We are all Icebergs
If someone called me up to introduce myself, I would usually start off with my name, age, interests, hobbies and so on and I would also be sure to mention my current status- I am currently a student.
If you noticed, everyone seems to be interested in status these days (even your facebook relationship status lol) and that is because we live in a performance driven society. Everyone is just so eager to learn what titles you carry and what positions you hold. Naturally we are all so eager to achieve higher status and in that rumble we gradually get tempted that this is an element that defines us.
But as a Christian we tend to forget that substance is of more importance than status in our strife to climb up the ladder. Our status is how the world we live in looks at us and substance is how God views us. It’s kind of similar to an iceberg. The part that we can all see above water is just like our status. 90% of what lies beneath the water (we we can’t see unless we decide to take a freezing bath) represents our substance and like it forms the greater part of the iceberg, our substance forms the greater part of us as well.
So what is this Substance that God is so interested in?
This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.
- Isaiah 66:2
God isn’t interested with what the world calls interesting when it comes us as individuals. He doesn’t care twice about titles or position or anything of the sort but rather what He is interested in is our willingness to submit to His word.
Status seems irrelevant when we are individuals of substance. Why? Because we now live for God and not for us and we are able to do this because we are able to manage ourselves well as human beings- be it emotional stability, humility, security, etc. Status does not matter to us anymore and so we are more rested and at peace.
So it makes sense for us to improve and make better the greater part of us rather than the 10% of what the world sees. Therefore we shouldn’t neglect or abuse our substance by investing in all of our energy on just what the world values- positions, status, appearance and style. Instead let us remind ourselves daily that we have a greater part in us that God sees and let us live our lives trying not to impress the world but rather live to bring Glory to our Father in Heaven.
Love ¬ Elle \ itsellecoleman.tumblr.com , www.walkthesame.com
Mormons ≠ Christians
Being curious and being the explorer in all fronts, I knew I had to take some time to see and learn for myself what Mormonism was all about and to have my biggest question answered- Are Mormons Christians? I knew all I had to do was just scrobble through the internet and I would go for the win but it’s not the same as learning and discovering things for yourself. So I took the liberty to befriend someone who actually practiced the faith and told him what my intentions were and he loved to share his beliefs and experience so that I could actually have my question answered.
So who are Mormons and what do they practice?
Mormon is an alternate name (that actually comes from one of the characters in the Book of Mormon) for the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) and they are based in at Salt Lake City. As a Christian we believe wholly on the Bible and that is where we feed off God’s word which means its of the highest value when it comes to what we believe in.
On the other hand, Mormons take into account- four books which they call Scripture:
- The Bible (The KJV which is regarded as the official translation)
- The Book of Mormon
- The Doctrine and Covenants (D&C)
- The Pearl of Great Price (PGP)
How’d it Start?
As per the history of the church (of Mormon), it is said that God and Jesus Christ appeared to a guy by the name of Joseph Smith Jr in the year 1820 when he was in his teens. According to accounts, They (God and Jesus Christ) told him that the teachings of existing Christian churches were “an abomination in the sight of God” as the gospel message was changed and distorted by Church leaders (Joseph Smith - History / PGP 1:19). Three years since that event, Smith mentions that an angel by the name of Moroni led him to find and discover a set of golden plates that were inscribed with strange writing which was located in rural New York on a hillside. Moroni said that he had buried the plates himself in that location fourteen centuries earlier, before he was transformed from being a man to an angel.
The plates were said to be written in Reformed Egyptian, as per Smith, and claimed that he had the ability to interpret the writing inscribed on the plates. From his translation of the plates came the Book of Mormon which was published in 1930. The book tells stories about- ancient Israelites coming over to the American continent, Jesus visiting the USA after His resurrection and also about the Lamanites who were evil, destroying the Nephites.
In the year 1844, Smith was killed by an Illinois mob, where he was being held at Carthage Jail, after moving his followers to three different states. Brigham Young (who is regarded as a Prophet and also known as the American Moses) led most of the members of the Church to the Utah territory three years after the death of Smith.
The Mormons believe that their church is guided by a living prophet and two counselors, twelve apostles and several quorums of the Seventy and they are collectively known as the General Authorities.
Why being a Mormon does not make you a Christian?
The Mormons make great emphasis on moral and family values and this is something that attracts a vast number of people. Missionaries from the LDS spend a portion of their lives spreading and sharing the LDS message and eventually convince people to become Mormon converts. Whilst they have a few similarities with Christianity such as God, Jesus Christ and salvation through grace, meanings and context behind these areas are so vastly different compared to the heart and soul of Christianity. For example, some of the teachings of Mormonism include the following:
- The Trinity and the Jesus being one in the Father are considered false.
- God was once a human and today has “a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s” (D&C 130:22).
- Men can become Gods in the world that they live in and can raise families that will be able to continue forever.
- Good works can be done on behalf of the dead by living Mormons in the form of rites held at LDS temples.
- In order to be exalted into to the next life, it is a requirement to undergo water baptism, joining the church of the LDS and getting married in the temple.
So are Mormons Christians? The simple answer is No as many key areas within Mormon beliefs are antithetical of the history of Christian orthodoxy. Although wanting to include them as being brothers and sisters in Christ may be considered good by intention, the gospel that they believe in is not Biblical and their beliefs in the history of America are clearly false and therefore it would effectively be an act of being mislead by accepting them as brothers and sisters in Christ.
To love your neighbor means that you can’t choose to be blind to their eternal fate and therefore, as Christians walking in Christ, we must pray for our friends and family around the world who choose place their trust in false religion and faith in the hope that may come to know and accept into their hearts, minds and souls the beautiful, amazing and the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Blessings ¬ Elle \ itsellecoleman.tumblr.com , www.walkthesame.com
Guy & Girl = Just Friends. Is it Possible?
Is it even a possibility for a guy and a girl to be just friends?
I am pretty sure this has been a question that loads of people have been seeking the answer for during the ages, even before the topic was made famous in When Harry Met Sally. Just looking around you, it is all too evident to notice that society is moving at a rapid pace. No more are the days when the guy goes out to work whist the girl stays at home cooking dinner. Today guys and girl strive to work together in every area in our society imaginable and unlike in the day, women are finally recognized as being equals which as a result has made such a massive turn when it comes to partnership and people working together. The age has come where girls and guys finally have learnt and are able to interact with each other outside the boundaries of a romantic relationship.
And now that we have established the fact that both guys and girls have finally come to a point where interaction between each other is consistent and everyday, we come to the question- Can they really be friends?
The answer is a Yes but that is not me saying, rather that’s what the Bible says. But to maintain friendship would mean that setting up boundaries around your friendship would be a wise idea and something that we should think about when getting ourselves into this area in concern.
If you turn over your Bibles to 1 Timothy 5: 1-2, you’ll see Paul take on the role of being the relationship counselor and sharing His (rather God’s opinion as God spoke through Paul) thoughts on the matter.
“Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, in all purity.”
- 1 Timothy 5: 1-2
If you didn’t quite understand what Paul says there, He is telling us that we should treat guys and girls as we would treat our sisters and brothers, and older men and women as we would treat our own parents.
Some helpful pointers to the girls to live up to the Word of God:
- Don’t be that girl who tries to get out of her way to grab a guy’s attention.
- When it comes to interacting with guys, make them want to pursue God more than they would want you. In a nutshell, that means to act accordingly.
- Never, NEVER! assume that a guy wants to be more than friends with you until he explicitly tells that to you. This is an issue I used to deal with myself and I know it’s really common with most girls out there.
- Don’t share everything in your life to your hearts content with your guy friend. Regardless of good or bad news, if it doesn’t bring glory to God, don’t share it with them. Why? Because they aren’t your accountability partners. Simple as that.
- And most importantly- dress respectfully and modestly. Your brothers in Christ already have plenty of distractions that they have to deal with everyday so don’t try to add to it.
Now some stuff for the awesome guys as well:
- Don’t single a girl out from the plenty of girl friends that you know in your life unless you actively want to pursue her. Just be the kind of guy where your action mirrors your words.
- Communication is key and that includes all genres of communication there is. If you just wish to be a friend to a girl, just speak it out loud to her and make sure that you are absolutely clear and makes a lot of sense when you say it.
- I am lolling right now thinking about this but this really is not all that funny but what I am trying to say is here- Do not be a creep. Treat girls as you would treat your own sisters or your mom. Don’t be the seasonal kind of person who shows up at one point in the life of a girl and disappears during the next. It’s just plain weird and creepy.
- This is important to the guys who are dating- be the kind of guy who has a single most important girl in your life and naturally that should be your better half. Respect your relationship and respect her by watching yourself when you interact with other girls. It’s something important when it comes to the whole wanting to create friendships with girls.
I’ve seen a ‘No’ thrown around plenty of times when people ask if guys and girls can really be friends but if you are a Christian and know what the Lord has to tell you, that No is absolutely not true because the Bible tells us otherwise. We should just learn to treat our guy and girl friends as we would our own brothers, sisters and our parents and learn to honor and respect them rather than make pursuit of our own selfish desires.
Love ¬ Elle \ itsellecoleman.tumblr.com , www.walkthesame.com
We are looking for someone with a Good Speaking Voice & a Good Mic for an Audio related Project.
We are in need of someone to help us with an Audio related project for Walk the Same. You should have a good speaking voice and a good mic as well. For each spoken message/unit we are willing to pay $10.00 just so that we could help someone in return who may need some extra cash/pocket money. This will be a recurring project and you will be working with one of our admins who is also currently working in on it.
If you are interested, feel free to message me on - http://quaeriteverum.tumblr.com/ask
or
You can also message Elle on - http://itsellecoleman.tumblr.com/ask
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Blessings,
+ Jude // quaeriteverum.tumblr.com
{ 22 January 2013 // Good things come to those who wait. }
Ode to the beautiful souls behind this site, I have finally received the New Year’s card even without thinking that I was one of the lucky persons who were able to give in the names and addresses on time.
I started following IWillTrustInYou ever since I started this blog, with the goal of being an instrument of praise for God. I am a silent follower, liking what tugs my heartstrings, praying for those who needed prayers, and being neutral to their posts. Then one day, I saw a post from WalkTheSame about the card giveaway, and right then I entered my name and address. Little did I know that I were one of the few who entered them first.
What I admire about WTS are their sincerity about their faith and their relationship together; for the honesty about when they’re having hard times, or for just simple ones. Or for things like this. I am so blessed, as much as they’re blessed to be a blessing.
(I promise once I get my hand on a better camera, there will be better, non-phone pictures.)
