Worship

Worship. It's more than just the songs of praise and accolades we sing during divine hour every Sabbath. It's more than just the devotionals we read each morning or at the end of each day. It's a state of being. A state of true transparency. Where all facades are broken, and all walls crumbled. It's the fortification of bonds and resurrection of bridges worn down by life's assaults and this world's distractions. It's allowing oneself to be completely vulnerable to forces beyond human control. Complete surrender to the only Power than can break all chains, dismiss all fears, tackle all obstacles, and calm every storm. It is in true worship that one can experience true freedom and true Love. It is in true worship where things are put into perspective and lies are replaced with truth. It is where the face of God is seen more clearly and his presence felt more real. It is where true faith is born, and reborn, daily. It's the only place where your armor can be rebuffed and readied for the new battle ahead. It is the place where stone becomes flesh. It is our connection to the throne room and invitation to sit on our Father's lap. It is the one place I feel safest and the one place that I don't want to leave. It is the experience that makes me realize the lacking of earth and makes me long for heaven all the more. To be with my Father in eternity; the greatest joy I can ever experience. Worship is the tip of that iceberg. Just a glimpse of things yet to come.

50/50? #GMG

Hey, guys! I'm starting a new segment called "You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?", GMG for short. Just to talk in length or not at all about the things that grind my gears (Family Guy was useful for something).
So, without any further ado, here's GMG:

You know what really grinds my gears? When I try to meet a person half way, but they don't make an ounce of effort to meet me half way. Mostly this has only happened to me when talking to people. I'll do my best to see things from their perspective, but still indicate where exactly I disagree. I try really hard not to disrespect their personal opinion. Yet, when I share my opinion on an issue, my opinion is almost always automatically BS. Excuse me? What happened to respecting opinions? Oh, you thought "no offense" was cutting it? Well, it's not. Now, thus far, I haven't actually lashed out at this kind of response to my ideas, but I'm done with that. I won't go around chopping people's heads off for telling me they don't agree with me, and I definitely won't get mad at people who don't know me, but I will be more expressive about my level of offense and if I can't receive the same level of respect that I gave, I just won't give honest opinions anymore. You may as well go talk to cleverbot. I'm sure she'll give much more caring responses than the occasional "uh-huh", which is all I'll have heart to give after that. I'm not here to stroke your ego. Especially if you're just gonna skewer mine. If you want to actually discuss things with me, I'll be glad to actually respond to what you're saying but only if I know that when I speak, I'll be respected.

And that's what really grinds my gears. Leave a comment and tell me if you ever felt like you weren't getting your fair share of something. Respect, time, effort, money, whatever.