Making It Plain

Resolutions are mentioned at the beginning of a New Year and followed through as much as apologies, consideration of others, and allowing someone to get in line before you throughout the year. It just doesn’t happen? How come?  You do realize this is a Christian blog and the reference of you means the church- right? There is no reason the secular community would have anything to do with the questions posed to you because their decision changes as the wind blows. But you…you were created with a sure foundation in mind ( 1 Timothy 2:19 AMP ). You were fed with the milk of the word so that when you were ready your teeth would be strong enough, your system would be able to endure, your muscles and legs are ample enough to bite into, digest, and walk in it by eating the meat of His Word. Are you ready or was it too hard to swallow? I mentioned before about being astonished with what women wear now a days. One of the entries is called, White Gloves and a Pocketbook. It was a style going...

The purpose for flipping the script is for self preservation or obtaining the benefit from the outcome. It is removing the usual response and saying something so off putting that it causes the hearer to digest the information differently. It isn't playing mind games; it is however, guarding your heart, keeping your confidence, and maintaining a decorum of respect...that would be depending on with whom you have yielded yourself to ( Matthew 22:37 AMP ). That brief introduction into this subject is about to break some archaic barriers that many generations of sermons would have believers accepting that the definition of humility is as being like door mats and allowing the enemy to have all sorts of fun at the expense of our dignity. In this entry you will see otherwise and what it has to do with dating for the purposes of marriage in our chosen Christian lifestyle. Warning, what you are about to read used to be a saying my mother used to tell me as a child in order to curtail my beha...

 First, there is a reason why God tells us that in all of our getting, get understanding ( Proverbs 4:7 AMP ). The most important thing to know that everything God tells us is for edification, exhortation, and comfort ( 1 Corinthians 14:3 AMP ). He told us He would never leave us comfortless . He is our provision, our refuge, our fortress, and shield . He has called us to peace. He tells us over and over again to fear not ( Isaiah 41:10 AMP ). He says to be anxious for nothing ( Philippians 4:6-7 AMP ). All of this is in everything as we continue our journey in whatever He has called us to do....this is included in business practices, social cues, and most assuredly in relationships. Keeping the aforementioned in mind, I heard a pastor of a well known church tell the congregation the definition of insanity. Having been a follower of this ministry for years, I was always eager to hear a fresh Word from God through him. He proceeded to give the definition as "continuing to do the sa...

Tony Orlando and Dawn was a singing group back in the 70's. Tony Orlando was singing well before then though. During that time, the hit, Tie a Yellow Ribbon was on the rise, and so was his weight. By the mid to late 70's, everyone noticed how he started to slim down. It looked effortless. He was on a talk show when the subject came up in an interview. Mr. Orlando explained that as a child and well into his adult years, he would always have a particular snack of a well known brand of chocolate cookie and milk. It seemed innocent enough when growing into his teen years and really wasn't noticing the weight gain until an adult. He didn't change much of his diet, he just stopped the seemingly innocent snack of milk and cookies. This is how the concept of trust has been used, something as simple as a childhood snack. When reading about relationships or studying about marriage and counseling couples, this concept is paramount in all aspects of the dynamic. Having the support...

  Attending a Christian College to obtain a graduate degree, I was eager to begin the new semester. There were assignments, as usual, but my favorite part of any class was the essays. The essay we were to compose had to do with the subject matter of trust and where we learned this valuable lesson using scripture to substantiate the point of view. I don’t recall the content of the paper but I do remember some of the comments the professor had in the margins. He thought that the essay I wrote was funny. Still, at the end, he disagreed with my point of view and wrote, “ you have to trust someone .”  His comment perplexed me for several reasons. One, it’s a Christian institution and I assumed those teaching are Christian as well. The other thing was that I used scripture to make my point valid and it didn’t matter to him. Finally, I wondered why I was allowing this man to teach me anything if he was going to oppose the basics of trust? The remainder of that semester became difficu...

Currently, my career has led me to a mental health facility where the job of Social Work is constant. The services provided are not only to the poor and homeless but also to those with higher levels of education and socio-economic status. It is an aspect of this field I had no interest to be a part of, but God. As I became more acclimated to the position, I have found a common thread in many of the mental health issues. For instance, if you’ve ever seen the television show, Hoarders, you realize that as the episode continues and delves into that particular hoarder, he/she has had some trauma in their life some sort of way and many of them have another common thread using thrift stores (estate, yard, or garage sales) as a means of escape. The facility where I am employed the common thread is the absolving trust within relationships. These relationships can be immediate family or long termed friendship or marriage. It takes therapy sessions before the patient can come to terms with trust...

Sometimes after church services, a group of us single women would find something to do. On that particular Sunday, we went open house browsing in affluent neighborhoods. The homes were so palatial. Far more spacious than what any of us were able to afford at the time, but God ( we said ). From one house to another we ooh and awed before noticing that it was getting dark. For us, that meant the blinds or curtains were going to close for privacy. These owners had no window dressing to use. It was the only thing we found odd, until leaving and saw how dark it was in the entire neighborhood...to the point that if it weren't for the owner leaving that light on in the house, we wouldn't have been able to see backing out of the driveway. There were no streetlights, no personal yard light, no porch lights - nothing. It was explained that the wiring was underground to minimize blackouts during storm season. Oh, we said in unison with a question mark. So they would prefer car accidents i...