Scrambled Eggs & Corn Flakes

Some of us have been there before. We may all have our own stories. Being involved with churches (some heavily) and then getting hurt emotionally and spiritually. Getting wounded from what we consider a safe haven can have a life long impact. I know of people whose faith was shaken to the point of foregoing church anywhere due to wounds received from the church they were a part of. We all get wounded in our relationships at some point in our lives. Some are superficial and easily heal, some cause deep bruising, while others leave us in pain for years. This can happen in any kind of relationship. Friendships, marriages, and families. At some point, you will get hurt. Humans are that way, whether intentional or not. Churches are no different. The pain from a church can feel different. As I said, we tend to look at them as safe havens. We feel everyone there is the same, with the same motivations. Believers who are in lock step together. Believing the same God and following His ...

My testimony is not all that particularly exciting. My childhood was great. Both my parents stayed together. They provided for our needs and encouraged my sister and I in our pursuits. I didn't get involved with the wrong crowd, abuse drugs/alcohol, skip out on school, etc.. I had a very nice childhood for which I was blessed with. My mom took us to church when we were little, I grew up in the church and in college, gave my life to Christ. End of story. Now that I have put you to sleep. We know of other testimonies where people went through trials and misery, some self inflicted. They reached rock bottom and God rescued them from that existence. Powerful stuff and speaks to how great our God is. That we can become so far lost in the eyes of the world and be a hopeless cause and yet God can lift us from that. Both paths to God are valid. Neither is better than the other. God works differently in different people's lives with the same goal. To bring us in reconciliation to Him...

"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed 'God, I thank you that I am not like other people - robbers, evildoers, adulterers - or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get'. But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner'" Luke 18: 10-13. Most of us have read or heard this story before. We can all assume that we should not act like the arrogant Pharisee. Thanks God immediately for not being like others, who I assume, he feels are inferior to him. He names names and speaks highly of himself. Feeling the need to proclaim his accomplishments to God. Somehow by stating that, makes him a better person. I'm sure he made sure that the tax collector heard his prayer. We can get a good chuckle as we read this. Thinking to ourselves that we don'...

"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me" John 10:27. I have always found it interesting that Jesus spoke to over thousands of people during the Sermon on the Mount without the benefit of modern technology and no one apparently had any problem hearing or understanding Him. No microphone, no speakers, no sound system. Just his voice and the natural acoustics. And, he talked at great lengths under these conditions with an audience that was kept enraptured. That's pretty amazing when you actually think about all that. This scenario was touched upon in Monty Python's Life of Brian (funny movie, not as funny as Holy Grail though). During the Sermon on the Mount, one of the actors asks "Blessed are the cheesemakers? What's so special about them?" Didn't hear him say peacemakers. It's a humorous statement, but it's one that got me thinking. Jesus speaks clear as day to over five thousand people without the aid of technology...