Beyond Mediocrity Blog

(Image courtesy of http://issacharinitiative.org.) It seems like when prayers are answered, I am usually surprised, but I know I shouldn't be.  Answered prayer is no different than someone responding in a conversation.  Just as in conversation, an answer is expected. Perhaps I am not so surprised by answered prayer as I am excited.  Last week, one of my prayers was answered in a miraculous way.

(Image courtesy of http://blog.americorpsalums.org.) Tax season is in full swing, which means its time for cutting corners, white lies and twisting the truth.  Why is that?  Why do we not trust God to provide what we need, within the parameters of doing what is right? Stop and think about your life.  How often do you drive five miles (or more) over the speed limit?  Just because you probably will not experience consequences means you don’t have to obey the law? Dang. Or how often do you skew your insurance policy so you don’t have to pay as much? How truthful were you when you filed your taxes?  Is a couple hundred extra on your return really worth being a bit shady? How many times a day do you alter a story to save or improve your image?  In school, how often did/do you copy answers or use someone else’s work?   At your job, do you actually do everything that is expected of you, or do you do enough to get by and stretch the truth ab...

This is the fifth and final post in a series of posts entitled: "Truth's Heroes." I have battled and sought out the answers to this question of what it means to stand up for what's right especially in the midst so much evil around us today.  It seems that people do not have a clue anymore about what is wrong and what is right.  I thought I knew the answer: State the Truth, letting people know what's wrong and what's right.  Yet somehow I felt pushy and standoffish when I put that into practice.  I think there is yet a better way than I have written about so far.  And it came to me by means of listening to a friend through whom God spoke. In the spirit of "saving the best for last," allow me to expound on the meaning of what it means to speak the Truth in this final post in the "Truth's Heroes" series.

(Image courtesy of http://womeninthebible.net.) Yesterday at church I was talking to a woman about healing and the power of God.  Healing is such a taboo subject, it seems, among people in the church.  We want to believe it, but somehow we can't.  We wish it would happen to us, but we're afraid to start asking for it because it might not happen.  Instead of seeking it, we avoid it.  "Leave that healing stuff to the snake-handlers - those Pentecostals," we utter with a bit of arrogance.

This is the fourth post in a series of posts entitled: "Truth's Heroes." As I continue to wrestle with this idea of boldly proclaiming Truth, I started to wonder: "Where does Grace fit into the equation?  When should I extend Grace if I'm supposed to be unwavering in my in-toleration of evil?  Should I ever let people 'off the hook' for the wrong they have done?  It seems rather mean and hateful if all I do is tell people what they're doing wrong and that they need to repent.  Jesus granted us Grace - or a pardon that we don't deserve - so when should I overlook someone's wrongdoing?" The questions seem valid, right?  However, they couldn't be more deceptive.