What I Learned In Church 11-11-12

Father Joe spoke about faith. By all means, the stories/concepts covered in 1 Kings 17, Hebrews 9, and Mark 12 were surely some tests of faith. You know I like to build on success. 


These are some thoughts I had:
What if the widow was greedy and Elijah actually enlightened her to eat smaller portions? Often times a perspective shift can seem like a miracle. The health movement is growing all over the country. For someone who  believed they HAD to eat a certain way (Carbs, processed food,..) to be shown that something else was actually possible can seem like a miracle. What is that is what happened to the widow who thought her food wouldn't last the week? That doesn't diminish God, we all know how hard it is to get people to change! That just makes the story less fantastic. 

Paul wrote about how Jesus sacrificed his life (ego) to erase sin. We must do the same. 'Christians' get too passive. Everyone loves the interpretation where Jesus died for our sins, we don't have to make sacrifices (killing pigeons, turtle doves and calves) and all our future sins are forgiven as long as we TRY not to sin... But there's more! Paul often writes about this battle with the flesh and the spirit, the things we want to do and the things we need to do. Those fleshly things may very well be what we call Ego. So the work we must do to actually be Christian is to sacrifice our 'life's. Give up the things of ego that make up the image of our lives. Most 'Christians' are still trying to be cool and keep their ego. God does NOT negotiate with terrorists! And the ego is a terrorist. Don't get caught in the middle. Choose a side and stay on it. THAT is Christianity - choosing the ego-less side of Jesus and Staying there!
"It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these." We are heavenly things! This is in reference to the animal sacrifices of the past. We used to give up a little bit of another creature's flesh to repent. Now, to repent, we must give up ourselves. We can be siblings of Christ. IF, we choose to CONTINUE to achieve spiritual success. 

The story of the widow's two cents is well known. But knowing is not enough and, oddly enough, that is the true point of the story. It's miraculous and note worthy to choose God after your life has been devoted to sin. When a gang-banger walks down the aisle and stops banging, when the hooker leaves the street corner, THAT is on the level of the widow. Because those past lives were ALL they had and they gave it up for God. Make SURE that's ALL you have! A lot of us come before God with more to give and, AGAIN, try to negotiate. God want's it ALL. And it's not about money, your ego will tell you its about money. But you have time, you have talent, you have energy to give. You have bad habits, bad relationships, poor outlooks, bad feelings ... to give up. Give it ALL. God is not going to accept "I'm just an asshole. I'll be an asshole for God." NOPE!!! Give it up!Walking down the aisle at church or working you way up to leading a bible study is something great, congratulations, but you know there is more, keep going! Quit trying to go back. Stop trying to make your way, God's way. God's way has already won victory over ALL other ways! Be prepared to see things a different way, then do it. And then, DO IT AGAIN!!! Growth means your life will continue to change without end. Keep learning, keep living, keep growing, KEEP SUCCEEDING...