Set Your Sights On Things Above
We so quickly get our eyes off God. Let's get back into
perspective.
perspective.
8/4/2015
New release!Available nowThe other day, I was driving down a rather busy city street in Burbank, CA, and coming up to a stop light, we saw an interesting scenario ahead. Just on the other side of the intersection, the street was filled with smoke billowing from one of the buildings. Through the smoke, I could see a fire engine parked on the side of the road, and behind that engine I saw the red and blue flashing lights of a police car. Immediately the kids and I thought that surely there's a raging fire happening, something's burning down, and the traffic just ahead was going to get very snarled, very fast. How sad, I thought someone’s personal tragedy was playing out right in front of our eyes. So it was with some trepidation that we went ahead through the light and drove straight past what we assumed would be a scene of devastation. We were wrong. As the angles straightened, and we could look at the scene from the proper perspective, the truth was far less dramatic. The smoke was actually coming from the local Handy Mart here. They do an outdoor barbecue grill every Saturday. It just happened that as we were there, the wind was blowing the smoke down and across the street. What I thought was a fire engine parked right outside the fire, was actually a fire engine parked about half a block farther down, past one of the side streets - no firemen in sight. And the police car was at the end of that block, pulled over giving someone a traffic ticket for who knows what. The police car had nothing to do with either the fire engine, or the Handy Mart outdoor grill. None of this was clear until the angles were correct. If I'd turned at the intersection, I'd have left with the wrong impression - even though all my basic facts were correct. There WAS a fire, there WAS a parked engine, and there WAS a cop car, pulled to the side, with his lights on. What wasn't immediately evident was the real truth behind all these facts. Oftentimes in life, our biggest problem comes from the angle we’re looking at things. When we straighten out the perspectives, in our own minds, we might just see the solution readily available. That’s why our perspective should always be guided by the Bible. God’s Holy Word is the only straight angle that will keep us in the proper perspective. That’s what this devotional book is about - following God’s perspectives.
7/21/2015
The case of the Yelling Diner OwnerEveryone's talking right now about the diner owner who yelled at a child having a fit in her restaurant. There's even at least one article declaring it ok for a stranger to yell at someone else's child.
I sort of agree with that article. (I'm not going to link it here because it's got some language, but it isn't their opinion that I'm talking about anyway.) Here's a link to a news article about the situation: WCSH News Let me clarify my agreement with this statement - yes there sometimes IS something wrong with a stranger yelling at someone else's child. However, in this case, the child had been crying for 40 minutes with the parents doing absolutely nothing. So the discussion becomes whether or not someone else has the right to get upset when you're doing nothing to rein in your child's bad public behavior when it's interfering with other people's peace of mind. To be fair, the diner owner was behind a counter, and she spoke loudly toward the entire family, AFTER 40 minutes of screaming from said child. From what I understand it isn't as if she got in the child's face and screamed directly at her. That might be different. She put up with a little kid screaming for 40 minutes in her establishment, then finally had had it. I can understand this frustration. I understand that we need to not go around judging other moms, other parents...but there comes a time when we have to acknowledge that sometimes we could be doing something better, and there needs to be a time when we're willing to have it pointed out to us. It used to be the young families stayed with (or near) their elders, and the older parents could advise and correct the younger parents as they went along. This is no longer the case, and I think we're seeing the results. Younger parents are no longer willing to hear any sort of advice from older parents. We get offended when anyone dares tell us we might be doing something that would be better done a different way. How dare someone else tell me there might be a better way... Well true, no child is born with a parenting manual attached. But we have parenting manuals living in front of us in those people who have successfully raised kids and just might know a thing or two about what could work. Let people help you.
7/7/2015
#WakeUpAmericaAt one point in America, we were segregating water fountains - not just black vs white, but Irish immigrants too. We had businesses posting signs that said 'Irish need not apply.' There was rampant racism against Germans, Japanese, blacks...all sorts of people. We hustled innocent Japanese Americans into internment camps during WWII. Then there was the Red Scare in the 1920s and 1950s - for awhile there were 'witch hunts', people were locked up just on the suspicion of being a communist. My point? There have been several times in our history where America just frankly went crazy. Freedoms were trampled for awhile. Because we were operating out of fear. But you know what's different about our country? We're set up to overcome these failures of humanity. When the majority see that a minority are starting to take over, and that things are moving out of control, we're supposed to stand up and set things right again. It's happened before, and it can happen again. Things CAN be set right again, because we don't have a dictatorship here. No, I'm not worried, because God is in control. But God has also given us a responsibility here in America to stand up for what's right. He's placed us in a system where we can peacefully wrest control from the fearmongers and put it back in the hands of sane people once again. It can happen. So let's wake up and get busy. This is a Christian Women Writers Club just starting up. Go check its Facebook page out to see if it'd be something you'd like to take part in. There's a free side and a paid side, but the yearly paid membership is very reasonable for all the benefits you get. Critique, marketing support, webinars, and access to all sorts of successful independent and hybrid authors. Image from Pixabay.com
6/19/2015
From the Desk of Rich ChambleeI have been struck by the reaction of the survivors and family members of the massacre in South Carolina. In an unusual bond hearing, the judge allowed the victim's family members to speak beforehand. They called for forgiveness, saying, "I forgive you, may God have mercy on your soul." Many of those who spoke expressed very similar attitudes of forgiveness towards this monster. They were not advocating that he escape punishment for his acts, but that they were allowing forgiveness to enter their hearts, especially despite his racial motivation for the attack. It has been an inspiration to me that they show the love of Christ through their emotional responses, before their loved ones are even buried. I heard a commentator say that it was cruel of the judge to let victim's family members speak so early after the tragedy. But by allowing them to avail themselves of the grace of God so early in this tragedy, they can start healing earlier, and they can spread abroad the testimony of how Christ makes a difference in their lives, when it matters the most. In our own midweek Bible study this week, our group discussed how to have a testimony of Christ in a world that ascribes to no objective truth, and is hostile towards Christianity. I had a chill run through me when I thought of how this murderer sat amongst the church members for an hour, and then proceeded to slaughter them. The chill came because of how it could happen in our own Bible study. Would we have the same reaction of forgiveness towards him? I hope so. Here's the question I want to leave you with. Detractors of Christianity react to us as if we are dangerous, that we want to stone the gays, and string up the sinners. (Not true, by the way. We're just warning people that every person has to answer for their sin before God, including myself.) How different is the forgiveness of the murder of those Christians' families who were ambushed and killed, versus segments of the gay community that hunt Christians to provoke them to act against their conscience? Which world do you want to live in? A world where disagreement against the party line results in political persecution, and can change on a whim, or a world where disagreement is pointed out as in conflict with God, but love is shown? I know which one I want to live in.
6/1/2015
Let the Holy Spirit do His workSin is sin, right?
And we’re supposed to be salt and light in a dark world, right? Yes to both. However, I was thinkin’ about this. Awhile back a young man came to our church and got saved. You understand, this young man was in the drug culture, relatively deep. He drank, did drugs, and for the most part lived a quietly drugged existence. It’s hard not to notice the tattoos in prominent places, his hands, his arms and neck, and it was even harder to miss the huge gauges in his ears. The kind that leave gaping holes in his earlobes. So this young man got saved, and became good friends with our family. He is around all the time, and we love it. He’s a great guy. So one day I noticed something different about him. He told me God had led him to take his gauges out of his ears…so he did. A little bit later he came and told me he’d struggled with the next decision, but that he’d finally decided God wanted him to have some of his more obvious tattoos removed. This is an expensive and painful procedure, by the way, he told me some of it. This got me thinkin’. I know no one in our church told him to take his gauges out. We didn’t tell him to get his tats removed, either. We just loved on him as he was, and didn’t worry about all that stuff. You know who told him to make those changes? The Holy Spirit did. Now, if one of us had nagged him, we’d have never known if it were the Holy Spirit leading him, or if it was a misguided notion to please those around him. Sometimes we are so concerned about helping our fellow new Christians out of the mire of sin, or just out of the mire of looking like the world, that we wind up trying to do God’s job for Him. I understand it’s a fine balance. We are supposed to exhort, reprove, rebuke…all of that. But we need to balance all that with faith that the Holy Spirit is alive in this person. We need to have faith in God that He will bring the new Christian along, and that God is guiding and forming this Christian. Remember that verse that says anything that is not done in faith is sin? Well, I think this is part of what God is referring to here. When we aren’t operating in a place of faith, we wind up running around trying to make sure everyone we care about is toeing the line – making sure that we’re reproving and exhorting and rebuking to the point that we lose sight of the One who ultimately is supposed to be our Reprover, Exhorter unto good works, our Rebuker. Sometimes God uses people to do this job, and we shouldn’t be so worried about what other people think that we refuse to do it when God tells us to. But we also need to be sure it’s God telling us to speak those words, and not our own fear. Romans 14:23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
5/20/2015
Seeing the Stricter StandardDo we ever see things from the stricter perspective?
Think with me here. Understand that just because someone has a stricter standard it does not mean they're judging you. We see someone else who has a more restrictive viewpoint, and we automatically see them as judging us. You understand, they want to be accepted by the people they go to church with, by the people they're in contact with every day. You also understand, sometimes they aren't accepted. But do you see that we can have a stricter standard without judging other people? Too often we think that the other person, the one with a little more open standard, the one who allows themselves more, is the one who cannot be judgmental. I'm here to tell you, I've experienced different. Do you see someone with some sort of stricter viewpoint as different? Do you treat them differently than you treat your other friends? Do you hold them at arm's length? Do you consider them to be judgmental even if they have never proven to be? Do you stand back and wait for them to say mean things to you? Do you imagine that they're thinking badly of you, even though they've never treated you different because of your differences? Do you talk about them behind their back, telling other people that they obviously think they're better than everyone else...simply because they have a stricter standard for themselves? Having the stricter standard is not in and of itself judgmental. Consider this - by holding them at arm's length, by assuming things about their thought processes, by talking about them behind their back with other people...you are the one being judgmental regarding standards. I'm writing this to point out that everyone can be judgmental. Neither one should be treating the other with disdain, or setting them apart as sort of strange, or whispering about them behind their backs. But I think we forget that it does go both ways. So don't forget.
5/15/2015
Christian Fiction Friday!This is an excerpt from my work in progress, a Christian science fiction / superhero story.
............................................................................................................................................................................... I had gotten away with it. The guard, W. Campbell…also known as ‘William-but- my-friends-call-me-Bill, hadn’t suspected a thing. And I did not flirt with him to get my way. My ethics prevent me from stooping to that…for the most part. Ms. Stantor was going to have to do some cleaning up in the morning, but it was all being blamed on an ‘animal containment malfunction,’ and I was being touted as rather the hero for discovering what had happened. On my way home that night, all the adrenaline from my adventure had drained away and I was left feeling cold and irritable. The entire evening replayed in my mind, from the moment I walked in the lab, to the strange pulse of energy that stood us still in time, to the look on the guard’s face when he saw the lab in complete disarray. It was still light out as I hadn’t wanted to push it too far by sticking around the lab after all the excitement. I pulled up to my house and just sat there for a few moments. Wishing things were different had never helped me, but it didn’t mean I could stop the wishing sometimes. It wasn’t as if I hadn’t tried. Knowing all the Bible verses about being content, resting in God, waiting for His timing…none of that meant I was perfect. I knew what I needed should be coming from God, but sometimes it was hard to remember that. This was one of those times. My little VW Bug was the only working car on the property. Two trucks sat overrun by weeds, one in the back yard, the other leaning precariously next to the garage. An even older minivan sat on deflated tires in front of the big unattached garage over in the far corner of the lot. Ours was the only house this far out on the dirt road. Lancaster had some notable claims to fame, one of them being its weird mix of civilization interspersed amongst wide swaths of backcountry, desert compounds and abandoned houses. My family’s home was one of those backcountry desert compounds, as well as having the added distinction of appearing abandoned…two birds with one stone, so to speak. I suppose I could have spent my every waking moment fixing the place up, since Dad wasn’t likely to do it himself anytime soon, but for the last few years I’d given up and just concentrated on graduating from high school and getting out of there. If I lost this internship that goal would be a little bit farther away. I gripped the steering wheel, knowing I’d risked my future that day. Christian Fiction Friday is a weekly blog hop where authors post short (400-word or less) snippets from their current works in progress. It is hosted by Alana Terry and Hallee Bridgeman.
5/1/2015
Bundle of books! New release99¢ or Borrow for Free with Kindle Unlimited or Amazon Prime:
Now together for the first time! 6 complete Christian historical western romances that will transport you back in time and are sure to warm your heart. Whether you have just a few minutes to enjoy a novelette, or the time to really get immersed in the dust and grit of a western town, there’s something here for everyone. Step into a day when outlaws ran free, the land was wild, and guns blazed at the drop of a hat! After the Rain Rand McCade made a promise to his dying wife to one day remarry. He doesn’t want to remarry, but a promise is a promise. Pressured to marry a violent man, widowed and pregnant Lettie Morgan seeks out an agency which finds brides for men in the west. Can two hearts, broken and grieving, put their pasts aside and blend their lives into one? A Lady in Defiance Charles McIntyre owns everything in the lawless mining town of Defiance. When three sisters show up stranded, alone, and offering to open a "nice" hotel, he is intrigued enough to let them stay...especially since he sees feisty middle sister Naomi as a possible conquest. Naomiwants no part of Defiance or the saloon-owning, prostitute-keeping Mr. McIntyre. It would seem however, that God has gone to elaborate lengths to bring them together. The question is, "Why?" Does God really have a plan for each and every life? Rocky Mountain Oasis When Sky Jordan hears that his nefarious cousin has sent for a mail-order bride, he knows he has to prevent the marriage. No woman deserves to be left to that fate. Still, he’s as surprised as anyone to find himself standing next to her before the minister. Brooke’s new husband turns out to be kinder than any man has ever been. But then the unthinkable happens and she holds the key that might save innocent lives but destroy Sky all in one fell swoop. It’s a choice too unbearable to contemplate…but a choice that must be made. Bounty Luke Jordan’s mother's dying words rang in his head. "Take these to your brothers." His brothers? The Jordan gang of outlaws. Why did he have to waste time tracking them down? Cat Cahill's morning rides are a pleasant diversion from her mother's lectures on marrying a civilized man from the east. Despite her prayers, Cat hasn't found the man she would want to spend the rest of her life with until she runs into Luke. One town trying to avoid a buyout, one gang worth their weight in gold, bounty hunters intent on taking the Jordan gang in more dead than alive = two in love and a bunch in trouble. Charity’s Gold Rush After Charity saves handsome Gabriel Williams’ daughter from being trampled he asks her to marry him. And Charity believes he’s the answer to her prayers. Gabe and Charity agree to a marriage in name only, although Charity is upset that now that she has found a man she could see herself making a life with, he isn’t interested in anything more than someone to watch his children, and he’s a gambler to boot – just like Pa who got her into this mess. By the beginning of the following spring, if both parties are in agreement, they’ll annul the marriage and part ways. Neither expects love to interfere with their plans or for God to intervene with a plan of His own. Jessie’s Bride Jessie Kincaid doesn’t plan to follow in his three older brothers’ footsteps, which seems to include being bachelors. Jessie begins writing Sarah Engle and sends her money, along with a stage coach ticket, to come see him so that they can be married. Not everyone is happy with their decision to wed. When the preacher said, till death do you part, did he mean literally? Or can a mail order bride and her groom truly have a happily ever after ending? http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WYJ2M24 |
AuthorI'm Sherry Chamblee, aspiring author of Christian fiction, mom of six, wife to a cool dude, and caregiver to his granny. Besides that, I am just little old me - it's just a phrase, I'm not really old, honest. Check out my new release!
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