Abundant Life

Audio Teaching: Our Union with Christ

Karen

by John Schoenheit
The Bible is the source of Christian doctrine and practice, and because of that it is vital that Christians are able to read it and understand what it is saying. Yet the Bible uses language that can be confusing to Christians. The language was not confusing to the Greeks, who spoke the language of the New Testament and knew its idioms. One of the idioms of the Greek New Testament that confuses Christians is the use of the word “in” (sometimes translated “into” in our English Bibles) to describe relationships. For example, 1 Corinthians 15:22 says, “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” We might expand that for clarity in English to say, “In connection with Adam we all die, and in connection with Christ we will all be made alive.”

Some contexts are easier for us to grasp than others, for example, for us to be “baptized into (in) Christ” or “baptized into (in) his death” (Rom. 6:3) are more difficult to understand than “in Adam,” but we need to know what those verses are saying. Since the relationship described by the word “in” can vary from a loose relation to a very tight one, even a union, we must discover the exact nature of the relationship by reading the context. In this teaching, John Schoenheit covers the meaning of New Testament phrases that use “in” (or “into”), and gives very helpful explanations and translations of what some of the important verses that use these phrases mean.”

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Day-By-Day

A Lot Happened Yesterday

Karen

Jazz drove to band practice, by himself, for the first time last night.

FOR. THE. FIRST. TIME.

I hate the first time solo driving. H.A.T.E. I.T

I’m a nervous wreck. My imagination goes crazy and until my boys text me to tell me they arrived safe and alive, I’m pretty sure I forget to breathe in that time period.

When Jazz arrived, he sent me this text:

“Had a nice relaxing drive over here.”

haha! I smiled. I chuckled. I savored my proud mom moment … and then I got to thinking, Wait. Was that really code for – I nearly got T-boned three times on the way over here??

See? My imagination is really a curse.

At 9:00 p.m. – I started watching the clock. It was time for him to come home and I was praying that we had practiced enough night driving for him to know how to handle it on his own. I started cursing myself for not taking him out night driving more often.

I was watching “Fringe”, (freaky series, by the way), when I heard the garage door open. (Kevin has been driving his car, instead of his truck, to save on gas, and he’s been parking in the garage. When Jazz starts driving to school this fall, he’ll park his car outside next to Dude).

I smiled. My chest swelled and I went out to meet him.

He was home safe and sound – I could begin breathing again.

Jazz got out of the car, smiling from ear-to-ear. He LOVED it. I knew he would. He’s like me in a lot of ways and I KNEW the moment he got a taste of freedom … it was all over. We have crossed that childhood/man threshold. One part of me is sad, two parts of me is ecstatic.

He said he got a lot of attention from his band members when they found out he drove himself to practice.

I said, “of course you got a lot of attention. I’m betting there were quite a few girls” (actually, two specifically come to mind because I’m pretty sure they have a crush on him) who immediately thought, “‘Oh COOL. Jazz is driving, which means he has a car, which means we can go out on a DATE!'”

He blushed, ducked his head and began to chuckle.

I knew by his reaction I had hit the nail on the head.

Now I’m a bit worried about his senior year .. haha!

I came home from work yesterday and Dude was gone.

My first reaction is to always freak out because Dude? NEVER goes anywhere unless he has somewhere to go. I knew class had been over for hours and curiously, his car was still parked in the driveway.

When I asked Jazz where he had gone, some friends had come by and picked him up.

Dude doesn’t have a lot of friends; Dude has a few GOOD friends.

His friends dropped him off while we were sitting at the dinner table.

We asked him some questions and Dude answered them – he never elaborates, so we have to ask him creative questions in order for us to find out anything.

He had hung out with his friends and had a good time.

Swell.

And then, just in casual conversation and in passing, Dude says something about going to a Japanese-style restaurant for lunch.

I don’t know why this shocked me, but it did.

Did he have money?? Was my first thought and yes, he had some money on him (his own money) and he paid for his own meal.

I was so proud of him. I know it’s silly, it’s lunch out, but it was with his friends and it was totally planned by him. I had absolutely nothing to do with it – I didn’t even know about any of this until after the fact.

And this is how it should be. I’m just proud because … he’s becoming his own person. He’s slowly coming out of his shell and exploring the world on his own.

It’s sort of exciting, to be honest.

I had a Gyno appointment yesterday. My doctor wanted to check on my periods. Remember when I said I haven’t had a period in a while (it’s been three months now). Well. The doctor doesn’t just want to come right out and tell me I’m in menopause, so he drew some blood and is going to run some tests to see what’s going on. He also gave me a prescription for something that is supposed to try and MAKE my body shed the lining of my girl parts – just to see if there’s anything still there, or if it’s clogged up or something.

Then he talked to me about taking hormones.

Now ya’ll KNOW how I feel about the flu vaccine (seriously, just search flu vaccine – there are a ton of entries), so you can guess how I feel about taking hormones. But I told the doctor I would do some research and get back to him.

So the verdict? I still don’t know if I’m peri-menopausal or not, but I’m guessing I’m definitely knocking on that specific aging door.

In My Opinion

Why I Don’t Allow Comments

Karen

I know there are a few people out there that are frustrated by the fact that I don’t allow (a lot of) comments on this blog. I mean, if you’re really steamed and really need to sound off on something I’ve written, or an opinion I’ve expressed, by all means, email me. I won’t promise I’ll read it, but it might make you feel better, I guess.

But I have my reasons for not allowing comments. Seth Godin summarizes how I feel about the subject rather nicely, so I’ll just copy/paste what he said about not allowing comments on his blog:

I think comments are terrific, and they are the key attraction for some blogs and some bloggers. Not for me, though. First, I feel compelled to clarify or to answer every objection or to point out every flaw in reasoning. Second, it takes way too much of my time to even think about them, never mind curate them. And finally, and most important for you, it permanently changes the way I write. Instead of writing for everyone, I find myself writing in anticipation of the commenters.

I couldn’t agree more. Every blog is different, every motivation behind a blog is different – you must do what feels right for YOU. For ME, and my personal SPACE, it’s all about documenting my life. The sole purpose of my blog is to journal – I want to remember the “moments” from my life. Sure. I post fluff (see the “random stuff” category for proof of that), but I do that for two reasons, 1. that stuff amuses me and 2. I think it might bring a smile to your face, or illicit a chuckle, or it might possibly be the bright spot in your crappy day.

In other words – I post that fluff to entertain myself, and you.

But mostly, this space? Is for me. For my family. Because I have a terrible memory and some day, I will look back on my life and everything will be fuzzy and I want to be able to read excerpts of my wonderful life, smile with tenderness and share my life stories with future generations.

This is why I blog. I’m not interested in making money. I’m not interested in traffic … I do it for me. And if you’re entertained in the interim – BONUS!

When I open up comments, I inevitably get the nasty. And I’m a MOTHER BEAR when it comes to my family, and their feelings. I will not allow anyone to insult my family.

Period.

Me? Go for it. I put myself out there, it comes with the territory. But my family? Is. Off. Limits. And my family reads my blog. So … you can see the problem.

I have very strong opinions. I say what’s on my mind. I try not to offend anyone in the process and I challenge myself to try and look at an issue squarely in the face and to offer my opinion fairly, but it’s my opinion – take it or leave it. I neither have the time, nor the desire, to justify my opinion to anyone who disagrees with me. Disagree away. I have no problem with that, whatsoever. But it’s my hope, by sharing my strong opinion, that I might offer just one dissenting viewpoint – or something that makes you pause and say, “Hmm … I never thought of it that way before.”

Then my work is done.

And lastly – when I open comments, I’m more aware of what I’m writing. I start customizing my opinions, and content, in order to please my readers; I feel pressure to “perform for the masses.” Again. If that is the purpose of YOUR blog, then by all means, I wish you luck. But I end up resenting the hell out of the fact that I feel like I have to censor myself, or my content and nope, it ain’t happening.

The same reason applies to ads, too. I simply don’t want to put myself in a situation where I have to be anything less than ME on my blog. I don’t want to have to answer to anyone, or any dollar amount.

Period.

So that’s it. Those are my reasons. I TRULY appreciate you visiting my little blog corner in cyberspace, but the key words here are: my little blog corner. It’s my space to do with as I please. And closing comments is just my way of keeping it that way.

By the way, I found an interesting debate about whether or not you should, or should not, allow comments on your blog. Yet more food for thought.

Life

We Had a Burn Ban for 4th of July – So Of Course, We Shot Off Fireworks Anyway

Karen

I know. We’re rebels. But before you click that right-hand corner X over there, let me elaborate – we shot fireworks off at my in-laws’ house, who live on the outskirts of town, and who live far enough away from their neighbors that it really wasn’t an issue of a stray spark hitting anything flammable, AND, they spent the day watering down their lawn, and surrounding areas, to ensure it would be safe to shoot them off.

But yes. Our city, and my in-laws’ city, had a burn ban on fireworks this year. And rightly so. It’s been bone dry here in these parts. (*said with a heavy southern drawl*).

When the burn ban went public, the officials knew it would be useless to tell people they couldn’t shoot off fireworks, so they simply cautioned people to keep water close by. I think, for the most part, people adhered to the ban inside the city limits, but as usual, it was a war zone outside the city limits.

We did something different this year – we met up with my in-laws at a fireworks tent, told the tattooed lady behind the counter how much we wanted to spend, and we left it up to her to fill a box full of her recommendations. Because you know how it goes when you go to a fireworks tent – you drive up, there are people milling around, so you feel excited about the prospect of shopping for some awesome fireworks, only to step under the tent and WOW, the sheer variety punches you in the stomach because the selection is overwhelming. The boxes are colorful, (and often times … wildly suggestive .. really??), and though there are descriptions of what the fireworks do, you don’t REALLY know what they will look like or if they will end up being wildly unpredictable and downright dangerous as they chase you across the yard and make you run for your life because a rogue explosive is right on your tail.

Been there, done that, thank you very much.

The boys filled up an arm basket full of their choices (it always amuses me how animated Dude gets around the 4th of July – it’s his second most favorite holiday, Christmas being his first, but honestly? It might even be better than Christmas in his opinion. But seriously, 99% of the time, Dude is quiet, retrospective and an introvert, but the first week of July? It’s like someone, er, lit a firecracker under his butt and he’s suddenly ALIVE … it’s fun to watch) and bought the box full of fireworks that we didn’t even pick out.

Awesome. My own personal fireworks shopper – I can get used to that.

I didn’t see that box again until we arrived at my in-laws’ house for hamburgers and hotdogs. Our family, my sister/brother-in-law and my in-laws were the only people there. All of the other kids in the family had their own plans. We had a good time visiting (his family is always so funny and we end up laughing a lot when we get together) and before long, night had fallen and the boys were itching to go outside and start the show.

*Note to you younger parents – it’s AWESOME having teenagers this time of year. They can do all of the running around and lighting the fireworks while you can sit back, sip a tea (or beverage of choice) and simply enjoy yourself. SWEET. Be patient – it will happen to you, too!

We tried to light some Sky Lanterns …

Sky Lantern

… but we didn’t have much luck. We didn’t pull the first one apart correctly and it burned. Then, when my MIL saw the size of the flame, she got nervous that it would land on someone’s house, so we didn’t light the remaining Sky Lanterns.

I have to admit, I think this year’s fireworks display was the best we’ve ever had. The tattooed-fireworks’ lady did a really good job picking out our fireworks this year. We are totally doing that again next year.

Our grand finale was this baby …

Pryo Boy

We weren’t sure how to shoot it off at first, but then Dude suggested we do what the boy on the box was doing and simply hold onto the firework … he was kidding of course! But don’t you know there has to be someone, somewhere, who thought that very thing??

This is why we have silly warning labels on everything nowadays – because people have lost their common sense.

You know it’s true.

We got home about midnight. Which meant I was a zombie at work the next day.

Holidays shouldn’t fall in the middle of the week – it’s hard on us working stiffs.

Abundant Life

Teaching: Cleansing the Temple (The spiritual battle / get rid of idols, crystals, pornography…)

Karen

Every Sunday I provide videos and valuable links to the Truth or Tradition teachings. We’ve been following the Truth or Tradition teachings for many years now and they have truly blessed our family. We have found peace and happiness through our beliefs and we walk confidently for God. My hope, by passing on this information to you, is that what you find here, or on the Truth or Tradition website, will guide you to a better, more blessed and abundant life.

If you would like to read my views on religion and how we got started with the ministry, you can read this.

Let’s get started:

Thanks for watching.

(Comments have been turned off. The information is here to inform and bless you. God granted you the gift of free will – take it or leave it).

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