2005 in Review

12 Excerpts from this years bloggings:

19 Jan 2005 The purpose of pain
Pain is a somewhat relative phenomena ... for someone in a wheelchair pain is quite different from someone who has lost a loved one - but pain is pain nonetheless and our challenge is to find a way to let pain achieve its purpose in our lives.

4 Feb 2005 Religious Pollution
Do 'religious people' make you angry? You know those people who seem to love the rules but don't seem to love people. I must confess that they do make me angry.

10 Mar 2005 Identity
It is a matter of identity. Many in the church today refer to themselves as 'just a sinner saved by grace'. I wonder if by saying these things we have trained ourselves to identify as sinners and not new spiritual creations.

29 Apr 2005 Beauty for Ashes
Don't you love happy endings? Do you believe in a happy ending for yourself? I am sure that Job never thought the day would come … perhaps you are in a similar situation. I have seen many of my trials turn into blessings.

21 May 2005 Confessions of a Charismatic Fundamentalist
The events of these years have convinced me that the letter kills but the Spirit gives life. I have learned that there is a difference in being right and righteous … one can have absolute truth about an issue but be absolutely wrong in their application of that truth if they are not truly led by God’s Spirit.

22 Jun 2005 Perspective
We can, in the same way, be disappointed with God when he does not meet our expectations. We often imagine that he will do something in one manner and he acts in a way contrary to our thinking … and we are disappointed.

2 Jul 2005 Choosing Joy
Spurgeon reminds us that even in death God is present ... in the fiery furnace God is there. For me, worship has been the key to having joy and experiencing God's presence.

10 Jul 2005 Citizenship
Being a citizen of heaven is a reminder that we, who are in Christ, live in, and are under the government of, a different kingdom. Our world is an inner realm ... an eternal world where motive, intent and meaning are important.

06 Sep 2005 Katrina and that River in Egypt
We often miss this step when we read Job's story. The first two chapters of are basically ones of denial. Job's reactions are very much entrenched in numbness.

29 Oct 2005 Religious Answers
Ever read something in the bible, embrace it and regurgitate it to someone? Sure you have. I wonder if it is endemic of our need to have an answer when we don’t have a clue.

28 Nov 2005 Unplowed Ground
Our hearts, like the soil, can be hard, shallow and strangled. Trials, tests, hardships and suffering often reveal these aspects of our hearts. A trial will surface the person that we are on the inside ... what we really believe.

12 Dec 2005 Disappointment
The older I get the more I can resonate with Paul in a small way. Paul accepted sufferings not only as a part of life but also as God’s plan to refine him in weakness. God seemed to have brought him to a place where he embraced every aspect of life did not lose hope when it was as he expected it to be.