Is there a difference between listening and hearing?

 

I get accused sometimes of not listening. You know, like when your wife is talking to you while you are watching a football game or the news, then out of no where comes this statement, “ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME!”  I, for the most part, come back with this response, “ I was listening , but I didn’t hear what you said.”   Most of the time this response seems to be, might I say, the wrong response. 

Is there anyone out there also having this problem?  I hope in my next post I can show that in the bible, there seemed to be examples of this issue.

Speak up, and let your voice be heard!

Today as I was just thinking about The Church, and what to  write on about the church that no one will comment on.  This picture came to my mind. 

It must have been amazing to see Jesus walking along the streets teaching the people the scriptures and about the things of God and to follow Jesus around daily, see him heal the sick, give sight to the blind,make the lame to walk, and even make the dead rise.

Can you imagine though what it was like the first time they heard Jesus use the phrase:

                                     “I AM”

As I thought about this, I could see Jesus saying to the people,

“I AM: THE WAY

I AM: THE TRUTH

I AM: THE LIFE

NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER, BUT BY ME!”

What does this one who says “I Am” mean to you?

Just a few thoughts on my previous post, The Church…?. 

I was doing a word search on wikipedia for church and ran across this picture.  The first thing that caught my eye was the caption, “The church of Saint Simon in Aleppo, Syria is considered to be one of the oldest remaining churches in the world.”

If this church is “remaining”, what exactly does “remaining” mean?

If a building in this condition is still called a church, would you call a modern church in this condition a church?

What do I mean by “condition”?  From all appearances, the church in this picture would be considered dead  –no people, no activity, no outreach, no nothing.

Another thought you may be having is that the building does not make the church, and I will agree with that.

Does it not make you wonder what happened to this building, that from the looks of it, was a beautiful building at one time? What happened to the church?  Where did the people go?  How could such a beautiful building have become a pile of rocks and stones?  

Perhaps the most important question might be, is your church a “remaining” church?  By this, I mean, is it just “remaining” around to do what it has always done with the same people that have always been there? Is your church building beautiful on the outside, but dead on the inside?  

The church should be outside the four walls of the building, in the midst of our communities, tearing down the strongholds of satan, and pushing back the darkness with the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in order to fulfill the commission that the Church was given. 

Could your church someday be labeled like this church, as one of the oldest “remaining” churches in the world?  As Paul would have said, “God forbid”! 

Per Wikipedia:   The church of Saint Simon in Aleppo, Syria is considered to be one of the oldest remaining churches in the world.

In the introduction of the Book of Acts, Luke is telling Theophilus about all the things that Jesus began to do and teach before the Ascension. In verse 2, it says that Jesus gave orders to the apostles.

As I read and re-read verse 2, the words, “given orders”, just started to come to life.  I began to think, what kind of orders where these: was it to go to McDonalds and pick up dinner, was it to go and pick up new Easter clothes, (you know that is just around the corner), and the way Church is today and depending on what type of Church you attend you will either be over-dressed or under-dressed.  Oh my… that starts a whole new order of things.

Anyway,

Then as I kept reading,  I could see that what orders that Jesus was giving was “Marching Orders.”

The apostles were chosen by him to go into battle with the enemy.  A new day was about to dawn. He was about to send them around the world to set the captives free.

 I like the way the NASB version puts it, “even to the remotest parts of the earth.”

But first they needed something that they didn’t have in themselves, Power to fight this enemy. They needed a Power that only GOD could give, the Power of the Holy Spirit.

Verse 8 puts it like this, “you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you shall be_________?

Great book writers

Great blog posters

Great musicians

Great preachers

Great Church builders

Great worshippers

I don”t think so! Jesus has given us our MARCHING ORDERS:  “you shall be My Witnesses….., even to the remotest part of the earth.”

If you will notice that the “you” is not capitalized (speaking of you and me), however what is capitalized is the “My” (speaking of JESUS).

We must begin to forget about us and our wants, and our likes and dis-likes, and our way, and “their” way, and lift His name high above all things, because He is above all things.

Let us March forth through the remotest parts of the earth with our MARCHING ORDERS and with the POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE NAME OF OUR CHIEF CAPTAIN AND WITH THE GOSPEL MESSAGE TURNING  OUR WORLD UPSIDE DOWN.

As the old hymn goes:

Marching on, Marching on…

For Christ count everything but loss!

And to crown him King, we’ll toil and sing

Beneath the banner of the cross!

Since all the hype about linkage in the Blogdom, I feel obligated to assist my husband in staying on top of his responsibilities.  After all, “behind every good man, is a GOOD WOMAN”, huh?!

 So…in the interest of human rights and blogger fellowship, this here post is for you, dear.  Glad I could keep you in the “loop” when your schedule doesn’t permit doing so yourself :)  (Aren’t you glad you trusted me with your password now?!!) 

(Now, this is the part where you all comment and tell Kenneth what a great post “he” wrote!)

I was trying to find one of my dear friend’s blogs  in order to listen to some inspiring music, but the link wasn’t there.  So, instead, I traveled around and found these inspiring links to other blogs — encouraging blogs and friends who encourage me and believe the dead can rise again.

 Hope you enjoy them!

God Is…

Crazy at Cedar Creek

Heart2heart Conversations

John Cross

Only by Grace

Recovering Noah

Leap of Faith

The Best of All Is…

Thoughts From a Shallow Mind

The UnComfort Zone

Rhonda’s Space

Riches and Grace

You’re Beautiful

Jowiki.net

I have been reading a book by Ravi Zacharias, Can Man Live Without God?

I would encourage you to read this book.  For me it took a while, but…wow!…it is by far one of the best books I have read in a while.  I have had this book for some time, and once I started it, I could not put it down.  If you are one who struggles for the meaning of truth, then read this book.

Ravi Zacharias truly is one of the great Christian apologists of all time.  I will not tell you all the details of the book, but will just say that you should have your thinking cap on before you start to read.

A question to ponder in the mean time:  ”If there is no God, what does it matter what we do while we live here on earth?” 

Wow, It took forever to get that dirt off,  Thanks Dale!

It is always nice to know that when it appears that you have passed away,  that great friends and family visit your blog now and then to keep your numbers moving.  Yes Dale I could hear the weeping and Tapps playing while you searched the site for a body.  Once again thanks for removing the dirt,  and thanks for getting Julie and Dreama to help.  They are such great ladies to go and help a fellow blogger.

But, can you fathom what it must have been like the morning that Mary went to the tomb to take care of the body?  To go, and I am almost certain that she was weeping,  and to see her beloved, one more time.  Then to find that the body was missing.

Then to hear the words,  “The one you search for is not here, HE IS RISEN!  Now, go and tell his disciples.”

Now fathom this: what if Mary had of been lazy or self centered and and said No?!  I want the risen Lord to myself.

I know that it didn”t happen, because the bible tells us that she went and found the disciples and told them.  Just think for one moment though, if she had been disobedient, and didn’t obey what she was told to do.  Would the gospel message have stopped right there?

Jesus Christ has given us a command to go to all peoples and tell the good news:  that he was crucified, buried, and on the third day rose from the grave.  If we don’t obey His command to go and tell, will the gospel message die within our generation?

I say all of this with conviction in my own heart, that I am lazy and sometimes selfish when it comes to sharing the gospel.  I pray that everyday the Lord gives me breath,  I will be so excited like Mary, and not walk, but run and tell all,  that “JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD IS RISEN! HE’S ALIVE! HE’S ALIVE!”

May we all pray and work together to run the race that is set before us, TO WIN!  Countless lives are depending on us.

Cough–Cough–Sneeze–Sneeze:

WOW! Sure is dusty in here.

It has been a while sense I have blogged, but I ran across this true illustration about ENCOURAGEMENT. 

by Jeffrey Zaslow in Tell Me All About It. I found it on Bible.org. The name of it is “Coaching Baseball”.

Coaching Baseball

Years ago, my father coached a team of eight-year-olds. He had a few excellent players, and some who just couldn’t get the hang of the game. Dad’s team didn’t win once all season. But in the last inning of the last game, his team was only down by a run. There was one boy who had never been able to hit the ball—or catch it. With two outs, it was his turn to bat. He surprised the world and got a single!

The next batter was the team slugger. Finally, Dad’s players might win a game. The slugger connected, and as the boy who hit the single ran to second, he saw the ball coming toward him. Not so certain of baseball’s rules, he caught it. Final out! Dad’s team lost!

Quickly, my father told his team to cheer. The boy beamed. It never occurred to him that he lost the game. All he knew was he had hit the ball and caught it—both for the first time.His parents later thanked my dad. Their child had never even gotten in a game before that season. We never told the boy exactly what happened. We didn’t want to ruin it for him. And till this day, I’m proud of what my father did that afternoon.

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did.