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I'm stuck in bit of a snag t'day. Hope someone will settle an argument I found myself having w/vahn after goin thru stp. 9 (oh dont worry--- I"m winning !!) which is exactly why I'm enquiering a 2nd opinion .

I'm a bit of an artist/woodchuck , work w/digital arts producing posters , T-shirt designs , stickers and so on, also "carvings" in wood, making wall/desk plaques, crosses & other decorative items in wood . now I'm not saying all this to "shrink my hat" so 2 speak , or anything of the sort, If anything that's where my snag is .

Y'see , @ the time when I was still "young" in Christ , ( I hope this wont end up being a prelude to a book) not that I'd grown much till I got to OASIS (always bin a boys 'R' us kid) but any way, reading, learing, & inhaling as much as I could of the Word, came to realize that God is not out there somehere wanting to come in but rather He' inside wanting to come out, Ezekiel 36:26
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put WITHIN you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit WITHIN you, and CAUSE you to WALK in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and DO them.
Now, considering the fact that GOD IS LOVE , and love needs to be expressed in order for it to be effective, (which I think is a major factor in self condemnation - -the inability to express Love/GOD) but that's a diff. issue, but nevertheless , to overcome that inability, I set out to tackle it by expressing it with what I had then, producing posters , carvings and whatnot (as by the way what 9 sugg. 2 do). All went so well that I was making a living out of it-- opened a gallery/gifts&shirts shop, and so on.

Somewhere along my journey thru the Bible, I came across such words as Idolatry, and items made by hands, of wood and so on , which made me go Hmmmm. So thinking, not only I had bin relying on such things , but also causing other people to do likewise ! So I gave the whole idea up , cleared the shop of all such items , and just stuck to mt WWJD bracelet, which I still wear to this day and nothing else. (the 1st time I read WWJD I thought it stood 4 who was jack daniels) taught I'd thro that just 4 ha's to keep it on the light side.

Now here's my snag. (in case u havn't guessed it yet) step 9 is telling me to SUROUND myself in such items that I thought were contrary to what I was doing, Hey dont tell this to my sponsor OK ? He'll probably go " Here u go thinkin again vahn !) I dont know I can go on 4ever w/ this but , leting it out might help a little. I mean after-all it's beginning to make me dissapointed in giving up what I like to do best. have to go now , I think my microwave is backing up , it's beeping !

Vahn hope no one was standing behind your microwave.

I think an idol is something you love more than God.

Don't love an item. Don't love your house. Don't love your car.

Love God, Love people.

God bless.
I enjoy your blogging.

Vahn, you absolutely are a hoot and a half I'm always laughing after I read your post...the microwave is backing up cuz it's beeping...does it have a fork lift attached?

Now lets talk about the things made by hand. Back in the times of the Old Testament people would make wooden idols and such. Made by hand. Then they would worship these items instead of God. God doesn't want us to put anything above Him....so if your woodworking was taken you away from the Lord, then this would be a problem. If you were doing these things in honor of the Lord and He was receiving the glory from your work, then it should be fine. See God looks at a man's heart...we are saved by grace. In the Old Testament, the Law was what was followed...but now we have grace to help us when we fall.

Hope that helps you my friend.

luv ya

vahn!! you're on step 9 ! This is so awesome brother I was not here for a week, but its so cool to see how far you have come already

I understand what u mean.

Idolatry is not the items itself, as there are many things out there, from music, to posters, to pictures, etc, that give glory to God, as they share Christian messages,scriptures from the Bible etc.

Idolatry:
Worship of idols.
Blind or excessive devotion to something.
Excessive devotion or reverence

Its when something actually takes the place of God in our lives, that we need to worry about it. Then it becomes Idolatry. This can even be another person, or money...

In the bible some people would actually make wooden or metal images and bow down to them, and actually think that those images was God. For example, when Aaron made the golden calf for the people of Israel.

I personally see nothin wrong in having a T Shirt with scripture on it, or a photo of a cross... Its kinda like walking advertisement for who we are in Christ. And it can also show that we are not ashamed of Him and are proud to share His message with others.

As long as we realize that these man made things are MAN MADE and do not give them reverance that belongs only to God, then we are not comitting Idolatry. If the glory is given to God and God alone, then its all good

Let God lead your heart. You dont have to put up posters or anything like that if you arent comfy. You can surround yourself with Christian music, maybe put up some scripture cards, which is what i did. Most important thing is, that what you surround yourself with, calls your attention to God, and not to worldly things. Cuz we all know when we step out of our homes, we are bombarded with the icky things of the world. Within our homes can become a lil sanctuary, where we can control what we allow around us.

Thanks for sharing vahn You are doing really wonderful God bless you and keep pushing forward.

Vahn,

I laughed out loud approximately three times while reading your post. My co-workers must think I am a little odd.

An object is an idol if you place it's value above God and it becomes your god. If God is the main focus and love of your life and you acknowledge His power and deity, they are merely reminders of Him. (This is assuming you made items such as the WWJD bracelets which reflected something of Christianity)

I suppose there are other rules and regulations to idolship, but that seems to fit your situation best.

Watching you go deeper into these steps is awesome. By the way, there are many studies here at Oasis. The Spirit of Truth and Many Called Few Chosen are two you may consider after you finish the CCCC study.

Love ya lots, bro. God's blessings on your day!



flute

Sheeez u guys ! thought I'd come back to add to the post , in case my thoghts on inspirational gift shop idea was misintrpreted , it was not my intent to say anything was wrong w/it after-all, we carry the word any which way we're able to do so to help another to find THE WAY. Now I find myself wondering who to thank first ! ------ Here, I got it ! THANK U ALL !!!


think the micro ran over my pop-tarts , they're all flat & squashed !!

Poptarts are for toasters...so maybe your microwave ran over your toaster

luv ya

Oh ! May b that's why I couldn't find it !!