Is it live, or is it kugel?

There's another blogger who posts here on blogger.com that I've been reading some interesting things from. If you get a chance, check out Stuff Christians Like. I admit that a few of his posts kind of border on disrespectful, but there are several that really make me think. And that is after all what blogs are for (impo) to get you using your noodle for something other than kugel.

As Christians, one of the things I feel we most need to realize is that there will come times when people are going to look at us and say "Why?" Why do we believe as we do? Why do we believe that Jesus is the one and only way to find Heaven, and why is Heaven such a thing worth seeking? I admit it. I'm not the world's foremost apologist. But I try! There is something about telling people about the Love of my Lord Jesus that defies explaining.

From my observation, I have a few things I have trouble understanding. I grew up in the Episcopal church (Britain's Anglican Church in the United States) and for the most part, I had assumed that I would grow old and die an Episcopalian. There is nothing wrong with that for those that accept the tenets of that faith, but I feel that I have come to understand some different things that either the church didn't teach, or that taught a different view than I now have. For example:
The need for a personal relationship with Jesus The Episcopal church puts less emphasis on the personal, and more on the communal. As I understood it, it was more important that you believed that Jesus died for humanity as a whole, and not quite so much that He died for YOU individually. I recall as a kid when someone would ask if I'd been 'saved' I would give a flippant response of, "Yes, but Jesus did that 2000 years ago. I don't have to do that NOW..." I have come to understand that my Salvation is not just about what Jesus did then, it is about MY accepting that He did it, and about living my life so that others will see Him in my life. Many in my family are still in the Episcopal church. They don't understand me in the least. I wish they did.

You see, one of the things I don't think my family really gets is what we're all talking about when we speak of our faith. When I tell you about my faith, I am not just telling you about what I believe, I am telling you about who I am. I can tell you about my faith. It is sort of like I am giving you a present wrapped up in a box with a frilly bow on top. I can tell you all about what is inside of it, what it means to me. But until you open the present and see it for yourself and accept it as your own, you cannot understand it.

Yes, I am still here. ;)

For those that know me from AotC, it is not news for me to tell you that this has been an eventful year for my wife and I. So much so that I've set aside the projects previously discussed in this blog in order to focus my attentions elsewhere.

Some life lessons have been impacting me, much as a meteor might leave craters on the moon. Beautiful in the end, but sometimes very violent in how they are achieved. While I do still struggle with life as a whole (not emotionally, just getting through day-to-day drek rather than doing something I'd much rather do ... like sleeping! ) I've come to the conclusion that there are much worse things to have happening in your life.

For example, my wife and I live in northern Indiana. These last two weeks, Southern Indiana has been dealing with some of the worst flooding in the state in just shy of 100 years. I guess that just comes to be expected when during these past couple of weeks, that area has been pounded by roughly 4-8 major thunderstorms dumping anywhere from a total of 10-14 inches of rain. (Very tiny upside, had this been mid winder rather than early summer, 1" of rain equals something like 10-12" of snow. Or, they would have been buried under 8-14 feet of snow)

So, all in all, I'd say I'm surviving quite nicely. If you happen to be anywhere in the state, have a heart and find a way to help out those in need down there right now. I'd consider donating to the relief efforts of the local station of the Moody Broadcasting Network, WGNR Radio, 97.9 FM.

On the issues of what my "Fellowship Hall" will be about, while MUDDING (see almost every post before this) will still be a very strong presence, I will start looking into the sorts of issues that make me "tick". Issues of my faith, issues of living a Christian life in a clearly non-Christian world and ... whateverelse I think to speak about.