Christianity 101

Offending Pages

Amidst the less-than-fresh email I read this morning, I came across this from The Berean Call (An Invented Tale):

According to Moorthy Muthuswamy, an expert on political Islam, “61 percent of the Koran talks ill of unbelievers or calls for their violent conquest and subjugation, but only 2.6 percent talks about the overall good of humanity.” Hmmm. Seems as though that would amount to an awful lot of offending pages.

Frankly, I have no idea if that’s accurate.

But it would have to be hugely inaccurate for it not to be an eye-opening perspective.

What do you think?

And do you know of any experts on political Christianity who have come up with this type of statistic regarding the Bible?

“Someone Your Age”

I’m almost past the speed limit. 😯

So this shoe fits my foot:

Then I remembered Psalm 71, the psalm for folks “my age” and beyond. It reminds us of the value of a life well lived and of the worth of lessons learned: Lessons are not just for our benefit but also for us to pass along to the next generations. The psalmist wrote, “When I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come” v.18.

So, maybe being “someone my age” isn’t such a bad gig. It is the privilege of “veteran” Christ-followers to declare the strength and power of God to the younger generations.

Maybe you should read it all — who knows, our feet might be the same size.

Oh, and about that opening speed limit thing. I’m not in a 55 mph zone. Nope. Not that fast.

The Fly in Your Ointment

With a title like that, I don’t mean to make light of this:

“Because David did that which was right
in the eyes of the LORD,
and turned not aside from
any thing that he commanded him
all the days of his life,
save only in the matter of
Uriah the Hittite.”
1 Kings 15:5

David repented.

God forgave.

But the record remained.

I’m grateful for forgiveness.

And cleansing.

So I can enjoy the ointment again.

(Does any of this make sense to you?)

Winning People

Alternate title: How to Avoid Being Avoidable

I’ve been thinking for a while about how some people have a “knack” for alienating others. Or if not alienating them, at least building walls or burning bridges between them.

So if you’re one of those, here are some things you — yes, you — should avoid in order to not flunk the “Winning People” part of real living:

  1. Be critical of them or how they do (or don’t do) stuff.
  2. Have a scornful or demeaning attitude toward them, even for “justifiable” reasons. 😯
  3. Downplay their accomplishments or sufferings by raising up your “superior” ones. 🙄
  4. Call attention to your accomplishments or your insights.
  5. Make the conversation (if not the prospective relationship) primarily about you.
  6. Hold them to your personal standards of whatever…and make sure they know it.
  7. Pooh-pooh their personal standards and likes and preferences if you fail to meet them.
  8. Be controlling of (and unjust with) those clearly under your authority.
  9. Be demanding. (Hint: This is made worse when you have no “right” to be demanding.)
  10. Be an ingrate.
  11. Be impatient.
  12. Be thin-skinned about criticism or less-than-complimentary input.
  13. Be rhino-hided about criticism or less-than-complimentary input.
  14. Be hyper-sensitive and imaginative (and then unduly inquisitive) about what other people say, do, think, imagine, and mean.
  15. Have a Bah Humbug attitude toward this subject and this list. (No, really!)
  16. Be disrespectful.
  17. Fuss at and criticize and argue with your spouse in public…or in front of them.
  18. Don’t apologize when you’re wrong or when you’ve wronged others. Instead make excuses. Or blame others.
  19. Take a list like this…and put people on the spot with it (or with this subject as a whole).
  20. Imagine I’m targeting this at you specifically. (Do you really think I’d be so careless or class-less? Especially in a wide-open public forum like this? Give me a break!) 😀 Also see #5. 😆

Is there more that should be said on so needful a subject?

Yup, I’m afraid so.

That’s what the Comments section below is about! 🙂

So if you want people to be around you or if you want people to look forward to being around you….listen up!

For all that I know (and for all that you know), some people treat being around you as something that must be done in order to “get it over with.”

Do you like being that kind of person?

Just askin’.

😉

PS: If you’re a Christian, this subject becomes even more important.

Above all, love God!