Loving our Neighbor

The other day I was listening to a book by Dietrich Bonhoeffer called Life Together. I haven't finished the book, I am not sure if I agreed with everything he said in the book (that I have heard so far). Not that I DISAGREE; I am just not sure.
However he said something very good. Since I don't have the words in front of me (it was an audio book), I can't quote him. But his basic idea was that we should love our brothers and sisters in Christ instead of criticizing them. We should be thankful that we have them whether they meet up with our expectations or what we think God's expectations are.
Bonhoeffer was in prison waiting for his martyr's execution during the writing of the book, so he was longing for Christian fellowship. He didn't want others reading to take it for granted either.

So what about our brothers and sisters in Christ? Are they are too "conservative" or too "liberal"?
We should not criticize them, but we should love them. I have always believed this personally, but I have been thinking a lot more about it lately. I believe it, but do I live it? What about going out of my way... out of my comfort zone to show that love?

It is interesting that during my devotions, this book by Bonhoeffer, and Jasmine's blog(a copy posted below) all tie together. Love our neighbor. If he or she is more careful than I am in their walk. Is it my business to criticize them?
We might say, "Well they are judging me!" My response would be "Are you assuming this? And what if they are???"
We might think, "They aren't following this Biblical rule" My response would be, "How do you know if they have light on that issue or not?? And what if they do have light? Does the Bible give us permission to criticize them?"

I am commanded to LOVE my neighbor! Does the Bible say "love they neighbor IF...."?
Matthew 22:35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Ouch! Verse 39 says on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. What about I Corinthians 13 "The greatest of these is LOVE"? We can be "liberal" or "conservative" but what does it profit us at all if we don't have love? I can say I love someone until I am blue in the face but how am I SHOWING my love?

Love shows itself through our treatment of others. Are we being friendly, kind, ARE WE PRAYING FOR THEM?


I have a couple of blogs I truly enjoy. I don't know these ladies personally but their blogs are great. They make me think; they uplift me spiritually. Jasmine's blog is one of them (Jasmine is 18 years old!). Her post has a lot to do with labels. I think Christians should shy away from labels and LOVE (regardless of the other person's actions)!

With my thoughts added, this will make a longer post but it is definitely worth the read:
Here is the link to her blog with the blog post below it:
http://joyfullyathome.blogspot.com/

"Pharisee"

I'm sure most of my readers have heard this word thrown around a lot in Christian circles. I know I have, especially after our elders preached through the Gospel of Mark a couple of months ago. It's sad to say, though, that usually, when I hear the word, "pharisee," people aren't talking about the group of men in the Bible whom Jesus addressed again and again; they use the word "Pharisee" or "pharisaical" to describe brothers and sisters in Christ that they see as "legalistic."

Now, the dictionary definition of Pharisee is a member of a Jewish sect of the intertestamental period noted for strict observance of rites and ceremonies of the written law and for insistence on the validity of their own oral traditions concerning the law, but our "Christian" definition has become a bit different. I've learned that, no matter what people say, their definition of a Pharisee is anyone who is more serious about the law of God than they are.

It seems sad to me that, many times, when Christian men and women are committed to learning the law of God and obeying it out of love for Him (1 John 5:2-4), they are accused of "pharisaism," a word I can't seem to find in my Bible... maybe it's not in the ESV?

The sin of the Pharisees was not striving to obey the Lord's commandments. The sin of the Pharisees was thinking that, through obeying these commandments to the letter (which no human can ever do, because we are all sinners incapable of righteousness without Jesus), they would be saved (Matthew 5:20). They were adding to Scripture, creating laws around laws to fit their own purposes. Their sin was a heart issue! (Matthew 15:7-9) Correct me if I'm wrong, but there is no place in God's Word where the word "pharisee" is applied to blood-washed Christians living out the Lord's commandment to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, and our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39).

They weren't obeying the Lord's commandments because they were saved; they were obeying the commandments thinking that through them, they would be saved.

We can not obey the law to the letter; it's impossible, because we are fallen, sinful humans. We can not be saved through obeying the law, because the only way to achieve salvation is through Jesus Christ (John 14:6). There are parts of God's law, I believe, that are not binding on us today (ceremonial law, for instance, was, I believe, abolished by the death of Christ on the cross). But I do believe that "all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:17-18), and that we would do well, as followers of the Lord, to search the Scriptures, to learn, cherish, and delight in the law of the Lord.

This does not make me a Pharisee. This makes me a Christian.

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says "I know him" but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him... ~1 John 2:2-4

This train of thought was sparked by reading "By This Standard: The Authority of God's Law Today" by Dr. Greg L. Bahnsen. I encourage anyone interested on the subject of biblical law to read with it. Whether or not you agree with every word Dr. Bahnsen says, this is definitely a book that will get you thinking more seriously about the Word of God. Click on the book in the Amazon widget on my sidebar to have a closer look.

Rambled by Jasmine

My Justin is Eight!

Our Justin turned 8 years old on August 4th. It is so hard to believe he is no longer that mischievous little toddler, but growing into a fine young man that we are very proud of.

I am still marvelling over the fact that my boys are growing up so fast. I know I must cherish every second I have with them. It won't be long and they will be graduating to adulthood.

Justin riding his new scooter given by Papa and Grammy for his birthday

We drove to Brownstown on the Saturday to spend the day celebrating. Our first stop was Dairy Queen. We had a lot of fun there! Michael and I split a Frozen Latte (we are addicted to anything with coffee in it!). As you can see in the pictures below, the boys enjoyed their ice cream!

Justin is very interested in treasure hunting for rocks,gems, and fossils. So for his birthday, we took him to a couple of places showcasing these types of things. He was able to find a few treasures that he could keep, and we bought him a book to help him identify different types. All three boys enjoyed this.

Here are a few pictures from Dairy Queen.

Sugar cookies

Michael's co-workers have been wanting me to make them some cookies, so I decided to tackle it today. Of course the boys love to make and decorate cookies too, so it served 2 purposes.
I made some chocolate marshmallow cookies for everyone and then I made 3 (huge) sugar cookie men.
There is a long, hilarious story that involves a chemical spill at work; Michael and 2 other guys being rushed the the emergency room wearing bright yellow plastic suits and bright green boots. It was a traumatic thing for those poor men to walk around in the hospital dressed that way enduring stares, but they were troopers and have been laughing about it ever since. (and yes they are all o.k.)
So, being the evil person I am, I decided to surprise these guys with cookie renditions of themselves. :-) I know, I am mean. And no, as you can tell I am not the queen of cookie decorators. I did a messy job but I think they will get the point. Don't you love their horrified expressions??? :-D

Jonathan... having lots of fun

Ryan and I decorated this one, but he couldn't wait to finish it. Poor guy got his leg eaten before he could get completely decorated! I don' t have many pictures of Ryan decorating because he found some other interest shortly after he bit this fella's leg off!

Justin getting a big, sugary bite!

What kind of woman do I want to be?

Not feeling very well today so I have been resting and reading.
I loved this quote enough to drag myself off the couch and post it:


"The world has enough women who know how to be smart. It needs women who are willing to be simple. The world has enough women who know how to be brilliant. It needs some who will be brave. The world has enough women who are popular. It needs more who are pure. We need women, and men, too, who would rather be morally right than socially correct."

Peter Marshall

Happy Birthday Jonathan!

Today was my Jonathan's 6th birthday. My little sweetheart/ rough and tumble boy. He is such a joy in my life!

Grammy took him shopping today and he picked out this skateboard, helmet, knee & elbow pads

Isn't he the coolest?!

The gang

Last year I made him a pirate ship cake (I posted that picture last year too), and he said that he wanted another pirate cake this year. I made this one for him. It's a pirate ship in the ocean going toward the sandy shore. I wish I had a picture of him holding his cake but I forgot. We had my in-laws over Sunday night. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures that night.. grrrr. :-(.
I hope no one had blood sugar problems after eating it! Besides the fact that the icing was made with sugar, I used sugar to decorate it too!!!! Made for a REALLY sweet cake!

Here is the little pirate guy guarding his treasure.

Joe, Susanne, and Megan came over to visit today. Joe & the boys were outside shooting airplanes.


The boys and I weeded the garden this afternoon. It NEEDED it really bad!
I love doing this...you never know what kind of critters you will find! Jonathan with a fuzzy caterpillar.

Justin was trying to be silly in this picture

My little bell peppers... I'm so happy they are growing! They are probably half the size they need to be before we can pick them.

We've already started enjoying the squash & zucchini. I made some zucchini chocolate chip muffins the other day.

More July 4th pictures

More pictures from July 4th

Here is my Megan. She was being serious here. She is my little pumpkin.

After all of our fun at Pa-Pa and Grammy's house, Michael, Steve, the boys and I went over to the field in front of the Lehigh factory to watch fireworks.
Of course, they didn't start the fireworks until it became dark, and that doesn't usually happen until around 10 so we waited..... and waited.
We decided to keep Ryan strapped in as long as possible

Then he got tired of that, so we let him out. I guess the boys think climbing all over the van is a great way to pass time.

Justin is very good at occupying himself if he has a string or something (and of course he did)

Not much longer.........

FINALLY!

Michael kept laughing at me because there'd be this fabulous display, I'd snap the picture and there would only be a couple of dots on my camera. I wasn't fast enough! I think I got 2 or 3 good ones though...

Ryan told me that he was shooting & blowing up aliens (I guess that's what the fireworks were). I don't know how they come up with this stuff!

Happy Independence Day!

Well I have lots of pictures of our day, but it's late so I'll just post the few I've taken the time to edit. I will add some more later. :-) I added one of them ( that I took of all 3 boys) to my layout.. so look over to the right side to see that one.

Hope you all enjoyed your RIGHT to celebrate FREEDOM! Thank you to our troops.. past and present!

This one of me and Michael was while we were waiting to watch fireworks

I made the boys sit still for the next three pictures before leaving for Papa & Grammy's house

Taken with cousin Megan at Papa and Grammy's house. Ryan did NOT want his picture taken.

Hopefully I can add the rest sometime soon!