tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4013061704828990246.comments2023-06-04T08:57:15.376-05:00Christian Life with MichaelTulsaMJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15945834114006833482noreply@blogger.comBlogger160125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4013061704828990246.post-78517488420728199292020-01-13T01:40:28.289-06:002020-01-13T01:40:28.289-06:00His love is pure, intense and uncompromising. Som...His love is pure, intense and uncompromising. Some people will encounter that as "fierce" I guess.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4013061704828990246.post-75943776822323907782019-09-27T08:32:26.932-05:002019-09-27T08:32:26.932-05:00I'm still struggling with those lyrics and won...I'm still struggling with those lyrics and wondered what scriptures support His love being fierce?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11555132702126145318noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4013061704828990246.post-51302489523060353482018-03-09T14:11:09.003-06:002018-03-09T14:11:09.003-06:00I'm fine, thanks! Just haven't been bloggi...I'm fine, thanks! Just haven't been blogging!TulsaMJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15945834114006833482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4013061704828990246.post-70730600351802771862018-03-09T12:57:05.196-06:002018-03-09T12:57:05.196-06:00I noticed I hadn't seen any posts on my feed f...I noticed I hadn't seen any posts on my feed from you in a while. Are you OK?Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09315322405746940829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4013061704828990246.post-10219838966288437302016-07-10T17:00:09.889-05:002016-07-10T17:00:09.889-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05617778951072815200noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4013061704828990246.post-39249582251136934572016-07-10T16:58:47.078-05:002016-07-10T16:58:47.078-05:00So happy I read this and that other people have dr...So happy I read this and that other people have dreamed of jesus in cartoon form as well. <br />Recently I had a dream where I was on a boat with some people and a massive wave came and whipped us out..Then I remember seeing a gate and seeing jesus and a few others standing in front I only remember seeing jesus face though.. it was pale blue and in cartoon form. I just remember being so extremely happy and like i understood life. I hugged him and touched his face and cried happy tears.. I then entered the gates but could see spirits bouncing off the gate like they were trying to get in but couldn't so I remember getting worried that my family were not with me.. then I woke up. Was such a powerful dream and I never get dreams so awesome to hear other people's experiencesAnonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05617778951072815200noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4013061704828990246.post-36130407481300149892016-05-04T09:26:34.295-05:002016-05-04T09:26:34.295-05:00What does the song "say?" - the word say...What does the song "say?" - the word saying does not necessarily mean they did not sing, it is merely recording what was "said" in song or voice or in multiple voices. But whether sung or said "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4013061704828990246.post-29369029611922748692016-01-23T17:10:23.048-06:002016-01-23T17:10:23.048-06:00Catching up here. This is cool, thanks for sharin...Catching up here. This is cool, thanks for sharing this. :-)Michelle Morrisonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4013061704828990246.post-35552363951064051702015-12-24T06:41:37.073-06:002015-12-24T06:41:37.073-06:00Good points, I just got done commenting in one of ...Good points, I just got done commenting in one of my blogs about angels not singing and this morning came across Job 38:7. I google searched and found your post. It is nice to find support on a controversial topic! The Hebrew word translated sing is not really sing. Thanks for tackling this subject.The Metal Ministerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16055770084996175220noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4013061704828990246.post-65395301180631523232015-12-22T19:41:14.871-06:002015-12-22T19:41:14.871-06:00Hi Michael....Thank you for responding so quickly....<br />Hi Michael....Thank you for responding so quickly....<br />" ....the God of the Bible seems more interested in showing us that He cares for us and wants to help us to become what He created us to be - and living the life God created us to live is the ultimate joy, not the ultimate guilt trip.<br /><br />So, maybe your "cartoon" Jesus is the real Jesus, and your "reality" Jesus is actually the caricature!"<br /><br />Guilt trips are way too expensive and besides its already Covered. <br /><br />It is healing to receive this kind of affirmation....I sensed you were praying as you wrote your response and it took me back there and touched that spot again - with healing. <br /><br />You are right, sadly so many people still think God has a hammer. My dad associated God's love with pain and suffering which to him was character building and becoming a stronger Christian. This justified his behavior towards us - "I can hurt whoever I want in my own house" in the name of Christianity. But no one should hurt him. He did not connect love with gentleness, peace and kindness even though he was kinder when we were very young. It wasn't demonstrated for him as he grew up either.<br /><br />The reality dream was chaos and destruction, judgement and hell. It would seem that the spirit of the real Jesus was in my cartoon dream - the spirit of Love was absolutely there. <br /><br />I do like to think of Jesus in human form - probably because of those kind, loving eyes and the images of Him being so gentle towards people and animals. We needed to see that because of our humanness. I also like to think of Jesus as spirit because we are in God's likeness. We are really Spirit being filled with His Spirit. <br /><br />I find that I am coming back to the Jesus of my early childhood, the greatness of God as I understood then - the vastness - the Jesus I learned about in Sunday School before the extreme abuses began. On my very first day of Sunday School, the first thing my teacher did when she walked in the room was give each of us our own New Testament and told each of us individually - "I want you to always remember that Jesus/God loves you." This is a loving Jesus, and intellectually I know, but hopefully I'll experience some day that God is that same Love. I know that it is because of what I experienced from my dad. And I have to remember that my dad was/is not God. Now that my parents have passed, I believe they know the truth about all this.<br /><br /> These three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. Always. Its a Promise. :) Thank you for letting me share. CarolNinashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18371923648179469841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4013061704828990246.post-44574905496619914122015-12-22T11:49:49.282-06:002015-12-22T11:49:49.282-06:00Ninas - reading back through what I wrote and what...Ninas - reading back through what I wrote and what you wrote about "cartoon character Jesus" - I would suggest that it might be interesting to apply what I realized about my "cartoon Jesus" might be the same thing you could realize about yours. Maybe the REAL Jesus looks a little different from what people in the "reality" around you think he looks like. It certainly was that way when Jesus was on this planet; I don't think anyone expected Jesus to be a guy who walked around and loved people until they killed Him. They seemed to think he was going to be a violent conquering warlord of some type. These days I think people tend to see God as a judgmental figure who wants to show each of us all of our faults (as though we won't have a very clear picture of our own faults already!) when the God of the Bible seems more interested in showing us that He cares for us and wants to help us to become what He created us to be - and living the life God created us to live is the ultimate joy, not the ultimate guilt trip.<br /><br />So, maybe your "cartoon" Jesus is the real Jesus, and your "reality" Jesus is actually the caricature!TulsaMJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15945834114006833482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4013061704828990246.post-40976947326492161762015-12-22T10:21:46.913-06:002015-12-22T10:21:46.913-06:00As an early teen, maybe 13, I dreamed about the 2n...As an early teen, maybe 13, I dreamed about the 2nd coming two times, I think about a week or month apart. Note: I was raised in a very confusing extreme fundamentalist physically, sexually, spiritually, emotionally abusive environment so there have been times when I wondered if these dreams were influenced by the confusing religious beliefs we were forced, yes forced, to accept. If we did not accept them, we were shunned, dismissed, forced to pray or be punished physically, forced to lie even though we knew the truth or punished until we said what was expected. <br /><br />The first dream was a reality version of the rapture. Jesus came through the clouds and people were rising in the air to meet him. I observed all this but I was left behind. I was already a Christian through the prayer for salvation. I was terrified and felt that I could never know the whole truth.(This was also how I was beginning to think in waking life because I could never get it right enough for others) If I was sincerely a Christian how could this happen. <br /><br />In the second dream, I saw a cartoon (animated) version of Jesus 2nd coming on a cloud. This time I was taken onto the cloud to be right with Jesus and a group of other children. We played and talked with Jesus and Jesus love was shown to me the way I had always wished and dreamed about in real life, as I was raised in an abusive home. <br /><br />Now I had two dreams to try to understand - in reality I may not be going to heaven but in animation anything is possible? Or in reality you can't just go to heaven - you have to be on the inside somehow and have the right information, the right connections, the right way of thinking about it. (I thought I did have the right information and I tried hard to understand it and live it, and I asked God to show me, and to serve God/Jesus and love others as God loved me and believe that Christ died for me. I was a very confused teenager) <br />Or like in the animation, people can believe things that look good, feel good, like candy but like reality - its just make believe - or not everyone who thinks they're going to heaven is really going there. <br /><br />So I've come to the conclusion that it doesn't have to be all that complicated. Christ died for me, I accept Him as my Savior and try to be a servant to others around me, loving and caring for others. I may not understand everything but having faith like a child is what is required - I can do that. God bless :)Ninashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18371923648179469841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4013061704828990246.post-40470038958515843642015-11-12T14:30:30.130-06:002015-11-12T14:30:30.130-06:00This is a good perspective on money. Thanks for p...This is a good perspective on money. Thanks for posting this.Michelle's Musingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15677233272083236595noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4013061704828990246.post-53854567361283953652015-11-12T09:17:28.612-06:002015-11-12T09:17:28.612-06:00Spot on interpretation, Michael!
Remember, too, t...Spot on interpretation, Michael!<br /><br />Remember, too, that the Word is Truth. So another part of the deceitfulness of money is how it chokes Truth out of our life. We forget that we should lay up our treasures in Heaven - where God is. <br /><br />Nothing satisfies us more than finding HIs will and money keeps us so self-reliant we forget to lean on and trust Him.<br /><br />So glad I discovered your blog. <br /><br />Write on!JSueChathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10878343472184019881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4013061704828990246.post-10238972334954073612014-01-03T16:38:02.957-06:002014-01-03T16:38:02.957-06:00I'm doing that exact plan. Actually my whole ...I'm doing that exact plan. Actually my whole church is (or at least everyone who chooses to participate.) I don't have a smartphone, but I do have an old iphone someone gave me to use as an ipod, so that works. I am excited to make it all the way through and plan to go deeper as time allows in Ephesians (in a paper NASB), but the two studies will be totally separate so if Ephesians gets put on the back burner, I still have my youversion audio. Happy New Year!Justinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04628086750403852099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4013061704828990246.post-63945295219060016762013-12-11T02:53:24.057-06:002013-12-11T02:53:24.057-06:00Your blog is great!Your blog is great!Marleenhttp://lumenznetworks.com/blog/en/our-father-prayer/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4013061704828990246.post-68168498889764531672013-11-01T18:39:05.597-05:002013-11-01T18:39:05.597-05:00I couldn't agree much more with what Xanthorpe...I couldn't agree much more with what Xanthorpe just wrote, but I have another thing to add.<br />Christianity isn't designed to be easy for us. God does all the changing for us, yes, but we will still be genuinely tested and tempted. God wont change our minds and hearts to the point where we're never tempted, and we will still sin occasionally, but He provides all the help in the world we need to make the right decision. True, trying to be good without God's help is impossible, but even with God's help we are fully capable of messing up, so we need to remain careful. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4013061704828990246.post-67884661090992332062013-10-31T13:40:11.625-05:002013-10-31T13:40:11.625-05:00What a great explanation of some very tricky "...What a great explanation of some very tricky "doctrine". I think this particular situation highlights a kaleidoscope of different beliefs within the Christian church. Are we once saved, always saved? Can we lose our salvation? If so, how? If I sin too much will I lose my salvation? How much is too much?<br /><br />For me, the key is the night I knelt on my lawn and received Jesus Christ. I KNOW God spoke to me on the drive home from work - it was like He was sitting in the car with me. I KNOW He was present in the Holy Spirit when I prayed for forgiveness and to receive the free gift of salvation through Jesus. I didn't just randomly decide to give Christianity a try; it was not about religion. It was about a choice and a decision.<br /><br />It pains me to think back on the number of times I've let Him down since that night. But as it says in Philippians 2:12, I am continuing to work out my salvation. Not trying to earn it - because I already have it - but working every day to shed that old man I once was and, more and more, put on the new man that Christ has made me.<br /><br />Thanks for your excellent thoughts on the matter.<br /><br />XXanthorpehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12607212106936329296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4013061704828990246.post-77960327722094165952013-04-21T14:17:07.346-05:002013-04-21T14:17:07.346-05:00Nice post, Michael.
You are correct in that the F...Nice post, Michael.<br /><br />You are correct in that the FSB is free for anyone to use on their iOS or Android device. The FSB is also accessible via Bible.Faithlife.com on PCs or Macs.<br /><br />If you ever have any questions I could help you with, feel free to hit me up on Twitter, @NateSmoyer.<br /><br />Cheers!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04362698921312629432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4013061704828990246.post-75486691486513904802013-04-02T21:15:36.000-05:002013-04-02T21:15:36.000-05:00Very interesting! So thankful you were healed! T...Very interesting! So thankful you were healed! Thanks so much for sharing.<br /><br />I have never dealt with depression (clinical) or even with depressed moods much, but shortly after I got married and moved halfway across the country, I experienced my only bout with mild depression (not even clinical, I am pretty sure, more like a long-term mood...a few days in a row maybe and then coming and going a bit longer). I was shocked at how horrible it was.Justinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04628086750403852099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4013061704828990246.post-12735072472991509122013-04-02T20:19:54.566-05:002013-04-02T20:19:54.566-05:00I can honestly say I never thought of any of this ...I can honestly say I never thought of any of this before, but it is mysterious. But that last verse, yes, I have always marveled at it. I can hardly imagine all the wonderful things Jesus did that we don't know about. And I also wonder, since as we know the things he did that were recorded led the powers-that-did-be to plot against him, I wonder what else might have happened that influenced things like, well, Easter. We know Jesus did things like turning water into wine, raising Lazarus from the tomb, ressurecting a dead girl, walking on (and granting this ability to Peter) water, directly control weather and nature even while incarnated on earth, multitud-inalizing a small lunch, curing hideous disease, and the list goes on. But imagine: it could go on further; He could've discovered America or turned raspberries into Chickens or actually executed the tree-plucking-up-thrown-into-sea deal or who knows what and John doesn't tkae the time to record it. <br /><br />How selfish of him!!! (ha-ha)J.R.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4013061704828990246.post-31186256078798061032013-03-20T08:58:37.446-05:002013-03-20T08:58:37.446-05:00Well-stated, J.R. I think the word "religion&...Well-stated, J.R. I think the word "religion" gets a bad rap sometimes; the New Testament even tells us that there are both "false" and "true" forms of religion - <a href="http://www.esvbible.org/James%201%3A26-27/" rel="nofollow">James 1:26-27</a>. Maybe a better term, since "religion" has turned into such a dirty word, would be "discipline" - the discipline of weekly church attendance, or the discipline of studying the Word regularly, etc. "Discipline" at least publicly has a positive connotation, although when it comes right down to it I'm not sure most people care much for discipline either. We like it when we see it in others (i.e. the Olympics, spelling bees, virtuoso musical performances, etc.) but we don't care much to apply it to ourselves (by actually being consistent with exercise, healthy eating habits, prayer, etc.)TulsaMJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15945834114006833482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4013061704828990246.post-10953040701306631862013-03-19T20:30:46.009-05:002013-03-19T20:30:46.009-05:00Well, my view is that religion is indefinitely nec...Well, my view is that religion is indefinitely neccesary - Religion is made up of disciplines and activities and such that help nurture our growth as Christians, as long as we do them out of a sincere desire to please God. The relationship with God can't happen without at least the disciplines of Prayer and Bible study. Attending church is (supposed to be) fellowship with other Christians and a learning experience for us, as well as a place to hear (again, supposed to) the inspired word of God. And of course we go to church to help other Christians if applicable. But again, we need authenticity. We can't be 'Sunday Morning Christians'. We must be led to an earnest relationship to God, not flee to Christian-like activities for passing comfort whenever there is an arms race or bubonic plague or something. It's a double edged sword: Jesus wants a relationship with us; when we get a relationship with Him we start desiring to do things to please him; some of these things -the disciplines - help grow our relationship with Him. What goes aroung comes around. Basically, we need both (what we call) Religion and Relationship. J.R.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4013061704828990246.post-66146410251743266902013-03-16T15:15:26.047-05:002013-03-16T15:15:26.047-05:00Very interesting. I never would have guessed. I a...Very interesting. I never would have guessed. I am pretty sure my husband has Asperger's (only after he passed did I learn enough about it to figure that out.) Tim is also on the spectrum, but he has lots of other issues, too. :) Justinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04628086750403852099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4013061704828990246.post-69056660128257794142013-03-16T09:06:55.782-05:002013-03-16T09:06:55.782-05:00Justine - I have not been formally diagnosed by a ...Justine - I have not been formally diagnosed by a doctor as having Asperger's Syndrome, but based on my reading about it in the past year or two, I have so many of the signs that I don't have any doubt in my mind. I'm naturally so introverted that it never did show much, and as an adult I managed to adjust pretty well (thanks in no small part to people who were such kind friends in college that I was able to relax and learn how to interact socially with others! :) ) that people probably don't suspect. I never had the outward signs that would have made me seem really autistic (hand flapping, extreme sensitivity to touch, etc.) but I do have traits that I suspect are smaller versions of the same thing (I almost always have a knee bouncing, for example... I'm doing it right now).<br /><br />I've considered going to a psychologist and being formally tested, but I'm not sure what benefit a diagnosis would give me, other than Aspie street cred. :)TulsaMJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15945834114006833482noreply@blogger.com