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Tue, 23 Jun 2009 by Emily
Categories:
Hey everyone, thanks for reading ;D
I have been REALLY busy lately, so sorry for the lack of writings.
I received this as a comment a few weeks ago:
How can the bread and wine, transformed, still cause people with gluten allergy to react to the wheat's gluten? How does one explan that it's transformed but it's still got the qualities of the substance? If it's changed, then people allergic to gluten shouldn't react to the gluten, right? Same for those with allergies to the sulfites in wine (me). Yes, we can ask for special no sulfite wine or low gluten hosts, but it's not wine or host anymore after the consecration, it's Jesus!
Sorry about the late response, but here it goes:
So, this is a great question, thanks for asking it! Now, almost a year after writing this article(Answer to: So what is transubstantiation?), I have learned loads more and hopefully this will make sense. The bread and wine, the body and blood of Jesus Christ, IS a symbol, and ISN'T a symbol. Obviously, we are not eating human flesh and drinking blood. So in that respect it IS a symbol. But, it also ISN'T a symbol because we believe that it is the body and blood of Jesus Christ. This sounds super confusing, I am sure, but I do not know of a single person who fully understands transubstantiation. My other article on transubstantiation was somewhat of a brief overview, and this will hopefully help you out!
God bless you!
Your sister and witness in Christ,
Emily
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Tue, 7 Apr 2009 by Emily
Categories:
Hey everyone. Thanks for reading : )
Today's subject is about a joke I received, but I do not really think of it as a joke.
It is more of a life lesson from God, and something to think about during this Holy Week.
So, as you read it, make sure you are listening... ; )
Mistaken Identity
A middle aged woman has a heart attack and is taken to the hospital. While on the operating table she has a near-death experience. During that experience she sees God and asks if this is it. God says no and explains that she has another 30-40 years to live.
Upon her recovery she decides to just stay in the hospital and have a face lift, liposuction, breast augmentation, and a tummy tuck. She even has someone come in and change her hair colour. She figures that since she's got another 30 or 40 years she might as well make the most of it.
She walks out the hospital after the last operation and is killed by an ambulance speeding up to the hospital.
She arrives in front of God again and asks, "I thought you said I had another 30-40 years?"
God replies, "Sorry, I didn't recognize you."
Would God recognize you?
Think about it.
God bless.
Your Witness in Christ,
Emily
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Sun, 29 Mar 2009 by Emily
Categories:
Hello everyone. Thanks for reading 
Today's topic is prayer.
Now, this comes to me at a somewhat challenging time for those in Northwestern Minnesota.
Lord, please heal all those who are hurting from the flooding that has occurred, and help them to find the grace and strength they need in you. Amen.
So, that was a prayer.
Anything can be a prayer, as long as you are not being offensive.
And that's the hard part, how do we pray when you can do it so many ways, and will it ever come true?
I heard a great talk from one of my friends this past week, about how prayers weren't coming true for her.
She was praying for this guy to like her, and to take her to prom, and it didn't work out.
Therefore, she turned to God in anger, and asked why He did this to her.
In doing this, she realized that God does not answer every prayer in the way she wants. She did not get the guy, yet she has moved on and grown a lot from that experience.
He does things on His own time, and only He knows what is right for us.
If He answered our every prayer the way we wanted, and our lives were perfect, would we continue to need Him?
No.
So, prayer is not always answered in the way we want. Then why should we even bother?
God loves us. He loves us so much, He gave His son for us. Read the quote at the top of this page.
That is so much love, and it doesn't even stop there!
I believe that prayer is important because, although God knows everything about us, even our thoughts, He wants us to show Him what we want.
Does that make sense?
We should make the effort to tell Him what we want in our lives, for we do not know what we need.
Only God knows what we need:
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."
-Proverbs 3:5-6
And if He chooses a different path for us, and does not answer our prayers the way we want them to be answered, who knows what will happen?
For we do not, and He does.
Here's some amazing scripture from the letter to James:
"Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective."
-James 5:13-16
God, bless the readers of this message with what they need, not what they desire.
Your witness in Christ,
Emily
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Sat, 21 Mar 2009 by Emily
Categories: Sin
Hello everyone. Thanks for reading :)
Sorry about my extended leave of absence. Who knew college life was so busy? I apparently was unaware.
Today's topic is forgiveness, not an easy thing for many people to talk about.
Let's break this question into two parts.
The first question: What does it mean to be forgiven by God?
Well, to answer literally, it means that God has forgiven you. 
However, I am assuming the writer of this question was asking something along the lines of, How are we forgiven by God?
Well, that's a bit more complicated.
God forgives us through his son Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for our sins.
However, it isn't just that simple.
There is a forgiveness process.
The first step is Contrition, or being sorry for your sins. This is not just pretending, or faking, you are truly sorry for what you did.
The second step is Confession, or saying your sins and naming them out loud. This is actually saying you are sorry.
The third step is Penance, or acting differently. Once you are truly sorry and have said it out loud, you need to try to act differently.
The fourth step is Absolution, or forgiveness. This is when the complete and total forgiveness plays a part.
Ironically, those four steps are also the steps of the sacrament of Reconciliation (here).
Neat, huh?
So, once this process is completed, you are forgiven.
Try using this process also when forgiving someone else, which God calls us to do no matter what:
Then Peter came and said to him, "Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?" Jesus said to him, "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times." Matthew 18:21-22
Now, Jesus does not mean that you should count how many times you have forgiven people, and when you get to 77 to stop. He means that you should ALWAYS forgive others.
Sometimes this is really hard, and sometimes not so hard.
But strive to forgive others in your life.
Well, that's all for now.
Hopefully, I will write again soon.
In the meantime, if you are bored, read through the book of Acts. It's great stuff, I just read it recently.
Your Witness in Christ,
Emily 
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Sun, 18 Jan 2009 by Emily
Categories: General
This post is somewhat boring, sorry!
It's just a large THANKS for reading and sending me emails and commenting and all those great things.
See, once I get sent questions, I can write more!
So send me more questions, and comment, and do all those wonderful things!
I have been super busy, so sorry about not writing lately, but I will try to soon!
In fact, I will write as soon as I get a topic.
So thanks so much for walking your faith journey with me.
You all (y'all) rock!
Keep it real.
Your sister and witness in Christ,
Emily
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