28April2009
Posted by admin under: Christian Life.
Struggle is inevitable in the Christian life. Actually, not only in Christian life, but in life in general. It does not always go easy for us. We don’t have answers handed to us on silver platters, or microwaveable solutions for the tough questions in life.
Why not? It doesn’t seem fair. If God wants us to life an abundant life, we should have clear direction. Major problems should not even come along. Right? At least, that’s how it seems on the surface.
But is it really that way? I have to think of two examples from nature that seem to indicate otherwise. First, a muscle. Left to itself, without stress and tension, it will atrophy into a useless piece of body tissue. But when the “problems” come along, when we exercise the muscle, it has a chance to grow. It hurts and is hard work, but it is the only way to make it stronger. Second, a personality. A child that is always told what to do, and never has to make decisions for him or herself will not grow into what we would call a well balanced person. That child as an adult will be stifled, will be totally uncreative, and not have a healthy sense of identity. It is when the challenge of decision comes along that the self emerges, where ever that person might go.
I think that God views us in the same way: he wants us to be people, not stifled into robots, but drawn out into dynamic individuals. Struggle makes us stronger, better equipped to live life in God’s strength.
When we struggle through an issue, we make the outcome ours personally, and not something another person cooked up for us.
Struggle is not all bad. Questions happen. The life lived without struggle seems to me to be a really boring life. Embrace the struggle, and live.
2January2009
Posted by admin under: Sudden Inspirations.
A person can only handle so much. The busyness fatigue syndrome then sets in, taxing the person of mental, physical, and spiritual reserves, leaving him in a state of nothingness, desperately in need of rejuvenation. It’s harmful, terrible, and cruel, but we do it over and over again. Why is this? Why don’t we simply learn the lesson, go on and live life like we should? Are we too stupid? Don’t kill yourself. Don’t be too busy.
21November2008
Posted by admin under: Sudden Inspirations.
Jesus was not a martyr. I just read that this morning from Oswald Chambers. Really, it’s a startling thought. We all assume Jesus died for our sins and stuff, but never really think about why it was he died. We think he died a heroic death, at the hands of the Jews and Romans, but what he did was not only heroic, it was necessary for us to have any hope of salvation. Innocent blood needed to be shed, and only his would work. We can be saved because of his death and resurrection, springing out of God’’s love. God loves us, but it is only through Jesus” work that we are saved. Thank God for his love, and for Jesus’ atonement.
1October2008
Posted by admin under: Uncategorized.
I wrecked my car last Sunday night. I was traveling on a somewhat unfamiliar road, and I just crested a small hill when I saw a 90 degree turn. I was tired, but my reaction worked. Unfortunately, I couldn”t stop or turn fast enough, and the ditch swallowed my car up. Extensive damage to the top half and most of the body pieces, but relatively little to the engine and under-stuff. Three people (me, my sister, and another friend from chorus) climbed through the back window while the car was upside down collecting water from a small stream. The water worked more damage on all the electronic stuff I had, like my camera, iPod, a projector, books, but not my laptop. But amid all this loss, three people walked away with not a single scratch. We were blessed. I think angels were in the car too.
10September2008
Posted by admin under: College.
I’m taking this math class at college. It’’s called Principles of Mathematics. It’’s the only math class that I could take that didn”t have any prerequisites, so I took it. Placing badly on the placement test for algebra is not the best.
We had this test in class the other day, and everyone was loudly declaiming math as the number 1 hated subject. But I like it. I mean it’’s a lot of work, but there’’s something about math that appeals to me. Maybe it’’s the idea that there is always a right answer. There is no gray areas, it’’s all black or white.
I”ve lived 23 years, and found a lot of gray in life. Issues arise and questions face us that seem so black and white. At least until we face them, when all we can see is gray. Maybe I”ve resigned myself to living a life of gray, but there is still something that thinks black and white is simpler and more to be desired.
Maybe that’’s why I like math. There is always a right answer. If you end up with a wrong one, the proper thing to do is correct it. With math, you can always do that. It may be a lot of work to find where you went wrong, but it can be done.
Maybe life is like that, but we just impose the gray on it. I dunno. Do we?
30June2008
Posted by admin under: Christian Life.
I just finished reading Blue Like Jazz, by Don Miller. The subtitle is “Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality.” I found it refreshing, very real. For some reason, I”m finding myself (this year anyway) in a phase of reaction to anything that is pat, anything that has the answers. Life doesn”t have simple answers to tough questions, answers that make problems go away and the machinery of life to work smoothly. And I appreciate when I find people that don”t expect that, that don”t try to make it work smoothly, and that are real. Donald Miller is like that.
The book is almost a collection of essays on different aspects of Christian life, like money, faith, love (to others and self), grace, belief, church and romance. Don is an almost hippie, almost liberal almost conservative, almost-a-lot-of-things. But there is the struggle of life written on the pages, his struggle to make sense of what happens to us, why we doubt, and why we live.
His writing style is not very polished, much more conversational. It seems you are sitting in a room with him and he is just talking to you. He tells lots of stories to illustrate his points. He doesn”t write about profound theological insights, but about the everyday issues we face while being a Christian.
Blue Like Jazz added perspective and depth to my life. I recommend it to you if you sometimes ponder the meaning of life or the meaning of being a Christian.
30June2008
Posted by admin under: Photography.
It seems we can get quite scattered, between terms at SMBI, camps, cabins, choir tours, Faith Builders, and teaching/attending school, so we wanted to take a family portrait sometime when we are actually all home. Tonight was the night.
26May2008
Posted by admin under: Uncategorized.
Sharon Mennonite Bible Institute is a wonderful place. I know, because I was there for a good part of last year. I learned a lot of things, but more importantly, I made a bunch of friends that mean a whole lot to me. Not much can compare to sharing a truly marvelous experience with close friends. Thank you all for sharing those events with me.
20March2006
Posted by admin under: Uncategorized.
Nice to meet you. My name is Lee Weaver (obviously!), and I”d like to start blogging about various issues of life. I don”t have much time now (it’’s already past my bedtime), so this will be brief. My goals with this site are:
- To help Christians figure out more on being a Christian
- To help others understand more about Christianity
- To share my beliefs with others
- To help me understand my own beliefs
- To explore blogging with WordPress
- Anything else that does fit the above categories.
I am a Christian, a born again believer, struggling with issues of life and trying to make sense of it all. I don”t want this to be talking at you, preaching, telling you what works and what you should do, but to help myself figure things out with you looking on and learning too. I”ll have to experiment with frequency of posts, so I”m not sure what to expect until I get settled down a bit.
OK, until next time, adios.
