The Games People Play

Get Your Mind (out of the pew and ) Into The Gutter - Part Three

WHAT'S "THE GUTTER"?

I don't want anyone to think that my version of "the gutter" is synonymous with the traditional meaning behind "get your mind out of the gutter".
When I talk about the gutter, I'm talking about anything that is different or off the beaten track from your life.
If you are a church goer and your whole life is consumed with church activities, church people, Christian books and movies and TV shows, anything.....anything outside of those comfortable places could be "the gutter" for you.

Like I said previously, just handing out candy to "trick-or-treaters" on Halloween was stepping outside of my comfort zone for me.
For some people spending time with your non-church going neighbors at a barbecue may be stepping off of your normal path and into a place that is foreign and a little bit scary.
One thing that is important is that you don't do these things just to "seal the deal".
"Get 'em saved."
"Make 'em change!"
There is an attitude amongst some Christians (and I'm sorry to say MANY Christians I know) that we are better than them.
The "them and us" thinking is NOT pretty. Actually I find it rather ugly.
How would you feel if you found out that someone was trying to be your friend so that they could make a replica of themselves.....spending time with you so that you'll become just like them? You've discovered that they don't really like who you are and feel that you need to be someone better.....more like...them.
Personally, they wouldn't be my friend too much longer. And I certainly wouldn't want to go to their church!
But isn't that what we are doing when we make friends with people just to see them "saved"?

These people aren't "bad". They were, like you and me, created in God's image. They just live a life that may (or may not) be a bit different than ours. The "gutter" I speak of isn't "bad". It's the "unknown". It's a place you haven't been to. A place you don't frequent. That doesn't make it bad, it just makes it different.

As you're reading this, is there a place that is "the gutter" for you? It could be anywhere from a neighbor's backyard to a local shelter. Maybe God wants you to reach outside of yourself and serve at a local food pantry. Maybe God wants you to go to the library and read to children. Or like me, maybe it's time to stop hiding on Halloween and go out and meet the neighborhood.

The important thing is to go without an ulterior motive of changing anyone. Only God knows a person's heart and only God can change them. Let Him do that. We just need to love them. If there's any changing that needs done, He can handle it.

He Is Risen Indeed!

I'm going to take a break here from my "gutter" writing and just wish everyone a very blessed Easter. It is Easter! This has always been my favorite holiday. At least since I've been "saved". I love getting up early on Easter and just thinking about Mary Magdalene going to the tomb. I pictured her dark, sad shape bobbing in and out of the early morning fog; her head down, clutching her small package of anointing oils. Her heavy heart as she approaches the burial place of the one person who made the biggest difference in her life. This person who showed her the true meaning of life.
Do you have someone in your life right now like that? Someone who is your best friend? Knows you in and out and keeps all of your secrets. The person you're not afraid to say anything to and you know they will still love you, still respect you.
I imagine that this is who Jesus was to her. I'm sure He's that person to many of us, but just imagine being there with Him. Listening to Him. He cared about her like no one ever did. She was nothing until she met Him. She was dirt. And He touched her and changed her....
....and now He was dead.
How devastating this had to be. Confusing....Frustrating!
About twenty plus years ago I wrote a song about Mary going to the tomb called Sunday Mourning. Here are the words. Just imagine Mary walking to the tomb and how that day went from being the darkest morning to the most spectacular day ever!

Sunday Mourning

It's Sunday morning and it's still dark.
The skies are raining even like the crying in my heart.
And though my friends surround me....I'm so lonely.
And though the stones cut through my feet...
I don't feel a thing since You've gone away.

Oh Lord, why did You die...I can't see the reason why?
All you did was make the lame to walk, the blind to see,
The dumb to talk, the deaf to hear your words of love,
You had for this world.

And now the darkness turns to dawn. And the sky - black to gray.
I think of happier times when you were alive,
even though the tomb is just short way.
You came and you touched my heart. You took the hardness away.
You freed me from the captivity of hell.
Changed the darkness of night into the light of day!

Oh Lord, why did you have to die....I can't see the reason why?
All You did was set the captives free,

Changed the water into wine at a wedding feast

Fed the people with a few fish and bread

You even raised the dead.

And now I see the tomb calling me.
I've got my oils for anointing.
Just to touch you one last time...but something's wrong!
The stone's been rolled away and I feel so afraid!

OH NO! Where did the body go?! All that's left are the grave clothes!
And the light's so bright that I can't see!
Who's talking to me saying "He's alive, He's risen from the dead,
Come see the place where He did lay."

I must go! This can't be so!
I must try to find His body so I can see Him one last time...
There's the gardener...I'll ask him.
"Tell me, sir, do you know where they took my Lord."

(Music changes from minor key to light guitar and flute)

It is You. Rabbi, is it true? You're alive? Can I touch you?
Yes, I'll go! I'll tell the others it's so!
That You're alive! You've risen!
He's Alive!
He's Risen from the dead, he's alive!
(repeat)

Well that's it. I wish you could hear it. It was the hardest song I ever wrote, because it was so exciting, I had to stop several times and take a break or I would burst. I don't think I could sing it again, the range is so all over the place and my 52 year old voice isn't anymore. But I do hope it inspires you this Easter and brings you closer to your Risen Savior. He's really a cool dude!
Happy Easter!

Get Your Mind (out of the pew and) Into The Gutter

The title of this post is a mouth-full, but it is something that I feel very passionate about. A friend of mine recently began talking about the church "being sent". For me, this means leaving the comfort of their church pews and getting out of their church shaped box.

I know, for me, for many years, my life was centered around "church". Brick and mortar church. The institution, the programs, the meetings, the Christian friends. I did not have time for anything else. I heard about evangelism, but found that it just didn't work for me. I had too much going on. I had the worship team and drama team, the women's ministry team, Sunday school and small groups, homeschooling with my other Christian homeschooling friends, not to mention my family responsibilities. My husband and children fell in there.....somewhere. That was my life. For nearly 17/18 years.

And then something happened. Our church began a Sunday school class based on the book that centered on "becoming a contagious Christian" (or was it courageous Christian?). Anyway, we began to talk about leading our friends, families, and neighbors to the Lord. My eye twitches to this day, when I remember some of the idealistic ideas of my Christian friends. Many, if not most, of these people had grown up in "church attending" families and homes. They just thought, "become someones friend and within a few months you could lead them to Jesus." This meant sharing the four spiritual laws with them, quoting them scripture and they would fall on their knees and give their lives over to God. They apparently did not know the same people as me.

Someone I love very much said to me (concerning the Bible), "Do you really believe everything you read in that book?" Wow! I bet quoting scripture to them would just REALLY change their heart.

I'm sorry about my sarcasm, but this "Christian Bubble Bible" thinking, to me, is incredibly unrealistic and I believe the reason so many people just don't want to attend church. I just do not think the "formulas" work anymore.

I do believe in the power of the Bible. I also believe that just loving a person where they are goes a long way. I have heard too many Christian being more concerned about their non-church-going friends "changing" than just "loving" them where they are at.

For me, it's not just about leaving the pew and going out to pass out tracts, it's about accepting people where they are. Loving them "in the gutter". In the dirty and broken places of their hearts. Just "loving" them. Accepting them.

This is who Jesus is. This is how He loves us. The last I heard, Christians are suppose to be like Him.

Don't you want to be loved no matter what? No matter how you feel or act?

I do. And I am. By Jesus.

So I will be writing about this......"gutter" thinking. And, really, I want to know your opinion, so please comment.

Ah Lent....Ah Yes! "Give It Up For God!"

Okay, this is a subject that I think, many times, individuals look at differently. I grew up Catholic. I haven't been Catholic in over 35 years. I quit going to the Catholic Church for the very spiritual reason of: I had to wear a dress and I couldn't wear pants. I was 15.

Anyway, I don't recall giving anything up for Lent as a child. I strongly suspect, that if I did, I usually gave up after one or two days and went back to being the spiritual sluggard that I was as a child. When I got "saved" and began going to Charismatic Churches, "fasting" was looked on as "legalistic". It was something only traditional churches did. Then when I began going to a "seeker sensative" Nazarene Church, I gave up TV one Lent. It was very difficult because it was during the 2nd season of "Survivor". Anyone who knows me, I am a die hard "Survivor" addict. My Mom and Aunt Pauline and all my male relatives are crazy about football. I am just as crazy about "Survivor". I yell at the screen, I talk to the competitors, I moan and groan at their obvious stupidity at believing blatent liars: it's literally a spiritual thing for me. So giving up TV that Lent was a huge for me.

For the past four years I've given up eating solid foods during the day and only eating a meal (or a meal and ten snacks) after 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon. Being a diabetic, I've been very careful to check my sugar, I drink juice and have a glucerna shake for lunch to make sure I keep my sugars in control. Not only has this been good spiritually for me, but it has always been good for me physically.

Now there are those who believe that a person should not go on this type of a "fast" to lose weight. That "fasting" (in the Biblical sense), should be for spiritual reasons alone. I look at it this way. I believe that God created man to be "spiritual" and that we choose to lean toward the "flesh" side of things when we choose to go our own direction instead of God's direction. Eating, for me, is not only "physical", but "spiritual". Why? Because I have made it an "idol". I think about food all of the time. I wake up thinking about it. I plan meals when I should be working. I consume not only food, but cooking shows and recipes and will talk about it with friends and family and acquantices and even strangers with incredible passion and enthusiasm. Now what if I transferred that same passion and enthusiasm to God. I consumed the Bible and planned time with God and talked about Him all of the time. Man, I'ld be a real spiritual giant, wouldn't I. So I feel that when a person "fasts" something that means that much to them, that they deny those things that strengthen the "flesh" and they strengthen the "spiritual" in their lives.

My problem isn't with my outward appearance, it's with how much food I consume and the way I think about it all of the time. So I don't fast to lose weight, I fast to help me control my "eating" and to grown closer to God in the process.

You know what I find strange? I've chosen now to begin a blog focusing on the food I grew up eating. It includes recipes and so I find that I'm still thinking about food. I guess the difference is, I write about it, I don't consume it.

So now that I've said all of this, how are you dealing with Lent? Have you given something up? What do you think?

Check Out My New Blog....Contento Cuisine

Contento, Salamida, and Ciavarella. These are the families that influenced who I am and how and what I ate. Come and read about us and see the recipes of the food that was and is a part of who we are.

There are pictures and stories about our family and recipes of the foods we loved. Check it out!

"Blissfully Free......"

I am in a mood!


This morning my husband said to me something about me having "a pirate's ransom of emotions." I quickly countered. I told him he was "blissfully free of the ravages of intelligence."


Actually, I've been feeling "blissfully free of the ravages of intelligence".


The truth is, I feel dumb. That's right....dumb. I have friends who went to seminary or Nazarene schools. Their knowledge of the Bible is amazing or they just know big words. They talk about the alumni.


Me? I graduated from high school....just barely. I took a couple of college classes back in the 70's. One was shorthand and the other was typing. I did ace them both and had a 3.60 average. Truth is....I don't think shorthand exists anymore and typing is now called "keyboarding". So alot of good it has done me.


I went to beauty school. I did finish. It took me three times to pass my state boards. But I hate doing hair. I finished school because my father said I wouldn't. (I never finished anything).


So here I am. I'm 52 and dumb.


I'm not writing this to let the world know what an idiot I am. I'm just feeling very insecure about my future. I also feel insecure about my relationships with people. I've heard people make very unpleasant and insulting remarks about people who do not have a college degree. And I have sat there fuming, but unable to think of anything to say that would sound....(oh dear God).....intelligent.


I feel like....if these people knew how uneducated I was....would they still be my friends? Or would they think less of me? I really think they would ( think les of me). I've heard how they talk about uneducated people.


There is a glimmer of hope here. I heard in church recently (and I knew this, but it just never clicked) that Jesus's apostles were uneducated men and look at the impact they made on this world. They were lousy, stinkin' fishermen. At least that is what people probably thought about them. They didn't know the Torah.


I wish I could remember that little piece of information when certain people are going on and on about how unproductive a person is unless they have a degree. But then again, the person I'm thinking of really would care less about the apostles.


I guess I just needed to write and, lucky you, you get to read about it.


I wouldn't mind going to school now. I'm still not sure what I want to be when I grow up and financially it would be impossible. I just think that now, at the age I'm at, I could sit and focus and not be thinking about the guy two rows over or where my friends and I are going tonight. I really wasn't ready for school, back in the day. I think I am now.


Great. Just a few years shy of retirement. (sigh)