Red Catalina

This Tumblr reflects my thoughts, hopes and ideas as well as re-posts of interesting thoughts and perspectives a.k.a there is a little bit of everything here. Please note that shared posts may or may not reflect my views on the subject discussed and may...

[nbcnightlynews]

Bernie Sanders joins some of the 40,000 Verizon workers who have gone on strike Wednesday.

This picket line is in Brooklyn: “Brothers and sisters, thank you for your courage in standing up for justice against corporate greed!”

[redcatalina]

[yourbigsisnissi]

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” - Matthew 5:16

When i decided to take my faith seriously, one of the things that stood out to me was the concept of being a witness and testifying about our experience. As Christians we are called to not just enjoy God’s grace and mercy, but to share the ways that the Holy Spirit has transformed us and our lives. To live as a living testimony of God’s work is one of the purposes that we have in life. While we’re all thinking about jobs and careers and relationships, above all else, we are called to testify and share.

But this often seems paradoxical. The bible tells us to work on our relationship with God and talks about the intimacy of getting to know God, but also calls us to bear witness to the way God moves in our life. And reconciling what that means is tough. How do we testify but not brag? How do we witness but not over share? How do we preach the gospel without being over bearing?

I strive to live a life that is reflective of my faith. That means that I know there will be instances where I come into contact with non believers, or even believers who have questions. A part of my obligation as a Christian is to grow in my faith so that I may aide someone else in their growth. The key is consistency. I do not want to be a Christian that preaches one thing but does another. Because that inconsistency changes my witness. The backsliding and the hypocrisy will cause another to question my faith. And often it doesn’t seem fair. Christians will be quick to say “Only God can judge me” and “God knows my heart.” But as Christians, we know better. It’s not about who is and isn’t judging me. It’s that if I’m hooping and hollering about how good God is, I better be living as an example of the ways God has changed me. I cannot be a Christian who brags about the things i get and the jobs I have and the degrees I have, but not talk about the things I have to sacrifice in my life to get closer to God. to do one without the other does me and my faith a disservice. 

One thing I can point to is celibacy. I could very easily not be celibate. And I could also be a person who is “technically” celibate, but still engages in sexual activity. And again, my defense could be “only God can judge me.” But then I have to think about how i bear witness. That if a person comes up to me and says that the bible tells us to be celibate and asks what I think, and then I turn around and say I’m not fully celibate, that’s an issue. But to also lie about it then distances me from God. So as a result, I talk about celibate because I am celibate, consistently in my testimony and in my actions.

Another point is bible study. I cannot be a person that encourages others to do bible studies and doesn’t do the same. I cannot be a person where some one asks me for a scripture, but because I haven’t spent time with the word, I have no verses to give them without Google. In that way, if I am a student in Christ, a scholar of the word, I have to do the work.

I think about how God calls us all to lead by example. I am not a person who is comfortable walking up to people and telling them how to live their lives. But I can be a person that shares how I live mine. I can talk about my struggles, my insecurities, and even when I slip up. But I must also talk about the ways that I’m dealing with those things through God. That is my testimony. That is what I am called to share.

[redcatalina]

I loved this post and I feel similar about my faith and finding the balance in what the Bible instructs about being a Christian and sharing Christ.

[redcatalina]

NYTimes: The Unbearable Whiteness of Baseball

[micdotcom]

Watch: Poet G Yamazawa nails what it’s like to grow up in the U.S. as the child of immigrants.

[paddysnuffles]

I’m so glad my mom forced me to keep talking in Portuguese. 

Suggestion to anyone wondering how to do it: when your kid talks to you in English when there’s no need to, pretend you can’t understand them unless they speak in your native tongue. 

Force them to grumble in annoyance and switch to your language. They’ll thank you when they’re older.

[theinfogeekblog]

Little League sign has a few important reminders for overzealous parents http://ift.tt/1RaOREL

[buzzfeed]

“Black-ish” Was Open And Honest About Police Brutality In America

Last night’s episode of Black-ish centered on police brutality and highlighted conversations that many black Americans struggle to have with their kids.

[npr]

Faced With Fear, A Muslim Woman Makes A Stand — By Setting One Up

Amid an atmosphere of mistrust about Islam, Mona Haydar and her husband had an idea: Why not open a dialogue? So, they set up a stand — "Ask a Muslim" — and brought some doughnuts.

“He had seen this segment on This American Life, where a young Iraqi man had done ‘Ask an Iraqi,’ ” Haydar tells NPR’s Carrie Kahn. “And so [Sebastian] was like, 'Why haven’t we thought of this before? Why don’t we get out and talk to people?’

[redcatalina]

26 Things You Haven't Cared About In 11 Years

Brb, leave one or text.

[fallontonight]

Jimmy gives out NFL superlatives to Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks players!

[blackliberationcollective-blog]

NATIONAL STUDENT CALL TO ACTION

SUN NOV 15 - 10PM EST

#StudentBlackout Conference Call

In solidarity with #ConcernedStudent1950

Join the growing movement to END campus Racial Injustice. Plan an action at your school.

Register: bit.ly/blackoutcall

[black-culture]

Here’s the facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1517501865231759/

need everyone to like the Black Liberation Collective FB page

https://www.facebook.com/blackliberationcollective/

[lyricsquoteswords]

[redcatalina]

Why is that I have no problem spelling Hackensack or Piscataway but spelling vacuum is difficult?!?!??!

#MultilingualProblems

[redcatalina]

Can We Auto-Correct Humanity?

Why I Refuse to Let Technology Control Me. You need not delete your social networks or destroy your cell phones, the message is simple, be balanced, be mindf...

This has been my stance on phones/technology/social media for about 1.5 years. I stopped feeling like I have to respond to everything right away. I've enjoyed living like its 1999 when you saw e-mail when you saw e-mail, when you returned phone calls when you at home for the night. When you controlled your time instead of the notifications. I'm just over it. Not to say I don't have days where I slip back into the familiar like the moment that caused me to even see this post but I've enjoyed reading more and watching TV less and only being on social media for about 15 mins during the day but mainly after 9, lol! Remember when you waited to call people back because you wanted to use your free minutes, ha!

[redcatalina]

Justin Timberlake’s New Late Night Theme Songs

[yorkwhitaker]

[redcatalina]

Sheryl Underwood Reveals Natural Hair and Apologizes for 2013 Anti-Natural Hair On-Air Rant

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Better late than never. I can respect her for doing this and doing it in a public forum. I hope that people take the apology and not hold her to one moment in time for her.