ChristianBlogSites Blog

The other day I was watching a short video segment on Men and Leadership by Ed Young of Ed Young Ministries. He used the symbolism of an umbrella to talk about the subject of submission and covering.

Men were designed to be the one carrying the 'umbrella', not women. When a man is carrying an umbrella he is holding it up high. His wife is under the umbrella with him. This is symbolic of the following:

The Lord is above the umbrella, the man is under the umbrella, and he becomes the covering of his wife as she stands under the umbrella with him.

There is something that happens if the man drops the umbrella. A woman will invariably pick up the umbrella an try to carry it. But what happens is that she does not hold it up high enough and is running all over the place. The man tries to get under the umbrella, but he has to stoop to get under it and half of his body sticks out and is unprotected. He is trying to be the covering, but he is not covered himself. And a woman cannot be his covering.

 (More)

Check out this video that we found on the web. It talks about the importance of fathers.
Father's Day Video

The following is the account of God's call upon Saul, who became Paul. Was God showing him favor and disregarding the others with Saul? Reading the story there is the potential of the others with Saul becoming jealous.

Acts 26: 9-16
⁹ "So then, I thought to myself that I had to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
¹⁰ "And this is just what I did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being put to death I cast my vote against them.
¹¹ "And as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them even to foreign cities.
¹² "While thus engaged as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests,
¹³ at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me.
¹⁴ "And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.'
¹⁵ "And I said, 'Who art Thou, Lord?' And the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.
¹⁶ 'But arise, and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you;...

 (More)

The Apostle Paul was truly a man of God. He is a great example of man committed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. However, this does not mean he is not fallible. The inspired words he wrote are infallible because they are Word of God, but as a person he was fallible. This is a reminder to each of us to be careful that we do not put too much trust in a man or in ourselves. We are all subject to error.

I want to explore a passage of Scripture regarding Apostle Paul. It is Acts 23:1-5

 (More)

 

If you give what you do not need, it isn’t giving.

Mother Teresa

Now that is something to ponder on.  How much are you giving?

I always find it interesting what some people donate to churches and ministries. So many times it is furniture and clothes that are worn out and of no value to the owner, and most other people. Then the person donating is wanting a receipt for a high dollar amount. The reality is they should be charged a fee for giving away their junk that needs to be a hauled to the dump.

I specifically remember a Christian giving me a torn coat for our ministry and said it would be a nice coat for one of the homeless people we were helping. The next time someone does this I am going to say would you give this coat to Jesus? If not, don't give it to me to give to someone else. I am not your local dumpster. I know, it sounds too blunt. Yes, they may get offended. But I believe it is an offense to Jesus (I know Jesus does not get offended) to donate junk and think you are 'giving to the kingdom'.

if there is no pain in our giving, I am wondering if we really are giving? How about giving of your time to someone when you have no time to give? How about giving of your last dollar, when you could use it yourself? How about taking someone to the store and waiting in line with them, when you rather be home watching TV?

If I am going to err, I pray that I will err in giving too much, instead of not giving enough.