Covid is being mean in Sharing 517!

[Lynx]

Went to church tonight.  Got the surprise of a lifetime when my work supervisor, a Church of God in Christ member and her husband who is a minister in that denomination, walked through the door and had service with us. I felt as self conscious as I could ever be at first, but told God to use me and I'd say what He told me to say. Didn't feel bad at all, and they were "amening" the preaching. Told me after service, they'd be back to visit for sure. Really made my evening. She has been an incredible encouragement over the years to me, and her husband is becoming a friend- he actually did the concrete for my shop a bit over a year ago. I'd LOVE for them to believe as we do...

Church of God. Huh...

I used to think everybody who went to Church of God was an argumentative person who was always looking for an excuse to pick a fight. I had met so many of them and they were always trying to debate everything, with a most condemning, disparaging attitude.

Then just by chance I found out that this really cool, very large black guy I had been working with for 3 years - a real gentle giant - is a Church of God member.

Moral of the story, this is the reason I try to not talk a lot about things and groups of people I don't like. Well, one of the reasons. There's always a chance I could be wrong.

[Roscoe]

Praying for y'all Nelle.
I'm back in my cave finally. Very much not enjoying online training which is nothing more than bloviating and hot air. Thanks, my attorney at law brethren. Apparently the 20 plus years of experience is no match for a law degree and I must not have common sense. I suspect this is a direct result of the George Floyd incident. This particular training is on "de-escalation of conflict". That is basic common sense, and there is no way someone talking for an hour at a time about it is going to install that in someone...

And Isaac, this family is the farthest thing from confrontational that I've ever seen. Gentle loving wonderful people.
And fwiw- I learned that lesson years ago. At 18, I worked with a Assembly of God Pastor who learned that I was United Pentecostal. He wouldn't talk to me for a week. Finally he broke down and told me at a previous job he had worked with a UPC/Oneness man, who told him every day he was going to hell for believing the Trinity.
He and I agreed we knew each other's beliefs, and chose to concentrate of the things we agreed on, and not the things we disagreed with. It was obvious we would not change each other's minds.. As a result, he became one of my dearest friends and I still speak with him sometimes.  And the time we worked together was some of the best I've ever had- spending all day singing gospel songs while we worked and talking about trucks, relationships, God- everything.
I'm reminded of the verse that says a brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city. We may be 100% in the right- but if we present our case in a negative way like that, we can effectively shut the door for ANYONE to reach the person we are talking to. And that, my friend is WRONG, and to me constitutes murder of a soul. Don't compromise- but don't be confrontational either.

[Roscoe]

Urgh. Work. SO necessary. So thankful to have a job. And yet, it is the bane of my existence.
And it is FLOODING here today. My yard and neighborhood looks like a lake...

[Lynx]

Put up a "No Fishing" sign, just to see what people say.

[MsJennJenn]

Been raining and storming hard here since yesterday. Thunder and lightening was LOUD around 5am. Woke us both up. Alexa was glowing. The TV came on at random. The thundering booms were rattling my old house windows. I was like what in the world is happening.

We may be 100% in the right- but if we present our case in a negative way like that, we can effectively shut the door for ANYONE to reach the person we are talking to. And that, my friend is WRONG, and to me constitutes murder of a soul. Don't compromise- but don't be confrontational either.

In my experience this is a piece that gets lost as a church gets larger. My experience with the church turned sour the older I got which is why I am the way I am now. It became about rules and do this or else and when my convictions began to not mirror the church I was in it was a very hard situation to be in. One that eventually became toxic for me.

[Roscoe]

We may be 100% in the right- but if we present our case in a negative way like that, we can effectively shut the door for ANYONE to reach the person we are talking to. And that, my friend is WRONG, and to me constitutes murder of a soul. Don't compromise- but don't be confrontational either.

In my experience this is a piece that gets lost as a church gets larger. My experience with the church turned sour the older I got which is why I am the way I am now. It became about rules and do this or else and when my convictions began to not mirror the church I was in it was a very hard situation to be in. One that eventually became toxic for me.

It's a difficult thing to follow. On the one hand, there are things you can't condone, can't compromise on. And sometimes, as a minister, yes, I have to tell you that according to the Word, what you are doing is wrong and ultimately will send you to Hell. And, as an old time Pentecostal, honestly, I long to see the holiness I grew up with. But I know for a fact some of the outward holiness I saw was just that, outward. It manifest itself in their lives many years later when they got out of church.
 And I've known people from my youth that would take pleasure in telling someone when they were wrong, and not in love, either. I can recall in my youth if a lady wore pants into church more than three times, someone would tell her she needed to start wearing dresses or she'd be lost. While I still believe in standards, and I'll take that particular example as a hill to die on per the Word, there is a way to show someone truth. And it CAN be done with love in a way that is not offensive. And ultimately, I can put the word out there. I can counsel. But I can't make someone live it. THEY have to get it for themselves. And if a lady comes to my church wearing all the paint in the world, in men's apparel, with jewelry hanging...I'll teach. I'll reach. And I'll remind myself I've got until they pass to possibly be the example and pray them through to an understanding of the Word of God. And if they choose not to- I can stand before God knowing I didn't knowingly hurt them.
**Currently, I have several ladies that have recently started coming, and this is something I am learning. I've noticed little changes. And I know when they GET it, it won't leave..
And y'all got to stop getting me worked up.

[MsJennJenn]

And y'all got to stop getting me worked up.

haha sorry not sorry. for me it resonates when I can see/hear someone else in the faith speak about how they do things/operate that is different then what I grew up in. It helps. In some form. 

[Lynx]

Yeah... If only people from a certain church in our town would learn that.

Shoot, they might have converted me to not using musical instruments, if only they didn't make excuses to argue about it every time they saw me.

[Backseat Radio]

I spent years very bitter and wanting nothing to do with the Apostolic faith because of how I was treated by some of the churches around here. Experienced first hand the high pressure churches put on folks to speak in tongues and the accusations of you don't have enough faith or you didn't truly repent if you couldn't speak in tongues. About 7 months ago I wandered into a Wednesday night service at ACW just to visit. The pastor and his wife latched onto me and begin to minister to the wounds in my spirit and restore my faith in God's promise to pour out his Spirit. I've been a part of ACW ever since then.

My church is hosting the ALJC Indiana Section 2 rally this Friday night. I'm looking forward to it. The guest preacher for the rally is staying over and preaching our Sunday morning service too.

[Roscoe]

Morning all. Back at work. Bah. Humbug. Wound up just having prayer meeting last night. Out of 40-ish people we had 7 adults and a handful of kiddos show up. The floods had many of my folks stuck where they could not get out their country roads.
Thankfully, sometime in the night the rain stopped and the wind began to blow..hard. It dried up SOME of the infernal water. And today looks to be beautiful.
And I am having to learn about "Create in me a clean heart oh God, Renew a right spirit within me" first hand today.
Yesterday evening I received a subpoena. Had a guy that was supervised by me for all of 2 visits before he quit coming in and absconded- which is what we call it when someone on supervision stops coming in and disappear- two years ago.
Now- I have to drive 3 hours, to be AT a courthouse at 845 am, which means I'll leave at 530 ish, sit in a court room half the day, just to say "Yep. He quit coming in, and yep, that's him." All this- ON Monday. MY DAY OFF. So not pleased. Of course I'll get the day back later, but it'll take some doing...

[Nelle]

I'm mostly offended for you at the time of morning you have to leave.. lol.

@Work. Came in an hour and a half late. Got sick this morning. Pretty sure my nerves had worked up too much from the basement getting water in it last night. Jeremy acted like it wasn't bad this morning tho. However... I felt bad how he found out we had water in the basement. His dad (who needs a social filter x1000000) called him at 5:30am and woke him up. I would NEVER call anyone that early in the morning unless I was dying or knew without a doubt they were always up then. Jeremy can't go back to sleep so instead he was up 1.5 hours early. I apologized like 50 times. haha..

[MsJennJenn]

I'm mostly offended for you at the time of morning you have to leave.. lol.

Same. Anything before 9am is offensive in my opinion.

[Lynx]

And I am having to learn about "Create in me a clean heart oh God, Renew a right spirit within me" first hand today.
Yesterday evening I received a subpoena. Had a guy that was supervised by me for all of 2 visits before he quit coming in and absconded- which is what we call it when someone on supervision stops coming in and disappear- two years ago.
Now- I have to drive 3 hours, to be AT a courthouse at 845 am, which means I'll leave at 530 ish, sit in a court room half the day, just to say "Yep. He quit coming in, and yep, that's him." All this- ON Monday. MY DAY OFF. So not pleased. Of course I'll get the day back later, but it'll take some doing...

Worse yet, the offending party probably won't even notice the inconvenience. To him you will be just an accusing face in the crowd, verifying that he is guilty.

[MsJennJenn]

I am so over the constant 911 fires at work. omggggg its never ending.
I feel like all I am doing is following up and its literally the WORST.
Retail is the absolute worst.

[Nelle]

I need a really chill like... month at work to catch up on backlog of just paperwork organization. I'm dreading our audit in a couple of months because I have nothing sorted! LOL.. I'm going to look chaotic and unorganized.. which I am currently. haha..


Billing is backlogged, filing is backlogged, etc etc. The only thing NOT backlogged is payroll!

[The Purple Fuzzy]

Payroll is pretty important.
I'm not thinking you could get away with a backlog there.

[Roscoe]

Urgh. Back to dreary with some spots of rain today. Not a fan. But it is Friday, so there's that to be thankful for..

[The Purple Fuzzy]

It's dreary here too. Yesterday was really nice.

[Backseat Radio]

All I've seen today is the inside of Walmart. No clue what the weather outside has been doing other than being a bit chilly when I left for work this morning.

[Roscoe]

Spent all day today in Little Rock. 
 A church member's grown daughter is in the hospital. Lou and I went there to visit her and prayer for her. First she was in dialysis...so Lou had me take her Good will shopping. When we finally got to see her, she seemed monumentally uninterested. But we were there, we prayed, we did what we could. It was 6 pm before I got home- not what I'd planned for the day..

[Lynx]

Don't ever take Lou to McKay's used bookstore. If she sees that looooooong rack of bargain cds, you'll never see her again. Takes me a good six hours to look through the bargain shelves alone.

[mini]

Morning everyone.

I really don't wanna get going today.

[The Purple Fuzzy]

 

[Nelle]

@Work.

Spent all weekend at church making chocolate covered strawberries. I'm tired.

I am going to spend some of my work day eating the dozen I bought for myself, hahaha.

[Roscoe]

Urgh. Sitting in a courtroom three hours from home. On my day off. Of course there is the plus that they moved the time to 1245...