Tug of War

Just a few days since my last post. What a difference. It is not as though there is sunshine, rainbows, and an angel chorus playing. But there is peace. There is a definite calm. It's hard to explain; that must be the part of it that passes all understanding. They say the spiritual battle is fought within the mind; I agree. Since I took all of that mental and emotional turmoil and laid it all the foot of His throne, my mind has been serene. The tug of war that was tormenting my mind just stopped, abruptly. The rope just fell to the ground. One side didn't win over the other; the battle simply ended without an actual ...ending. No answers came. Nothing was "fixed" or changed. The only thing different now, is the peace within me. Those issues all still exist. Nothing has changed in that regard, only that I am content with God handling them, not me. I'm not constantly mulling them over, reviewing, replaying, or trying to fix anything. I am open to God's direction and His plan. I do not feel the drive to force MY view point, my plans, my fixes, into the mix. If He needs to use me in them, I am available to Him. For now, I am calm and confident that He will create a good in each of these things that I could have never come up with using my feeble human mind. I've found great peace in that and in not having those circumstances plague my mind anymore. (Wow, that's what they did too. They plagued my mind, clouding it with distress and confusion!) What a difference it makes to give it over to the Father and leave it with Him.

Thanks God.

Extreme God!

Philippians 4:6-7 (New Living Translation)
6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Ok, I've heard and read this verse more times than I can recall. And it's one of those that gets thrown out there when there is something "bothering or worrying" me. It's nice, huh? A great way to tell someone to stop worrying about things... but instead of it being chunked at me by a well-meaning friend or family-member (as it usually is)...this time God chunked it at me.

I say that because the man I heard speaking about this scripture had no idea that months later Carlotta would be buried up to her ears with worry and anxiety over a handful of different things during the month of November 2007 and would hear his message and need it specifically at that time. Those that "aired" the message didn't know any of that either. Even I didn't know I was inadvertently going to hear the message at this time. So the only orchestrator of all of that could be God.

What spoke to me most about that scripture THIS TIME is the use of extreme words. Extreme, as in... 'Don't worry about ANYTHING, pray about EVERYTHING, peace that exceeds ANYTHING we can understand.' It doesn't say, "you know Carlotta, there are those BIG things that it's really ok to worry about." I think we all have those things that if called out on it, we would argue are BIG enough that we cannot help but worry about. Other translations say "Be anxious about NOTHING". Good grief, is that even possible? If it weren't, I don't believe God would have so eloquently placed it in the Bible, via Paul. Plus, we know based on the rest of the scripture that if we give EVERYTHING to Him in prayer He will grant us peace that transcends ALL understanding. Even the most brilliant minds of our age cannot fathom the kind of peace God can grant in ALL of our circumstances. Even, and especially in the BIG ones that we are so prone to hang onto and worry about and focus on. So, He can really release me of all of that mental turmoil??? Really? Well, when does that happen? I've been praying, I've told Him everything on my mind, prayed until I am blue in the face. I've cried out to Him with the desires of my heart and the cares and concerns of my life. I've not spared Him any details, I've not left out anything. But the real question is...did I GIVE it to him? I shared it with Him in nauseating detail but then I cram it all back into my bag and take it with me as I leave the throne. What's the good in that? It's not as if He didn't know everything I shared with Him anyhow. He knows. But if I don't give it to Him and trust that He can and will handle it all, there's not much point to any of it.

So, my guess is that He got weary with His precious daughter (ME!) coming to Him filled with tears, hurt, pain, confusion, and unfulfilled desires, crying and broken at His feet but refusing to let go of it all. That would make me frustrated too. So He threw this verse at me through someone I don't even know. Probably hoping it might have more impact that way... Because He cares and He feels my pain deeply. He wants to give me peace. But I have to surrender these issues to Him. Why don't I? Am I afraid He will tell me what I don't want to hear? Perhaps. But how can that be...what He wants and what His plan is and what His timing is is FAR superior to mine. The end results will be far superior to ANYTHING I can come up with or imagine. It's a fact. It's true and yet I cling to all of these issues in my life.

Hello, can you say, STUPID? Ok, well, perhaps not stupid, but stubborn.

Dear God, right here, right now, I am letting go of it. I am releasing these cares onto You. They are now Yours to do with them as You see best. My ideals, my plans, my "fixes" are all so limited and weak. I do not know how, why, or when you will address all of them (and there are many as you know), but I am going to LIVE this scripture. I am going to trust in its truth and in its extreme wording. If anyone is extreme it is You. And it is going to take extreme faith and surrender on my part to let these go...but here they are. I am done with them. I give them over to you. Lock them up so I don't try to sneak in and take them back. I don't want them anymore. Keep them. Heal them. Change them. Correct them. Say NO if You must. Say Yes if You must. Do what must be done in all of these circumstances. And thank you SO much for doing what You will do. Thank You for all that You have already done. In Your Son's Precious Name...Amen.

Prayers of a 2 year old...

Although it shouldn't, it amazes me sometimes how healing children can be in the lives of the adults who love them.

A few of you know about my daughter praying for me about a month ago, but most probably don't. Yes, she is 2 years old and knew that her mom needed something that neither she nor anyone else could give. Heavenly Comfort. And let me say, she is a true angel because she tried and tried to comfort me at a time where there was just NO comfort to be found....until she gave up. But did she? How did she have this instinct to go higher? She's seen prayer many times, but mostly at meals and our bedtime ritual prayer. Neither of which I thought she really understood. And those events at this point are simply thanking God for our food or people and blessings in our lives. But that day, she gave up on the hugs and the kisses and every sweet face she could muster and she went to God. She folded her sweet hands and bowed her head and began mumbling words that were undecipherable to me. She had quite a bit to say, to my surprise. Then I recognized the ending..."AMEN! Ok now mommy?" (I get teary- eyed just recalling it again for you guys...)

How blessed am I? Truly? That whole moment touched me forever. I couldn't help but pull her close and smile and feel peace. I hate for her to see her mommy hurting and I try to shield her from it when I am able, but to know that she knew who to go to for help still amazes me. How precious and yet how simple. She knows. She's observant and perceptive. She's learned at a tender young age that prayer "makes things better". God can and will help if we call upon Him.

I admit that I am still struggling with some tough things, but her prayer that day and her heart to ease her mommy's pain is healing in and of itself, still. I know I can hurt, I know I can feel loss, I know I can ache, but I also know that life is good because God is good and He loves me immeasurably. I don't have all that I want all of the time, but I always always have all that I need and much more. She is a daily reminder of that. Even in my toughest moments, I am abundantly blessed in countless ways.

Precious children...I still contend I know exactly why Jesus loves them so and bid them, "Come unto me." They are pure, innocent, and even healing.

Thank you God for my little one and her amazing heart and spirit. I am MOST blessed!

What Do I Do?!?!?!

What do you do when someone tells you something they really want you to believe even though their eyes tell you something completely different? Like when you know someone well and they try to convince you they are "OK" when all indications scream that they are definitely not "OK"? I am struggling with that kind of dilemma today.

Quite a while back someone tried to convince me of something that I KNEW they weren't even convinced of themselves. There is an old saying that the eyes are the window to our souls. I fully believe that's true. If you know someone well, and by well I mean at soul-level, then even when their mouths say one thing you can read their eyes if you want to know the real deal. Most of the time when someone I care about is hiding how they feel I press them on it. Many times that is all that is needed to spark a conversation that is usually helpful. But there are those people that even when pressed are so hard-headed they will not give in. I know a few of people like that. And you guys (and gals) know who you are!

So back to my initial question, what do you do? Especially when they will not open up and be vulnerably honest? I have tried sitting back and letting them work through things on their own. I've tried reaching out. Nothing has worked. I've prayed until my knees are throbbing. I see them making decisions that are based on fear, not faith, and it scares me deeply for them. I see their eyes screaming the truth at me, and yet they continue on their way. It's tough to watch someone you care so much about making decisions and emotionally hiding out of fear. That only means one thing to me; they are listening to the whispers of the enemy. I feel helpless. Is there more I can do? I am praying. I am praying like a mad-woman. I want to do more. I want to be God's hands somehow. But I can't if I am not given access.

Here's what I want to say to this person: FEAR only GOD. Don't run from anything He places in your path. With Him ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE. Even that one thing you are so afraid of. Don't miss out on what He wants to bless you with just because you are afraid of your own struggles and weaknesses or someone else's. And that really is the point. If you trust in Him, He can exponentially bless that one thing you are so very much afraid of. Don't you see it? I do. Your eyes give you away. I see it. You cannot hide it from me, from yourself, or from Him. We all know. Let go and let God bless you. Stop running. Aren't you tired from all of that running? Stop. Give Him the opportunity to bless you the way He wants to. Don't treat Him as if He doesn't know what He's doing, what you need, or that He doesn't know your weaknesses. He knows it all. He will bless you anyway. He blesses us all DESPITE ourselves. Get out of the way!!! Fear and unbelief in what God can and will do will only bring to harvest life-long regrets and sadness. Hear me. Hear Him. Stop running. Stop it. Your eyes speak the truth and they are the windows to Your soul where the Holy Spirit resides and is screaming the truth through your eyes. You know the deal. You know you are hiding. It is time to come out of your hiding place and live again. REALLY live. Stop playing a part, stop playing the role of "I AM REALLY OK with this". You are playing a role and maybe you can fool everyone else, but I know, you know, and God knows the truth.

I don't know if my friend will read this. I don't know if they will recognize that it is for them. I don't know a lot of things, but I do know that I can't give up on what God placed on my heart. So, here I am again trying to reach out. Please reach back...even if it is a LONG reach. Stretch yourself. Risk it. God will protect you and bless you.

November Birthday

This month marks another birthday for me. Does anyone else get introspective around their birthday? I do. The actual number isn't the reason, but the events contained within the number warrant a review. Am I growing? Am I getting better? Is my relationship with God getting stronger and deeper? What do I still want to accomplish? How am I going to improve this year, over the last one. (Very similar to what people go through at New Years, I suppose.)

Jesus lived 33 years and made such an impact. I am about to embark on time here that He never had. I want to make it worthwhile and impactful. Not just for myself, but for others too. I want to be much more than I am today. I try not look back over the years and lament the hard times (there have been a few) because the hard times caused the most growth. I am glad for them even though they can still sting a little. It's hard to explain. I know more tough times are ahead, but that also means there is more growth ahead. So I am alright with that. Plus, I also know that there are many more wonderful times ahead as well. I know that as my years pass by, I am in God's hands. I am secure in that. I know that He will lead me, guide me, guard and protect me.

Please God, I pray that as I embark on another year of life that what I do in it will bring You joy and glory. I know I will stumble, it is going to happen. I know You will be there when I do and will dust me off and set me back on Your path for me. I thank you in advance for all that you will do in my life this year. I thank you for all that you will do in the lives of all of everyone that I love as well. I know You and believe Your Word and Your promises. You are my rock. The one I can always count on. My source of strength and security. Help me grow and become the woman You designed me to be. This year, what I want for my birthday is to bring You joy in how I live my life. But I will need Your help every step of the way. Because as we all know, on my own, I will mess it all up. But with You, I can bring You joy and glory, and that's what I want this year.

It's a little early for the candles yet, but if I had them now I'd blow them out, knowing what I want the most this year. Let this year not be about me, but You. Amen.

Satan's Puppet

What it is with "false guilt"? I've run into it among people I know twice lately, just in the last week. Why do we allow ourselves to be such easy targets for Satan? Why do we warp problematic circumstances and situations and decide to take them on our shoulders as if we created them...when we didn't? It surprises me how easy it is for Satan to bend and twist things and then feed them to us so easily as if we were hungry for them.

Last week I had a friend try to tell me that she was responsible for an ugly situation that she truly had ZERO to do with creating. It was almost bizarre! Why would she take something on and carry it around on her shoulders when she had absolutely nothing to do with it's creation. NOTHING. It is frustrating. Because from the outside looking in, it is blatantly obvious that Satan orchestrated the whole deal. I tried to reason with my friend and help her see clearly, but I am not sure if I did. See, because we find ourselves in a world with humans we can easily find many instances where things are completely messed up. And if we are gluttons for guilt (and MANY of us are for some ridiculous reason) then we can twist the facts to somehow become our fault and our responsibility when they simply aren't. And you know Satan just cackles in triumph when we do this. We are like puppets on his strings.

False guilt, which is what I am writing about, is one of Satan's specialties. It is based on personal feelings rather than facts. True guilt, which can be a good thing, is what we feel when we have sinned. That guilt can lead to Godly sorrow, confession, forgiveness, and repentance. False guilt is not of God, and it cannot be relieved unless and until it is seen for the lie and the deception that it is.

When you are bearing a burden and heavy-laden with guilt--stop and think. Use your brain. Think as rationally as you possibly can. Determine if you feel true guilt because you've sinned or if you are being manipulated by Satan and are feeling false guilt instead. You have to be clear and methodical. Please remember that you can be manipulated by Satan through others. It may be a statement your dad made. It may be something our friend, spouse, boyfriend, or whomever said that seemed innocuous at the time, but with Satan's help of course, we warp it into something it isn't and then drag around guilt and responsibility that does not belong to us. DON'T DO IT. I believe it's wrong. Don't be the puppet on Satan's strings.

God wants us as strong and as unburdened by Satan as we can possibly be. We cannot do that if we are bound up in Satan's strings, dancing for him at his whim. We've got to be stronger and wiser than that. We have to be on the lookout for false guilt. You may be right smack in the middle of an unfortunate situation or circumstance, but that does not necessarily mean that you created it or are responsible for it.

Let true guilt move you to get sin out of your life. But be intentional about recognizing false guilt in your life and cut the strings. Break free from that bondage. It keeps you from being the man or woman God wants you to be. Don't play a martyr for Satan, be the champion for God. Cut the strings; stop being the devil's puppet. Dance for God with no strings attached!

Hidden Fears

Do you have a hidden fear? One that always sits at the back of your mind, that haunts you in your alone time and quiet moments? Most of us do. I believe many are the same and many are quite different. Here's a few I believe may plague many people:

Am I going to be single forever?

Is my marriage forever destroyed?

Does he (or she) really love me?

What if I lose my job?

How will my family survive if something happens to me?

What if people find out about________?

What if he (or she) leaves me?

Would people really like me if they new the real me?

What if my friends found out that I struggle with __________?

Why can't I forgive myself for__________?

Am I ever going to stop hurting over _____________?

Why am I surrounded by people and still lonely?

How could I have hurt him (or her) like that?

Am I parenting well?

Am I always going to fail with relationships?

How will my child turn out as an adult?

Am I ever going to stop doing ____________?

Am I ever going to start doing ____________?

Why can't I change_______________?

How am I going to pay the bills?

What if people knew the truth about ___________?

I could probably come up with thousands of them. There are all sorts of things that gnaw at us. Some of us try our best to push them away, try to be "positive", deal with it "later", simply avoiding dealing with it at all. The reality of it is---we all have certain thoughts that plague us.

Why don't we hand them over to God? How simple that sounds, but how difficult it can be. Some things we just won't release. We cling to them. He'd have to PRY them out of our hands to get them away from us...but He won't! He won't. God does not work that way. We have to come to Him and lay our cares at His feet. He is the answer. We can wrestle with fears and habits and pasts, forever if we choose to. But why? It makes no sense. He wants to take them from us, but He won't do it forcefully. He requires that we hand them over willingly.

I know many people living with haunting fears questioning their mate's devotion, living with imminent financial desperation, palpable loneliness, past secrets, current demons and bad behaviors and so on. It eats away at them all the time, even when they don't realize it. It's exhausting to think about how much turmoil we have in our hearts and minds, that many times no one else in the world knows about that we choose to hang on to. We have a loving, caring, concerned, and more than ABLE to handle it God but we refuse to give them over. Why do we shut Him out that way? He longs to help us and we rob Him of that. We rob ourselves of the peace and joy that giving it all over to Him brings.

Think about those things that plague your mind and heart. You know exactly what they are, even if you are unwilling to admit them to anyone else. You know them...and you know them well. So does God. Isn't it time to let Him do what He does best? Give you relief, peace, and comfort? It's a WIN/WIN. He wins because He longs to help you and get greats joy from it, and you win because you finally get relief. Release it to Him. The wave of peace and relief that rushes over you will seem like it washes the weight of the world off your shoulders! Stop clinging to toxic fears, concerns, and worries. Live MIGHTILY...even in the deepest recesses of your heart and mind. Clean out the darkness that you've crammed in there. Let Him flood it with life and light! He will, but only if you come to Him. Do it...LIVE MIGHTILY!

Sowing Seeds

Discernment: 1 : the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure : skill in discerning 2 : an act of discerning
synonyms discernment, discrimination, perception, penetration, insight, acumen

Discernment is a term used in Christian tradition to describe the process of discerning God's will for one's life.

This is something that I am always seeking. And as I walk my path, God has been gracious by granting it to me. I am not saying that I have it down pat. I don't. But I have come a LONG way, and continue to do so. The toughest thing is dealing with others that don't like or don't agree with how discernment "fleshes out" in my life. But the truth is very cut and dried; I do not live my life to please others. I live my life to please God. I cannot put anyone else's ideals or "feelings" above His. (That is key in being able to be a discerning person.) And the more I know God, the closer I get to Him, the easier it is to discern His will in my life. So simple and so obvious. The better you know someone/anyone, the better you know what they think, believe, and want. It works that way with God too.

Because of discernment, there are some things I simply will not do. There are certain places I will not go. There are influences/influencers that I do not allow into my life. There are hard and fast boundaries that I have created that I will not cross. There are even people I will not co-mingle my life with. With all of these things in place you'd think my life would be very restricted, but in fact, I am more free today than I ever have been because I am not bound by others and by situations. Perhaps you are one of those people who might say, "So you are saying that there are people you avoid? Jesus hung out with ALL kinds of people. Good ones, bad ones, evil ones etc..." Yes, He did. And thank God He did. And yes, He is our role model. We should do all of those things with discernment and boundaries. I have had ALL kinds of people in my life and have invested time, care, concern, God's love, and even sometimes cold hard biblical truth. I have scattered many seeds. But sometimes we can pour all we have into nursing that one seed and becoming so engrossed in trying to MAKE it grow that we miss another opportunity to plant a seed. And what if that first one fell on nutrient-depleted, hard, dry ground? We can spin our wheels forever trying to make that situation work, but if the ground is not receptive and ready for the seed, it will not grow. In fact, the birds probably ate it the moment it hit the ground. God has granted me what I have prayed for for so long. Discernment and STRENGTH to leave those seeds in His capable hands and move forward. Even if those people/seeds don't understand. I still care about those people. I still pray for them. I still believe that God can and will do amazing things in their lives, but I can no longer be a part of that process. BECAUSE, I am susceptible. I am compassionate. I am tender-hearted. I can get too close. And I can be pulled under with them. I know this about me. God revealed it to me. It has happened on more than one occasion in my life. I will not allow that again. I am the sower of the seeds. Sometimes that is all I can be.

So the gift of discernment is a treasured thing. Learning now to not lose sleep over people who don't like the way it is used, and the way it fleshes out is critical. Those folks---the people who cut you down. The people who don't understand. They people who rage and those that gossip. The people who sneer and judge and talk behind your back. They are there. You probably know some of them by name. I do. And I am ok with that. You see, I used to spend way too much time worrying about all of that. The great thing is...I don't anymore. I rest peacefully in the arms of my God because I know He leads me. I know He helps me set those boundaries. He helps me to know when a seed fell on fertile soil or not. He helps me know when to push through and keep going working that seed, and when to get up and move forward, leaving things in His capable hands. That brings a deep peace and amazing freedom.

Discernment. Pray for it daily. Use it wisely. KNOW Him and it will be easier and easier to use.

Mark 4 (New Living Translation)
1 Once again Jesus began teaching by the lakeshore. A very large crowd soon gathered around him, so he got into a boat. Then he sat in the boat while all the people remained on the shore. 2 He taught them by telling many stories in the form of parables, such as this one:
3 “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed. 4 As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it. 5 Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. 6 But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn’t have deep roots, it died. 7 Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so they produced no grain. 8 Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” 9 Then he said, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”
10 Later, when Jesus was alone with the twelve disciples and with the others who were gathered around, they asked him what the parables meant.
11 He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secret of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables for everything I say to outsiders, 12 so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled:
‘When they see what I do, they will learn nothing. When they hear what I say, they will not understand. Otherwise, they will turn to me and be forgiven.’”
13 Then Jesus said to them, “If you can’t understand the meaning of this parable, how will you understand all the other parables? 14 The farmer plants seed by taking God’s word to others. 15 The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away. 16 The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. 17 But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. 18 The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, 19 but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced. 20 And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”

Saved?

OK, I just want to poke and prod at you guys for a moment. Well, not so much at you in general, but at your understanding of God's Word. I am curious how you will answer my inquiry, or if you will at all.
What must one do in order to be saved? Think about your answer carefully. Then once you have your answer in mind, continue on.
I know lots of people who will answer that they need to believe in Christ and ask Him into their hearts...some will even throw in there that they must be baptized as well. So is that it? Is that what it takes in order to wind up in heaven when all is said and done? Which could lead me to ask you guys about your beliefs in the "once saved, always saved" mind-set, but I won't go there...this time. But I am sure if you are reading this, you have an opinion on that topic as well. But we'll save that for another time.
But my inquiry is, if you have a set of things one must do in order to be saved (i.e...believe in Him and ask Him into your heart, have a relationship with Him, maybe even get baptized and then you are all set...what do you do with Matthew 25:31-46?
Here, I will provide these verses:
The Final Judgment
31 “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. 42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. 43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’
46 “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
Now I am sure these people believed in Him....I mean they do refer to Him as Lord and all. Perhaps they were even baptized. So how does this square up with what so many of us believe? What about us today? There are MILLIONS, I'd bet that believe in Him, have asked Him into their hearts, and have even been baptized, but do not do these things. What does that mean for them (us)? Will we not be saved? What if we do these things sometimes? Maybe when we are pushed or prodded into it by "church" or out of obligation? We are not and cannot be saved by works, right? So what do you think about this? What are your thoughts about my inquiry?I am not going to sway you with any insight or lack thereof on my part...