I confessed early on that I am not a Christian. Yes, I received Christ as my personal Savior when I was twenty-five years old, but that was a once in a lifetime decision. The life of a devout Christian is one comprised of a lifetime of decisions. Do I go here or there? Should I engage in that activity? Is it Christian-like to be hanging out with this or that particular crowd? Will it be a pop tart or bacon and eggs for breakfast this morning? Okay, that one isn’t so much a life changer. But do you see where I’m going with this? There are a few fundamental ideals at the heart of Christianity that each of us should be able to grasp and follow. They don’t require us to be Biblical scholars, and if we only put a little effort into them, they are not that difficult to adhere.
How hard is it really to take time out of our busy lives and help an elderly man or woman, whose packing two bags full of groceries to his or her car? We blow hundreds of dollars on the latest I-phone, IPad, Ipod, and “I want this or that.” Why can’t we dig a little deeper into those tight pockets, drop a buck into the Mason jar at the local grocery checkout, and help the family who’s strapped for cash. They’ve exhausted their finances keeping their cancer-ridden child alive one more day. Without a second thought, we toss out enough food to feed a third world country. What if we took those left overs, and put together a nice hot meal for the young woman next door? You know the one; she lost her husband and her children don’t have a dad anymore.
I’m not saying we should all contend for the Nobel Peace Prize or compete with Mother Teresa for the heavyweight title of sainthood. I can sum it up for us all in two simple words. Be nice. Be kind to one another, and n...
... middle of paper ...
... all realize, we could be in many worse places in our lives than where we are today. Life happens while God remains ever vigilant, waiting for us to look up, reach out, and take his hand so that He may lift us up.
Before the Lord can lift us up, we have to be still, stop complaining, and seek His face. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. Our Father is always watching. We cannot run or hide from God. For those without Christ, God’s omnipresence is an ominous thought. It’s even worse for us Christians who sin against our Heavenly Father. We try to hide our sins, pretend nothing happened, and take our sweet time seeking God so that we may ask Him to forgive us. Then we complain to Him when life isn’t going precisely as we planned. Before complaining, perhaps, if we are looking for someone to blame, we should take a sneak peek into the closest mirror.
We do not shine light on the gruesome idea that it is in our hands to change the fate of many dying children because it is normal behavior not to. We, Americans, have become a predictable collective group as we become a domino effect in the way that we allow each generation to affect the next creating what we know to be as normal behavior. By not donating money and turning the other cheek, we do not blame each other for allowing the worlds poverty to continue to be a problem because it is normal behavior. Peter Singers solution goes against our taught behavior, and simply states that “whatever money [we] spend on luxuries, not necessities, should be given
Whenever I learned to trust and turn to God, I found His comfort to satisfy my soul. Almost two years ago, one of my best friends became extremely ill and had to leave home and go to a treatment clinic. (For her privacy, I will not say the illness). She had to immediately leave for she was due to die in two weeks if she did not find help. Whenever she told me the news, my whole world flipped upside down. My life had been pretty okay before this, just a few ups and downs. This was the first major trial in my life and I was not prepared. Of course, I prayed for her but I did not grasp the fact that God was going to save her. I was extremely emotionally unstable and I tried to fix myself on my own. This never worked, I may have had temporarily relief but the fear came back. One day I finally gave up trying to fix myself and turned to God. I asked Him to forgive me for not turning to Him first and I allowed him to fix me. I placed my trust in him and ran to him for comfort. Even when it was difficult, I knew I had to trust in Him. Once I placed my faith in Him, my comfort came. I had faith that He would heal her and she will not
This past summer, I acquired an internship at Baldwin and Lyons, an insurance company in Indianapolis. Every Wednesday during my internship, a couple of employees and I would participate in a prodigious community service project, Meals on Wheels. Throughout the three months that I worked at Baldwin and Lyons, I got acquainted with some of the individuals whom we delivered to. These inspiring individuals were so grateful and appreciative that we took time out of our day to volunteer to do such a service. One elderly woman who we delivered to would sing to us as she came to the front door “good meals, good meals, good meals.” She is one woman that I will never forget. First going into this, I was elated knowing I was I getting out of the office for a few hours. I did not comprehend the fulfillment I would receive from delivering meals to the elderly and disabled. But I am pleased and proud of the work that I have done for Meals on Wheels. There is no better feeling than doing something for someone else and seeing such gratitude for something so simple. Acts 20:35 says, “In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Peterson). In an effort to revisit and make a difference in my community, I have arranged that over Thanksgiving break, I work Monday through Wednesday delivering for Meals on Wheels of Central Indiana.
We can gain hope in the verse “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak” Psalms 40:29. Another verse that can encourage us is Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Even though we may feel quite little and powerless, all we must do is ask Christ for help and we will be able to “do all things through Christ”. This includes overcoming sin that we as humans don’t have the power to overcome by ourselves. I don’t know about you, but this makes me extremely thankful for our God who cares for us and is willing to use His strength to save
As stated by Franklin D. Roosevelt, “the test of our progression is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” Many people may agree with this statement considering that the United States is such a wealthy country and in 2012, 46.5 million people were living in poverty in the United States and 15% of all Americans and 21.8% of children under age eighteen were in poverty.The honest truth is that many people do not know the conditions this group of people must live in on a daily basis because of the small number of people who realize the struggle there is not a great amount of service. In the article Too stressed for Success, the author Kevin Clarke asks the question “What is the cost of being poor in America?” and follows the question by explaining the great deals of problems the community of poverty goes through daily by saying, “Researchers have long known that because of a broad reduction in retail and other consumer choices experienced by America's poor, it is often simply more expensive to be poor in the United States.
The poems that most interested me are written by Robert Frost; Fire and Ice, Nothing Gold Can Stay, and Design. In these poem Frost uses the literary such as symbolism and rhyme scheme. Symbolism is used to provide the reader with a meaning other than the literary meaning of object or idea. Rhyme scheme is used to help the reader read and understand the poem. By using these two literary devices and more Frost has achieved many awards for his work.
Christianity has its challenges. It places demands on us that set us apart from the rest of our world. The bible calls us a peculiar people, who navigate the challenge of living IN the world, without being OF the world. When we say ‘no’ to temptations that are enjoyed by the masses, we are labeled as self-righteous snobs, religious weirdoes, or worse. But we persevere, and we press toward that invisible line the Apostle Paul drew in the sands of time…for the high calling in Christ Jesus.
When people are in need you want to help them but you don’t know how. If you see a homeless person asking for money and food, buy the something to eat and when you give the the food give them some money while you're at it.
We, Aimee Johnson and Jessie Virnig, along with Amy Wilson and Shawn Klimek, decided to try to give the homeless a little hope. The week before Christmas we went door to door and collected food for the local homeless shelter. We decided to focus on collecting food because around the Christmas season, a lot of emphasis is put on toy drives and people sometimes overlook the fact that the homeless still need to eat. In order to broaden our research, we decided to collect food from more than one group of people. We went to an average middle class neighborhood and to a college dormitory. Before we went out into the neighborhood and dorms, we prepared a thank you letter to give to everyone explaining to them who we were, to tell them that we were collecting food for the homeles...
On a normal of our everyday life, we find ourselves going to work or heading somewhere to meet up with a friend. While on the way there we pass someone that we don’t know sitting down on the ground alongside with him is a cart from a store filled with old clothes that either found or got from someone, some trash, maybe something small to eat to help with his hungry stomach growling throughout the day. You wonder how he got themselves into a position like that? Yet sometimes we know how he got there, although, we don’t always know someone else’s story. You leave some money by his foot to help get himself somewhere for a short time. Homelessness has increased over the years, from 1990s up until now. I believe that we can help these get back into a better environment for their life with the help of local shelters, food banks, donations from churches and schools, and many more things we can do in Licking County.
The homeless can be seen everywhere. The man pacing back and forth holding a sign that reads Anything Helps, God Bless, or the woman sitting outside the store with a 7/11 Slurpee cup hoping to collect enough change to buy a sandwich and a bottle of water. Society as a whole is faced with the sometimes hard decision of putting something in that cup or pretending to not see it and go on about their day. Deciding to toss some spare change into that cup isn’t as easily accomplished by people who believe hand-outs aren’t helping these people but rathe...
When we first started the poetry unit, I felt that I would hate reading and creating poetry. When I heard we had to read poetry I was very disappointed. Every other year we did poetry units, I hated it. I hated every part of it. I dreaded reading poetry and answering the questions. I mostly felt this way because I am a factual person. I always have to have one right answer. I do not like when there are more than one answer choices that are correct. Poetry always has more than one interpretation.This year, however, hearing poetry and writing my own poetry has changed my opinion on poetry. Although I still hate answering questions on the poems I love to listen to poetry and write my own poetry. But, even when you read the poems that I write they are very straightforward and there are usually no other ways to interpret it.
When we sacrifice our time to help someone in need, whether it is a great or small need, we become a part of their life and can help alleviate heavy burdens. We feel good for looking outside ourselves and contributin...
Today's Gospel reading shows us that the Lord is with us through times of trial… or when the storms of life get to be too much to handle. Whether He calms the storm as he did for the disciples, or asks us to let him walk through the storm with us, as Paul talks of in 2 Corinthians, or gives us the strength to fight against it, as He did for David while up against Goliath; he is always with us. He does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.
Poetry unlike fiction is solely based on the author’s personal take on a certain subject. The tone, diction, syntax, and mood of a poem are all determined by the author of the poem. For some readers, to interpret a poem or explain the plot can be a difficult task. Other forms of literature such, as fiction is much easier to understand and discuss.