Category Archives: grace

Swimming Upstream: “The Perfect Gift”

Honey sipped her coffee before answering. “No, let’s not go to Hawaii. Too crowded. How about new wedding rings?” she said.

“Wedding rings?” I said, shaking my head. “No, I don’t think so.”

We were stumped. After almost thirteen years of marriage, we could not agree on  a perfect gift for our soon arriving anniversary. It had to be something unique. Something special. But what was it?

As we sat there in Starbucks, a heavy-set man wearing a Harley-Davidson motorcycle jacket sat down at the table next to us. He took the jacket off and revealed his arms. They were covered with tattoos.

“That’s it,” whispered Honey, pointing toward the man.

“What?” I replied.

“Let’s get tattoos.”

The thought of a tattoo excited me as much as it did her. So, we spent the next forty-five minutes designing the perfect one for our upper arms. When we were done, we went over to the Temecula Tattoo Parlor.

The tattooing process did not really hurt much. Just some gentle pin pricks. Honey’s tattoo healed perfectly, but mine required some special salve, but seems to be doing okay now.

And of course, the tattoos are Christian, not some pagan art. If you want to, you check them out, look here.

Swimming Upstream appears at this blog site on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It’s  a little of this and a little of that, all written  to encourage and exhort believers in their Christian jouneys.

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Filed under Christian Conservative, Christianity, Christians, Church, church planting, Emergent Church, Gifts of the Spirit, God, grace, Home Church, humor, Inspirational, jesus, Kingdom of God, morality, Prayer, Prophecy, Red Letter Christians, reformation, Religion, Spirituality

Swimming Upstream: “Squandering Time Or Not”

“What do you do to relax?” asked the doctor.

“I play golf,” replied Doug.

“Oh, golf can be relaxing. How often do you play?” said the doctor.

“Never!” said Doug, “and what’s bad is that I’m going to have to cut back.” (Multiplicity, 1996, movie starring Michael Keaton and Andy MacDowell.)

Using time wisely has always been a touchy point for us Christians. Should we go to a movie this afternoon and enjoy ourselves while people are suffering in Fargo? Or what about the starving children in Rwanda? Or the imprisoned believers in Tibet? Shouldn’t we just stay home and pray for everyone?

Basilea Schlink, the founder of the Evangelical Sisterhood of Mary, dealt with this issue in one of her many books. She tells how she visited the Louvre in Paris. Walking by the works of Michaelangelo, da Vinci, Rembrandt, Raphael and others, she felt guilty and miserable. How could she possibly enjoy herself while so many people were suffering throughout the world?

Now if you haven’t heard of Basilea  Schlink, check her books out. This German lady was a woman of deep prayer, as in six to ten hours a day.

Schlink states that she was finally set free from her misery and guilt when she understood in her heart that she was no longer living under religious Law, but rather, she lived under grace and was led by the Spirit.

Most of us have heard this simple truth over and over. And yet, how many of us really believe it?

Swimming Upstream appears at this blog site on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It’s  a little of this and a little of that, all written  to encourage and exhort believers in their Christian jouneys.

4 Comments

Filed under Christian Conservative, Christianity, Christians, Church, church planting, Emergent Church, Faith, Gifts of the Spirit, God, grace, Home Church, Inspirational, jesus, Kingdom of God, morality, Prayer, Prophecy, Red Letter Christians, reformation, Religion, Spirituality