HI everyone!!!
My book is now available. The Reluctant Shepherd is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble websites and also from other bookstores by ordering it...please take the time to read and enjoy.
Lydia
Sunday, April 29, 2007
"Ever been angry? So angry with someone that you couldn’t see two feet in front of you? Ever been so mad you hit the wall, although it would have made you very much happier indeed to hit the person with whom you were angry? Or have you ever met a person you absolutely, without a doubt in anyone’s mind, don’t care for very much, try as you might? Try as you both might to like one another? Someone who you cannot be around for very long without the urge to say, “Take a long walk on a short pier!”, someone who grates on your last nerve?
Maybe it’s a friend of a friend, maybe it’s someone in your neighborhood, maybe it’s an employer who has treated you and others unfairly, maybe it’s an employee who is difficult to deal with, maybe it’s a colleague that back bites you, maybe it’s someone even closer to you, such as in your family, that no matter what you try to tell them still get themselves deeper and deeper in trouble, because they don’t care that what they do today will affect their future.
More heartbreaking, maybe this is your sister or brother in Christ that has decided that the Church isn’t correct, that they need to join another group that professes to speak the truth but doesn’t really by their actions. Or else they have become legalistic in their “religion”. Or else you just don’t see eye to eye with them. You really want to be a good brother/sister to this person or these people and you truly love them, because if you didn’t, you truly couldn’t say you loved God. (I John 2:11) So you try, honestly try, to find out what there is to love about this person or these people and you make a mental list and realize that what you don’t like about this person or these people is in a much larger list that that list with things to like. And you feel guilty because you are supposed to like this person…wait a minute…supposed to? Guilty? Where does the cross fit into this picture? Didn’t Christ wipe away my sins by dying for me and thereby doing away with the guilt? Didn’t he say we are free to be who we are? "
Interested in reading more? Go to oneingod.org.
Maybe it’s a friend of a friend, maybe it’s someone in your neighborhood, maybe it’s an employer who has treated you and others unfairly, maybe it’s an employee who is difficult to deal with, maybe it’s a colleague that back bites you, maybe it’s someone even closer to you, such as in your family, that no matter what you try to tell them still get themselves deeper and deeper in trouble, because they don’t care that what they do today will affect their future.
More heartbreaking, maybe this is your sister or brother in Christ that has decided that the Church isn’t correct, that they need to join another group that professes to speak the truth but doesn’t really by their actions. Or else they have become legalistic in their “religion”. Or else you just don’t see eye to eye with them. You really want to be a good brother/sister to this person or these people and you truly love them, because if you didn’t, you truly couldn’t say you loved God. (I John 2:11) So you try, honestly try, to find out what there is to love about this person or these people and you make a mental list and realize that what you don’t like about this person or these people is in a much larger list that that list with things to like. And you feel guilty because you are supposed to like this person…wait a minute…supposed to? Guilty? Where does the cross fit into this picture? Didn’t Christ wipe away my sins by dying for me and thereby doing away with the guilt? Didn’t he say we are free to be who we are? "
Interested in reading more? Go to oneingod.org.
Monday, April 23, 2007
The Reluctant Shepherd
Hello everyone!! My book is now available for purchase. Barnes and Noble or Amazon can order it for you...
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Asking why
It is human nature for an individual or one sociopolitical group to not only dislike but to sometimes harass and perhaps carry out aggression against those who are not in the “norm” of the particular sociopolitical group in question. One person many times terrorizes that which he doesn’t like, understand, or feels is different from him. One country takes it upon themselves to denigrate another country that is next to them simply because they pick up their fork with their left hand rather than their right. Such abuse often ends in death or at least disfigurement, either physical or emotional or both, and leaves it’s victims with one question, “Why?” And there is no answer to that question, at least none that will satisfy the victim truly. Even God doesn’t try to answer this questioning, the very same that came from Job, except to remind Job that God was the one who made him, who can part the seas, who created the universe. God is the one who is ultimately in control. And while that is not a direct answer to the question, it gives a reason for hope, a reason to continue to live, a reason to keep going even though loved ones are gone either through natural means, torture from disease or from physical abuse or war efforts, etc. And so the God of mercy sent one not only to heal those hurts, but also to give us the strength to go on. Why do people have to fight and die in wars? Why do our loved ones die of cancer or get killed in a car wreck? Why are some babies born with cystic fibrosis? And why do some men feel it necessary to beat their wives or children or both? Why? Why was the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City blown up, killing 168 people, mostly children? And why was the World Trade Center in New York City blown up and the Pentagon in Washington bombed leaving more than 2000 dead? Why did a madman have a shooting spree on the campus of Virginia Tech, leaving 32 people dead? Why was there a slaughter of the innocents right when Jesus the Savior of the world and the Light unto many nations is born. Why??? Why do all things that are sweet and dear to us have to finally end and the mean and cruel painful things seem to last forever? Finally, why and how long do we have to endure? It is so hard to endure, but somehow, we have to make it. Somehow, we have to go on. This is the peace that passes understanding. This is when we come to God and say, Father I cannot take this, this is too hard, help me. And God says, But I am. The great I AM. The great Holy One of Israel. The one who cares for us and carries us all. And through him and only him we find the way, the truth and the life.
In about a month, The Reluctant Shepherd will be made available to distributers and bookstores through Author House. Their phone number is 1-888-280-7715 if anyone wants to order books. You can also order the title from bookstores like Barnes and Noble, or from Amazon. I will keep you posted.
I was not going to post this message until a little closer to the availability of the book, but because of the timeliness of the Virginia Tech shootings, I decided to post this. The Reluctant Shepherd is the story of a young boy that asks "why?" throughout his life of struggling and living through Herod's Slaughter of the Innocents, and losing loved ones. The novel also explores the answer that he gets.
If anyone wants to make comments on any of the posts, please feel free to post messages under new posts.
In about a month, The Reluctant Shepherd will be made available to distributers and bookstores through Author House. Their phone number is 1-888-280-7715 if anyone wants to order books. You can also order the title from bookstores like Barnes and Noble, or from Amazon. I will keep you posted.
I was not going to post this message until a little closer to the availability of the book, but because of the timeliness of the Virginia Tech shootings, I decided to post this. The Reluctant Shepherd is the story of a young boy that asks "why?" throughout his life of struggling and living through Herod's Slaughter of the Innocents, and losing loved ones. The novel also explores the answer that he gets.
If anyone wants to make comments on any of the posts, please feel free to post messages under new posts.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Good afternoon
Hi everyone there:
The purpose of this blog is twofold: first, to make the public aware of my writings by giving overviews and expressions of various themes that predominate my work. Seconde, and perhaps most important, the main goal behind this blog is to be Christ's emissary in demonstrating the love of God. Before you say "Oh no another religious nut!", realize this: God's love encompasses all venues of life, suffering, sickness, gladness, joy, and every shade of emotion in between. He knows about disfunction in one's family and in oneself as well as what is in the world. And He can help you and me overcome the disfunction that hits us day to day. So please enjoy this blog and learn from it that life is too short so we must absorb what we can and grow as much as we can while we can.
Lydia
The purpose of this blog is twofold: first, to make the public aware of my writings by giving overviews and expressions of various themes that predominate my work. Seconde, and perhaps most important, the main goal behind this blog is to be Christ's emissary in demonstrating the love of God. Before you say "Oh no another religious nut!", realize this: God's love encompasses all venues of life, suffering, sickness, gladness, joy, and every shade of emotion in between. He knows about disfunction in one's family and in oneself as well as what is in the world. And He can help you and me overcome the disfunction that hits us day to day. So please enjoy this blog and learn from it that life is too short so we must absorb what we can and grow as much as we can while we can.
Lydia
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