda feels like a slap in the face, a bucket of cold water, a rude wake-up call.  If the person who unsubscribes never connects with us, we may not ever know how to connect with them.  If they subscribed at one point, they must have liked something we wrote.

Of course, I don't just write about the mouse in the house, the snake attack, the gangs who vandalized my car, or the car accident that turned my world upside down.  Something must be wrong with me.  I tend to write about how God breaks down His truth to me...how He teaches me, guides me, and feeds me.  I share how I blow it, and how He lifts me up from the miry pit I slip into.  I don't know, folks; I have always loved to read devotionals.  Especially those that included a tidbit about the author's life.

Slices of another's life fill my life.  I like them.  I learn lessons and receive a message from just about anyone's story.  People are the most interesting topics I can think of.  Character, virtue, discipline, quirks, challenges, solutions.  People reveal so much.  People give us wisdom, accumulated experience, corporate understanding and a multiplicity of ideas, tips, and assistance.  I like reading blogs about folks who talk about themselves and what they did that day.  I can't help myself.

I like Gary Smaile's ideas and I like his Bubble Cow blog.  However, I have to disagree a tad, that personal chatter is unsuccessful to the world-wide-web of conversation.  People like people.  We can all google information sites, encyclopedia references.  We have explanations, definitions and geneology at our fingertips.  We have You-tube instructional videos, and personal photos to browse on Flickr and make us say, "Aaaawh".  We follow one another's short-brain waves on Twitter, Linked In, Buzz, Facebook and other social media venues and live in a virtual world of pleasantries, updates, and connections.  We share all kinds of stuff as we seek to be less lonely and better informed.  Just because a blog does not teach one to fly a jet plane, sew a jean-purse, paint a portrait, write a book, or build a treehouse, doesn't mean that blog is insignificant and a failure.  We "disclosers" may not be linked to Huffington Post, Farmer's Almanac, or famous publishers.  But we who give TMI (too much information), and write silly entries about our mistakes, stupidity, and ignorance still, if you please, have a space to fill in someone's life.  We are not failures because we do not succeed like others succeed.

I know I will never win an award for what I do.  I'm just a "common matters" kind of writer.  I slice off a chunk of my life and place it on your proverbial window until you have time or inclination to peek at what I've cooked up.  You have the choice to read me, save me, forward me, like me, or delete me.  Let's face it.  Even the most prolific writer has folks who "unsubscribe" for lack of interest.  So, I guess I'll keep tip-tapping away--telling you what's going on in my little splice of life.

May God take my insignificance and help you see His and yours.  May He show you the extra-ordinary from my ordinary.  May you gain insight and foresight from my hindsight.  If not, may you find someplace, somewhere and someone who does better than I in explaining how great He is.  selahV  Oh...and....

If You Don't Like My Blog, Maybe You'll Like My Devotionals.  

Just Another Bucket List

Only a few folks have the advantage (or disadvantage), of knowing when their days on earth are coming to a close.  I watched snippets of a movie on television a few months ago about a couple of men who wrote their "bucket list"-- things they wanted to do, or see, or accomplish before they "kicked the bucket".  Some of it was sad, some humorous, some quite poignant.  It made me wonder what I would put on my bucket list, should I be given forewarning.

As it is, I decided to put down a few ideas floating around in my brain.

Travel:  I'd love to visit England and Ireland.  I'd like to stay in some quaint little village in some sweet lady's bed and breakfast.  However, all things being "real", I could easily settle for a little bed and breakfast in Jonesboro, Tennessee in May on my way to visit some friends I have in Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia.  I'd also settle for New England in Autumn to visit another friend and my brother, then Maine in Summer.

My fondest dream is to go stand beneath those gigantic Redwood trees in California and take a picture looking up.  Have I told you this before?  Deja vu moment here.

I'd like to get back into a size 10...but a 12 would suffice.

I'd like to take my granddaughters to tour Washington, D.C. and New York City...just to see the expressions on their faces.  I'd settle for someone else taking them and seeing a video of them as they discover new things.

I'd love to start a tea-party/Bible study/prayer time in my house for ladies on Tuesdays.

I want to make two quilts and I really think that is do-able.  Plan to begin this coming January.  Lord willing, I'll finish my book before then.

I'd like to get all my pictures scrapbooked.  And all my advice thoughts compiled for posterity so I can leave them to my granddaughters...not that they'd read them till they are my age, anyway.  Ha..that's an amusing thought.

I'd like to get all the blog-posts I've written (which pass my editing muster), printed out on paper.

I want to plant a small garden in my backyard with roses and cosmos next Spring.  If life is kind, I want a little greenhouse/art studio outside my little efficiency space where I can grow tomatoes, peppers, lettuce and herbs year-round.  I want to start painting classes again, too...and paint some of my favorite things.

I'd like to record my last words for my own funeral.  Gotta live up to my daughter's expectation of me to have the last word, you know.

I'd like to have one more slow dance with my husband in the light of the silvery full moon.  And well, it seems as I write out these thoughts that I can't possibly get everything done if I don't begin right away.  After all, there is no promise of tomorrow, is there?

It Shouldn't Surprise Us

when folks do not speak well of us for doing good.  After all, Jesus said the world would hate us if we profess to know Him and then go on to proclaim His name.  It doesn't surprise me that folks come under attack from the world when they denounce those who distort the Word of God.  Nor am I shocked when a hailstorm of critcism falls upon the head of one who brings to light some dark deed or action of those in high places.  It's Biblical.  Your sins will find you out.  When you sow thistles, thistles come up...even if it is in the middle of a perfectly tilled bed of roses.

However, I am a bit taken aback when others spread unsubstantiated rumors.  I tend to get a bit more than irritated when some folks get in a hurry to share negativity just because they can.  Just because they know some tantalizing info.  For the record?  I don't want to know.  Sometimes, the best of intentions is still not good enough reason, or cause, to divulge something we know.  I've kept more information to myself that could hurt another's feelings if they knew.  Why would I want to tell something hurtful to another?  Wisdom trumps knowledge.  Wisdom discerns when to share and when not to share.

If the truth is not necessary to my well-being, don't share it.

If the truth is helpful, edifying, and cloaked in pure and honest prayer, then okay...tell me.  But I don't want to hear the rubbish some folks dig out of another's trash can.

A few months ago, someone shared some things others said about someone near and dear to me and it so colored my opinion of those "others" that I couldn't speak to them anymore.  I could no longer trust their greetings to me.  I could no longer be in their presence without suspicion.  I no longer felt free to talk.  In fact, it affected how I shared with everyone.  I held back.  I had trouble accepting folks at face-value.

Why?  Why do people find such pleasure in criticizing others?  Why rush to tell bad news and withhold "good news"?  Why spread around the negative?  I wonder.  

If we all would share the good things we hear about others, the edifying, the compliments, the appreciation, would we be better for it?  Would another?

Why must bloggers spend the majority of cyberspace nitpicking and opining destructive flaws and failures?  Why don't we see more affirming posts that point out the good in another's life, the hope we witness, the faith we see displayed, the goodness and success and achievements?  No, we're not to boast of ourselves, but we could dwell on that which is good and share some of that...don't you think? A little bit, once in a while?  If we found a bit of sugar sprinkled into the brew of bitterness in life, it shouldn't surprise us, should it?  Don't know about you, but it sure pokes my happy button.  selahV

ANOTHER DEVOTIONAL: Oh, My Word, Did You Hear Why...

I'm Tired of Writing

Not so much because I don't like to write.  But I'm tired of having my posts disappear when I hit "save".  Or when I post a picture into the post.  Something is amiss according to my website host, Typepad.

They told me it's because I'm using Internet Explorer 9.  That could have been a credible reason if not for the fact I've been using that for quite some time.  Months.  So why all of a sudden does it mess up?

They suggest I go to Firefox as a browser.  I know nothing about Firefox.  I do know that some of these search engines are trying to monopolize the world.  Like Google is the biggest.  And Bing wants to be a top dog.

Somehow I think they are all conspiring to get the business for their particular group.  And I just wonder if the reason folks have trouble with Facebook is because of the browser, too.  Last week I couldn't get onto Facebook for days.  Thought it was my computer and discovered it wasn't when others started having a similar cloud of white cover their screens.

Sabotage.  Conspiracy.  Stolen words--ripped from the monitor right before my eyes.  My brain is not as young as it use to be.  When I write something, and it's put on the page, my brain deletes it.  Bob, my dear hubby, says that's a good thing.  Makes room for more new stuff.  Only problem is, if the website keeps gobbling up my gook, what reason is there to write it?

So I'm thinking I am the only one having this problem and I oughta quick whining and stop being a baby and acting like an old woman, and figure it out.  So I go to the "Help" section of Typepad, and there's a bevy of folks who were closed down in "mid save", and when uploading photos, and changing things.  They were reporting the 502 Error messages they were getting.  Bad Connection messages.  eeeeh...heebie jeebies.

H E L P!

Hey, all you techie folks out there:  If I switch to Firefox to accomodate Typepad, will that mean I have to change all my Feedburner settings and the links that other directories have so kindly placed in their blogsites and aggregators?  Anyone know if this is really worth the trouble?  Firefox...sounds like a sneaky creature that's just gonna burn up my words instead of eating them.  What say ye?

 

 

There's More to ME than SelahV TODAY

Yeah...that's right.  I find the more I write on SelahV Today, the more folks see me as that writer/person, blogger.  Some of you know I write devotionals, but few realize my interests are far-reaching.  When I started blogging in 2006, I had a dream to make a website that allowed me freedom to publish the stuff I like to write about I even hoped to one day have like-minded, joy-brimming, honey-coated, creative-soulmates contribute to my site (that's coming).

For me, one blog was rather limiting.  When God gives you an over-active creative brain, you simply can't put it all in one shoebox --(at one time I had 12 blogs...crazy).  The problem back in 2006 was the feed-features weren't available to me without enormous costs and a degree in html and website design.  Today...thanks to Typepad's user-friendly hosting, I am able to do tons of stuff I only hoped a webmaster could do. Sooooo...

Integrating my blogs together with rolling feeds in my sidebars seemed like a great solution.  That way you can see a pinch of most everything I write at various spots.  This is a work in progress.  I've been spending a great deal of time creating, organizing, and designing my dreams.  Amazingly...

since I began my quest to integrate my blogs in this fashion, my Google Analytics say my visits are up nearly 60%; and folks are staying 48% longer.  This means I am doing something that helps my readers.  And this is my goal at SelahV Today:

To bring uplifting, edifying encouragement, information, and devotional thoughts.  At times I am a bit opinionated when a subject riles me, impassions me, or disturbs me-- (I admit, on occasion, I have to repent and lean on God's new mercies each morning--good thing He's not finished with me).  But even with those times, I hope to reign in my ego and point us all back to the ultimate help we have as Christians...the LORD Jesus Christ.

I am particularly interested in expanding my Kids' Matters and Feminine Matters sliver of SelahV Today.  Would like to link up with more of those kind of blogs so we could connect others to the unbelievable creative gifts throughout the internet.  I go some places and it's simply bleh.  I go to others and think, WOW...I like this idea, technique, useful gardening craft, or artistic business.  So, it's my hope that you'll catch the drift of where I'm headed.  I'm excited about what God will do with me next as I use the gifts He has given me for His kingdom. 

I hope you'll take a bit of time and peruse the various parts of this site to see Daily Impact, Feminine Matters, Food Matters, Kids' Matters, and my weekly newspaper column (republished) at Common Matters. You'll see little picture/button/icons and below each are portions of my other blogs with links (will add more each week).  I'm hoping you know someone somewhere who'll like something I have to offer.  I yearn to be that virtuous woman.  I plan on working more and more on this as time goes on. 

"Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates." Proverbs 31:31

Let me know what you think.  Oh...and also, send my your links with cool posts you find while internet surfing.  Especially if they involve kids adventures, and interesting innovative women.     selahV and "ME"

NOTORIETY Breeds Jealousy

Notoriety enters a room and swallows the applause of adoring masses.  It rarely notices its reflection of pride in the mirror hanging on the wall.  Nor does it see the faces of jealousy in the crowds behind it.  It gets so caught up in the praise of man, it confuses it with selfworth and personal value.  When the applause dies down, when the lights dim, when adoring fans walk away, or get distracted by another, notoriety may find itself looking into a mirror reflecting back shadows of distorted importance.

I was reading a post a few days back.  Evidently, the author had popularity and notoriety on his mind.  He couldn't sleep so out of curiosity he decided to go check the statistics on Technorati of various blogs in blogland.  He wondered why Technorati rated one blog above another and how they came to their conclusions. He listed a group of folks he thought germane to his post and gave their ratings with Technorati.  When I saw my name grouped with another I had to chuckle.  I can't remember the numbers offhand.  It's been a few days since I read it.

I know a little bit about Technorati's ratings and how it all comes together.  I checked into it when I started my blog in 2006.  Didn't really understand it all then.  Know a lot more about it today.  For me, the only reason it is of value is if one wants to develop a strong powerful voice in their respective focus group of readers, or because they want to make money from their blog.  Technorati can give you an analysis of how you are rank with a competitor based on their standards of block popularity monitoring.  Checking on your stats is interesting on occasion--competition is fun.  But in the end, I think comparing oneself to others breeds a bit of jealousy.  Notoriety does that at times.  Especially if a person isn't liked by a certain other person or group.  It gnaws at one's core to think someone they find arrogant, appalling, brash, or controversial, could be influential in forming ideas and views.  Pity the jealous among us.

I must admit that I would like to be a force of influence within our community of faith.  Not to boast a high ranking.  Not so much to make money, though that would be nice.  I want to help folks to know Jesus.  Admittedly, I sometimes get carried away and rant and ramble about some goofy political issue.  Or I may vent my thoughts on the perils and evils of blogging.  But for the most part, I want to share my Lord and how He gives me strength, peace and hope.  In a world dominated by entities and personalities which seek to destroy the things I count dear, I strive to stir up hearts and minds to grow in Christ.  I long to manifest His Spirit to the world by encouraging others, having patience, showing kindness, goodness and love.

It's not always easy.  I'm not always successful.  Sometimes I get so lazy I don't care.  Yet, I know this is a calling for me.  It is a ministry I love...especially since my health keeps me from doing other things I once did.  So, whether I rank high with Technorati or people "like" me with Facebook, click Follow, subscribe to my feed, or I have any commenters, I will still keep on writing...at least for Today.  selahV 

The Worst Offense

It doesn't take much to offend some people today. When terrorists bombed the World Trade Center in New York City, a steel cross arose from the mangled steel and concrete rubble. Workers stored the cross at a nearby church.  Today there is much contention about allowing it to be brought back to Ground Zero Memorial site because it is symbolic of Christianity which could offend those who are not Christian.

Displaying a cross offends. Wishing someone a Merry Christmas offends. Using God's name in public prayer offends.  Ignoring a person we pass in a hallway offends.  Some folks are offended simply because you disagree with their opinions or views.

Others are offended because a friend is offended.

A grief counselor I talked with told me that the hardest thing to forgive is an offense against someone we love or care about.  It's not an offense against ourselves, personally...but one against someone we care about--be that a child, a parent, a friend.  We seem to be able to forgive more easily when someone offends us than when someone hurts those we love.

Peter was quick and ready to defend Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Peter drew his sword and lopped off the ear of Potiphar's servant. That servant was just there doing his job--attending to his master.  Jesus healed his ear, then rebuked Peter's offering of help.

People will bend over backwards and fall on swords to protect a friend or family member...or someone who thinks like they do.  Recently we've seen how offended the public at large was over the death of Caylee Anthony, a toddler in Florida.  Because of the morbid way little Caylee was left in a swamp, and her absence went unreported by her mother, the public took offense for the tiny child.  They were outraged when the mother, Casey, was found not guilty.  They wanted a pound of flesh. 

The same is true with some people when they see a friend or someone they respect placed under a microscope, or criticized--fairly or unfairly.  They immediately come to the "rescue" so to speak and try to explain away actions, words, and even give answers for motive and intent, even though they are not privy to those innermost feelings and thoughts.  If the advocates do not correct their friend's critic, they may go so far as to begin a war of sorts to destroy the offender.  This happens because we take offense for others wherein we have no business being offended.

Sometimes people have no idea how deeply they offend us with words and actions.  Jesus gives us the best example on what to do with them.  Forgive them.  Have mercy.

This is not easy.  It is harder, still, for us to watch the pain and heartache others exact on those we love.  After all, the worst offense is the hardest to forgive.  But oh how necessary for us if we want to live an abundant life--free of animosity, distrust, and bitterness.  If we don't let the offenses go, we shackle our hearts and quench the Spirit of God within us.  How quickly we can fall into a pit of self-righteousness and superiority.

LORD, give us Your strength to break the bonds of unforgiveness in our hearts.  Help us see others as You see them and act according to Your Word.  May all we do and say be that which brings honor and glory to You.  selahV

Pits We Stumble Into

It never ceases to amaze me how people attempt to take stands on another person's words, actions, or position. So often said critics try to take a superior high-ground--possibly with pure motives. However, when critics don't like the person they talk about, I find their words suspect.

Invariably, instead of clearing up a matter, they wind up pointing fingers at the other person's character, integrity, and motives. Instead of simply disagreeing with another, the critics stumble, slip and end up stuck in a quicksand mudhole of their own making.

When they become indignant and accusatory, they are no different than those they accuse. They think they are noble to point out this flaw in another's character...they are quick to notice another's wrong. Yet, they are slow to recognize their own hypocritical duplicity--especially if the object (person) of their criticism is someone they do not like. They cannot see themselves in the mirror smeared with mud.

Politicians make a career of doing this. You know...the pot calling the kettle "black".

It seems since blogging and social media came along (providing a venue to voice opinions, critiques and reviews), that some bloggers find this venting venue equally tempting to point fingers of condemnation against anyone with whom they disagree. Christians accusing Christians. Pastors accusing pastors. Leaders accusing followers, followers accusing leaders. Editorials. Opinions. Blogposts.

^"24 Enemies disguise themselves with their lips,
but in their hearts they harbor deceit.
²⁵ Though their speech is charming, do not believe them,
for seven abominations fill their hearts.
²⁶ Their malice may be concealed by deception,
but their wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
²⁷ Whoever digs a pit will fall into it;
if someone rolls a stone, it will roll back on them." Proverbs 26:24-27

It just makes me wonder how many hearts harbor deceit. What abominations fill their hearts? What malice is concealed within the charming speech? Behind the mask of words, is there unexposed wickedness?

Have you checked your heart today? Do you disguise your feelings of animosity towards another with lips of flattery and empty apologies? Do you say one thing and feel another? Do you walk back words you've said to make your words sound better the second time they're served up? Have you dug a pit and found yourself in its grip? Have you rolled stones and found yourself beneath them?

If so, look up! God gives us new mercies each day. Bring every thought captive under Christ. Guard your thoughts and your tongue. Be slow to speak, and quick to listen. Give people the same benefit of the doubt that you want to be given. Show mercy, and pray for others you find yourself at odds with.  There's more hope for today than you realize. selahV

A Blogger's Comfort Zone

We each have them.  Comfort zones.  We have a space in which we find it comfortable to talk, to chat, to give our opinions.  We have topics we choose to avoid.  We have bloggers we avoid or ignore.  We are not comfortable with ourselves when we try to converse with others.  We don't trust ourselves.  We don't trust the other blogger.

Comfort comes when we trust our situation, our circumstance, our fellow bloggers.  When we feel we will be attacked for absolutely no reason, we do not comment.  When we feel a mere question can cause an avalanche of speculation and assumptions and motive interpretations, we don't ask.  We simply do not trust people.

It's sad that we cannot trust other Christians, isn't it?  I have no problem with secular blogs and I recognize that should I decide to comment and give an opinion (which I rarely do), that there will be explosive attitudes, snarky statements, and snide remarks.  It comes with being a follower of Christ.  However, when I visit sites and see this kind of comment stream between Christians, I avoid it like the plague.  It gives no honor or glory to God to demean another with tit-for-tat comebacks.  Rudeness is not love, because love is not rude.  Love is patient.  Love is kind.  Christian love is considerate.  It does not keep an account of wrongs...nor does it nit-pick others to pieces.

The more uncomfortable I find myself with a group of blogging voices, the more I avoid that community of bloggers.  I dare say, there are many bloggers just like me.  They have no desire to voice their thoughts when derogatory attacks are commonplace in a particular blog or collaborative blog.

I notice the more I read disturbing prattle, the more comfort food I eat.  That only adds more weight to an even weightier matter--my waist.  Why would I want to waste time fueling my desire to sabotage the temple of the Holy Spirit? Why would I want to violate my mind in such a way?  It is beyond my comfort zone.  Why would I want to try and add reason to the unreasonable?

It leaves a vacumn of reality in the blogging world when a group focuses on the "atta boy" and pat-on-the-back, and fist-bumps they give and receive from one another on a particular topic.  There are some, and I dare say many, who would totally disagree with a particular topic but bloggers like me stay clear of the streams because the tone is totally untrustworthy.  Therefore bloggers settle into a false comfort zone of ego-boosting.  They think they've found a safe-zone of wisdom and introspection.  When other bloggers refuse to enter those self-made zones to challenge their thoughts, they live in oblivious belief that they are right and everyone believes like they do.

Scary.  For it is written:  "Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!" Isaiah 5:21

"Woe" means a consequence is coming.  "Woe" is a warning of condemnation to come.  "Woe" is not a good thing to look forward to--no matter how educated we get, or how many people agree with us.  In the end...the majority has no voice--only God's voice counts.  selahV for Today

 

BLOGGING JEALOUSY

Sometimes when bloggers are jealous of other bloggers they take swipes at them any chance they get.  The snarkiness and snotty remarks made by one who considers himself/herself a mature adult, quickly reveals an immature heart with utmost clarity.

It is one thing to offer literary critique of a particular subject matter, or another's writing, or publicly spoken words to hold them accountable for their words.  It's another to have someone denegrate another and snipe for absolutely no other conceivable reason than adolescent jealousy.  Childish stone throwing and baseless rhetoric has no place in Christian community of bloggers.

"The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him." Matthew 12:35

The more I see the snitty little ditties come forth from bloggers, the more I wonder what the Christian community of voices has to offer a dark and dying world.  May God have mercy upon us if this is the best we can produce.  selahV for Today

ONE BLOGGER'S VOICE

A few years ago, another blogger friend asked me what I wanted my blog to say?

At first I thought, are you kidding? I am my blog. My blog is me. My blog says what I say. It speaks for me. It's the window into my heart. Occasionally you get a glimpse of my soul. Frequently you get a chunk of my mind--sometimes it reveals how little my mind can be. Often you see the struggle in my spirit...

the growth of my being...the lock upon my angst and irritants...

the secrets to my sanctification...the portal to my open arms.

My blog is a snapshot...taken from different angles...with and without makeup.

Many days my blog is the mirror in my monitor. It speaks to me. It shows me every freckle in my image. It exposes all my vulnerabilities. When I look closely, it magnifies each weakness I possess. It humbles me. It challenges me. It calls me to walk a bit straighter...taller. It brings me to my knees.

Sometimes my blog says more than I want it to. Sometimes it says less...far less.

But what do I want my blog to say? I want it to say:

Life is a treasure, a privilege, a gift--yet, a whisper in the wind.

Family is a blessing--a Christmas morning, a Thanksgiving dinner, a Birthday party--each day of every year.

Love is a hug, a thoughtful word, an encouraging phrase, a written giggle, a lingering smile, a moment to grasp and never let go.

Friendship is possible and much more than a word, a thumbnail, an email, or moniker...it loyalty, love, empathy and encouragement--a shared joy, heartache, or struggle--held in another's heart, mind and hands.  It's a safe space--where judgment has no place, condemnation is absent, and truth is gentle.

Loyalty is precious, integrity is honorable, respect is necessary.

Christianity is a holy union with the Triune God...it is binding...a lifestyle...a commitment...a temporal race...a community anyone can join with eternal benefits and reward.

God is real, is sufficient, Scripture is Divine and filled with instruction and hope.

Jesus is not a historical figure who gave nice talks and showed compassion. Jesus is REAL.  Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  He  He is the Living God.  He is everything you need and everything you've longed for.  And no one, absolutely no one, comes to the Father except through Him.  He who believes in, relies on, clings to Jesus receives eternal and everlasting life.

And...my friends, I guess that about sums up what I want my blog to say.

For the moment anyway.  selahV

[SO MY FRIENDS:  What do you want your blog to say?  If you write the answer, come back here and leave your blogpost url and I'll link to it and tell others to drop in and listen to your Voice.]

Blog-phobia

Since 2006 I have met all kinds of folks in Blogville USA.  Some folks read but don't write blogs.  Some read and don't comment on blogs.  Some comment but do so anonymously so no one knows who they really are.  Some sign-in with a pseudo name without ever revealing who they are.  They think that makes them legitimate voices in the world of blogging.  They may think that gives power to their opinion--but they just don't flip my switch.  I think it's highly possible they may be suffering from *blogphobia.

However....there's no reason to fear...

...anyone or anything when one is in Christ Jesus.

I don't fear anyone...

...for their views...or their proclivities...or their ideologies...or their theologies...or their skin tone...or their power...or authority...or position...or their diseases or their preferences for blue and lime-green hair and matching rhinestone nose studs.

I figure, "If God be for us, who can be against us?"

I admit, though; I have few "phobias".

I'm afraid of stupid drivers.

Occasionally I feel like someone has punched me in the gut when a car pulls out in front of me. I figure that is a kinda post traumatic stress syndrome since someone jumped a stopsign last December and plowed into the front-end of my little Chevy Malibu. So I wouldn't really call that a "phobia"....Yet.

While there are some folks I don't make a habit of sharing waterbottles with, I don't get any goosebumps when I bump into them in a crowded mall, or am served by one at a restaurant, have one as a nurse, or am followed by one in the dark of night.

You see. We live in America. And in America, we are entitled to our own views, proclivities, ideologies, theologies and preferences. We are not entitled, in my belief, to think ourselves better than any---because after all...

..."we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23

I have made mistakes.

I have failed.

I have chosen unwisely.

I have spoken too quickly.

I have rebelled against God. But for the grace of God, I'd be wallowing in dens of iniquity now. I am a blessed person.  At a time when my life hung in the balance, the LORD reached down into the miry clay in which I squirmed and saved my sorry neck. He set my feet upon higher ground and told me to walk in His way, to stand in the hour of adversity, to trust in the hour of darkness, to be unfraid in the face of raging waves--for He was gonna hang with me--through thick and thin, for better or for worse.

A friend of mine has a similar story. And quite often I get agitated and irritated at folks for treating my brother-in-Christ like the scum of the earth while they piously extol their compassion for those "unregenerates" who self-righteously wallow in dens where I once wallowed and spit on God.

I don't know everything that others (my friend's critics, for instance), have done to promote integration...or right wrongs done to society's outcasts. I do know what my friend has done. He's not one to blow his own horn. And to be honest, I'm not gonna to blow it for him. (not today, anyway.) I will just say he's an honorable person. A man who loves Jesus. He loves Jesus far more than he does his own reputation or likeability. I couldn't ask for any person on earth, other than my husband, who is more loyal. I think that's why I like him so much. He's the real deal.

Sometimes I scratch my head in wonder...

How can we condemn and slander and misrepresent our adopted brothers or sisters and expect the unadopted lost souls to believe we have one ounce of sincerity?

But "phobias"?  I don't know; perhaps folks have **boldphobia. ***Boldphobiacs have an unreasonable fear of bold people. They congregate in groups and pretend they are bold and make anonymous statements against bold people. They only speak when they know their army is standing behind them with swords drawn, or from behind the anonymity of monitors and bogus email addresses. They'd never go to war with a slingshot and stone because boldphobiacs are afraid of giants.  selahV

**boldphobia and ***boldphobiacs and *blogphobia are not in the dictionary. I made them up.

ON ANOTHER NOTE:  Below is a link to a compilation of the kind of church that made the difference between life and death to me in 1976. I'm so glad they reached out and gave. If you want to read about being a part of something great, go here.

Blogger's Curse

There are those who curse in words and gnaw on their own words forever, like a cow chews its cud.  Their curse has a reverberating effect and cause others who hear it to gnaw on those words and judge other words they may have spoken in the past.  The unsettled curse taints the reception of other words in the future.  One's curse gives birth to suspicion, to question, to deeper inspection.

My stepmother cursed me.  From the time she entered my five-year-old life, to the day I left home at sixteen, she told me I was "a lazy, good-for-nothing brat".  She said, "You'll never amount to nothing!"  "You're a hussy like your mother."  It took years for me to overcome some of the other curses she wrapped around my brain.

Recently, a respected individual in my faith accused me and all my brothers and sisters (of like faith), of lying and being bigoted toward a certain people group.  Some think this curse will all blow over and go away.  A few think that it was a well-deserved indictment for which we all should repent.

Here's the thing.

When a person (of world-wide reknown and influence), accuses a whole group of people (within earshot, or Twitter-shot, of his sphere of instructional authority), of mean-spirited bigotry bathed in lies, it is not likely that Believers who "hear" or are made "aware" of the curse will sit kindly by and nod their heads in agreement, or flick away the condemnation with apathetic ho-hums. Though some will turn the other cheek and move on, the curse will not settle anymore than a fluttering sparrow or darting swallow.

It is also likely that those within the "people group" will use the indictment to further their own agendas and cast their own unrelenting form of accusation upon us all who were being cursed with the scarlet letter from the reknowned and influencial.

"Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest." Proverbs 26:2

In other words, when someone condemns, the untruth will not settle down.  The curse will flutter in the wind and live on in the minds of others and flutter in their imaginations and obscure viewpoints again and again.

Because I blog and because I have on occasion voiced my opposition to another's words or views, I have been lied about, dumped on, maligned, accused, and criticized.  Goes with the territory of voicing one's opinion.  Not everyone will agree with you.  Oddly, in the nearly 2,000-plus posts I have written, I can count on one hand the people who have sent disparaging, meanspirited, accusatory emails:  One.  One person.  I can also count on one hand the ones who've logged on to bash me...one preacher of said emailer, and a handful of their cronies.

God has been good to me.  God has blessed me.  I am grateful.

For me, the lesson in the blogger's curse, is that we'd do well to guard our tongues in what we say about others--especially when speaking of the Bride of Christ. Personally, I have no animosity towards the "reknown and influencial" spokesman who let fly a curse upon me and my faith-group. I just lament the fact that this "curse" will not rest for a very long time.

Indeed, because it was spoken by such a person of influence, it will go down in the annals of history of my faith-group and will someday be ferreted out as a nugget that few even realize exists. "An undeserved curse does not come to rest."  There is a day of accounting for every word we utter.  Best we choose them wisely, don't you think?  selahV

For Other Related Posts:

WHEN THE DEVIL SPINS A TALE

Bloggers Biting Bait

Bloggers are funny characters.  Some bloggers really crack me up.  They have no problem jumping into the middle of a stream that does not concern them whatsoever, and giving their undiluted opinion of a person's character. Often these folks do not even offer a "how do you do, mr. host/hostess," nor a "thankyou for allowing me to comment on your blog".  Nope.  They just plunge right in and say unseemly things about some person's motives, intent, and integrity even though their blatherings have nothing at all to do with the subject matter.  It's crazy.

Other bloggers write posts designed to bait other bloggers to bite on the topic and find nothing but minnows nibbling at the end of their lines.  I almost jumped into a stream yesterday.  People were going on and on and on about a person I felt was being maligned in a way that was so far from the truth it embarassed me for the writer posting their rhetoric.  I thought long and hard about correcting the record.  I even wrote a calmly, well-reasoned, logical response to each and every person who was saying demeaning things.  Then...

...then I decided to read through some Proverbs for a energy-boost of wisdom.  I read several verses until my eyes landed on this one:

"Like one who grabs a stray dog by the ears is someone who rushes into a quarrel not their own."  Proverbs 26:17

I've never grabbed a stray dog by the ears.  But by golley I do know the sounds of a hound-dog that is grabbed that way.  It's such a bone-chilling bellowing wail.

The offending words being written about this person in that blog-stream illustrated this verse very well.  Writers obviously were ignorant of the subject matter and only based their opinions and thoughts upon previous encounters they'd had with the person--or things they'd read about the person.  And even though I am privy to far more about motive, intent, and thoughts behind the discussion topic, I had no business rushing into a quarrel not my own. 

I felt really good that the Lord checked my spirit, controlled my fingers, and helped me resist the temptation to meddle where meddling is not warranted.

I've all but stopped commenting on blogs.  I find most blogs I frequented in the past (and no...you know I'm not talking about yours), have deteriorated into quarrelsome blatherings and fingerpointing rather than engaging the subject matter.  Quarrelsome attitudes beget more quarrels.  There's little room for reason or truth or desire to get at the truth in a matter when people write post after post inviting character assassinations. 

I find some bloggers write just to rattle out words to get more readers.  More comments.  The more outrageous they can make their posts, the happier they seem.  The more pats on the backs they get for unwarrantly slamming another individual for even daring to broach a controversial subject, the more they write about the individual...the more they bring up that person's name...the more they post about them to bring more readers to rush in and grab stray dogs by the ears.  My eyes can no longer stand the screeching wails, my friends.  I think I've decided how I will handle further streams with tangled lines baited with guile.

I shall not bite the bait, or rush in with a stray dog by the ears.  I might even give up fishing altogether and train my dog to hunt.  selahV

GOOOOOOOD MORNING SBC !!!

[Warning to all my non-SBC readers and friends: this post may make you yawn]

In the late hours of the night I happened upon a site once frequented by a bevy of readers and commenters.  Rumor has it that we'll be facing yet another challenge to wipe the SBC off the face of the earth....

(well, not really)  However, if some folks have their way, according to the rumor, Southern will be deleted, Baptist will be deleted, and Convention will be deleted.  That, my friends, leaves....drum roll please......

NOTHING.

16-MILLION (more or less) worshipping, bible-studying, born-again, regenerated, reformed and un-reformed, can no longer lay claim to the cooperating body of believers beneath the banner of the SBC.  Ah...but what does it really matter in the scheme of things?  The only "real-life" misery will be the thousands upon thousands upon thousands of dollars it will take to change all the documents, contracts, etc.

I don't know.  To me, it is just silly business...the changing, the financial waste, the emotional upheavals, the divisive arguments and debates, the splits here, the splits there and for what?  well...ya see, that is the question not quite on the floor of the SBC.

First they'll debate the change, then argue why not to do it, then send it to committees for evaluations, then blogwars will erupt with all kinds of stupid new names that mean nothing to the average pew-sitting Southern Baptist, or for that matter the world at large. Folks who've never heard of the NEWNAMEFAITHGROUP, will ask what's that?  What do they believe?  What doctrines do they hold?  What kinda music do they play?  Do they have megatrons so I don't have to carry a Bible?  on, and on and on.

Folks who do know (or discover our covert plan to gain new converts), that NEWNAMEFAITHGROUP was once named the Southern Baptist Convention, won't trust NEWNAMEFAITHGROUP anymore than they did OLD-NAMEFAITHGROUP.  It will be one big fat century-old battle of bullheaded Baptists (or nuevo-no-names) doing exactly what they always do...major on minors instead of majoring on Jesus.  Will we set up our debate rules by Robert's Order, or by the most vocal Blogger's Rule?  I can visualize the comments now.

Even writing a post like this may stir a pot of pure bile from the gall of some commenters.  But, do me a favor.  Take it all over to SBC Today and give it all to Dr. Jerry Nash, Director of Missions from Trenton, Florida; I'm not up to arguing about stuff not worth arguing about.  I'm seeking first the kingdom of God so all the lesser things will be added unto me as He so sees fit to bring it into my life.  Have a super Tuesday and beyond, my fellow Southern Baptists.  selahV

Close Encounters (Continued)

Pity parties are odd things.  I often throw mine and realize I have not one soul I can invite.  Who'd want to join me in feeling sorry for myself after all?  I don't even want to talk to me.

Enter the blogosphere...Facebook, Twitter.  There's always someone somewhere to join in commiserating with me.  That can be a dangerous thing for some folk, but I've been blessed by some of those folks who encourage with scripture without beating my head in with Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of verses from their 7-pound Family Bible.  I'm humbled that a person takes the time to care for someone they've never been physically close enough to to even so much as nod at a four-way stopsign.

It seems odd, to say the least, that we find ourselves spilling our guts to people we've never had the privilege of seeing face to face. It's quite baffling when one finds more understanding, and encouragement via internet access than from a person they've shared years of details in an up-close-and-personal relationship.

How can this happen?  Is it true we can't see the forest for the trees?

I never know quite how long to hold a pity party. Occasionally, for me, holding one is what makes life most bearable to deal with an arthritic infested spine, a painful vertebrae, the dreaded day others find joy in remembering Mothers, and the petty disappointments of daily living.  Until the last guest leaves (uh, that be me), I tend to wallow in this time and write.  I write.  I gripe, complain, whine, and consider the bunk stored in an unguarded heart which always seems to surface in my mind when I am at my lowest point emotionally and physically.

Yet, when the tears dry upon my cheeks, and the pity party begins to lose its charm, I rediscover an age-old truth.  By some extraordinary twist of providence, only God can make a difference in disappointments.  Only He is wise enough to give us the exact person we need at that particular time in our lives to deliver His word of comfort.  Only He can fuse the broken spirit, and turn the life-wheels to form a pot worth having from the dust and water of a corrupted earth.

Only through writing, praying, and weighing my thoughts, do I find any purpose for the chaotic friction, fissures, and misunderstandings...if there be any purpose under the sun.  There is a time for everything--a time to live, to die, to dance, to not dance, to weep, to laugh.  Today is my time to mourn life in general.  It's my way of running like Forrest, biking, painting, doing yardwork and purging the closets of my soul.  Since today gave way to self-indulgence, perhaps tomorrow will bring the joy.  If not, there is always the next day--and the next.  For without Hope, without expectation of God's intervention, would there be any sense at all in this world?  I think not. 

There's therapeutic deliverance in thinking, in writing, in praying through discouragement.  God changes me and things seem to change around me.  It's not that I can change the circumstance or fix the situation.  No, there is no fixing what is.  Only living with it as is, and accepting "such is life".  C'est la vie.

It's hard to admit, since I haven't really ended my pity party, but I am quite grateful for the close encounters He brings my way when I least expect it.  I really am.  They often show me a side of myself I cannot see for the trees.  Their pain puts me in my place.  Their struggles help me see my own in perspective.  Their love makes me want to love the ones I'm with a bit more, a bit stronger--with greater tolerance and patience and understanding.

 

How about you?  Has God brought about good from what others intended, or unintentionally intended, as evil?  Have you had "close encounters" from a long distance? selahV