Hole-ier than thou
I know I'm not a perfect person (that "amen" in the background as you read this is the chorus of my friends agreeing with me...if not the angels in heaven.) I have a lot of holes. Trust me...no matter what sins you think "punch you through", I may be hole-ier than thou.
I am trying to be honest with you here. I'm prideful. That pridefulness comes from an amazing gift of intelligence from God. I am trying to be honest!! I know where it comes from and I am deeply aware of its breadth and depth...the gift that is. My response to that gift is sometimes...<sighs>...prideful.
Some people call me arrogant. I can't honestly deflect that criticism in any way. Jennifer has to deal with the side of me when I'm not in a good mood (I'm usually in a really good mood when I'm writing and posting.) She has to deal with me when I'm sullen or angry. She has to deal with someone that will think a thousand thoughts in a minute and she'll wonder why so quickly I'll swing from being in a good mood to being upset.
At times, due to the gift of intelligence, I procrastinate, trusting my giftedness to catch me up. I'm like the hare in Aesop's fable...except there are times when I don't really even get started before I take my nap.
I lack tact, too, sometimes excusing the things I say because they come from my "gift of discernment." The Bible teaches us to "test every spirit." If your gift of discernment conflicts with 1 Corinthians 13--like mine has too often--perhaps you are being motivated by a spiritual gift from the enemy rather than from God.
Some of you reading this know me very well (Jen helps me by reading every entry and offering her perspective and suggestions...thank you sweetheart!!) Others just think they have a good idea of who I am. Brent probably knows me pretty well in spite of the intervening years. Cheri (if she's reading this) was my "iron sharpening iron" partner in high school. My mom definitely knows me well. If you ask them, they'll go 'yep'...he's kinda like that.
My dad may know me best of all. He tends to see through me. Pastors should be that way as should fathers. It keeps their kids on the straight and narrow. I don't always agree with my dad, but I always try to honor him (even when it seems like I'm not...it is my deepest desire.)
Doing that once...seeking to honor my dad..allowed God to more fully develop my spiritual giftedness and led to me teaching adult Sunday School for the first time...first to singles a little older than I was in the Bobbitt Funeral Home where we met off of the Date Street location of the old Immanuel Baptist Church campus in San Bernardino.
As I was responding in the Wendy's comments in Good News!! this thought came to mind:
I am really glad that I followed God's leadership and went to Texas A&M instead of a Baptist school. Before doing that, most of my friends were churched and saved. Since then, at least half of my friends at any point in my life have been unchurched and unsaved.
MANY of those friends now profess a saving faith in Jesus Christ. I was there to see God work that out in many cases. Perhaps in a few God was able to use my somewhat poor witness (holes and all) to reach some of my friends.
I thought about that a little and I came up with this explanation of how it works:
Grab a flashlight and TWO handkerchief or pieces of cloth--one with holes and one without holes--head into a dark closet. First put the whole cloth over the flashlight and turn it on. How does it light the room? Turn the flashlight off, replace it with the cloth with holes, and turn it back on. What happens?
Most likely you saw this: the whole cloth...the fabric without problems or frays or holes...obscured the light more than it transmitted it. The cloth with holes obscured SOME of the light, but it more faithfully transmitted the rest.
It's what Paul meant when he said "His strength is perfected through our weakness." God is able to shine through precisely when we just can't take another step. We stop being a container or a dam and start being a conduit...a channel.
For those of you out there that think you're just not up to the task of being as "good" as someone else or matching some artificial standard of righteousness...that is Good News!! You don't have to. God will work with who you are today if you will submit to his plan for you and to his leadership in your life.
If you want to find out more about how to invite Jesus into your heart, please do these two things for me:
1. Read John 3 (The Message).
2. Send me an email by clicking on my signature. That's gregorywh AT gmail.com
I would love to hear from you and to share with you about how to get to know Jesus. We can learn about him together since I am constantly on the search for a better understanding of who he is.
Said a little differently...I'd be glad to help not because I am holier than thou...
but because I might be hole-ier than thou...and I know where to find help.
I am trying to be honest with you here. I'm prideful. That pridefulness comes from an amazing gift of intelligence from God. I am trying to be honest!! I know where it comes from and I am deeply aware of its breadth and depth...the gift that is. My response to that gift is sometimes...<sighs>...prideful.
Some people call me arrogant. I can't honestly deflect that criticism in any way. Jennifer has to deal with the side of me when I'm not in a good mood (I'm usually in a really good mood when I'm writing and posting.) She has to deal with me when I'm sullen or angry. She has to deal with someone that will think a thousand thoughts in a minute and she'll wonder why so quickly I'll swing from being in a good mood to being upset.
At times, due to the gift of intelligence, I procrastinate, trusting my giftedness to catch me up. I'm like the hare in Aesop's fable...except there are times when I don't really even get started before I take my nap.
I lack tact, too, sometimes excusing the things I say because they come from my "gift of discernment." The Bible teaches us to "test every spirit." If your gift of discernment conflicts with 1 Corinthians 13--like mine has too often--perhaps you are being motivated by a spiritual gift from the enemy rather than from God.
Some of you reading this know me very well (Jen helps me by reading every entry and offering her perspective and suggestions...thank you sweetheart!!) Others just think they have a good idea of who I am. Brent probably knows me pretty well in spite of the intervening years. Cheri (if she's reading this) was my "iron sharpening iron" partner in high school. My mom definitely knows me well. If you ask them, they'll go 'yep'...he's kinda like that.
My dad may know me best of all. He tends to see through me. Pastors should be that way as should fathers. It keeps their kids on the straight and narrow. I don't always agree with my dad, but I always try to honor him (even when it seems like I'm not...it is my deepest desire.)
Doing that once...seeking to honor my dad..allowed God to more fully develop my spiritual giftedness and led to me teaching adult Sunday School for the first time...first to singles a little older than I was in the Bobbitt Funeral Home where we met off of the Date Street location of the old Immanuel Baptist Church campus in San Bernardino.
As I was responding in the Wendy's comments in Good News!! this thought came to mind:
I am really glad that I followed God's leadership and went to Texas A&M instead of a Baptist school. Before doing that, most of my friends were churched and saved. Since then, at least half of my friends at any point in my life have been unchurched and unsaved.
MANY of those friends now profess a saving faith in Jesus Christ. I was there to see God work that out in many cases. Perhaps in a few God was able to use my somewhat poor witness (holes and all) to reach some of my friends.
I thought about that a little and I came up with this explanation of how it works:
Grab a flashlight and TWO handkerchief or pieces of cloth--one with holes and one without holes--head into a dark closet. First put the whole cloth over the flashlight and turn it on. How does it light the room? Turn the flashlight off, replace it with the cloth with holes, and turn it back on. What happens?
Most likely you saw this: the whole cloth...the fabric without problems or frays or holes...obscured the light more than it transmitted it. The cloth with holes obscured SOME of the light, but it more faithfully transmitted the rest.
It's what Paul meant when he said "His strength is perfected through our weakness." God is able to shine through precisely when we just can't take another step. We stop being a container or a dam and start being a conduit...a channel.
For those of you out there that think you're just not up to the task of being as "good" as someone else or matching some artificial standard of righteousness...that is Good News!! You don't have to. God will work with who you are today if you will submit to his plan for you and to his leadership in your life.
If you want to find out more about how to invite Jesus into your heart, please do these two things for me:
1. Read John 3 (The Message).
2. Send me an email by clicking on my signature. That's gregorywh AT gmail.com
I would love to hear from you and to share with you about how to get to know Jesus. We can learn about him together since I am constantly on the search for a better understanding of who he is.
Said a little differently...I'd be glad to help not because I am holier than thou...
but because I might be hole-ier than thou...and I know where to find help.
posted by greg.w.h@1:36 PM link-to-post
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