desniza

How do you share the gospel?

Our acts of service and kindness and charity are surely indispensable, but Jesus is very clear that we must also share by a profession of faith our relationship with Him. I've frequently felt led to tell my story, and when I do so it feels completely natural and done out of love...

But I have to wonder sometimes if there is really any good reason to not literally go out and tell everybody. See, my common sense tells me that's a bad idea. Of course, my common sense also once apparently had no problem leading me out on the fourteenth story ledge of a hotel to get stoned out of my mind, debating on whether it would be a good idea to jump or not. This was obviously before my conversion. The point is that I don't know how much of what I "think" I should trust. Though I have been made new, and much better than common sense I have the Spirit to rely on.

Up until very recently I thought door-to-door evangelists were going about things all wrong. Now, I'm not so sure. I wonder if it is only out of fear for my own ego that keeps me from really pushing.

And so my question is about the pushing. Is it right for me to wait until the moments when I feel truly lead by the Spirit to share? I have done this to this point. Or should I be reeeeaally going out of my way to spread the gospel?

As an aside, I still don't believe that the guys standing out on street corners with signs telling everyone they're going to hell have an effective ministry or that this is led by God.

But do I know that for a fact?

According to Brother Yun, every Christian in China is also an evangelist. They great each other by asking how many people they brought to the Lord today! I don't know about you, but that blows my mind.

Is the stubborn, heard-it-already Western attitude an excuse to be silent? Is it biblical to just be a good example in hopes that someone will ask you about your faith? Or should we really be so bold that we annoy people?

Honestly, I don't really know. Which is why I'm asking. :)

http://historymedren.about.com/b/2008/08/27/medieval-treasures-uncovered.htm

Recently three different finds were made (two with those handy metal detectors -- hooray for modern gizmos!) of interest to medieval enthusiasts:

John Stevens, 42, from Hinckley, found a rare...

Началсь вторая мировая холодная война. как и Первая она будет противостоянием США и России, как две горячих мировых были между Росией и Германией. Во первой холодной Россия была коварно предана собственной элитой и США одержали победу, но как во второй горячей мировой Россия стала победительницей, так и во второй холодной мировой Россия одолеет США и вйдет победительницей.

I'm from Oklahoma, and a lot of times while speaking I notice that I omit saying 'that' when I'm beginning certain clauses. For example, 'I found I could....' instead of 'I found that I could...', or whatever. I do use 'that' sometimes, but I never really noticed until I was studying Italian and saying 'che' at times that I should be saying 'that' more in my own speech.

I've tried to listen to others now, and it seems to me that there's a 50/50 chance someone will omit 'that' when beginning certain clauses. Ever notice this?

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine. Tomorrow is the Feast of St. Augustine. These two days obviously are very big deals in the Augustinian communities. I absolutely love St. Monica. She is such a wonderful model saint because she is so incredibly human. She probably was a bit of a nag at times, she was overly anxious, she used to sneak wine from her parents cellar as a teenager. But all of this is just what makes her human. What makes her a saint is that despite the many hardships in her life, she had an incredibly profound faith. She won the conversion of her pagan husband just before he died. She never relented on her elder son, Augustine, and wept and prayed day and night to win his conversion, such that St. Ambrose told her that the son of such tears would never be lost. She attended Mass every single day. Even on her death bed, she asked that after she dies her sons would continue to pray for her soul every time they attended Mass. She lived a life in God's grace and continued to grow until her dying day. (P.S.: The icon I'm using here is a rendition of the scene described below between Monica and Augustine)

We know a great deal about her life because Augustine wrote so extensively about her in The Confessions. Some of the most beautiful, tender passages in this book are the ones about Monica, and it is very clear that he loved his mother dearly. Below I am pasting one excerpt, which was the reading from the Divine Office for her feast today. Tomorrow I hope to make a post about Augustine, as well. As most of you know, he was very instrumental in my own conversion. As much as I love reading his works of theology, it is his story that is most important to me, and it is his story that brought me back home.

Peace in Christ,

Michael

( Read more... )

I have just finished reading 'Mother Tongue', by Bill Bryson, which is a fascinating, fascinating book. [: Was wondering if there were any books you guys could recommend that are similar/linguistics related? [:

And also - I'm a French student who is fairly good at written French, but gets virtually no exposure to spoken French and thus is not up to standard with oral French. =S I really would like to go on exchange to improve this, but would like to improve before this - any tips? I don't really know any native French speakers, which would be the ideal, so... Any tips would be fantastic. <33

Thanks! <33

If you were trying to explain to a non-believer what sin was, what would you say and how would you go about it? I guess another way is how would you define sin to someone that was outside of the faith?

What do you say when asked why you belong to the denomination you do? What arguments would you make to a person trying to decide between denominations? What makes your way of practising Christianity different from or superior to other forms?

If I were seeking to leave my own denomination, what would you say to convince me to stay or to go into your own?

Edit to add: What denomination do you belong to?

The LORD has made known His salvation;
    He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered His steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel.
    All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
(Psalm 98:2-3)

I don't know the word I'm looking for, but in the past when a topic has been brought up repeatedly until the horse is beaten past dead, the mods have issued like a temporary ban on the subject for a set amount of time.

I would like to request that the mods maybe discuss imposing a temp ban (or whatever the word is for it) on the election, Obama, McCain, and anything remotely coming CLOSE to this whole thing starting now and running through maybe until a month or so AFTER the election is over. Because that post isn't the first and it won't be the last - it'll probably only get more frequent and more heated as the election approaches.

So to head off more wank and more heated arguments, could the mods discuss this and maybe take some action? It'd make the community a lot more peaceful methinks.