Are you Ready for the Great Debate?

Just thought I'd start with something happy today :)

Happy humid and rainy Sunday, everyone!! Sorry for not posting last week.  The joys of my last semester as a college student are, once again, getting in the way of more important things such as blogging on Sundays.  I don't think I'm alone in wishing that fall would just hurry up and get here!! Hello! Pumpkin Spice flavored items are available, which means the temperatures are supposed to drop and not be in the 90's! I'm just saying...it better be cooler before more Christmas commercials start airing...anyways..

As I was reading the paper this morning (yes, I am a 35 year old in a 22 year old body), I came across a picture that looked familiar.  It was my church and my pastor.  It turns out that people have a problem when the church actually talks about things that pertain to our every day lives.  At Seacoast, we have been in a series called "Trending" and we have discussed numerous topics that appear on Twitter, Facebook, newspapers, etc.  The tough stuff.  The disputed stuff.  The things that people need to be informed of so that they do not sound ignorant when arguing about them with other people.

We are all created differently. Thank goodness for that.  How boring would it be if we all thought the same?! We are meant to have different opinions because each of us has our own personal lens to see the world through.  So far, we had discussed "trends" such as: heaven, eternity, hell, politics, 9/11, economics and today we tackled good ole gay marriage.  Talk about a great debate in the south.

I am proud to go to a church that accepts ALL people.  Today's discussion was not about whether something was right or wrong or whether or not you will go to hell for acting a certain way.  We were told to "love one another desperately!"  None of us are any better than anyone else, so why do we care about thinking we are right all the time?!? It's not about being right, it's about being Christ-Like! 

Accept one another, then just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. -Romans 15:7

Think about the impact you are making in each interaction you make throughout your daily routine.  How many people do you come in contact with who are slightly or extremely different than you?  When it comes down to it, we are called to LOVE.  Let's let this be our daily challenge!  I believe that great things can happen in this world, if we just stopped judging and started loving.  Just a thought.

Speaking of great debates...if you haven't heard, on Thursday, September 29 at Physicians Auditorium at the College of Charleston, there will be "The Great Debate" on The Existence of God.  Trust me!  You do not want to miss out on this opportunity to see Herb Silverman and Jack Hoey Jr. debate this "trending" topic.  Hope to see you there!

For more information on "The Great Debate", check out their Facebook page! http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=223913970989529&ref=ts

Remembering....

‎"Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet My unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed"

-Isaiah 54:10

Where were you on that "normal" Tuesday morning on September 11, 2001?  It's incredible to remember in such detail a day that happened a decade ago, when I can barely remember what I ate last night for dinner.  For me, I remember being in the 7th grade at Dawkins Middle School in Mrs. Brown's class...

As our normal routine was commencing, someone runs into our classroom and whispers frantically into Mrs. Brown's ear and the television is immediately turned on.  All she kept saying was that this was going to be in our future history books and we would be studying this event for the rest of our lives.  As you can imagine, we were all a bit confused at what she was talking about.  It just looked like a building was on fire.  The TV was really small so it took us a while to realize that an airplane had hit that building.  Like most people, we thought it was a tragic accident....until that 2nd plane hit.

For 7th graders, we were pretty intuitive that a 2nd plane hitting a building was not right and was fueled by anger.  Even at age 12, I was a news junkie.  I think I started watching the Today Show before I could walk, so I actually grasped what the news anchors were saying, and I was terrified.  I was scared that such anger could push someone to do such unthinkable evil to another human being, let alone thousands of innocent lives!  My heart shattered at realizing that the world was much darker than I had grown up thinking...

I could not be prouder to be an American.  But I am even more proud of the fact that our nation can come together and fight through the adversities of this world.  One Nation Under God!  I know with all my heart that God is bigger than any terrorist that tries to face us; bigger than any threat that tries to destroy our courage; bigger than anything that tries to inflict evil on His children.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all of those who were personally affected by the tragic events on 9/11/01. My thanks go out to all of those who are fighting to protect our beloved country from further acts of evil and violence.  For the land of the FREE, and the home of the BRAVE! 

Remembering...

 

Politics in church?...

"We're not righteous because of what we do.  We are righteous because of WHOSE we are!" -Tim Scott

Happy almost Labor Day!  I rocked my white shoes for the last time this year today...see ya next Easter!  Anyways...today I experienced something different than I normally do on a Sunday.  A mix of church and state.  Representative, Tim Scott came and spoke at Seacoast this morning, and he did the most amazing job!  Can I just say, that he might be one of the funniest people ever, simply because he gave a message that allowed everyone to laugh at politics while growing in understanding it.  As for me, I used to be a political science major, but I truly hate this time of political season of elections...all the bashing and terrible commercials make me want to gag..so I promise, this is NOT a campaign blog post...

As I'm sure each and every one of you know, our country is in a bit of trouble financially.  But, not just that, our country seems to be going through all kinds of darkness and difficulty.  But today, Mr. Scott brought up a great point, that seemed so simple, that it gave me such hope for our beloved country.  Have you noticed that throughout history, the United States has faced A LOT (a few world wars, slavery, a depression, etc) and yet, we have overcome them all.  God has protected our country throughout history.  Who is to say that He will not continue to take care of us now?  A good way to see how God works is to look at the past.

We have gotten a little off track, haven't we?  We are letting pride and unimportant things take over.  We have forgotten how to humble ourselves and remember what it is like to work hard for something.  I agree with what Mr. Scott said this morning...it will not be government that saves us, it will be our individual efforts along with the church.  The government is not meant to be where we tithe; that's the church's job.  The church can do more with our money effectively than the government ever could.  Individually, if we took the time to serve instead of try to lead, we could make such an immense change in this world.  "In order to be a leader, you must first be a servant." 


My challenge for us all this week, is for us to take a step back and look at how we are spending our lives and spending our money.  Where are you called to serve?  The beautiful thing is that we are all blessed with gifts and talents for specific areas that serve for the greater good!  Let us humble ourselves so that the Good Lord can pick us up and use us to redeem our country and then bring light into this dark world!

On another happy note...

...Pumpkin Spice is coming to Starbucks! AKA fall is almost here...like I said, Happy :)