Legalism

I don't believe roller coasters are something Christians should participate in. Even those who enjoy them confess there is a fear factor involved, a "thrill" if you will. God has given us this natural fear sensation for our good, not our amusement. (We certainly don't have any indication in Scripture that Jesus pursued entertainment of any kind.) In addition, the Bible says that God has not given us a spirit of fear and that perfect love casts out all fear. To cultivate fear, especially for the purpose of reveling in fear is spiritually perverted. Given all the suffering in the world, including that endured by our Christian brothers and sisters. Riding roller coasters, at the very least seems like a poor use of precious time and an obvious violation of Philippians 4:8. ~Thanks to http://gospeldrivenchurch.blogspot.com/2010/07/it-is-easy-to-do-this.html

It is very easy to think this way. We can pull scriptures out of context to meet our own needs. We live out our lives in our own ways and may even make a very good case for whether or not to wear a Red Sox head covering Vs Yankees Head covering, wash your hands with water or use sanitizer only, drink only Welch’s grape juice, read only scripture (maybe the New Living Translation), no age segregated teachings, or even elders that are right out of seminary approaching a church in need of leadership but the young man knows he does not meet the qualifications due the fact he is not married with children, and the list goes on.

What are we to do in a fallen world as ours? Go to scripture where truth is found! Allow the Spirit that lives within shed the light. By all means, read the dead guys that have finished the race well. Always have a body close by that is ready and willing to hold you close and lift you up in prayer. Our actions should be the catalyst used to hold others accountable in the areas that are somewhat non-descript in scripture. We need not place our selves on pedestals to point out the problems with everyone else. God bless and find the joy in the Lord, His burden is light. Glorify God by enjoying Him and all He has created!

You Can't Start in a Dream World

A Guest Post by Samantha Axberg (aka my eldest daughter)


“Find your calling” and “follow your dreams” are two frequently used phrases when dealing with young men (and women) that are looking for their path in life. They’re often interchanged as meaning relatively the same thing; however, I believe that they are completely different.

Here’s an example:

Bob wanted to be a Texas rancher. However, when he settled down and got married he didn’t have the resources to do so. So instead of jumping into debt and “following his dream” he found a steady job and through his hard work become one of the top ten business men in the company.
After a while (with quite a few children too=) Bob realized that he had the resources that his family needed to buy the ranch.
Today, Bob has a wonderful family on a 200 acre Texan ranch outside of Dallas.

Bob didn’t start with his dream, he started with his calling. His calling (at that point in his life) was to work hard and prepare to live his dream. At the time, Bob had no clue he was ever going to be able to settle on a ranch, but he knew that if he was ever going to, he needed the proper resources.

Many young people today start out with big dreams (I mean, really, who doesn’t?) that they want to accomplish NOW. So we have song writers, novelists, instrumentalists, etc. who can’t fully provide for their family because they started with the dream.

Before I go any further, I want to make one point clear:

I have dreams.

Big ones.

They may seem simple to you, but I want to be a wife and a mother who can be known as her husband’s business and home manager, counselor, and entrepreneur partner. I want to be a mother who can raise a rocket scientist son or a daughter who turns out as the mother of a President or even an Idaho potato king.

But, I’m sitting answering phones at my father’s property management company waiting for Mom to pick me up and bring me to physics class.

Not exactly what I’d call “Living the dream.”

That also may be because I’m seventeen, haven’t graduated, and have no clue how to grow a potato or build a rocket=).
(Maybe physics will aid in the rocket part… I digress.)

Back to my point, in order to get to the end, we must be willing to accomplish the means. Our calling when we’re eighteen may not be what we’re going to do forever (I think Dad wrote a post about that a while back…), but at least we’re doing something. We’re supposed to always be working, and working HARD. “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop” indeed!

There’s nothing wrong with being a song writer, novelist, or instrumentalist, but if you can’t provide for your family (or even yourself) you may want to figure out whether you should find another job. Maybe writing is just supposed to be a hobby with computer programming as your full time job. Or maybe you split your time between being on tour with the band and acting as an independent salesman. Who knows, but as young people (and not-so-young-people) let’s make sure we’re where God would have us, not just where we “dream” to be.

Someday our dreams may become reality like Bob, but for now let’s be content with answering phones and taking physics=).