Category: Archives

This is a response to a recent comment left on an earlier post:

I do hope you reached out to your friend and gave her the gift that spoke to you..

There is truth in many things, and not just in one religion.

Jesus walked among the masses and did not judge them. He gave unconditional love and acceptance. Do this for your friend and you will both be blessed!

God and Goddess Bless you.
karen

Hello Karen!

Thanks for your comment on my blog. I am very glad to know that my readership is diverse, and I am thankful that you felt comfortable enough to comment.

I do agree with you that there is truth in many things. In religions other than Christianity, certainly there are people who practice self-sacrificing behavior of being kind to others, albeit with different motivations.

It is very hypocritical when Christians abuse the environment instead of caring for it, when they flaunt Christianity as a means to obtain political power, when they have hot tempers and pick fights, when they harm animals, when they abuse other people both spiritually and physically.. and the list could go on.

Yet, Jesus came to sacrifice himself as payment for these horrible sins. The Bible is clear these things are sinful – but the Bible also offers hope through Christ instead of condemnation. There can be forgiveness of these sin-debts against God because they have been paid for by Christ.

I appreciate your bringing up Christ, who did walk among the masses as you said. He dined with “tax collectors and sinners” (Mark 2), people who were outcasts in society.

How many Christians today would go into a bar and strike up a conversation with society’s outcasts?

Not many, but I know some! And, I certainly have friends from all walks of life. This love for people comes from a heart dedicated to God. It comes from recognizing how much we have been forgiven and not thinking of ourselves as better than others. It can be frightening to talk to people who have made themselves to look unfriendly – but as the Bible says in 1 John 4, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear.”

You are right that Jesus did not judge people in the sense of avoiding them or publicly shaming them.

I am reminded of one such story, found in John 8, of a woman who was about to be stoned by the Pharisees for adultery, whom Jesus rescued. Jesus simply saying to the Pharisees, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”

But, the story does not stop there.

When the Pharisees dropped their stones and stepped away, Jesus said “Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee?” And she said, “No man, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”

Go and sin no more does imply a judgment of sorts – he did not say that her adultery was acceptable.

There are many similar stories in the Bible (including the aforementioned one in Mark 2), but in all of them, Jesus offers something better, and it involves repenting of sin and following Him.

My concern is many Wiccan teachings are in opposition to Christianity. It’s not that there wouldn’t be truth and insight in a Wiccan gardening book, but I would consider it blasphemous to promote a book that pointedly undermines the premise that God is the creator of the plants, water, weather systems.. of the whole universe (Genesis 1; Job 38:4; Isaiah 42:5; Isaiah 45:18; Revelation 4:11 – and I would add Romans 1:18-32, which specifically speaks of consequences for those who do not acknowledge God as Creator and Lord.).

That’s why I think that a book about gardening, without the Wiccan-specific teachings, would still make a great gift for a Wiccan friend.

There are some fantastic, breath-taking pictorial books of beautiful gardens, which upon viewing, certainly stir my soul. A book like this would affirm the friendship – because that’s what the gift symbolizes: understanding a friend’s love for gardening, and doing something that would bring joy to the friend.

As you said, there is truth in many things and I think there is a way to show love to a Wiccan without compromising the Christian friend’s faith. Besides, if the Wiccan friend truly loves her Christian friend, she would not want the Christian friend to have a hurt conscience over a gift.

Again, thanks for reading my blog and I hope to have dialog with you in the future.

Much love,
Sarah Joy Albrecht

Happy New Year!

It’s hard to believe it’s January 1, 2008. But, here we are!

We had a wonderful New Years Eve with my in-laws and husband’s siblings and their friends. We ate Jambalaya and stayed up quite late to watch stunt man Robbie Maddison set a record by jumping a football field on a motorcycle. There was so much anticipation for a few seconds of a man blurring through the air. It was fun and my boys, especially, loved it. Whenever I have to cover my eyes when my four year old climbs trees, I am reminded that Evil Knievel had a mother, too.

Last night, we added all of the important birthdays and anniversaries to our new Audubon bird calendar. My children looked to see where their birthdays were located on the unmarked pages.

Looking at the calendar, with so many blank boxes that will surely fill up quickly, caused me to think about the past year – loved ones that have died (I put the anniversaries of their deaths on the calendar, as well as their birthdays and wedding anniversaries), the kids various milestones, our month long trip to Japan…. what a great year! And yet, at the beginning of the year, I had no idea that God had so much in store for our family!

So, it is with eagerness that I am looking forward to the year ahead. As I put away my calendar and was reflecting on these thoughts, humbled by how the Lord has worked in our lives in the past year, it was pressed upon my heart how HARD it is sometimes to have a fresh start in life. It’s not always as easy as putting a new calendar on the wall. Broken relationships do take time to mend. Sometimes when we have sinned, we have consequences to pay – they’re not over instantaneously. If we have done something that has hurt someone, there is a regaining of trust that sometimes takes place. Job situations are no different – it’s pretty rare and unheard of to just leave your job and go to a new one all within one day… there are interviewing processes, two week notices, training the person filling your shoes… all of these life changes take TIME. Fresh starts are often a progression of the ‘ducks being in a row’ so to speak.

BUT… even though all of these fresh starts, which can even be admirable and worth hanging in there over, aren’t instantaneous, there IS one LIFE-CHANGING fresh start that happens INSTANTANEOUSLY:

Placing our trust and belief in the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is no waiting period for a fresh start with the Creator of the universe. It’s as simple as confessing our sinfulness, seeking God’s forgiveness, acknowledging with thanksgiving that Jesus paid for our sins on the cross, and striving to study and obey God’s Word.

Perhaps there are Christians out there who need a fresh start.

For example, it’s easy to get into a groove where our relationship with God is as scheduled as our family calendar. When we find ourselves going through the motions of church attendance and “being spiritual” when its convenient, it’s easy to rationalize away or turn a blind eye to those in need: “Someone else will take care of them, my plate is too full” or “I know I need to seek so-and-so’s forgiveness, but she contributed to the situation and I’ll wait until SHE says something first.” We serve God with our minds and our bodies, but not with our heart and soul. The root is that we pridefully want to be in control of our lives, and even our relationship with God, and we are afraid to turn the reigns over to God. What if we turn control over to God and He gives us something we can’t handle or puts someone who is a nuisance in our life? What if He calls us to face our worst fear?

Or, perhaps there is great hurt that is in the way of a relationship with God. Sometimes the things of this earth seem so big that God seems distant. We are consumed by our hurt, to the point of even cherishing it and holding it up as an idol. I know this sounds harsh! It’s not meant to be – but I do know what it’s like to focus on a problem and trying to solve it ourselves or bear the hurt or burden of it ourselves, instead of focusing on God and trusting in Him for our comfort or for the things that our out of our hands.

A fresh start in these situation would be seeking God’s forgiveness for doing things our way, or stubbornly holding onto hurt and trying to hold it all together on our own strength, pridefully refusing to admit that our burdens really our too big for us to bear alone.

When we seek God’s forgiveness, He grants it to us instantaneously.

I John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

There is no waiting period to receive God’s forgiveness – Christ has already done the work on the cross for us, thousands of years ago. All we have to do is admit our sinfulness, lay it at the cross with thanksgiving, repent of our sin, and place the reigns in God’s hands.

If it sounds similar to salvation, that’s because it is! Although we don’t have to keep getting saved every time we sin, we must constantly be going back to the cross in all that we do. Our salvation is constantly being worked out in our lives – this is called sanctification.

As you look to the year ahead, pause for a minute and check to make sure your heart is right before God. Confess your sins and sinful attitudes – we all have them! The Bible says that if we say we’re without sin, we’re liars! Then, humbly dedicate 2008 to the Lord. Thank Him for being a God who does care about the details of our lives. Bask in the awesomeness of His power. Ask for Him to guide your path in the coming year. Say, “Lord, I am your servant. Please give me help me to be a good steward of the time you have given me. Please open my eyes to opportunities to serve you and help me to grow closer to you.”

Right there with all of you – reflecting, confessing, rededicating.

With much love,

Sarah Joy Albrecht

Photo Credit : MapleMama via Flickr

Now, tell me again why Ron Paul has been intentionally excluded from the upcoming Fox News debate?

Today’s Scarborough interview.

The BEST part is at the very end – Scarborough AGREES with Paul on spending issues – even saying “Amen, brother” to Paul (and goes on for a minute about his agreement with Paul!) and THEN knocked me off my chair by saying,

“Alright, Ron Paul, let me tell you something. You’ve got one voter in Florida who’s never voted before: my nineteen-year-old son. His name is Joey Scarborough, a member of the Ron Paul Revolution!

Thanks so much for being with us Ron. We really do appreciate it.”

Never would have guessed this in a million years.

The interview was thorough and Ron Paul was allowed a significant amount of time for each answer.

Paul was asked questions about foreign policy, war, taxes and government spending, raising money, grassroots support, and winning over undecided voters.

The Tucker “endorsement” was also mentioned in the interview.

I also noticed that, for once, the headline/ticker underneath the interview was positive. It referred to Paul’s fund raising records vs. the often seen half-truths painted in a bad light.

(This is also posted on the DailyPaul forums)