Screams of delight
come from the kitchen.
Jack and Mary are building domino towers
and laugh as they tumble.
Their laughter
is contagious and beautiful!
They are the best of friends
doing nearly everything
together.
And while they may play
nicely
together one minute,
they just as easily
will begin to argue
like an old married couple
the next.
A quick hug
and they are right back
to playing again.
Thank you, Lord,
for Jack and Mary
and their witness
to Your love through
their joy and forgiveness.
CAMPING SCHOOL
While relaxing at the beach on our camping vacation, Jack and Mary found a way to crack large rocks open to see how they glitter inside. Mary brought a rock to me and shared a memory from first grade, "Sister Rita said that even the most plain rocks like this one are beautiful inside. She was right!"
So, Mary and I compared rocks to people and we decided that even the most plain people are beautiful inside as well, because God is there.
Thank you, God, for this lesson on Your Holy Presence in our lives in the midst of our family vacation. And thank you for Sister Rita, who continues to teach us even when we aren't with her!
(photo taken 9/2010 at Devil's Lake State Park)
It's nice to read a post about your kids. I don't know much about them. The friendship they have sounds absolutely beautiful - just what siblings are supposed to have!
ReplyDeleteGreat comparison :)
ReplyDelete12 If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw,
ReplyDelete13 the work of each will come to light, for the Day will disclose it. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire (itself) will test the quality of each one's work.
14 If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a wage.
15 But if someone's work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire.
16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
17 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy. (1Corinthians 3: 12-17)
In these passages - 1 Corinthians 3:12-17 - Paul is talking about how God judges our works after death by using a string of metaphors (we are God's building; works are good and bad materials, etc.).
Paul says that if a person builds with good materials, he will receive a reward (verse 14). If he builds with a mixture of good and bad materials, his work is burned up, but he is still saved (verse 15).
If he only builds with bad materials, he has destroyed the temple, and God will destroy him (verse 17).
These passage demonstrates several things. First, it demonstrates that our works serve as a basis for determining our salvation.
This is contrary to the erroneous Protestant belief that, once we accept Jesus by faith alone, we are saved.
Protestants have no good explanation for why Paul is teaching the Corinthians that our works bear upon our salvation.
Second, the verse demonstrates that, if a person does both good and bad works, his bad works are punished, but he is still saved.
The Greek phrase for "suffer loss" (zemiothesetai) means "to be punished" (Purgatory).
This means the man undergoes an expiation of temporal punishment for his bad works (sins) but is still saved.
The phrase “but only” or “yet so” (in Greek, houtos) means "in the same manner." This means that the man must pass through the fire in the same way that his bad works passed through the fire, in order to expiate himself of the things that led him to produce the bad works in the first place.