Congressmen told not to say 'Merry Christmas' to citizens

Congressmen told not to say 'Merry Christmas' to citizens

Anthony & Kristy's Blog

So, we've created a blog.

I still plan on doing my normal blogs here (with the goal of increased frequency) but this other blog will be exclusively about our life together.

As Two Lives Become One

Big Changes Ahead

I have big changes ahead in my life.

I'm ENGAGED!!!

We are putting a website together via TheKnot.com. I'll post it here once we are ready to release it to everyone.

I think I'll start a new blog site for our wedding & future life together which I'll tell you all about & link to here once I make it official. Not sure what I'm going to call it though. Any ideas?

Anyway, below are a few pics for now. :D

Communion

Here is a video describing the Lutheran point of view on communion, or what we Baptists refer to as "the Lord's Supper."

Catholics, Lutherans, Episcopalian/Anglican/Church of England, Presbyterian/Church of Scotland, from what I've studied, all kind of have a similar view of what happens to the bread and wine during consumption. There are two terms that, in my quick research, seem very difficult to differentiate. The two terms are "transubstantiation" and "consubstantiation." From what I can tell, "transubstantiation" means that once the priest blesses the bread and wine, they literally become the body and blood of Christ. "Consubstantiation" means that the spirit of Christ is in the sacraments and not his actual flesh and blood. If you have a better explanation of these two terms, feel free to let me know in the comments.

I am a Baptist and I can testify as to how we view this remembrance practice.

Many other Protestant denominations view communion the same as Baptist but may practice it a little differently. Some have communion every week while others may have it once every 3 months; some use grape juice and others use wine. There are valid arguments for every difference, however, that is not what I am here to discuss today.

 Baptists, and many other denominations, hold that the bread and wine/grape juice is symbolic representations to remind us to remember Christ's sacrifice on the cross.

This is how I view it: Jesus used parables and symbols to teach about justice, himself, and God the Father. The way I read it, Jesus took the parts of the Passover that they understood and used them to explain what he was about to do. Unleavened bread to represent his sinlessness and the wine to represent his blood that he would spill for us all.

The Passover was celebrated each year to remind the Israelites of how God rescued them from the slavery of the Egyptians. The unleavened bread was to remind them of how quickly their ancestors had to flee. They did not even have time to allow the bread to rise. I must admit that I do not have a clear understanding as to if that particular representation applied to Christ. I can only speculate that it may refer to the fact we do not have much time. Our time is fleeting and unknown so we must make a decision to follow Christ quickly. However, one should never take others or their own speculation as to compete with what the Bible is actually saying.

Another possible, and more probable, reference is to the lack of yeast in the unleavened bread representing the sinlessness of Christ. There are multiple instances where Jesus used yeast to describe sin in a visual way. Paul even used it to describe how a little sin ignored or tolerated can affect an entire congregation in I Corinthians 5. I believe this may be what Christ was referring to when he offered the unleavened bread. He then broke it to symbolize how his body would be broken for them/us.

The wine offered at passover was to represent the blood that spared the Israelites from the Angel of Death if they choose to paint it on the door posts. The wine now is to represent his blood that, if we choose, will spare us from eternal death.

In this particular video, there are a couple of other things that I would disagree on, besides what I listed above. One would be, he says that Jesus said four times that "this is my body." This isn't exactly accurate. Jesus only said it once but four people reported it.

The other issue I have is how he continuously says that they believe what Jesus said. However, he then turns around and quotes Jesus when he said he was "the door." This pastor says, "he is the door, he is the only way." Which is true, he is the only way, but I doubt very seriously that this man actually believes Jesus physically becomes a door.

The most irritating part of this video, for me, is how the pastor seems to talk down to Baptists or anyone else who might disagree with him. If he were to talk to me in this way, when trying to argue his point or convert me, it would irritate me more than want me to actually consider what he said. There is nothing wrong with arguing your beliefs and using a sure/assertive tone, but one must be careful not to sound condescending or give the impression that you think the other side is unintelligent or doesn't have an argument worth listening to as well.

This isn't one of those topics that should divide fellowship but can spur (hopefully healthy) debate.

I really want to do a similar post, more in-depth, discussing how Jews still conduct Passover and how it relates to Christ. There are some seriously interesting connections. There are some practices they perform during Passover that they do not know why they do them but if you explain them to a Christian, they immediately know what they are referring to.

180

This is a great video. It does have some disturbing, Holocaust images but, even though they are difficult to look at, I think it is important for us to see them just to remind us what happens when people remain silent in the face of evil and don't speak up for the innocent and don't speak out for what is right and true.

My Goals

Well, I've trailed off a bit. I was doing so good with blogging a couple of years ago. I was doing so good with several areas of my life. Not anymore. I have let myself down in so many areas: 1.) weight loss & fitness; 2.) Bible reading, & 3.) blogging. I feel icky everywhere; spiritually, physically, mentally, &, due to the stressfulness of my job, emotionally.

I've been so-so on the physical front lately. I've been counting calories...kind of...I do great until after work then I am usually too tired to care anymore. I do work out to Dance Central every now & then but not enough to really be very beneficial. I've really got to step it up. I hate that I keep saying that & then I never do. :P I'll be making a post soon about the gym I currently belong to, Lady of America, & what a huge scam they are & of my disappointment with them. If they are not going to let me out of the contract & continue taking my money, I might as well use the gym, so I've started going back to there. I went last week & my anger fueled my workout so I guess it was actually more beneficial. I also used the weight machines...I had forgotten how good it felt to leave with all my muscles tight. I felt stronger the next day & felt the slight pain of having had a good work out & it felt good. I'm going back next week.

Spiritually, I've really fallen off the horse. I haven't been reading my Bible every day like I was. I have a Bible plan but I'll stick to it for a couple of day & then not for a few days. The worst part is that I don't even realize I haven't done my reading for several day/weeks. Ugh! Guilt!

Also, we still haven't really found a church that we feel is doctrinally sound & that we feel comfortable at. The main problem we have is A lives about 45 mins away, so we try to take turns driving back & forth. If  when we ever get married, we'll live in my house (unless something changes) so it would be better to find a church in my area. Buuuut, there are nice churches in his area as well. The other issue is, where ever I/we end up, I would like to be involved during the week in Bible studies, ministries, etc... Driving 45 min in DFW traffic with gas prices the way they are just isn't ideal or wise if there are closer churches that would fit the bill. We know we will never find the "perfect" church but it seems like most of the churches are either hard-core Calvinist (neither of us are very Calvinist, we lean that way but not enough that any Calvinist would say we were....definitely not Arminian, though), charismatic (I really don't feel comfortable in a charismatic church), like being at a rock concert (bordering on Emergent/New Apostolic/Seeker Sensitive), or basically dead/dishing out nothing but milk. I don't think we are being too picky...I just believe there is A LOT of apostasy going on right now (& according to scripture will just get worse from this point on). I really would rather wait & find the right place than to get involved in one & either have to leave after friendships have been formed or be compromised due to false teachings.

There is one church we have been to twice now that I really like & I think A does as well. However, both times we have been have been special Sundays when the preacher didn't preach. The first Sunday they had some missionaries speak & it was amazing. Today we went again & they had a guy from Team Impact preach. I was expecting it to be really disappointing but in his first few sentences he had me "Amen"ing him inside. He was an excellent preacher & I was very impressed. We want to hear the preacher actually preach a few time & maybe meet with him before we make any decision but it seams like a pretty decent church so far.




Mentally, well, blogging would certainly help with that...probably the emotional side of things too (I know, I know, working out regularly helps with that as well). I have big plans for this blog but I always have these great plans & then never do anything with them. I like to blog about general, life stuff but I also need a project & I have several ideas.

Here is my biggest: I want to create some very well researched apologetics/polemics postings. Ok, what does that mean? right?

Apologetics is giving a defense of what you believe. Most people have a bit of a hang up with the word (myself included) at first. "Apologetics" does not mean you are apologizing for what you believe. It comes from the greek word, "apologia," which means "speaking in defense." So, you can see how we get apologize from the same root word because when you "apologize" for something you are, at least in today's screwed up word, you are defending yourself (aka, blaming someone else...often former President Bush). It is typically used in conjunction or under the assumption of Christianity. So, in such, usually when people refer to "apologetics" they are referring to defending or "giving a reason for the hope" (1 Peter 3:15) of Christianity.

Polemics is presenting an argument/debate against another view, doctrine, or person. This word is typically used to present the differences between Christianity & other religions/belief systems/cults.

A long time ago, in a series of posts far, far away, I talked about the differences in different world political systems & in American political parties. I had fun doing those posts but I really didn't do much research...more just referencing Wikipedia. I want this series to be different; I want them to be VERY well researched. My main reason for this is I know a lot of people that may take a bit of offense to some of what I present & I want to do it in a loving way & actually REALY know what I am talking about. Another reason is, in my fantasy world, I would like these to be done well enough that I could eventually have them published & then maybe someday write some study material that could be used in small groups & (in a really fantastical part of my dream) eventually go around speaking at conferences regarding it. I know...me & my imagination but, hey, if it does happen like that, fine, but even if it doesn't I'll have learned a lot on the way to nowhere. ;) Who knows, it could come in handy someday.

Anyway, that's my "big" project; probably not one that will come to fruition for a long time...possibly several years.

Smaller projects I have in mind are: a series on the history of the Church (I have a book sample on my Kindle that I'm thinking about purchasing called "The 100 Most Important Events in Christian History"); a series on Christians that have impacted the Church (I have 2 more book samples on my Kindle called "131 Christians Everyone Should Know" & "50 People Every Christian Should Know"); and a series on popular heretical teachings.

I really want to get started on these now but I have HUGE test on Tuesday that I have to have taken & passed by Oct. 15 for work. I'm really mainly procrastinating on that right now & don't have time for another subject to procrastinate on right now. So after Oct, I'll either be fired & have plenty of time to work on these projects or I'll have passed & can start procrastination on them then. ;)

Anyway, just an update & what is going on in my mind. :D

Stand to Reason Blog: Full-Birth Abortion

Stand to Reason Blog: Full-Birth Abortion

Article: WND: "Jesus, Mary, &...Josephine? It's lesbian Nativity at church"

Jesus, Mary, &...Josephine? It's lesbian Nativity at church

“Don’t call us young-earth creationists . . .” - Answers in Genesis

“Don’t call us young-earth creationists . . .” - Answers in Genesis

It's been awhile...time for an update

Well, first, I have met a GREAT guy. We met through Twitter...believe it or not. We're happy, we're in love. I know...sounds disgusting, but I don't care. :D

Second, I have gained all the weight I had lost back. I'm very sad, very disappointed, & irritated. With a bit of reluctancy, I'm trying to get back in it. I've rejoined Weight Watchers but they've changed the program & I'm having to do a bit of research to figure it all out. I'm actually ready to get back into the gym. Now, if I can just motivate myself after work when all I want to do is come home & crash...&, no, doing it in the morning is out of the question.

Thirdly, my sis & bro-in-law just moved to Barrow, AK on Thursday. I already miss them sooooo much.

She texted me tonight saying that they are now officially part of the Polar Bear Club (until they post pictures or a post, here is another person's post on their experience joining Barrow's Polar Bear Club).

Planned Parenthood cheats taxpayers with imaginary mammograms

Can't please all the people.

I know "you can't please all the people all the time." However, what really stinks is how when I don't, the unpleased ones go out of their way to make my life miserable.

I don't mean to be such a downer after such a long time of not blogging but, most of you know I have been SUPER stressed for a while now & today hasn't been a whole hunk of a lot better. I ask you all to pray for me & those of you who know of my number one prayer request right now, please continue to pray for me in that area. I'll update you all soon...hopefully.


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