sister got slapped

One new blog

2008-07-08T06:48:00.000-07:00

I have been, as you know, streamlining all three of my blogs into one. I decided to stick with the name, "the way I say" because all three blogs can be combined under that title and still make sense.

The original blog, bringing up daniels, began when I started getting questions from friends on raising kids through biblical, common sense parenting. I found such a hungry audience that it encouraged me to keep going. Many gracious people have kept me going on this. Thank you for also teaching me many things.

I have always been interested in stimulating my sister's in Christ to spiritual growth and in return being challenged by them. Sister got slapped was born out of this blessed interaction.

Then I found I had no place to put things like poems, song lyrics, quotes and otherwise good-feelings-causing inspirations and/or things that cause outrage in me (videos, pictures etc.) So I created, the way i say.

It became chaos! I started spreading like a disease, and taking up too much space on the Internet. Simplifying things became a necessity.

All new blog posts, on the way i say, will be categorized according to what the old blogs were called. For example when I post about raising kids it will be labeled bringing up daniels: then the title of the post. The same with sister got slapped: and The way I say.

For those who have been so kind to even read my ramblings, I hope this makes it easier for you. Thanks for your patience,
Amy

The new triple combo coming soon.

2008-07-05T16:20:00.001-07:00

It has been suggested to me that I combine my three blogs into one big mega blog. I have decided to do that to have mercy on those who faithfully check my latest posts.I am working on a new blog to replace Bringing up Daniels, Sister got Slapped and The way I say. I will leave my original blogs up for a few months with a link to my new one before closing them out. More information to come. Please feel free to comment on this blog or the other two until it no longer appears online. Thanks for all of the encouragement you have given me.

A great quote

2008-07-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

The following is cut from my friend's blog (Betsey Dirkse). It slapped me. Enjoy.

She wrote:
This morning in my devotions I came across this quote. It is by Hannah Whitall Smith. I highlighted the part that was most convicting.

"I have noticed that wherever there has been a faithful following of the
Lord in a consecrated soul, several things have, sooner or later, inevitably
followed. Meekness and quietness of spirit become in time the characteristics of
the daily life. A submissive acceptance of the will of God, as it comes in the
hourly event of each day is manifested; pliability in the hand of God to do or
to suffer all the good pleasure of His will; sweetness under provocation;
calmness in the midst of turmoil and bustle; a yielding to the wishes of others,
and an insensibility to slights and affronts; abscence of worry or anxiety;
deliverance from care and fear. All these, and many other similar graces. are
invariably found to be the natural outward development of that inward life which
is hid with Christ in God."

Betsey wrote:
Sweetness when provoked,Calmness in turmoil,Yielding to the wishes of others,Unmoved by hurtful comments,Free from worries, anxiousness, cares, or fears.
Lord, do this miracle in me today.

Welcome to Gomorrah

2008-06-20T07:36:00.000-07:00

Congratulations, California! We gather here today under the state recognized wrath of God.

Ignorance is bliss

2008-06-13T13:06:00.000-07:00

I was challenged by this

2008-05-25T04:34:00.000-07:00

An article by Daniel J. Phillips entitled, Questions For a Godly Wife, really slapped me. It is definately worth checking out.
Read it here

Same Difference

2008-05-18T05:20:00.000-07:00

I have heard people say things like. "We just can't get along we're too different." or "How can we have a relationship, we have nothing in common?" How very sad it is when people get to this point.

May I say that this is a sorry excuse? And not only that, but it is the very reason why there should be a growing, thriving relationship existing here.

Have you ever met two individuals more different, in every way, than you and God? That didn't stop Him from bridging the eternal gap of hell for you and me and for His own glory.

The church was built in defiance of cultural differences bringing together not only Jews and Greeks but every nation tribe and tongue. She is being built of multicolored bricks by the hands of God. It is not just variety of culture that is brought together to coexist. As if we weren't dissimilar enough, God gave us all diverse gifts to further emphasize our uniqueness. Add personality to this and you have something so completely impossible to unite, that it can only be done by God.

The unifying factor: Christ.

If you are prepared to say that Christ's blood is not enough to save and unite His church, then you may refuse any relationship you want with another believer who is different from you.

Judgemental Gutter Dwellers.

2008-05-15T10:55:00.000-07:00

Get your self out of the judgemental gutter and let my judgemental self pass by.

"You're judgemental"
"No! you're judgemental"
"You're more judgemental than I am!"
"I am not!"
"You are too!"
"am not!"
"are too!"
"not!"
"are!"
"not!"
"are!"
.... "not"......................."too"

This ridiculous feud could be laid to rest by a simple "hmmm, I might be, I'll check with the Omniscient One and see."

It takes a special gift to turn a verse like, " judge not lest ye be judged" into a way to judge one another. There is a key word in there "ye" it is translated "you". I don't know about ye, but when I read the Bible and it comes to a place where it says "you" in an address to the early church or to the disciples I take that to mean me not Jane, Joe, the fundamentalist Christian across the hall or the person who didn't agree with me last week at the ladies luncheon.

There is a kind of person who looks on others and thinks they are better than them. Perhaps they are legalistic or ultra conservative in dress, music style etc. There is another person who has all kinds of freedoms and sees the person who is more conservative and says, "They think they're better than I am," or "they're judging me." This is also a way of judging your brother.

I am reminded of these song lyrics from two different songs:"If judgement looms under ever steeple with lofty glances from lofty people. They can't see past her scarlet letter and they never even met her." "...the judgemental glances tell him his chances are better off out on the road..."

OK, this is perfect. It writes my blog post for me. You have someone accusing another of being judgemental and their proof comes from judging that person based on a glance. This is the righteous, merciful person judging the glances of someone they think is being judgemental. In other words, I can judge by looking at you, that you are more judgemental than I am.

I've been on the giving and receiving end of these kind of accusations.
I have enough trouble making sure my words are not misconstrued. I'm a sure loser, if you're going to judge my glances. I have also been so wrong when I have made assessments of people's character based on their manner of speaking, mannerisms, tone of voice or glances.

The truth is, I just don't know. I don't know what is going on in another person's heart. Many times I don't know what's going on in my own. The best response is to love. Love covers a multitude of overt sins and believes the best about what it can't know or prove. Love bears all things and believes all things.

A rule of thumb for those tired of the cycle of judgementalism:

Be easy on others.
Be hard on yourself.

Being cool and hiding out: same thing

2008-05-14T05:43:00.000-07:00

Taking on culture for Christ is something we are all called to do. I do not think Christians took Darwin seriously. I don't think we saw the implications of materialism and naturalism. I know we underestimated the 60's free love movement. I think we can also get caught up in the minors and externals of things that should be scaring us today. I think there is a virtual hole into which Christians run for cover and it is "Christian" but it isn't Christ.

We run to the safety of two extremes.
1)Look like the world to win the world (safely blending in but denying the holiness of Christ)
2)Run from the world cuz its all gonna burn (safely out of the line of fire but forsaking the love of Christ)

We underestimate the power of Christ and His Eternity changing Gospel. And we prove our disbelief when we choose one of these easy roads. Understanding the whole truth of the Gospel will make us fearless. So many churches don't teach it, and in many places the church looks like a bunch of corny clowns sent out to fight a serious enemy.

It is difficult to take your non cool self into a cutting edge world and be secure in the power of Christ's Gospel as being enough. It is by faith that we reach out in love to a world that will not love us aside from the electing, saving, rescuing faith-granting loving kindness of One so completely other-worldly.

Doctrines like election bolster our fortitude. If I know and understand by conviction that Christ has chosen and will lead to faith all that the Father has given Him, I can speak with boldness and clarity about His salvation for them. If I am rejected, I have lost nothing. I am Christ's. If someone is saved, I praise the God who saved them and rejoice in His glory. It is by faith that I carry the Gospel into the culture, not by craftiness of my own. And by either result God is glorified and I stand unwavering in my position before Him regardless of how men see me.

As we learned from the past, Satan is not going away. Not yet. He is not messing around or teasing us by bringing about lies and worldly systems that deter us from clear Gospel preaching and living. Christians thought no one would ever believe that we all came from monkeys. Now we are living in a culture that not only believes that, but has relinquished the "theory" of Creation to the outer chambers of "look at those poor naive people of faith" We are not just another view. We are sorry do-gooders who are well-meaning, and harmless.

The 60's are mild compared to what we have accepted since then. Did we think that reckless era wouldn't go the way of all time and turn the preposterous into the norm? To say that having sex before your are married is a sin isn't rejected by the world alone. I have had Christian young women ask me, "Is that really in the Bible?"

That is because churches have gotten off track. We lost the deep things while digging our holes of worldliness or fearful flight. We forgot the answer is to bring the whole Gospel. We decided we must look like them or leave them. But what we really have to do is give them what can save them, no matter how stupid we look in doing it.

Whatever it is that we are about; art, media, technology, writing, health care, raising kids, preaching, working with our hands, we must be even more about one thing: Christ, and the clarity of who He is and what He expects.

I want to be so clear about Christ that on the day when He comes to judge and all things are restored, the world will recognize me as one having been with Christ. I don't want them to say of me, "she was just one of us" or "she was never around"

I want them to say, "she never really fit in, but she loved me enough to tell me this would happen."

Fixtures and Fluid

2008-05-08T05:59:00.000-07:00

One of the biggest hinderances to kingdom building is in our sight. We see people as fixtures, but they are fluid.

We tend to view each other in a worldly way. Whether someone is admirable and beautiful or laden with glaring weaknesses and annoying habits, we often do not see that person the way Christ does. We are afraid to influence people we like for fear of rejection and we treat the annoying ones like they don't deserve our time. We observe people, from afar, like they are some kind of statue in a museum. Whether we are drawn to it or repulsed by it; either way, it is not to be touched.

People are souls. If we are vessels our souls are fluid. We are meant to change. We are meant to grow and stimulate growth in others. Hating change in ourselves is sin. Refusing to be a vessel for positive Christlike change in others is disobedience.

The body of Christ was not created by God and set on a shelf like some dusty figurine to look perfect until He comes, but to never bring change to ourselves or our world. We are to be interacting with one another, sharpening one another, growing and aiding in one another's growth.

Do you need to change the way you view souls? What do you really see inside the painfully anti social girl or the annoying person who has devoted their life to being your biggest fan? What is really living inside the beautiful, thin woman or handsome man that everyone is drawn to?

What can be found in every person is a need for change. A need for growth, a need for Christ. We will make great strides in honoring Christ if we cultivate this new insight into the heart of every man. Seeing what Christ sees in people will set us free to be kingdom builders and world changers, one drop at a time.

whining

2008-05-07T05:41:00.000-07:00

"and that you being renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth."

"Put on the new self" : Do you do this?

"Has been created" : Do you believe this?

I get frustrated with every day that I do not see change in myself in areas that should have been perfected so long ago. Then I waste time whining about how I have every confidence that I will never change because I've tried. I wipe my self-reliant tears, silence my defiant whining and believe.

Changing is believing I have been changed by Christ. Believing Christ has changed me, is to get up and put on the new self I've been given.

Whining accomplishes nothing.

Scripture ref: Eph. 4:23,24

Slapping Pseudo-sorry.

2008-04-23T06:08:00.000-07:00

My husband posted this on his blog yesterday. I liked it.

The three hardest words to say... "I was wrong"

One of my professors in my current program at Southern is Pastor Hershael York. I enjoyed his humor and profited from his wisdom in class.
Here is a part of an article he wrote recently. I sooo identify. I think you will too.

After a lifetime of offering apologies for my sins, screw-ups, stupidity,
and missteps, one would think that I would have mastered the art. Even if I only
counted the times I have needed to ask my wife for forgiveness, I would still be
one of the most practiced penitents on the planet.Remarkably, I find myself
relearning repentance every time I need to do it.

The natural tendency is to cast blame, to excuse, to express all the
reasons why my actions are justified or, at the very least, aren't as bad as
they seem. If the one I wronged also wronged me at some point, do I have to
apologize? If my offense was unintentional must I ask forgiveness? Is repentance
necessary if expressing regret will suffice? Can I downgrade it to a mistake, a
misunderstanding, or an error of judgment?

But when I am pushed, when I find no alternative to an apology, when I
realize that I have to say those two dreaded words, I still look to lessen my
liability and minimize my misbehavior by adding a few words to my "heartfelt and
sincere" apology: if you were offended. In one phrase I can doubly diminish my
humiliation by making my offense merely possible and shifting the blame in case
of its reality. I relieve myself of the real burden and place it squarely on the
shoulders of the person who felt the offense.

Cloaked in my confession is an agent of accusation. The real problem isn't
mine at all. "If you weren't so sensitive," my words suggest, "there wouldn't be
a problem." Perhaps the most embarrassing fact of all is that in my decades of
copping this pseudo-plea, it has never worked. The person to whom I make this
unconfession inevitably catches my emotional sleight of hand and realizes that I
have attempted to deftly lay it all on him or her (usually a particular
"her").Repentance, on the other hand, knows nothing of shifting blame, making
excuses, or diminishing damage.

True repentance is a brokenness that shatters pride into thousands of
shards that cannot be pieced back together.Jesus gave a beautiful picture of
this kind of repentance in the parable of the Prodigal Son. When at his
spiritual nadir, the son realizes in the pig sty that he has done a sinful and
stupid thing. He even goes so far as to rehearse his apology: "I will arise and
go to my father, and I will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven
and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of
your hired servants.'"Every time I read that I am struck by the simplicity and
the beauty of the son's statement.

He does not say, "Father, I made a mistake," or "I regret leaving." He
certainly doesn't say, "Dad, I'm sorry if my actions offended you." He doesn't
say, "Well, though it's true that I did that, I am sorry if my actions caused
you pain and I promise I will not do it again."In all my sinfulness, I have
learned the marks of true repentance. Here is what I have found.A truly penitent
person doesn't depend on forgiveness. His apology is not a negotiation; it's
begging. Beggars don't get to dictate terms.

A broken person understands that he doesn't get to choose other people's
reaction to his sin. They may forgive him or not. He put them in that position,
after all. They may hold it against him if they choose. His apology is
independent of their response.A broken person understands that forgiveness is a
gift given, not a debt owed.A broken person asks for no apology in return, even
if the other person has done wrong, too. A broken person realizes and freely
admits that he does not deserve forgiveness.A broken person accepts that it
takes much longer to reestablish trust than to destroy it, and he cannot insist
on a timetable.A broken person understands that the power of the words "I'm
sorry" diminish greatly when conditioned by an "if."

Please pray

2008-04-18T05:39:00.000-07:00

My friend Tenille and her husband Jaimie need your prayers right now. He just found out this week that he has a very large brain tumor. They are expecting their first baby in May.

Thank you all for your prayers, Amy

It takes more faith to be an Atheist

2008-03-25T11:35:00.000-07:00

This is long, but well worth your time.

Take it up:

2008-03-11T12:33:00.000-07:00

"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;
and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you,
and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a
sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma."

Is there room for selfishness in this kind of love?
I believe we are far from assassinating the old
man. Our basic needs in this life have been
defined by the puffy hedonism of the worldly
bed that some churches have become.

Slay something in yourself today for the benefit
of the body of Christ. Christianity is the cross.

Take it up.

Scripture quoted above:
Eph. 5:1,2

Missionaries?

2008-02-29T08:10:00.000-08:00

The following is taken from the book What's So Great About Christianity, by Dinesh D'Souza:
I think he makes a great point.

"Here in the West, there are lots of liberal Christians. Some of them
have assumed a kind of reverse mission: instead of being the church's
missionaries to the world, they have become the world's missionaries to the church. They devote their moral energies to trying to make the church more democratic, to assure equal rights for women, to legitimize homosexual marriage, and so on. A small but influential segment of liberal Christianity rejects all the central doctrines of Christianity. H. Richard Niebuhr famously summed up their credo: "A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross."

Somebody tell him

2008-02-20T16:14:00.000-08:00

Proverbial Smack: A couple things we hate

2008-02-13T05:39:00.001-08:00

There are two things we hate for sure: rebukes and Instruction. We especially hate rebukes when someone is wrong about their assessment of us. Instruction is difficult to swallow any time we haven't invited it, but worse when it comes from someone younger than we are or from one who doesn't generally know as much as we do on a subject.

But the true teacher in these situations is the Lord. The lesson may or may not be what is specifically mentioned. The real lesson is humility. Nothing teaches humility like being humbled, and humbling yourself under it. Many a sermon has bounced off my proud surface. Christ finds a way in through His body, and those sharpening implements He has put in my here for my good.

Proverbs 17:10 "A rebuke goes deeper into
one who has understanding than a hundred
blows to a fool."

God, the designer of marriage

2008-02-06T10:38:00.000-08:00

You have to go and Check this out. This is a great message on the design and value of marriage. Spence sent the link to me to watch. I was so blessed. You will be too.

Concerning Evil: both hands do it well

2008-01-31T08:19:00.000-08:00

Can you all please tell me why people keep killing their children?

"The godly person has perished from the land
and there is no upright person among men.
All of them lie in wait for bloodshed;
Each of them hunts the other with a net.
Concerning evil, both hands do it well...

Do not trust in a neighbor;
do not have confidence in a friend.
From her who lies in your bosom
Guard your lips...
For the son treats father contemptuously,
A man's enemies are the men of his own household."

Do you read the news? How is it that everyday a body is found and one of the parents has gone missing? Yesterday a four month old baby was found by the side of the road in Galveston. He had been beaten to death and thrown in his car seat by the side of the road. He was wearing only his diaper. The last one seen with this little boy, his father, is long gone. I'm sorry for this being so explicit, but the evil must be looked in the eye and condemned. And the blood of a little image-bearer of God is calling for justice from the Texas ground.

Congratulations Darwin, we have finally embraced survival of the fittest. Way to go Planned Parenthood, killing children is what we're all about from the sterile rooms of your blood-saturated tables to containers in the river. We are modern day Amorites sacrificing our children to the Molech of convenience and personal comfort.

Though I feel vindicated blaming these people and institutions, I know whence this evil comes. An appetite for death was spawned in us by Satan long ago and we have gladly succumbed. He set his trap and we've been setting them ever since. Both of our hands are "equally skilled" at it.
"But a day of justice comes and is even now swiftly arriving." Christ is coming, and when He comes may he find us promoting life and valuing the helpless.

"For behold, the Lord comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; The earth will also disclose her blood, and will no more cover her slain." Is 26:21

Above block quote:

Micah chapter 7

other variations on

Micah 7 in quotes:

John Foreman's song,

Equally Skilled: Fall ep

Ditch diggers --Pg 13

2008-01-19T06:36:00.000-08:00

At the gym one day this week I forgot my mp3 player and had to run on the treadmill without my music. Occasionally my eyes would glance up at one of the ten TV screens above me. It isn't that difficult to surmise the content of mindless Vh1 programming even without the luxury (I use the term loosely) of audio enhancement.

Apparently there is a show where some famous guy gets to choose which woman among thirty is the hottest. I do not know what she wins, but I cannot imagine it is worth her shame. I looked away in disgust when I realized it was nothing more than a televised orgy. I began to pray for the people on the screen. I was angry and sad. If only those women could see Christ.

I picture one of those hollow-hearted women hunched over in a ditch. She keeps digging deeper into the mud scratching at the earth with her fingers in order to find some buried treasure. The lower she goes in search of help, healing, acceptance and satisfaction, the dirtier she becomes. She is out of breath in pursuit of something just out of reach. Her clothes are torn to reveal her skin. She just sees that as part of the cost of searching. She collapses in exhaustion night after night, in this pit that her life has become. She doesn't even see the state of her own shame. In her mind, right on the other side of one more shameful day there will be something that really fills her. No one values or respects her. She has become something less than truly human.

Then a man comes in dignity and places his hand on her head and speaks to her kindly. When she ignores Him, He gets down in the hole and pulls her out. She kicks at him and screams as he holds her tightly. He will not let her go until she gives up her fight for what she thinks she'll find back in the ditch. He wipes the dirt from her face and kisses her forehead. He washes her clean and covers her nakedness. He brings her home and marries her. He takes her into the home of his Father where he presents her as the most beautiful woman he's ever met. She is warm and truly loved. She is fully human again.

Only in Christ can we be made beautiful. This is true for everyone. It is true for the very lost and it is true for the very saved. The problem with us, is that we like to return to the ditch every now and then and throw a little dirt on ourselves. The dust of vanity, materialism, glory or the affections of men still calls to us from the hole.

The only thing that can shut out temptation's call is the sound of our feet continually fleeing to the cross.

Book recommendation

2008-01-14T11:10:00.000-08:00

I am reading a book called When Sinners Say, "I do": discovering the power of the gospel for marriage by: Dave Harvey

I like it. It is a very practical slap on worldly views of marriage. I like the simplicity of the author's devotion to all things biblical. What the world calls disorders, disfunctions, or "me-time" is called sin in this book. Imagine a Christian book inciting such Christian activity as admission of guilt and repentence. It offers hope for true healing and growth in marriage. It is a quick read, and has some great humor.

Self Confrontation

2007-11-26T10:31:00.000-08:00

This girl gets it.
This is a great post about self confrontation.
enjoy.

How Women started the culture war: chapter 12

2007-11-24T08:00:00.000-08:00

This chapter in Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey was very enlightening for me. She explains how the industrial revolution created a cultural chasm in the family which opened the ground and swallowed up the entire American culture in the process. In the beginning of American history Colonial/Puritan families were very united. The husband led the family by providing for them in a certain trade. The wife was very much a helper to the man in this work, as was God's design. When the industrial revolution came along there was a removal of the male presence at home and the wife became the home manager only and no longer assisted her husband with the duties of daily labor.

There were many repercussions to follow. The husband was now the bread-winner. He had a kind of separate life from the family. His job was to go to work and get paid. The wife then took on all the responsibilities of the home along with child rearing. Gradually, the roles of men and women became defined by post industrial revolution American philosophy leaving behind the
Biblical view of the husband as head of the family and wife as his helper.

Many of her former tasks were taken away and replaced by responsibilities she was not created for. She no longer occupied herself to maximum capacity in labor alongside her husband. He didn't need her to fulfill a job at a factory somewhere, where she was not invited to come. She lost a sense of responsibility to her husband, which created an unintended self-sufficiency. She gained, however, the new responsibility of head of the house. Her husband was no longer around all day, so every part of headship became hers.

As a result of this cultural shift, with the spiritual obligation of the family's godly upbringing being left to the wife, the church became a place for women. Instructing, disciplining children, maintaining moral conformity in society all fell the the wife. Men lost their sense of devotion to the church because they were not devoted to the cause of spiritual stability in their own homes.
Christianity became feminized.

This deviance from biblical roles of men and women caused a great sense of confusion in both men and women. Vital responsibilities were removed leaving both men and women lacking in purpose and usefulness. The backlash has been a culture of women seeking more. Men however did not feel the adverse effects of all of this cultural decline as women did. Men after all, were still producing something, working hard and bringing home pay. They kept a sense of moralistic comfort in their role as provider, but without the tedious responsibility of ensuring a spiritual nurturing for their families. That was now the wife's job.

Women did not fare as well in the aftermath. They now had a deep sense that there was more to this life than just being locked inside four walls and producing nothing. Instead of creating ways to fulfill their biblical roles by actively finding ways to help their husbands, serve the body of Christ, and make the most of every opportunity to raise up godly children, they are abandoning their role completely to take on the male role in the work place.

We all know what the end result has been; divided families, divorce, children being raised by daycare workers who have no interest in their spiritual well-being, materialism and the list goes on.

I liked this chapter for the insight it gave me into today's culture and how we got here. I also understand our enemy a little better. Mostly I was challenged to be a producer. My husband and I are co-laborers in this family. He is in charge of all of our spiritual growth. I am a gift to him in the form of a multitasking, purposeful, creative assistant. His goals, as God has laid them out for him in our family, are mine to imaginatively bring to fruition by the ceaseless work of my hands and affections.

Dads are so much more than a paycheck. A mom's value soars way beyond cleaning up excrement and slopping food on the table. Together we are a cultural revolution. The family, as it functions according to God's purpose, is a slap in the face of the enemy who so cleverly designed this family-unfriendly place we are living in.

But the design has one fatal flaw and it is the problem with all of Satan's schemes; God uses darkness to show off His light. Every family that seeks to live out God's intended purposes for it will find that they are a vital contributor to the building of the kingdom of God. By this He is glorified and by this we will be greatly blessed.

Total Truth

2007-11-23T08:55:00.000-08:00

I recommend a book called Total Truth by: Nancy Pearcey.
I just finished reading chapter 12 How Women Started the Culture War.
It is fascinating. I will give a chapter review when I have time.
Look into reading this book. It slaps the culture and the church into understanding total truth.

It is a heavy read, but I have found it spiritually inspiring.

With Jesus.

2007-11-08T11:31:00.001-08:00

Christian Skoglund went to be with his Savior.

Please pray.

2007-11-08T08:51:00.001-08:00

Our friend Christian Skoglund is still unconscious. He has serious head injuries and fractures in his leg. His collapsed lung is now functioning again. His blackhawk helicopter went down in Italy this morning. We do not know much else. There were fatalities. Please pray for him and his wife Liz. His mom, Kay and dad, Phil (an elder at our church). His sister Maja, and brothers Erik and Lars also need your prayers.
Thank you, thank you for praying.

Make the hours count

2007-11-06T05:59:00.000-08:00

When you read this you will probably think I have OCD. You must know that generally I am very disorganized and an exceptionally random thinker. I am just trying to grow. Prov 3:6 says, "In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight."

I have been reading secular book called "Simplify Your Time" by Marcia Ramsland. I got it at the library. One helpful thing in this book is a 168 hour chart. It breaks your week down into 168 hours and asks that you fill in all that is regular in your schedule....sleep....eating and preparing meals....regular activities....
I was amazed at how many white spaces were left.

My idea was to begin each new hour as I walk through my day acknowledging God. I have been doing this by asking Him how He wants me to spend that hour. I am trying hourly to "in all my ways, acknowledge Him." As a result, I am living a much more prayerful and purposeful, kingdom-oriented day. It has been helpful. Maybe it will help you.

Raise the idol of youth, cut down the aged.

2007-11-05T13:12:00.000-08:00

This is a site where women can grow. That means that sometimes we must challenge our thinking in certain areas of cultural normalities and new church trends. As you know it is not only women who are doing the slapping or being slapped. We are an equal opportunity slapping phenomenon. Well, maybe the word "phenomenon" gives us too much credit. In any case, we like to slap anyone who needs it, to benefit us all and to glorify God.

I found and article here that slaps a trend of magnifying youth and not giving the aged the honor that is due them. I hope you like it. I hope it slaps you a little; It did me.

The fearful tenderness of Christ's Holiness

2007-10-29T06:28:00.000-07:00

I was listening to RC Sproul speaking at a Sovereign Grace conference on the Holiness of Christ. You should listen to it for full effect of what I am mentioning here.

On the mount of transfiguration, Christ reveals that the brightness of His glory comes from within. He is not the reflection of glory, but He is the source of it. From the clouds a voice booms and says, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him." The three disciples fell down in utter fear.

At a different time in a boat on the sea of Galilee, there is a terrible storm. The disciples are very afraid. Jesus is sleeping. They wake Him and say, "Do you not care that we are going to die?" Jesus commands the storm to stop. It obeys. At this point you would think that the disciples would be relieved; instead they are more afraid than before. They exclaim, "What kind of man is this?" R.C. put it well when he said, "He is in a category of One."

Anyone who has had a true glimpse of God's holiness have been engulfed in great fear. Those who know God loves them, repent. Those who do not belong to Him hate Him for it.

They hate that He knows everything they are and every evil thing they have done. They hate that He has the power to destroy them and turn their circumstances against them. And most of all, they hate that He is immutable and will never lose His ability to do these things. There is no escape from God.

But at the end on the mount of transfiguration, Christ comes to His disciples, puts His hand on them and says, "Fear not." Christ embraces the repenter with such tenderness. In the midst of their realization of the magnitude and truth of the glory of God and being overwhelmed by it even unto death, Christ brings them new life.

Nothing changes me like a deeper look into His holiness.

Slapping Bitterness: by Rick Horio

2007-10-04T07:03:00.000-07:00

This was posted on my friend's blog today. It blessed me, and challenged me to live a life of recognizing the goodnesses of God in hardship, and let them change me.

meet koichi

Some of you might remember a little series I started a few months ago about men who have had an impact on my life.Koichi was a man that taught me some of the most valuable lessons about parenting that I will ever learn. He taught me the importance of being involved, of sacrificing for your kids, of being there. He taught me all these things... by being none of them.

Koichi also happened to be my father.My parents divorced when I was very young, and my father moved back to Japan in (I believe) 1980. I never heard from him since. He died on March 29, 2000.

Although divorce is (often) a cowardly decision, since people decide that their "irreconcilable differences" are too hard to work at overcoming, I can kind of understand it. Two adults no longer love each other, they decide it's not working out, and they go their separate ways. I get it.What I cannot comprehend, however, is how a parent walks out on his only son, never to contact him again.

To this day, I still live in the house that he and my mother purchased together in 1977. So there was no excuse of "I didn't know how to get a hold of you." For reasons that I will never understand (but hope to one day), my father did not want to pursue a relationship with me.I'm not bitter. I used to be VERY angry when I was much younger. But I forgave him a long time ago, after I became a Christian.

But the impact on me has been profound. I am very involved in my daughters' lives, probably sometimes to a fault. I want to teach my children that sometimes you sacrifice family time for the sake of ministry, for the sake of Christ. But I also need them to know that they will always be so important to me. That even when Daddy needs to be away from home for work, ministry, etc., my heart is always with them. I never want them to feel what I felt. Because it really stinks.

My name is Rick, and thanks for reading.

Do you dare disregard God?

2007-09-21T06:10:00.000-07:00

"Then Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel. And God was displeased with this thing, so He struck Israel."

1Chronicles 21. If you want to have incentive to stop manipulating your circumstances so that everything will turn out how you want, read this passage of Scripture.

God is pleased when we ask Him for help.
God is pleased when we believe He is almighty.
God is pleased when we acknowledge Him before we make a move.
God is pleased when we wait on His provision.
God is pleased when we give Him the credit for all that is good.

God is not pleased when we calculate the measure of the strength of our own armies and do not seek Him in the matter. We were never intended to take things into our own hands for the purpose of victory. Victory belongs to the Lord.

Are you discontent with the way things are going in a certain situation, program even ministry? If you think that mustering other people who are discontent and strategizing with them about how to fix it will help, think again. If you think that assuming you know other people's hearts and can assess their spiritual state based on your information gathering, think again. If you think that removing the leader and replacing him with someone you like better will help, think again. If you think you can strive and strive and strive against the odds and all things will align themselves, think again and you'd better fear God.

This applies to every situation from raising our kids to overcoming financial catastrophe.

We are all about wanting a better Christian experience, but do we beg the Almighty to do what He sees fit? Is our motivation His glory or our comfort. What is the cause of our discontentment, isn't that we have already decided God was wrong when we started griping about the way He has sovereignly caused things to be right now?

Human efforts will get us human results. And human results look a lot like a half-eaten hunk of fruit rolling across a cursed ground beneath a smiling serpent, and a 70,000 fallen Israelite men. Human efforts performed in disregard of God amount to enmity with God.

God does not like to be disregarded.

Practical slap: I suggest to myself and all others who do not want to disregard the Lord of hosts, but would like to see great things happen in a not so great situation, that we all pray. Take the godless efforts you have been doing and declare a fast on them and commit to get on your knees everyday and acknowledge Him who can do miracles, the One who can redeem any broken thing or person.

God blesses those who regard Him and He makes their path straight.

Slapping apathy

2007-09-10T06:33:00.000-07:00

"There is nothing automatically acceptable about activity." I heard the pastor say.

God doesn't want mindless repetition or "senseless acts of beauty", as the bumper sticker says. If you think about it, the stone-cold outer facade of a cathedral attends church every Sunday, but offers God nothing.

He wants nothing less than the very heart of you.

Do you and I need to repent of apathy today?

Concise

2007-09-04T11:42:00.000-07:00

"Sow a thought, reap an act;
Sow an act, reap a habit;
Sow a habit, reap a character"

~Jerry Bridges:
The Pursuit of Holiness

This is not our home

2007-09-03T13:19:00.000-07:00

"We are strangers and sojourners. Let us not grieve over any of the world's painful things. For if you come from a renowned country and from illustrious ancestors, and find yourself in a distant land, known to no one, having neither servants nor wealth, and then someone insults you, would you grieve as though these things had taken place at home? The knowledge that you were in a strange and foreign land would persuade you to bear all easily, and to despise hunger, thirst, and any suffering. So consider that you are a stranger and pilgrim, and do not let anything bother you in foreign territory. You have a city whose builder and creator is God, and the journey is but for a short and little time. Let whoever wishes strike, insult, revile. We are in foreign territory, and live there in difficulty."

John Chrysostom (writing from Constantinople in the late fourth century).

Barrier Free by: Kelly Schulz

2007-08-28T08:02:00.000-07:00

Monday, August 27, 2007
Barrier Free by: Kelly Schulz

Someone recently challenged me to be barrier free in my interactions with other women. What barriers?

I'm a mother - mom of young children - and I spend a lot of time talking with other young moms. Across the span of hundreds of conversations with ALL TYPES of mommies, I see two elements that are always present.

1 - The drive to connect with one another.

2 - The search for validity.
Regardless of how long I've known another mom - years, or maybe just days - conversation inevitably turns to such topics as:

Family size

Child Training

Education choice

Financial views

House keeping style

Nutrition goals (seriously???!!!.)

This is natural enough in the sense that this is our life stage.....we are young mothers. Many of us are at home full time and these topics make up our worlds, in a sense.

*You can change out this list of topics for those that are specific to your life stage....the principles remain the same.*

We are having babies, or hoping to have more babies, or maybe thinking we're content with the current babies. We are walking in this new role of making choices that affect little lives.

Add to this the factor that we're all walking alongside different men who are on different journeys. It's amazing we find anything in common at all!!!

And yet we do: Where will they go to school or not go to school? What will they eat or not eat? Do we spank or give "time outs"?Where do we fall on the scale between the wealthy and the simple lifestyle?

Such conversations are a part of coming to know another mother - bonding - finding fellowship, but such conversations can be the most deadly as well.

I was recently part of a three way conversation where the other two were finding great camaraderie in their dreams/plans to home school. I, on the other hand, have to honestly say that we "haven't a clue" as to where God will lead us in that department, so I became quiet. The conversation continued on around me, but several comments alluding to homeschooling as the higher and more godly way cut deep. Would these women still want to be my friends if we don't home school? Would they find me to be selfish or ungodly?Barriers immediately went up. Doubts flew in. I felt judged. Satan was having a heyday in my heart.

The flip side:
Today, I found myself carried away sharing with two wonderful, godly women a certain journey that God has had me on. I was honest, open and sincere, but as the topic(family size) wrapped up, one of these sweet girls confided her journey, and I immediately realized that much of what I had shared could have been discouraging or falsely condemning for her. *humility break* Obviously not my intentions at all.

In searching my heart since and crying out to the Lord for wisdom, I have realized that much of the driving force of such conversations is the search for validity. We want to be accepted. We want to know we're in the same boat as others. We allay our fears by finding others who are "like" us in their journeys and we bond. This is misplaced identity.

When the opposite happens; when we're made aware of differing journeys, we feel condemned, judged, or just plain "left out". We sense a barrier go up - maybe an inability to be ourselves, truly, with that other person. This is false condemnation.

Jesus was asked by the pharisees and scribes (Mark 11), "On what authority do you do these things, and on whose authority do you come?" Jesus responded by asking them a rhetorical question which revealed their own lack of validity. They could not answer without either implicating themselves or inciting the wrath of the people. They look like fools to me.

We as mothers, wives, daughters - whatever it is that we are - must find all of our authority in the Lordship of Jesus Christ. As the Holy Spirit directs (through our husbands, fathers, etc), we obey. If He is the author of our lives; if our decisions are surrendered to His will, there is no condemnation prevalent but that of the Enemy's attack. (And Ladies, we know what to do with him right?)

Then we need to let loose and love the other women in our lives - barrier free. Communication is one of the gifts God has especially blessed women with - that and the driving force to connect. Our friendships and conversations will be so fruitful and spiritually rich when our hearts and motives are steadfastly anchored in the Lord. Once there, true validity is found and given, and we're free to "chat it up".

~ One Mom seeking to be Barrier Free.

Tracking the outbreak of sin

2007-08-27T05:54:00.000-07:00

The sermon was from Malachi, and it slapped me hard.

God said, "I have loved you," and the people responded, "How have you loved us?"

Such insolence! Who would ever dare to say that to God? I have. By my discontented heart and ingratitude, I have lived this way toward my loving Maker.

"Where I have been insensitive to the love of God, is where an outbreak of sin can be found."

Discontentment and frustration with how life is for me can be tracked back to a willful ignorance of the deep, rich, strong, eternal, blessed love of God. Just like the Israelites in Malachi I cannot see what blessings I have been given.

The preacher said, I should be asking myself. "Where has the tender affection gone? Where is the wonder that such a God would love such a sinner in such a way as to redeem her?"

This truth has made me rejoice because it has mined the hard ground of my clouded conscience, drilled down into the depths of my redefinition of sin, grabbed it by the throat and has drug it out into broad daylight and called it what it is: "Insolence"

I am asking the Lord to take my insensitivity to His love also known as insolence and slay it. I am looking forward to Him replacing it with a deep, inexpressible, subterranean joy wrapped in the love of a redeeming God.

To hear the whole sermon
go here:http://web.mac.com/dhegyera/iWeb/Racine%20Bible%20Church/Sermons/Sermons.html?nc=1188221112328
racinebible.org

We are too comfortable

2007-08-23T07:58:00.001-07:00

Posted by Spencer on racinebible.org/pastor's update
August 23, 2007

We are too comfortable.
The sin which so easily entangles in America is comfort, apathy, and a perpetually high expectation for convenience.

This hit home when I sat in Dunn Brother’s (a very, very comfortable coffee place) with a dear brother from Eretria.

This brother had just returned from suffering severe persecution in Eretria. Comfort was no entanglement there! Apathy? Relatively unknown. The expectation is not convenience but rather incarceration.

Don’t you ever wonder why our experience of the Holy Spirit’s power seems so small? The believers in the first centuries experienced His power amidst the trembling of persecution and death threats (Acts 4:31). The believers in Eretria model such experience today.

I want to stretch out further in faith, past convenience, and place myself in positions where I need to feel the greatness of His power.

Rick is slapping complaining parents

2007-08-11T06:45:00.000-07:00

You never stop learning: Taken from my friend Rick's blog called nozomilyric

As a parent of 2 children under the age of 3, I see how important it is to be disciplined to teach and train your kids. These are very important years, and you cannot be lax or indifferent. You MUST be involved. This point should be obvious to any parent who actually cares about parenting.

What was not as obvious to me before I started down this road was just how much I would learn about myself while teaching my kids.

Case in point... lately our oldest has been having some issues with complaining and not being content when she doesn't get what she wants, when she wants it. Sometimes we are reminding her several times a day that she needs to stop whining and be content with what she has, and remain content even if she doesn't get what she wants (which she will need to deal with her entire life).

With all this repetition, you can't help but start listening to yourself and admonishing yourself to have the same attitude of contentment. It is easy to exhort your children to be content that the meal sitting in front of them isn't what they had in mind, that they don't always get to play outside when they'd like, that they're not wearing the pajamas that they wanted to wear, or that they are going to bed earlier than they had anticipated.

But the questions of contentment mature as we mature, do they not?

I have to ask myself... am I content with what the Lord has provided for me? For my family (because you know you always want to provide "the best" for your kids)? Do I become discontent when I realize that most of my friends make more money than me, that they are further down the road towards the "American dream" than I am? Do I covet a bigger house, nicer car, more "toys," larger discretionary spending?

I don't need to be rich. I just want to be comfortable.

What a lie from the pit.

I AM rich. I don't have to wonder where my next meal is coming from. I have shelter. My car is working just fine, 8 years and 115,000 miles later. I have enough "toys" to occupy my time for a loooooooooooooong time.

But more than anything (even beyond the temporal), the issue really is, "am I content with the life God has given me?" Everything I have is because God has provided it for me. He knows what is best for me. And just like the true issue with our daughter is her heart's attitude, likewise that's the true issue for me. Do I really lose sight of everything that is fleeting anyway, in view of the surpassing riches of His grace? Obviously the things of this life will burn, but do I really live my life believing that? Every single day?

It is not unwise to invest in a 401(k) plan, to have sufficient life insurance to protect your wife and kids, to have cash in the bank for emergencies. It is also not a sin to acquire things, or to aspire to a higher rung on the corporate ladder. The sin is in having the attitude that somehow we deserve these things (since we work so hard for them), and that we won't be happy until we get that raise and/or promotion.

So whether it's the fact that you wish you had Trader Joe's orange chicken over carrots, or just one additional bedroom in your house, the exhortation is the same...

"Daughter/Daddy... you need to be content in whatever the Lord gives you. He knows what is best for you and always provides you with what you need."

My name is Rick, and thanks for reading.

Slapping Worldviews that end in hopelessness

2007-07-31T10:32:00.000-07:00

According to a lecture I heard recently, the world of beliefs can be broken down into three worldviews. Two of these worldviews will take you further into obscurity and confusion and eventually hopelessness the more you study them. One of them will bring the world more into focus and bring dignity and hope to humanity the more you delve into it.

Postmodernism: There is no truth. There is only what you believe, decide, want, think.

Naturalism: You are just one of many animals, you will survive if you are the fittest.

Christianity: You are created in the image of God, therefore you have eternal value and responsibility before Him.

Let's take the scenario of the special Olympics. Why do people hold such an event? To give those people dignity and a chance to be more than disabled for a day, right?

Postmodernism applied to the Special Olympics should respond in this way, if those who profess it truly believe it: to decide to give handicapped people dignity is neither here nor there. We could treat these people with respect or not in the same way we can choose paper or plastic bags at the grocery store, or whether we like to shop at Target or Walmart. It is really up to you. If you would rather lock all disabled people up in asylums than allow them to be apart of society, that's just fine, according to the postmodern worldview.

Naturalism is even worse, since they do not believe that humans are of higher value than dogs or pigs anyway. The Special Olympics hold as much value as Wisconsin state fair pig races. If we as a society really believed in Naturalism and Darwin's theory of evolution and it's idea of the survival of the fittest, we could all be like Hitler. Why not sterilize all people with defects and physical deformities or deficiencies of any kind so that their "kind" would die out. Or worse yet, why let them live at all? The strong must survive.

Thank God for Christianity and the buffering effect this worldview has had on history and modern times. God has given all men dignity because they are made in His image. Just because God formed and designed us body and soul and breathed life into us, we all have value and should be respected and protected. The end result of God's way is hope.

Thanks to Dr. J.P. Moreland for his lecture at
Southern Theological Seminary
This blogger does not agree with all viewpoints
presented by J.P. Moreland in a public forum.

Practicing What You Preach

2007-07-12T15:04:00.000-07:00

by: Mary Englund Murphy

If you want to make an impact in another person’s life, back up your words with your behavior. In other words, practice what you preach!

Nothing will destroy credibility in the church faster than hypocrisy—saying one thing but living another. As church leaders, are we guilty of hypocrisy? Do the people under your leadership feel you’re telling them what to do, but you’re not doing it yourself?

I recently conducted a survey on weight loss with nearly one hundred Christians. Repeatedly, people said they had trouble sitting under the leadership of a pastor or other church leader who was overweight. When asked why, the answer was always the same. “I have a hard time listening to someone telling me to let God develop self-control in my life when it’s obvious they haven’t let Him control their eating habits.”
Ouch! The truth hurts, doesn’t it?

Church leaders—pastors in particular—face unique pressures and temptations when it comes to food. It seems like their world revolves around food. If food isn’t served at Bible study or church, someone invites you out to a restaurant after services. Food is offered in homes on visitation, and well-meaning ladies bake your favorite dessert. Doughnuts are a Sunday morning staple, and with no time for breakfast, you grab one—or two—or three. The temptations are endless, and soon you’ve added twenty-five pounds, then fifty!

A 1998 study by Purdue University professor Kenneth Ferraro found that Christians are more likely to be overweight than those persons of other faiths. Why? The simple answer is that our fellowship time revolves around food, but the hard answer is that we have not developed discipline and self-control in the area of our eating and exercise habits.
Though rewarding, ministry is often difficult. We can do everything seemingly right and still people find fault. We are judged and scrutinized in every area—the cars we drive, our children’s behavior, our home, our clothes, and yes, even how much we weigh.
It would be nice if people got to know how wonderful and spiritual we are before they passed an opinion. But unfortunately, we are often first judged by our physical appearance.

A church member in our first pastorate told me she voted for Bill when we came because she thought we were an attractive couple. I thought, What about our education and ministry experience? Didn’t that count? Though her opinion was positive, it disturbed me that our outward appearance had affected her judgment. But I learned a good lesson. We don’t have to look like we stepped out of a magazine advertisement, yet our outer appearance should be neat, clean and reasonably up–to-date. Our appearance should never detract from the message God wants to tell through us.

“That’s not right,” you say. “Leaders shouldn’t be judged harsher than others.” Right or not, it goes with leadership. As a ministry leader, don’t you want the first impression of you, your church, and your ministry to be positive? And, before you criticize the critics, aren’t you sometimes guilty of judging others by appearance and acting on first impressions?

We keep our church buildings clean and in good repair. Why? Because outward appearance matters; first impressions make a difference. We want people to think, I would like to visit that church. I can tell the people care.

On Sunday morning we want the ushers and musicians ready, and the sound system clear. We want neat bulletins, cheerful nursery workers, and clean bathrooms. Why? We don’t want anything to detract from the message!

The outward condition of our church building and the organization of our church service is a direct reflection of the inward condition of the leadership, the congregation, and the Lord.

Your outward condition is a direct reflection of your inward condition, too. Why risk jeopardizing God’s message with lack of self-control in your eating?

Let me share two stories from women who honestly faced their eating problem.

“I speak to audiences that number in the thousands, and I know the moment I walk to the platform my appearance detracts from my message,” Jill told me. “People in the audience take one look at me, and think she is really fat. They have to get over that hurdle before they can listen to what I say. I know God is using my message, but I also know he could do more through me if I could lose my excess weight. Please, can you tell me more about your eating program? I need help.”

Jill was well dressed, stylishly coifed, and had a beautiful face, yet she painfully acknowledged her weight was a detriment to her ministry.

Monica counseled a teenage girl who was involved in a sexual affair. During one of the counseling sessions, the girl looked Monica straight in the face and said, “My problem is I’m having sex outside of marriage; your problem is you’re fat. When you’ve taken care of your problem then you can come back and talk to me about mine!”

Monica acknowledged her gluttony and lost more than fifty pounds.

You can make excuses for your self-indulgence, call those who criticize immature Christians, and quote a few choice Bible verses. Or, you can say, “They’re right,” and do something about it. I hope you will make the right choice, just as you would expect of those under your leadership.

Change begins at the top. Below are some challenges for those in leadership positions—senior pastor, Sunday School teacher, sound person, maintenance worker, musician, office worker, or attendee.
Lovingly address the issue of obesity and its prevalence in the church. I often hear speakers joke about their weight. Why, I’ve wondered, do they want to make light of this issue? If they had a problem with alcohol, they wouldn’t joke about that. Obesity is not a laughing matter; it is a serious problem that touches a person physically, emotionally, and spiritually, and the church needs to address it.

Knowing that the body of a believer is the temple of the Holy Spirit and belongs to the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:19. 20), teach the inestimable value of exercise and eating healthy foods. We spend a great deal of time teaching about the new body we’ll have in heaven, yet don’t care for the old one here on earth.

Encourage healthy meal preparation at home and church. Church functions are not an excuse for gluttony, but rather a time to enjoy fellowship and God’s gift of food in moderate portions. Christians should be an example to the world, not the object of jokes and ridicule.

Encourage families to spend time together exercising, preparing and planning meals, and fellowshipping at the dinner table. Many families eat in front of the television or eat on the run because their lives are consumed with activities.

Be an example. 2 Timothy 4:12 tells leaders to be an example in word, actions, and teaching. Your actions will speak far louder than your words. Leading by example in obedience to the Lord by developing healthy eating and exercise habits will give you insight into the personal needs of others.

If you have a weight problem, acknowledge it, and take steps to fight your own battle. People love a humble leader. You will earn respect and establish personal credibility while strengthening the effectiveness of your ministry. Don’t allow Satan to use your weight to detract from the message of the gospel.

Recognize that the unique pressures on leadership are contributing factors in the number of overweight Christian leaders. Learn to “cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

Do not turn to food for comfort and release. Smoking and drinking alcohol are not acceptable forms of stress relief in most Christian circles; hence, people turn to food. Though God condemns gluttony along with drunkenness (Proverbs 23:20-21), the former has become socially acceptable in our churches, and often leaders are sad examples of its effects.

If you don’t have a weight problem, be compassionate toward those who do. Help guide them into a program that will provide Biblical answers, encouragement, and prayerful support.

Mary is a graduate of Florida Bible College and speaks for retreats and other special events. She and her husband Bill have been married thirty-four years, have three grown children, and reside in Tulsa, Oklahoma where Bill pastors Calvary Bible Church. This article is an excerpt from Mary’s new book Winning the Battle of the Bulge: It’s Not Just About the Weight. The book and companion workbook Planning for the Battle of the Bulge are designed for a thirteen week Bible study for individuals or small groups. www.WinningtheBattleoftheBulge.com

This article is being used by permission of IFCA International (www.ifca.org), VOICE magazine, May/June 2007, Vol. 86 No. 3. All material is copyrighted. Contact IFCA International for permission to use this material.

A Good Book

2007-07-09T07:10:00.000-07:00

I am reading this book: Winning the Battle of the Bulge: it's not just about the weight, by Mary Englund Murphy. Looking Glass Press, Tulsa.

It is a helpful resource. I believe it is worth reading whether you are overweight or not. It can help us think about sin and temptation, getting prepared for spiritual battle and developing a disciplined way of life, all for the glory of God. Give it a try.

Taking a Break

2007-06-15T07:51:00.000-07:00

There won't be anything new on this blog for a little while. I'm taking a break. Thanks for reading. Enjoy Kelly's great post below.

Another Great one from Kelly

2007-06-14T12:46:00.000-07:00

AMOS 2:4
"For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away it's punishment, because they have despised the law of the Lord and have not kept His commandments. Their lies lead them astray; lies which their fathers followed."

Man must either love God's law and hate and abhor lies, or he will despise God's law and cleave to lies.

Man carries on the fraud which originated with the serpent in the garden, which is that of asking "has God really said...?" " Must I take His word so precisely?"
Man in his powerlessness, struggles with God's Omnipotence, and in his lack of understanding, battles with God's Omniscience. Yet, we would not own to be directly at variance with the mind of God, and so we smooth this over with excuses, justifications, and rationale.

"Surely when God said to wait on His provision of a life partner, He could not have meant for so long, or to do it patiently, or that I could wait with peace and joy."
Attempt at self-justification = Discontent, Selfishness, Immorality.

"Yes, God said His joy would be my strength, but you see, I'm battling depression/cancer/loneliness for which God's power just isn't strong enough."
Attempt at self-justification = Complaining, Idolatry, Distrust.

"God is the creator of all things, owns and rules all things, and is also my personal provider, but the need I face is far to big to trust Him with."
Attempt at self-justification = Manipulation, Greediness, Debt.

When we set aside the truth of God's word in favor of our own lies, we "despise the word of God". In the last, we find ourselves justifying our wills against God's will or explaining away the revelations of God that we dislike. We deceive our own consciences - stifling them into the moral beliefs we've created for ourselves! Lies!God hates the lying tongue!

"...lies, which their fathers followed."In choosing to follow false mindsets, we teach these lies to be truth to the next generation. The deception is passed down becoming stronger with each relay, and I see this happening in the church vividly. False principles that are undisputed are quickly considered indisputable. Popular error of one generation becomes the axiom of the next as though human opinion were as dogmatic as divine revelation.

Back to the Serpent's question....."has God really said?"The answer is YES, He has, and He will. His word stands. I choose to hold His word reverently high and powerful in my life.

Care to join me?

This post by: Kelly Schulz

Go get Peace where you got it before

2007-06-12T07:19:00.000-07:00

"Remember that you are saved by believing, not by doubting. Be not then a doubter, but a believer. Draw continually on Christ and His fulness for this grace. If at any time you are beguiled away from it, return to it without delay; and betake yourself to it again just as you did at the first. To recover lost peace, go back to where you got it at first; begin your spiritual life all over again: get at once to the resting-place. Where sin has abounded, let grace much more abound. Do not go back to your feelings, or experiences, or evidences, in order to extract from them a renewal of your lost peace. Go straight back to the free love of God. You found peace in it at first; you will find peace in it to the last. This was the beginning of your confidence; let it be both the last and the first."

Taken from Follow the Lamb:
by Horatius Bonar: Christian focus publications ltd, Scotland.

Can you say....SPANKING? pg-13

2007-06-08T12:53:00.001-07:00

I copied the following from the MSN news site. It is an article about Paris Hilton. She got arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and was given a $1,500 fine and sentenced to classes on drunk driving awareness and her license was suspended. She was later caught driving with a suspended license and sentenced to 45 days in jail, of which she served 3.
As you read, try not to laugh.

-- Paris Hilton was taken from a courtroom screaming and crying Friday seconds after a judge ordered her returned to jail to serve out her entire 45-day sentence for a parole violation in a reckless driving case.
"It's not right!" shouted the weeping Hilton. "Mom!" she called out to her mother in the audience.
Hilton, who was brought to court in handcuffs in a sheriff's car, came into the courtroom disheveled and weeping. Her hair was askew and she wore a gray fuzzy sweatshirt over slacks. She wore no makeup and she cried throughout the hearing.
Her body also shook constantly as she dabbed at her eyes. Several times she turned to her parents, seated behind her in the courtroom, and mouthed, "I love you." ~© Fred Prouser/Reuters Paris HiltonJudge Orders Paris Hilton Back to JailJun 8, 3:33 PM EST The Associated Press LOS ANGELES

Oh Paris darling, nothing says "I love you, mom and dad" like dragging their name through the mud one more time. And nothing says, "I shoulda hadda spankin'" like an adult crying for their mom in the courtroom because they just don't wanna go to jail after endangering the lives of other people's children by driving drunk. Pass the Kleenex.

She was released after three days because of a "medical condition". It makes me wonder what kind of a medical condition keeps a person from being able to sit still in a cell and have three square meals a day, that didn't previously hinder that person from operating a motor vehicle, consuming alcohol, and taking off her clothes while washing a car and eating a Carl's Jr. hamburger in front of a camera. Maybe its called "shoulda-hadda-spankin'itis."

To her credit she has said that she learned from "this whole ordeal" (as if it happened to her and she is not the cause of it) and that she "hopes others have learned from her mistakes". Well I think she could learn some things from the geeky little home-school girl down the street, like keep your clothes on in public and don't consume alcohol before operating a motor vehicle.

And though it is too late for Mr. and Mrs. Hilton, as it pertains to Paris, may I reiterate: May many parents learn from their mistakes that there are many benefits to....you guessed it...spanking.

Too good for you!

2007-06-08T05:53:00.000-07:00

Too righteous to eat with sinners and not righteous enough to give it all up. Jesus, my hero and the One I worship gets it right! I thank God the Father who sent His Son to model the perfect life for me, so I can learn to live more like Him.

In Luke chapter 7:31-35, Jesus rebukes the religious leaders by calling them immature. Can you imagine the magnitude of this insult, telling the Pharisees that they are acting like children. It gets even better. He goes on to explain what He means by that.

You are illogical and you have no desire to be anywhere near as spiritual as you are trying to make everyone think you are. You are like fickle children shouting to one another in the market place, "We played a happy song, why didn't you dance?" Just as the dancing begins they switch the tune to a dirge and shout, "Why are you dancing when you should be weeping?"

Jesus explains: John the Baptist came giving up everything and pronouncing the very sad need for repentance, and they rejected him. Jesus came eating and drinking, going to weddings and joyfully living among sinners and they condemn Him for this.

So we see, they didn't really want true spirituality, they just wanted to be better than everyone.

Jesus says in verse 35: "Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children."

The true heart motivation is revealed when we are tested in the things we claim.

Prepare to meet your God! by:Kelly Schulz

2007-06-05T09:42:00.000-07:00

"Prepare to meet your God!"

Power, majesty, justice and glory flow from five simple words. These words are found in Amos 4:12 and are spoken to the wayward nation of Israel. They foretell impending judgment meted out after Israel refused to be corrected and restored to their God.

These five words sent shivers up my spine the first time I read them.
The second time I read them, I wept. My mind finds almost no words in response to this declaration of God.

He is obeyed. He does NOT tolerate sin. He is God - God the Most High.
This is the God that meets with me every morning over some tissue thin paper pages and black ink. This is the God who faithfully works me over - sifting through my heart and removing sin by His word and Spirit.

No- these words did not find me physically bowing to man made gods, but they did find me caught up in the throes of sin. Sins that I was justifying as "normal" for my place in life. There is no room for distrust/complaining/moodiness/bitterness in a heart that follows my GOD....none.

How many times do we justify our attitudes and actions based on our feelings or circumstances. We operate as though we have not a choice, and what we really have is SIN - harbored, hoarded, nurtured. Sin, the power of which was abolished at the cross, and yet we justify it.
Disgusting.

We must cleanse our hands and purify our hearts of double mindedness (James 4:8). This is not a watch-out-He'll-get-you observation. This is a get-down-on-your-knees-and-worship call.
He is God the Most High. I am His child. It's time I acted like it.

"Oh God, I bow before you,
The glory of your face implored,
My worship resounds anew,
As depths of mercy are explored,
My heart bowed low,
yet soaring to great heights.
I worship my God, the Most High."

By: Kelly Schulz

Proverbial Smack....being appropriate

2007-06-04T07:30:00.000-07:00

Communication: the most important part of relationships.
This does not mean we should communicate whatever we want whenever
we want and in whatever fashion we feel.

"He who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning,
It will be reckoned a curse to him." Proverbs 27:14

A blessing is a wonderful thing, but not loudly at 4 a.m.

The most beautiful thing about a beautiful
woman is that she is appropriate.

God is still working on me.

Beautiful, Talented, Bright, Charming and....Dangerous

2007-05-31T10:39:00.000-07:00

I picked up the Oprah magazine today and really read it for the first time. I have always felt a certain affection for this dignified woman though I have never regularly watched her show. I must say that she interests me in many ways. There is something that draws people to her. She is intriguing.

She seems so generous and truly helpful, as if she would give to the whole world of poverty if she could, and yet doesn't give to her own personal sacrifice. She gives accolades to over-comers with such sincerity and yet holds back just enough praise to keep you longing for her approval. She opens up just enough about her own flaws to make you say, "yes, she understands" still, I have yet to see a picture of her that isn't even more beautiful than the last.

I surmise that I could be given to, by her, and never have what she has. I could be understood by her and never have her complete attention and admiration. I could be sympathized with, by her that I am flawed and never, ever look like her. It is almost as if she could be worshipped or something.

I do not suggest that this is her mission in life, but I am most certainly stating that it is Someone's mission for her, and his goal involves the taking down of many.

This magazine, I've been reading is the most emotionally stimulating thing I have ever held, when I view it from the perspective of an unbeliever. The adds and articles, suggestions, ideas, recipes and everything else have my very best interest in mind. I am helped, encouraged, and challenged to love and good deeds. The senses are provoked on every page, with all the colors, feelings and smells of womanhood. One can laugh, cry, be stimulated intellectually, sexually, physically and "spiritually". This is truly a work for the whole woman; a feel good religious book.

And it is a complete and lovely path to destruction. Everything a woman needs to be a self-reliant rejecter of God, is present in the religion of Oprah Winfrey. We as women know we are a broken and hurting race. We have been broken and spend our time breaking others. In a word we are lost. Oprah would have us fix ourselves and gives us every possible method and incentive to do it. All the while stroking our egos. All we are lacking is that one day she will appear in the sky and say "Well done, my good and faithful daughter."

I must say, I love Oprah Winfrey. I want to reach out to her with the true gospel. I give God glory for blessing her and making her so likable. On the surface, there are things that can be learned from her, like how to build an enterprise, how to present yourself with dignity and how to put on great make-up. But what to believe in, to secure my soul for eternity is not one of those things.

With all she has to offer, she presents just another way to stay on the road to hell. And I am sad to say that it is a very broad way and many are they who have found it.

Proverbial Smack - gluttony and other excesses

2007-05-29T06:52:00.000-07:00

The Proverbs regarding eating honey are used a few times as the example behind deeper principles. Eating too much honey will make you vomit, just like wearing out your welcome makes your neighbor sick (Proverbs 25:16,17). Too much honey and the sickness you feel from it is what it is like when others see you glorifying yourself (Proverbs 25:27).

These are convicting words on a deeper than physical level for me. But I think it also proves a good point about gluttony. If it is such a big "of course" that we shouldn't eat too much honey that we can use it to illustrate other spiritual matters, then we should be careful at the physical level to be self-controlled. Gluttony is an outward expression of a need to be instantly gratified, and shows that we are not being spiritually satisfied in God. This hurts.

It is interesting to me that the abuse of food and other sins are used together, and brings up the issue of fasting in my mind. What can we give up for a time physically that will remind us to be self-controlled in a spiritual way? It is not right to be a glutton. It is not right to be a glory hog. It is not right to spend our time too much on anything that is not of spiritual significance.

I am committing this to prayer in my life to see what God would have me set aside for His glory.

What beautiful, godly, young women want

2007-05-22T11:23:00.001-07:00

I had a good conversation with a young woman at church today. The man that God has for her has not yet found her, but she knows what she wants. She wants a man who takes responsibility for his actions.

What she said would have slapped a few young women. Maja is content to wait for the man who is not backing down from his role as a leader. Most young women don't even have that on their radar screen. They could learn something here.

It's great to know there are quality young women out there who are unwilling to settle for less than a real man!

Death

2007-05-11T05:15:00.000-07:00

Christianity as described by a Sunday School teacher.
"It's not the laying down heroically of your life, but laying down your life in a thousand ways."

~Keith Kenyon

Strong Women

2007-05-10T06:53:00.000-07:00

I cut and pasted the following from:
http://nonniesnotes.blogspot.com/2007/04/where-women-are-strong.html
It Slapped Me.

"The common ground for the godly women of the Bible is that they were submitted to the Lord. And those who were married were submitted to their husbands. This is key. A strong woman who is not submitted to the Lord and to her husband will be a huge pain to everyone. But one who gives herself first to the Lord and then to her husband will bring great joy. She can be a bulwark of support for her husband, especially in those difficult times of life.

OK, there are a few caveats for strong women. Really you have heard all of these from us before! First, strong women need strong men. Second, strong women need to work extra hard at learning submission. Third, strong women who hold strong convictions need to work on learning when to speak and when to hold their tongues. (Prov. 11:22)"

The Way I Say...

2007-05-07T07:11:00.000-07:00

With all of the places I have in the world to write my
rantings, I still was lacking one thing. A poetry/song place.
I'd be humbled if you ever checked it out, and hope it helps
to spur you on to love and good deeds.
Thanks for reading. http://thewayisay.blogspot.com/
~Amy

I'll Never See

2007-05-04T12:32:00.000-07:00

I’ll never see from where I stand
Surfboards on the top of my van,
January sun reflecting your tan
Or bare feet dancing in December sand.

But I’ll see straight across a rolling plain,
the landscapes washed in flowing grain
And the green backdrop of April rain.
And I’ll see you again.

There’s something this place will never hold,
The crash and call of the tide that rolls
Along that winding Pacific coast
And the hills that frame that open road.

But it holds the promise of flowers in spring,
Popping up through newly born green
Like long awaited warmer dreams
Of life lived on for better things.

Let me see so I can believe

2007-05-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

Jesus after feeding an entire multitude of people with one boy's lunch crosses most of the sea on foot and then miraculously time warps the disciples' boat to the other side. He is greeted by the same crowd on the other side. I love these freeloaders. They just walked around the sea energized by the fullness of their bellies from a meal pulled out of thin air by God. Astonished to see Jesus on the other side of the sea when He didn't board the boat with His disciples, they ask, "Hey how'd ya get here, by the way when do we eat?"

Having just witnessed two miracles and having been told they can have eternal life GIVEN to them, they are moved by the majesty of it all which provokes them to say, "When do we eat?" Or "Show us a sign, so we can believe," in other words, "Let us see so we can believe" What is belief if it is not believing without seeing? What is seeing, but the opposite of believing? And what do you want to see that you haven't seen already? And having seen already you still don't believe.

But isn't this just like us? Everything is linked to our fulfillment by the things we can see, rather than by the God who is unseen but we claim to believe in. Everyday, run-of-the-mill contentment in God, because He is who He says He is, that's our goal. Being satisfied in Him, not new things, not things the way we think they should be, not people responding to us rightly etc. If we are not amazed by God's goodness and satisfied in Him, chances are we are looking for a sign and not for Him.

What's So Great About A Woman?

2007-04-30T06:55:00.000-07:00

"In her original state, undefiled by evil, unspoiled by any imperfection at all, Eve was the flawless archetype of feminine excellence. She was magnificent in every way, in grace, charm, virtue, ingenuity, intelligence, wit and pure innocence. Physically, too, she must have personified all the best traits of both strength and beauty.

Scripture, however, gives us no physical description of Eve. her beauty -- splendid as it must have been -- is never mentioned or even alluded to. The focus of the biblical account is on Eve's duty to her Creator and her role alongside her husband. That is a significant fact, reminding us that the chief distinguishing traits of true feminine excellence are nothing superficial. Women who are obsessed with image, cosmetics, body shapes, and other external matters have a distorted view of femininity. Indeed, Western culture as a whole (including a large segment of the visible church) seems hopelessly confused about these very issues. We need to go back to Scripture to see what God's ideal for a woman really is. And the biblical account of Eve is an excellent reminder of what a woman's true priorities ought to be."

An excerpt from Dr.John MacArthur's: Twelve extraordinary Women

The Welcomed Sting!

2007-04-28T07:45:00.000-07:00

Heart-stabbing sermons and truly loving mentors have shaped my spiritual growth, but nothing carves out the darker spots of my old man like the blows intended to cause great injury.

It's funny how the trials of life that impress the truest lessons deepest into our characters often come from those who don't have our best interest in mind. When I turn around and look back through the window of the past, on the pain that caused the most growth in my life, I can see the faces of self-serving people.

My loving God knows that an injury won't cause change in me unless it really hurts and those who really love me hold back just a little. God uses the hurtful intentions of others to burn past the surface scrapes of small outward changes into the tender fleshy part of me that stings so bad it leaves me with no option but be transformed in my very character. I'm learning that I cannot understand my Savior's suffering at all or His love for me, if I do not suffer and if I am not forced to call out to Him.

Nothing makes me understand "They meant it for evil, but God meant it for good," like a deep pit, being sold into slavery in Egypt, and a few years in prison. How much more clearly than I, do they see the face of Jesus who are truly persecuted? I'm no Joseph or tortured missionary, but I will take the painful circumstances I am given and thank God that they exist to keep me from being the same old sinner I was yesterday. And rejoice, for to be more like Christ and see His smile is worth all of it and more.

Slam the door on Queenliness.

2007-04-26T07:38:00.000-07:00

We are to walk worthy of the calling with which we have all been called. Paul sets that example by calling himself a prisoner in Ephesians 4. As prisoners and not queens, we are to put on certain attitudes that build unity.

These attitudes are humility, patience, gentleness and if that weren't enough, forbearance (even more patience).

Unity comes as we individually crucify attitudes, words and actions that have made us more independent; more like someone on the throne than in the prison cell. Selfishness and pride promote separateness, not unity.

Your Christian walk as an individual effects others. What needs to be crucified today? Search out that queenliness that needs to spend a little time in jail and slam the door on it.

Unity

2007-04-23T14:02:00.000-07:00

I heard an illustration on unity:
Picture four Christians standing at four corners of a pyramid and Christ is standing on the pinnacle. As each person grows in Christ-likeness they are not only growing closer to Christ at the top, but also growing closer to each other. Therefore Christian unity depends upon each of us being diligent to grow more and more like Christ as individuals for the strengthening of the body as a whole.

I'll be asking the Lord to help me with that for your sake.

Beware of the Tide of Selfish Tears

2007-03-02T08:03:00.000-08:00

I was a cry-baby. I remember as a child falling behind on the hiking path while indulging my tender mood with morsels of the offenses and slights of others. Hanging back in mercy for my own ego while others danced on ahead having fun. This is childish, the ever popular pity-party. When we were children, we thought and spoke and acted as children. Ladies, we're grown-ups now. Are we a bunch of self-appointed heiresses? Why all the crying? We are up to our Capri hems in the tide of our own tears while the kingdom of God marches on without us. Everywhere I look there are whiny, women. We are wearing childish attitudes as inappropriately as we would diapers. From the ever present and annoying call for "Me Time" to the days spent in sullen rejection over one insensitive comment, we are counting ourselves out of purposeful kingdom living.

I found one prayer very helpful:

"Lord, I am one small person in your vast kingdom. I will do the duty you have called me to, though it is small and needs other members' gifts to complete it. I will not act like I am entitled to more. I do not deserve other people to overlook my faults or make plans to love me. I will not act like it is the duty of everyone else to like me, approve of me or notice my efforts. It is their duty as it is mine, to love and notice and praise you, oh Lord Most High. I won't stand and wait for common courtesies and special treatments before I sacrifice for others. I do not pretend that my good opinion should be sought out and that I should bestow it on others whether they think they need it or not. My words and thoughts and actions have been filled with selfish ambition and pride and I do now lay them at your feet in repentance. I do deserve, however, to give all that I am and all that I have back to the one who gave them to me at first. I am obligated to stand and defend your honor, your holiness and your majesty at all times, even when it means I must swear to my own hurt to do it. I do not diminish my role in your body by false humility, but with a sound mind posses it and carry it out in your power and to your glory. In Jesus, Amen."

This prayer comes from Romans 12:3-5 "For through the grace given to me I say to every man among you not to think more highly of yourself than you ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another."

Proverbial Smack....Trust

2007-02-23T15:18:00.000-08:00

Proverbs 31:11

"The heart of her husband trusts in her." This is the first attribute of a godly woman listed in Proverbs 31, right after she is described as having a worth that exceeds all jewels.

This is not just about sexual fidelity. This is about being trustworthy in all that pertains to her as a person; trustworthy in character, thoughts, motivations, words, actions, and in the things she chooses not to think, say and do.

Smack:

1.Can your husband trust you to be content?
"The grass is not greener on the right or the left side, but it is greenest where it is watered and fertilized." ~my friend Judy Anderson
also verse 25 of Proverbs 31 says, "she smiles at the future"

2.Can your husband trust you to build him up to others?
"She does good to him and not evil all the days of her life." v12

3. Can your husband trust you to be diligent with disciplining the children?
"the teaching of kindness is on her tongue"vv26-28

4. Can he trust you not to embarrass him by inappropriate behavior or words?
"strength and dignity are her clothing" v25

5. Can he trust you to not freak out?
"she smiles at the future" v25

6. Can he trust you to offer wise words to others?
"she opens her mouth in wisdom" v26

So you want to start understanding the Bible (part 2)

2007-02-16T07:34:00.000-08:00

Sin: What is it? Why is it so important to be saved from it.

Sin had its beginning very near the beginning of human creation. Genesis chapter 1 and 2 are the account of creation. By chapter 3 of human history, we are already done for. Eve disobeyed God's command not to eat the fruit of one particular tree. Adam then followed her in disobedience. Their sin broke off their relationship with God.

One must understand a little bit of the character of God to understand why sin offends Him. He is perfect, sinless, holy, good and with Him, all things are right. Sin offends Him. (Isaiah chapter 6)

Sin is anything we do that offends God's character: Lying, stealing, murdering someone etc (James 4:17) (Ex 20-the ten commandments).
Sin is anything we think that offends God: Hating someone, being bitter, selfish motives, lust,doubting God (James 1:6) (Matthew 15:7-9).
Sin is anything we say that offends God: cutting words, mean spirited comments, perverse joking (Gen. 8:21) (James 1:26).

How do we know these things offend God? He gave us the Bible.

No one is free from these things. AAAAhhhhh! THE STANDARD IS TOO HIGH!!!
(Romans 3:23)

Precisely. That is why it is impossible to do enough good to make up for our bad to please God. He will always be displeased with sin (Romans 3:28).

He will hold us accountable for sin. There is a place called hell where people go when they die, if they are not saved from their sin (Matt. 10;28) (Mark 9:47,48).

Our sin can only be one of two places............on me..............or on Christ.

How do I give my sin over to Christ?

Believe: that Christ is the only one who can take my sin away(Romans 10:9,10)
Repent: turn from sin.(Acts 26:20)
Ask: Him to save me (Romans 10:10)

Once you are saved:
Give: yourself over to Him to be changed by the power of His Spirit and His Word.
Go: to church and be a part of a Christian family that can help you grow.
Be Baptized: Acts 2:38
Read: your Bible every day
Pray: communicate with God. Praise and thank Him/Confess Sin/ask for help/pray for others

So you want to start studying the Bible (part 2)

2007-01-31T07:34:00.000-08:00

Continued....simple study from the book of John.
Read all of John Chapter one

Day three:

Read John chapter 1 verse 14

1. The Word that became flesh is Jesus. We can tell by the context. "Became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." Why is it important that God became flesh and came to live an earthly life?

2. What does Grace mean?

3. Why is it important that Jesus was full of Grace and Truth?

Day four: Read John chapter 1:15,16

John the baptist testified to Jesus' greatness and the fact that Jesus is eternal.

1. What phrase in verse 15 tells you this?

2. Verse 16 talks about the Law which God gave us through Moses, but Jesus Christ brought grace. What is the difference and why is this so important?

Days five through seven of this study will be in "So you want to start studying the Bible (part 3)
The answers to all seven days' questions will be posted on "so you want to start studying the Bible (part 4).

Why I read the Bible (part 2)

2007-01-29T07:36:00.000-08:00

The Bible answers all the deepest questions we have.

Why do I have a conscience? Why do I feel Guilt?

The Apostle Paul writes to the Christian church in Rome: "Because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made so that they are without excuse. (Romans 1:19)

There is a sense of God written in our very make-up. God in His mercy has given us a feeling that someone is watching (if you will), and creation testifies to it. When we stand under the shadow of a huge mountain or at the edge of the Ocean we see something much bigger than ourselves. We have a conscience to remind us that things are not right with us until we acknowledge that person who created us, answer to Him for all the ways we are broken.

We see guilt as something negative in this age of comfort and instant pleasure. Guilt gets in the way of our fun and fulfilment. Let today mark the day that someone opened your eyes to what the gift of guilt really is. It is a sense that warns you that you are not o.k. without God. We need to see the only way to freedom from the sin that separates you from Him....His son Jesus Christ.

There is only one cure for guilt: Forgiveness. Not the kind that comes from other people, though that is important, but truly our offenses are only against God. He erases Guilt when He saves you from your sin. It is like taking off your filthy bum rags and replacing them with the new clothes of His goodness.

Read Psalm 103:12 and 13 and see how far He separates us from our guilt when we place our faith in Christ.

Why I read the Bible (Part 1)

2007-01-24T22:33:00.000-08:00

Have you decided to not buy the rot this world hands us? I'm not buying it. I reject the notion that I am only material. A few cells divided and now I am just a large flap of skin stretched over a skeleton and a few internal organs. I don't care how many science professors, and other smart people, try to tell me that what I think and feel about myself is just a more highly developed manifestation of what is otherwise just primordial goo. The very fact that I do think proves them wrong.

If I really am only physical, why do I have a conscience? Why do I feel really happy or extremely sad? Where do feelings of guilt come from and why do I desire to know who I am and why I'm here? Why are people never satisfied unless they are accomplishing something great or creating something beautiful? Why do we have a need to be loved, understood, heard and accepted? Why am I curious about concepts and ideas and not just satisfied, as monkeys are, in flinging excrement and eating lice? Because I am on purpose. And I bear the image of the One who purposed me. My mockery of ridiculous ideas proves that I am created in God's image. The Bible says that, "The Lord sits in the heavens and laughs...." at those who mock and ignore Him. (Psalm 2:4)

This is why I read the Bible. All of the questions above have been answered with complete satisfaction for me in the pages of Scripture.

I will answer these questions from Scripture in "Why I read the Bible (parts 2, 3, and 4) Stay tuned.

So you want to start understanding the Bible (part 1)

2007-01-24T20:13:00.000-08:00

Jesus said, "the Truth will set you free."

Hit me with the basics. The Bible in a nutshell:

God is perfect, holy and loving (1John 4:8).

He created people to enjoy life, each other, creation and most importantly God (Genesis 1:27;Genesis 2:18).

People sinned and tore their perfect relationship with God apart (Genesis 3; Romans 3:23).

God could no longer accept people because they were sinful and He is not. His anger toward men and women could only mean one thing for us, death (Romans 6:23).

God chose a nation to represent Him (Israel) He gave them a law to obey.
God did not choose Israel because they were perfect, good or strong. (Deut.7:7,8).

They proved time and time again that no one could keep the law perfectly and most people don't even try (Romans 8:1-3).

We can't get back to God it is too far from where we are in our sinful state to His perfection (Romans 8:7).

God came to us in the form of a man, Jesus Christ. He did what we couldn't do, He lived a perfectly sinless life. Jesus came for one purpose, to take our punishment. When He gave His life for us He offered us an opportunity to exchange our sin for His goodness (Romans 8:31-36).

Those who believe in Him and what He has done for them are then accepted by God, and made children of God, because of their faith in Jesus....not by any good works they have ever done. Jesus is their substitute.

We obey as a result of being saved from sin and death.

Question: Are you depending on your good deeds to earn favor with God or are you depending on Christ death and resurrection in your place? Have you ever told God that you believe what He has done for you? Have you ever placed your faith in Him and asked Him to bring you into His family?

I will get more specific about these points of God's plan to save us from sin in "So you want to start understanding the Bible (parts 2,3 and 4)" Stay tuned.

So you want to start studying the Bible (part 1)

2007-01-24T19:30:00.000-08:00

A very simple study: Read all of John Chapter One. John is the fourth book in the New Testament.

Day One: reread John chapter 1 verses 1-5
1) Who is being referred to as the "Word"?

2) Who was in the beginning with God and actually is God?

3)Life is found in who? (verse 4)

4) What does it mean that light shined in darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it?

Day two: reread John chapter 1 verses 6-13

1) Who was the man who testified to the light?

2) Who is the light he testified to?

3) By now, you understand that this book is about Jesus. Who does verse 12 say have been given the right to become children of God?

Days three and four will be added to "So you want to start studying the Bible (part 2)"

This American Girl

2007-01-23T08:54:00.000-08:00

This American girl, doesn’t need what you give.

She’s just fine, the way she is.

With her Grand Canyon God and her face to the hills,

And the song He gave her and the space that it fills.

She’s not the image of your low-rise god,

And she won’t wait for you to say she’s not.

She’s not wasting these beautiful days,

Paying homage to your empty praise.

Just a vapor of years and then she’s gone;

Imagine she cares, but you’d be wrong.

Keep your offer to be only her skin;

She is the life that’s on fire within.

She’s not the target of insatiable eyes,

Doesn’t need your applause to brighten her life.

She’s not the kind to believe your lies,

And she won’t roll over in your shallow tide.

Just a breath until She’s gone,

You're a speck in her mirror, already moved on.

Don’t mistake her for only her skin,

When the fire and light stay alive within...

her

She is burning alive all your cheap fame.

She’s not your hottie, She’s not your thang!

She’s more than her body and a pretty face;

She’s loved by the One who gave Beauty its name.

Just a vapor of years and she'll be gone.

Don’t bother to call her, her cell’s not on.

She’s deeper and more than this skin She’s in;

His love and beauty are a fire deep in...

her

This American girl, doesn’t need what you give,

She’s just fine the way she is.

With her vast ocean God and her face to the sky;

And the song of her Maker and the turn of His smile.

Bring your idols out into the light

2007-01-22T11:24:00.000-08:00

Two similar sounding but very different questions will reveal idolatry in your life:

Do you sin when you don't get what you want?

Do you sin in order to get what you want?

Our women's retreat speaker for the first night, Nancy Day, challenged us to ask ourselves these questions. Your answers will reveal what your idols are. What do you love more than God that you are willing to disobey Him to get?

Go on, slap your manipulative self....if you dare!

She says, "I am, and there is no one besides me"

2007-01-11T09:29:00.000-08:00

Nineveh was a city known for her self-absorption, and arrogance. It reminds me of America and American women in particular. God says of Nineveh, "This is the exultant city which dwells securely, who says in her heart, "I am, and there is no one besides me.""

"There is no one besides me." We are born with this worldview, but aren't we also taught to think and act that way. Isn't that typically American? Every media outlet, book and self-help guide begins with "me." I dare you to try to go a day without hearing about fulfilling your dreams, your goals, your happiness or your personal ambitions. If you make it past the first click of the remote, I'll be amazed.

The thing that truly amazes me is that the promoters of this kind of thinking don't stop for one second to realize that if all the people in the world take their advice, not one person will be looking out for them. Its a good thing God's ways are not like ours.

As Christians, we are to be slaughtering this kind of godless thinking. Self-absorption is not an option for us. What can be done?
The ugliness of me-ism gives us fair warning. It usually starts with little thoughts of self-protection, self-promotion or a sense of entitlement. Awareness of these thoughts enables us to kill them while they are still small. Are you actively killing them?

What was said of Nineveh could be said of any of our lives if we act like we don't need God. "How she has become a desolation, a resting place for beasts! Everyone who passes by her will hiss and wave his hand in contempt."

(Zephaniah 2:15)

Personal Sin is Not So Personal

2007-01-10T13:08:00.000-08:00

"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends."

Few of us will have the opportunity to actually take a large smack by a bus while pushing one of our friends out of its path and safely onto the curb. We will, however, have occasion to die for them in other ways. Denying our own self-interest in order to serve them, wearing out the knees of our jeans praying for them, bearing their burdens in difficulties, being patient with their weaknesses.......are just a few ways we die for them. The little deaths sometimes are very difficult.

But here's one we often overlook, personal death to the sins of the heart....the ones that no one sees. How aggressively I confront the private iniquity hidden in the shadows of me, directly effects what crawls out onto everyone I know. How can I secretly dwell on careless comments made by someone about me, and not have it grow into a temptation to be unforgiving toward that individual? An unforgiving spirit leads to coldness, coldness leads to bitterness and bitterness to the death of the relationship. It works best to pull an oak tree out of the flower bed while it is only a little sprout.

Bitterness is only one example. There are hundreds. Disobedience to God's Word has consequences beyond ourselves. We need look no further than the first two people on earth for that example.

Another of these little deaths is the death to discontentment. Discontentment = Idolatry! Most wrong thoughts are because I am unhappy and want to be happy. Do I look to the people around me to make me happy? If this is true, then the people in my life become my little idols, either because they are making me unhappy or I think they will bring me happiness in some way. This really isn't fair because people are powerless to satisfy us. Our sin of idolatry creates an expectation on those around us that will always make them feel they are coming up short in our eyes...this is frustrating and hurtful to them. Only in God's presence is there fullness of joy and only at His right hand are there pleasures forever!

So you see, my secret dissatisfactions with God and how He has ordered my life, spill out in large sloshes of messy goo on my friends and family. Sorry to say, it is often the children who get drenched first. They need to learn the way of keeping short accounts on sin and the practice of immediate repentance from me.

Today will not be a day of idolatry for me..........I refuse to dump that pot of gunk on my husband, kids or unsuspecting church members! So I will get up off my selfish tail and confront my personal pride and selfishness, and lay down my life in victorious acts of love for my friends and for the great glory of my God!

Published in Voice Magazine Nov/Dec 2006
posted by Amy DeBurgh on bringingupdaniels.blogspot.com May 10, 2006

Happy New Year, now quit wasting time!

2007-01-02T06:57:00.000-08:00

Did you know that it only takes 1 minute and 45 seconds to sweep a small kitchen floor? How do I know? I have been convicted lately that I waste too much time every day. I put my cup of tea in the microwave and punched in 1 minute and 45 seconds. (times may vary according to microwave wattage). It dawned on me that I could actually accomplish something. I grabbed the broom and the floor was done before the timer went off.

I do not have OCD, nor am I suggesting that you all come down with it. But this little activity sparked a new way of thinking for me. I will quote a song now, "Every moment that we borrow brings us closer to the edge, infinity" ("Gone" by the band Switchfoot). They didn't come up with this. God has told us in Proverbs to consider the ant who works continually, off season, to prepare for the winter. Oh yeah, and there's always Proverbs 31.

Have fun finding ways to glorify the Giver of every minute by using every minute for His glory.
Times up for this post, gotta let the dog in.

Proverbial Smack: The Things We Think Will Save Us

2006-12-15T06:56:00.000-08:00

Honor the Lord from your wealth, and from the first of all your produce;
so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine. Proverbs 3:9

We can never out-give the great Giver of all wonderful gifts. God will always be more generous than we are. The Word of the great Giver says that our needs will be met when we give Him our first and choice fruits. But doesn't God need me to worry? Doesn't He need me to run around manipulating my circumstances to meet my own needs?

No. He doesn't. God doesn't like horses and chariots in battle. He likes His people to shout, "Great is the Lord and mighty to save!"

Proverbs 3 will slap all of your self-reliance if you submit to the Holy Spirit as you read it.

v1-2:Keeping God's commandments prolongs your life: not vitamins and exercise (eating right and exercising can give you energy and help you avoid temptations toward grouchiness)

v3-4:Being kind and hanging on to the truth with all your strength will protect your reputation: not small compromises to make people like you.

v5-7:Trust in the Lord with all your heart: your own understanding is worthless to guide you. Do not be wise in your own eyes.

v7,8:Fearing the Lord and turning from evil will refresh your physical body: Not "spa days" and "me time" (rest and quiet time with the Lord can refresh your determination to turn from evil)

v9:Give your money away to meet needs and God will meet your needs: our needs are not met in stinginess.

v11:Do not rebel against the Lord's discipline in your life, it is because He loves you:

The discipline of not being provoked

2006-12-14T06:33:00.000-08:00

Sometimes we are flat out justified in being irritated, aren't we? "But the greatest of these is love," 1 Corinthians 13 tells us. I do just fine sailing right through the "love" chapter only to run my self-righteous ship aground on verse five. Love is not provoked. I get provoked regularly by people, obnoxious drivers, self-centered shoppers in stores, other believers at church and the friend or family member that keeps committing the same sins against me.

I may not explode immediately. Usually I just walk away irritated and fuel the provocation by reenacting the drama or comments that took place. This causes me to be anxious, or get angry or develop unfair assessments of people.

I need to be like Christ! He loves, covers sin, loves some more, covers more sin and continues to love me and cover my sin to this very moment. A continual giving over of my fleshly responses will make me react better next time. Putting off negative comments through prayer and putting on a heart of love, by yielding to the Holy Spirit, will make me a more honorable child of the Lord, a better witness to the lost and a loving sister to other believers. I'm letting God work this out of me, are you?

Confessions of Confidence in God's Faithfulness

2006-11-28T09:15:00.000-08:00

My victory is in the strong arm of the Lord who will deliver me.

If I confess my sin openly to Him and I do not hide it...

If I forsake that sin and utterly hate it and I seek Him in prayer to help me overcome future temptations...

If I don't make excuses for my sin or blame others...

If I am thorough in my excavation of it from the earth of my flesh and when I dig it up, I search for deeper sins to confess...

If I do not demand payment from others who have sinned against me, but readily cover over their transgressions with grace...

Then I am assured that under the cross of His Son, I am sheltered and a righteousness that is not my own will cry out to God for my protection. Then will He forgive and deliver me. If my faith rests in Him then nothing is more sure, nothing will prove more faithful than my One True God.

Slapping Your Lack of Thankfulness: by Makeesha Stachofsky

2006-11-15T07:46:00.000-08:00

So if I asked you this question: What do you think some of your struggles or weaknesses are? Many of us could name a few. Most of us though may not say oh yeah, thankfulness. Yet, many of our struggles stem from a lack of a thankful heart. Thankfulness can be a tool we use to overcome many of our sins. A daily gratitude towards God and what He has done for us can arm us for battle against the sin in our lives. Living out the gospel message daily yields a thankful heart. We were dead in our trespasses and sins and the God of this universe, in His mercy, saved me from what I deserved. He gave me the blood of Christ to wash away my sins so that I could put on the righteousness of Christ. Nothing that I did or will do can earn that or lose it. It is the finished work of Christ and only that which saves me. This breeds thankfulness!!! Live out this thankfulness through the gospel of Christ and you will decrease as Christ increases. Less of you naturally then allows less of our fleshly struggles to intervene in our lives. Today if you are struggling with contentment in your relationship with your husband—thankfulness can be the answer. Today if you are dealing with envy or the comparison game—thankfulness can be the answer. If anger and bitterness are welling up inside—thankfulness can be the answer. If today you do not like the circumstances God has put you in—thankfulness can be the answer. So how does this look? Well....
First we need to understand that thanksgiving is not just a response when something good comes our way—rather it is a perspective. A proper perspective of who God is and what He has done for us and still continues to do through us daily. When we come with the perspective of knowing we are lowly and undeserving of His favor, not able to offer Him anything good or worthy. We are then in a place where thanksgiving can thrive. We need to realize all we have is from Him—who we are, what we are capable of doing...everything! By understanding this we have a free-flowing thanksgiving. A thanksgiving that in continual because we understand everything we have is due to Him and for His glory.
When we step outside of this perspective, into our flesh, is when we start to demand things for ourselves. Our expectations in relationships rise. We believe we are justified in our anger, bitterness, envy, vanity, and pride. We believe we deserve certain treatment, a kind of love, and carry an heir of entitlement. How ugly our sin can be. I believe many sins start with a lack of thankfulness in our lives. Thankfulness can be the remedy to many of our fleshly struggles. By reminding yourself how little you deserve and how much you have in Christ thankfulness can abound and our desire to cater to ourselves can die. When we are thankful the automatic result is to take our eyes off of ourselves. In taking our eyes off of selfish desires we can put off the sin like envy, discontentment, bitterness, anger and more... The easiest way to put off sin and keep it off is to then put on a biblical action—like thankfulness. Thankfulness is proactive—it pushes hindrances aside. Adding thankfulness to your arsenal to deal with sin, especially sins of self, will help you conquer those nagging ugly sins that just don’t seem to go away... Thankfulness can be the action that replaces the sin because a thankful heart does not question, does not boast, does not seek its own. A thankful heart does not gripe at their husband or tuck away bitterness or let anger take hold.
Choosing to look at each situation through God’s perspective and not our own is the challenge. Our own perspective will take us to a place where we say: Why didn’t he plan anything for me? Doesn’t he know how I am feeling? I deserve the kind of love the world has shown me I deserve. Our expectations, which are full of selfish gain, can leave us cold, bitter, hurt and unresponsive. This is not a godly perspective. Instead, we need to get our eyes off of ourselves and onto Christ. When our eyes are on Christ then thankfulness is what naturally follows. This may sound oversimplified. It is simple, however it is not always that easy to put into action. That is why we need to arm ourselves with the Word of God, friends, mentors, and prayer to daily take off the action of self-gratification and put on a thankful heart. A thankful heart sees who provides, who gives the abilities, who allows the good and bad in our lives.
There are 4 steps to a more thankful heart:

1) You need to believe that GOD is the creator and giver of all things. He is the One who saves us from our sins. We do nothing to deserve His mercy. Rom. 5:8 while we were still sinners Christ died for us

2) You need to be reliant—or dependent on God for all that you do and who you are. Nothing we do of our own strength is worth anything. Die to yourself and let Christ live through you. Phil 4:13- I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.—do it in Christ’s strength!

3) Talk truth to yourself—know scripture so that in times of struggle you can feed yourself the truth found in the Bible. For example memorize scripture that takes you from a place of discontentment and brings you to a place of joy. Phil. 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again rejoice!”..... If you are struggling with envy, pride, expectations gone awry go back to I Cor. 13 and define love to yourself over and over—it is kind, patient, does not boast, seek its own, does not envy, is not rude-it bears, hopes and endures all things. 1 Thess. 5:16-17 –in everything give thanks.

4) You need to pray and give praise to our mighty God. Psa. 92:1-4
Heb. 13:15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

The right perspective knows that we are the creation and we need to give praise and thanksgiving to the Creator in every circumstance that He brings our way. Remember a thankful heart is a happy heart and a happy heart does not fall to the sins of the flesh as much as a discontented one. So when you are struggling with comparing and envy, anger, bitterness and more a thankful heart can take you to the place that overcomes those sins. See God for who He is—Praise His wonderful name.

Praying Deeper

2006-10-03T08:22:00.000-07:00

Oh Lord, we are Yours because the sky went dark over our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus You were forsaken and we were accepted. We ernestly pray that we would honor Your sacrifice by our holy living. What it means that you were rejected and forsaken by God the Father is more pain and a deeper crushing of spirit than we can ever fully comprehend. To a small degree we have felt rejection, but nothing like you suffered. We have been falsely accused but never as unfairly as our sinless Savior. We have been injured but not to the extent You were by those who purposely mocked and hated You. We have been called liars and hypocrites, but at times we have lied and we have been unfaithful. You are the One whose Name is Faithful and True. And on that day when You come as Judge, You are justified in your wrath. May we be found hiding under your cross.

Proverbial Smack

2006-09-06T10:37:00.000-07:00

"As Iron Sharpens Iron, so one man sharpens another"

Choosing to be around those who rub you slightly the wrong way, and forcing yourself
to listen just might make you more godly. After all, isn't iron rubbed the wrong way on iron so that it can be sharpened? When we surround ourselves with people who only tell us what we want to hear or agree with our every viewpoint, we are softening our existance and keeping our character weak. We need to be sharpened by others. We need to appreciate the differences in others and value God's work in them that has made them stronger than we are....that is if we can even admit they are stronger.

Biography Recommendation from Connie Naresh

2006-09-05T17:37:00.000-07:00

One obedient women who is remembered in history is...- Harriet Beecher Stowe; first obedient to her father and then to husband. A great biography is THE LIFE OF HARRIET BEECHER STOWE by Charles Edward Stowe.

2006-07-16T13:49:00.000-07:00

Proverbial Smack: Saving Our Skin

2006-07-11T08:50:00.000-07:00

"My son, do not forget my teaching.
But let your heart keep my commandments;
For length of days and years of life,
And peace they will add to you"
3:1,2

Sometimes a situation arises where we are tempted to compromise our obedience to God's Word. We don't see any other way out. We lean toward self-protection. Maybe it is a bending of work policy or a little lie. Maybe we justify too much spending or too much eating with excuses. We know that the path we choose isn't the best, but can't bring ourselves to call it wrong.

Slap: God is the one who controls the outcome of situations. He has the power to bless our obedience with good things such as length of days, and peace. We might be tempted to think a "small" disobedience is the only way to save our skin.

Encouragement: Christian in Pilgrim's Progress, was at the Palace Beautiful receiving his official armor for his journey. When he was fitted with the body protection, he questioned why there was only armor for the front and his back was wholly unprotected. His wise advisors asked him, "You aren't planning on turning and running are you?"

If you look at seemingly small compromises as turning and running, and at complete obedience as meeting the enemy head-on, it might help you in this good fight you are in.

Are you Honoring the Word of God?

2006-06-29T11:23:00.000-07:00

Beware, the world hates this stuff.
Are these passages familiar to you?
"That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children..

[To be] discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. "

Are you honoring the word of God? Submission is not a joke. The role of a woman in a Christian family is not a joke. Is it possible? Could it really be true that the reputation of the word of God is hinged upon how well you and I fulfill these commands in Titus chapter two? That's exactly what it says. Reading it backwards helps. That the word of God may not be blasphemed, young women, obey your husbands, keep your homes, be discreet, chaste and teach others to love their husbands and children.

Why is the church so tempted to be like the world in these ways. We act like if we ignore God and His commands then we can, by our own power, reach the lost by through our worldliness. We act like we are doing the saving of lost souls by living like them. Jesus said we are to be a lighted city on a hill, different from the world.

Christ builds His church. How can we be so sure He even wants to use us, if we don't obey what we've already been given? It seems to me that every Christian woman wants to be useful to God. Here comes the slap.

slap: Are you dishonoring God by doing other things more than working at home? Are you submitting with joy to your husband? Are you teaching other women by your example how to love their husbands and children?

slap: God can use someone else if you are intent on doing things your own way.

Ruth Study Week 5 (Last One)

2006-06-24T10:06:00.000-07:00

The Book of Ruth
Week 5 June 20th-27th (Feel free to cut and paste this for your own use)

Memory Verse: Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. James 1:21

Day 1
Prayer Starter: Lord, please show me from your word how I can be more like Christ.
After having studied this book, what do you think are its main themes or purposes?
Write a synopsis of the book in as few words as possible so that you could explain the basic elements to someone who has no knowledge about Ruth.

Day 2
Prayer Starter: Lord, show me how I can become an exemplary woman for you and your kingdom
How does Ruth model what our relationship with Christ should be (2:10, 13; 3:9)?
What characteristic of Ruth is most appealing to you?
What step will you take in order to allow God to produce this character trait in your life as a wife and mother?

Day 3
Prayer starter: Thank you, Lord that you chose to redeem me, when I was a helpless sinner.
Review how Boaz serves as a kinsman-redeemer for Ruth. What does he do (2:8-9, 11-12, 14-16, 20; 3:1, 10-13, 15; 4:1-10)?
In what way are Boaz and Ruth a type of Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:25-32; Revelation 21:2, 9-10)?

Day 4
Prayer starter: Lord, teach me to trust, obey and wait.
Read Ruth
How do Boaz and Ruth resemble God and Israel (Isaiah 54:5; Ezekiel 16:1-14)?
How does this story portray the grace of God in providing redemption for sinful people?
How does the story encourage you to see that God’s timing is best?

Day 5
Prayer starter: Lord, help me to sacrifice my own plans for yours
What evidences did you find in this book of God’s providence and faithfulness?
What did you learn about the consequences of leaving the path of righteousness that God intends?
What choice are you faced with today that would lead you away from God’s plan?

Day 6 Prayer starter:
Fill my heart with praises and thanksgiving for who you are and what you’ve done.
How does the book of Ruth illustrate the following scriptures?
Acts 10:24-35?
Deuteronomy 10:17-18
Isaiah 58:6-7
Write a simple poem, prayer or song of praise to God for His greatness as

My commitment to not compromise
I will read my Bible every day
I will pray for God’s will in my life before I request anything
I refuse to distrust God even when things seem difficult
I will bless others even when they curse me
I will welcome the plans of God even though I may suffer
I will look for opportunities to share my faith with the lost
I will speak the name of Christ more often in my conversations
I will find my satisfaction in God and not in people or material things
I will increase my prayer time and get up earlier to commune with God, my dearest confidant and sovereign Lord
I will clean up my intake…the things I watch and the books I read, and the music I listen to. Knowing that holiness brings blessing and honors my Savior who died because of sin

Ruth Study Week 4

2006-06-24T10:02:00.000-07:00

Week 4: June 13th-20th (Feel free to cut and paste this for your own use)
The Book of Ruth

This Weeks Memory Verse: Psalm 119:1 “How blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord.”

Day 1
Read Ruth 4, watching for the who, where, what, when, and whys.
Prayer Starter:
Keep my ways blameless oh Lord, and show me where I put the wrong things first.

Review: Sum up the study of chapter 3 in one or two words?
Who are the main characters in chapter 4?
Describe your impression of each main character.
Where does the action in this chapter take place?
What do you think is the theme (main idea) of chapter 4?
Thinking about the choices Boaz and the unnamed kinsman make, what do you learn about each man’s priorities?
Application: What choices are you faced with that indicate your priorities?

Day 2
Read Ruth 4, marking key words and phrases, and noting their context.
Prayer Starter: Oh Lord, forgive my love of comfort. Enable me to take risks for your glory, Your kingdom and Your Name

Identify any important key words or phrases and note their context.
What is the sequence of events in this chapter?
Write a title for each section you see in chapter 4.
Why is it important “to maintain the name of the dead with his property”?
How was Boaz rewarded for risking his own name and estate (Matthew 1:5-16)?
Application: Are you faced with a risky decision? How would Boaz’s example help you to choose the right priorities?

Day 3
Read Ruth 4.
Prayer Starter: Lord, I believe you are true to your promises. Help me to stay true to mine.
What historical or cultural customs take place in this chapter?
What reference to Moab does Deuteronomy 23:3 give from the Old Covenant law?
What does Isaiah 56:3-8 promise in the New Covenant? What is significant about the fact that David and Jesus were descended from a Moabitess?
Application: How does this New Covenant promise apply to you?

Day 4
Read Ruth 4, identifying commands, sins, or promises from God (if there are any).
Prayer Starter: Lord, increase my prayer time, and make every decision a matter of prayer for me.
What sins do you identify in this chapter?
What response should we have to sin in our life?
How was Ruth’s faithfulness to the God of Israel rewarded?
Read Hebrews 11:6 and ask yourself, “Do I truly believe that God rewards those who diligently seek Him?”
Application: Share a difficult decision you are facing today. Who will you ask to pray with you about this?

Day 5
Read Ruth 4, focusing on biblical truths and the attributes of God.
Prayer Starter: Lord, give me a deeper understanding of You and change me in the light of who You are.
What biblical truths do you see in this chapter?
Application: State a truth that is relevant to you. How do you fall short in relation to this truth? What is one thing you will do toward having your life change, based on this truth?
What do you learn about God in this chapter? What do you see Him doing? How do the main characters respond?
Application: In view of this deeper understanding of God, how will you, as a wife and mother, respond? What steps will you take to change?

Day 6
Read Ruth 4 and review what you have learned this week.
Prayer Starter: Lord, I will rejoice in You, every day and I will give You glory through blessings and sufferings.
Naomi referred to her life as empty (1:13, 20-21). How did God bring fullness to her life in wealth, family, and status in the community?
Though you may not be experiencing blessings from the Lord in those same areas, can you name ways in which you see your life full because of His blessing upon you?

Poor, Blind, Naked and left to die

2006-06-23T06:55:00.000-07:00

Ezekiel 16:1-14 Gives a picture of what Israel was like before and after God took them in. I do not think it is much of a stretch to say it is also a picture of who we are without Christ.

What an aweful picture, a newborn left to die. A young girl at the age of puberty left outside uncovered. Can you think of anything more humiliating?

If you read this portion of scripture, there is enough there to slap any ingratitude out of us all.

What Grace! What Mercy! What covering, redeeming Love!

Adeburgh

The Proverbial Smack, the evildoer?

2006-06-16T13:26:00.000-07:00

An evildoer listens to wicked lips, A liar pays attention to a destructive tongue. 17:4

Interesting how the evildoer isn't really doing too much, just listening.
The Liar isn't really lying, just paying attention.

hmmmm? Very interesting

Smack:
God has a category for those who think they aren't really sinning by just listening to gossip or just paying attention to someone else speak destructive words.... He calls that person an evildoer and a liar.

The Positive Replacement:
Remove yourself and your ears from the path of those who would speak destruction on others and surround yourself with kingdom builders.

Just in passing...

2006-06-15T13:27:00.000-07:00

I was out driving yesterday and I saw a bumper sticker that read:

"Obedient women are never remembered in History."

I reply with this question:

But will they be remembered in Eternity?

Alethia, Ex Animo

2006-06-09T05:16:00.000-07:00

Alethia, Ex Animo: "Truth, sincerely from the heart"
by Lisa Nunley

"Alethia's" literal meaning is nothing hidden. The phrase found in Scripture that describes the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Truth literally would be the Spirit who allows nothing to be hidden. The Spirit of Truth is always working to move us as believers beyond outward appearances to God's reality.The Bible speaks a great deal about the value of truthfulness. The subject of reproof in Scripture tells us that only the fool and the wicked man according to Proverbs cannot hear godly reproof.

Consider King David's words about his need for those around him to speak to him truthfully:Let the righteous smite me; it shall be a kindness: and let him reprove me; it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head.Psalm 141:5

Our responsibility to hear the truth from individuals around us grows in proportion to the sphere of our influence. The larger the influence, the more we need people around us to speak the truth in love to us... and sadly the less likely they are to do it. Why? Because we get caught up in the person, not wanting to offend, instead of getting caught up in our love for Christ even if it means "offending" with the Word of truth. Leaders must teach and emphasize truthfulness or they will more likely get affirmation from their subordinates rather than truthfulness.

The leader must be able to discern truth. It seldom will come in a nice package when dealing with sin issues. As King David said in the passage above, sometimes the truth-teller will smite us. Nearly all of these kinds of smiting events will have an element of truth that needs to be discerned. The leader who is insecure will not glean the truth about himself and may dishonor the person seeking to tell the truth. Embraced truth will set us free no matter how it is packaged.

Value systems are always observable in the behavior of leaders. Leaders can teach by their attitudes and behavior that truthfulness is or is not valued. If people around him must earn the right to speak the truth to him by proven loyalty, they are being trained that loyalty over the truth is more valued. As a consequence they will have very little truth spoken to them and confuse affirmation with truthful feedback.Because the truth is not easy to hear, we must speak the truth in wisdom and love. The Word of Truth connects our spiritual growth with speaking the truth.Truth-tellers must have sincere concern for the person and organization being confronted with the truth and therefore be an expression of love.

We must love the truth, even when it smites us. Let us not allow truth telling to be stifled based on blind loyalty. Let us come prepared to meet the One who declared Himself to be the way, the truth, and the life. Loyalty binds us together. The truth sets us free. When we defend our failures at the cost of the reputation of Christ, then we become a revolving door. Weakness in the value of truthfulness produces this revolving door causing hidden problems, turmoil and strife, and disunity. A false unity of tolerance at the expense of the truth.Truth must be highly valued or our integrity becomes weak.

Loyalty alone cannot bind our hearts together in Christ. Truth will always be necessary. Sincerity in this truth is also essential. Sincerity is the best mixture of the values of loyalty and truthfulness. To be sincere is to be loyal to God. To speak the truth boldly in love is to honor God above man.

But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. Ephesians 4:15

Suffering: the Path of Safety and Peace

2006-06-08T07:38:00.000-07:00

"One thing is needful; an humble, dependent spirit, to renounce our own wills, and give up ourselves to His disposal without reserve. This is the path of peace; and it is the path of safety; for He has said, the meek He will teach His way, and those who yield up themselves to Him He will guide with His eye. I hope you will fight and pray against every rising of a murmuring spirit, and be thankful for the great things which He has already done for you. It is good to be humbled for sin, but not to be discouraged: for though we are poor creatures, Jesus is a complete Saviour and we bring more honour to God by believing in His name and trusting His word of promise, than we could do by a thousand outward works." ~John Newton

Though she suffers greatly from MS, Lisa Nunley writes:

"Restored joy:
Not because my body is working like it use to. Not because things are going the way I think they should. But because my God is faithful in spite of my unfaithfulness."

by: Lisa Nunley
Deo Volente
4ever4given.com

I believe she is truly faithful.

The Proverbial Smack....Self-control and Humility

2006-06-06T05:58:00.000-07:00

"Like a city that is broken into and without walls is a man who has no control over his spirit."
25:28

Don't we think that the best protection for ourselves lies within us? When we feel slighted, or that our rights have been violated in some way, by family members or others, we must speak up and defend ourselves or explain profusely why we are right or justified. Or let's take it one step further to losing our tempers. The one who is bugging us, hurting us or slighting us is our enemy right? Wrong! Sin is always our greatest enemy, not the people who tempt us to sin.

slap: When we lose control of our spirit and argue or fight for our rights, we become like a city that is unprotected. If sin is our enemy, then humility and self-control are the strong walls of protection for us. Giving in and let others have their way is a better way to protect ourselves, in actuality, than fighting for our rights (our pride, really).

The Proverbial Smack....married or single.

2006-06-01T07:03:00.000-07:00

And excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels. 31:10

Single Women: In case you never realized this, Proverbs 31 is written to unmarried women. This is who the King is looking for.

Married Women: This was written about you (or at least how you should be)

"The question who can find?" implies that this person is hard to find. That is what makes this verse something we put on this blog today. If you are a faithful reader of this blog, you are someone who is tired of being a status quo christian woman.

vs 11: Look it up and read it three times.

1) A rare and godly Christian is trustworthy.
slap: Quit being lazy! Follow through on your responsibilities. Quit flying from emotion to emotion (no one can trust that person)

2) A rare and godly Christian is a servant.
slap: Quit thinking that true godliness is when you are recognized by people. True godliness is servanthood, in private to one person, or in secret.

The Proverbial Smack

2006-05-31T10:20:00.000-07:00

Today's Proverb.

"A fool has no delight in understandng, But in expressing his own heart." 18:2

1. When others talk, do I spend the whole time thinking about what I will say?
slap: If I do, I do not delight in understanding.

2. Is every follow up comment, I make, a little story about me?
slap: That is self-centered and does not make others feel like you care about them.

3. Do I feel that it is my right to "vent" all that I am feeling at any given time?
slap: God does not think it is right, He calls that person a fool.

The answer:
quick, humble repentance. This is more than "sorry" this is a 180 degree turn around.

The positive replacement:
I will listen to what others are saying.
I will stop talking about myself and start asking questions about what was just said to me.
I will control my emotions and opinions, sharing only that which edifies the one I am speaking to.

Ruth Study: Week One

2006-05-31T09:23:00.000-07:00

M.O.P.s Summer Bible Study 2006 (You may cut and paste this for your own use)
PERSONAL BIBLE STUDY GUIDE

A very special thanks is due my good friend, Dee Ellison. She is the one who put in the diligent effort and organization of this study. Praise be to God who is the giver of all good gifts.

The Book of Ruth
May 30th: Week #1
Before we meet: Preliminary Study In Preparation for our first meeting: Read the Book of Ruth three times to get a feel for the flow of the narrative.

Day 1
Read Ruth 1, watching for the who, where, what, when, and whys.

Review: What did you learn from your preliminary reading of Ruth?
Who are the main characters?
Describe your 1st impression of each main character.

Where does the action in this chapter take place?
What else does Scripture say about Bethlehem (1 Samuel 16:1; Micah 5:2-5; Matthew 2:1-6; Luke 2:1-7)?

When does this event take place in Biblical history?

What do you think is the theme (main idea) of Ruth 1?

Day 2
Read Ruth 1, marking key words and phrases, and noting their context.
Identify any important key words or phrases and note their context.

Write a title you would give for each section in Ruth 1:
1:1-5
1:6-18
1:19-22

What priorities do you see in Orpah and Ruth that affected their choices?
Orpah’s:
Ruth’s:

Application: What is one choice facing you that will be affected by your priorities?

Day 3
Read Ruth 1.
How does Ruth 1:16 and17 exemplify a deep love and commitment?

Look up John 15:13; Philippians 2:4. Note at least 3 ways Jesus and Paul describe this love.

Application: Think of one person (possibly your mother-in-law) you need to show this kind of love and commitment towards this week. How will you act on it? What is hindering you from this type of commitment? What are some excuses you make?

Remember you are able to love because the source of this love is God: I John 4:7, 11 and 12.

Day 4
Read Ruth 1, identifying commands, sins, or promises from God (if there are any).
What sins do you identify in this chapter?

What response should we have?
Proverbs 28:13
Isaiah 55:7
Ephesians 2:8, 9

To what extent was Naomi’s view of God’s hand in her life accurate (1:13, 20-21)?
How should a Christian respond to tragedy that comes into his or her life?
Psalm 3;
Psalm 86
2 Corinthians 1:8-11, 12:7-10

Application: Are you or someone you know hurting as Naomi was? What can you share with her that you have learned today in your study?

Day 5
Read Ruth 1, focusing on biblical truths and the attributes of God.
What Biblical truths do you see in this chapter?
What truth is relevant to you, and how do you fall short in relation to this truth?

Application: What is one thing you can do toward having your life change, based on this truth? Be as specific as possible.

What attributes of God do you see in this passage?

Application: How do these attributes impact your life as a wife and mother today? What change will you make based on your understanding of the character of God?

Day 6
Read Ruth 1 and review what you have learned this week.
Ruth was a woman who trusted God and was totally committed to Him. God accomplished great things through her obedience.

What new step of obedience will you take this week to show your trust and commitment to God?

In what ways have you been trying to take control of your own happiness? How will you commit to rest and to trust God for your circumstances?

Summarize in 2-3 sentences what will help prepare you to meet tragedy in your life or the life of someone you know.

Ruth Study: Week Two

2006-05-31T08:20:00.000-07:00

M.O.P.s Summer Bible Study 2006 (feel free to cut and paste for your own use)
PERSONAL BIBLE STUDY GUIDE
June 6: Week #2
The Book of Ruth

Day 1
Read Ruth 2, watching for the who, where, what, when, and whys.

Review: What did you learn from the teaching of Ruth 1?

Who are the main characters?

Describe your impression of each main character.

Where does the action in this chapter take place?

How did Ruth’s plan to glean relate to Deuteronomy 24:19 and Leviticus 19:9-10? Considering the risk to her as a young woman, what do you learn about Ruth?

What do you think is the theme of Ruth 2?

Day 2
Read Ruth 2, marking key words and phrases, and noting their context.
Identify any important key words or phrases and note their context.

Write a title for each section you see in Ruth 2

How is Ruth’s faith in God described by Boaz in 2:11 and 12?

How does God show Ruth His care and protection because she placed herself “under His wings”?

Have you taken refuge under the “wings of the Lord”?

How would doing this affect your attitudes and actions in your home?

Day 3
Read Ruth 2.
Describe what life must have been like in Israel during the time of the Judges: Judges 17:6; Psalm 12:1-2; Isaiah 57:1; 1 Kings 19:10; Micah 7:2.

How do you see the overruling providence of God displayed here?

How good it is to know that God still has people like Boaz who know the Lord and desire to obey His will! How do you see Boaz bestow God’s grace upon Ruth and Naomi?

Application: How has God demonstrated His grace to you (I John 4:19; Ephesians 2:1-10; Romans 5:6, 8, 10)?

Day 4
Read Ruth 2, identifying commands, sins, or promises from God (if there are any).
What sins do you identify in this chapter?

What response should we have toward our sin?
Isaiah 44:22
Psalm 32:1-5

What do the following verses tell you about the kind of a person Boaz was?
2:4
2:8-9
2:11-12
2:14-16

Application: How can you show kindness to “the living and the dead” this week?

Day 5
Read Ruth 2, focusing on biblical truths and the attributes of God.
What Biblical truths do you see in this chapter?

Application: State the truth that is relevant to you. How do you fall short in relation to this truth? What is one thing you can do to make changes in your life based on this truth?

What attributes of God do you see in this passage?

Application: How do these attributes impact your life as a wife and mother today?

What change will you make based on your understanding of who God is?

Day 6
Read Ruth 2 and review what you have learned this week.
How does Naomi’s response change from chapter 1 to the end of chapter 2?

Does her change of attitude encourage you and if so, how? The new hope the two widows now possessed was centered in a person, Boaz. As a believer our hope is centered in the Son of God, Jesus Christ. How do these verses encourage you as you place your hope in Him?
2 Peter 1:4
Romans 15:13
Colossians 1:27
1 Thessalonians 1:3

Ruth Study: Week Three

2006-05-31T07:20:00.000-07:00

M.O.P.s Summer Bible Study (feel free to cut and paste this lesson for your use)
PERSONAL BIBLE STUDY GUIDE

The Book of Ruth
Week 3: June 13th

Day 1
Read Ruth 3, watching for the who, where, what, when, and whys.
Review: What did you learn from the teaching of Ruth 2?
Who are the main characters in chapter 3?
Describe your impression of each.
Where does the action in this chapter take place?
What do you think is the theme of Ruth 3?

Day 2
Read Ruth 3, marking key words and phrases, and noting their context.
Identify any important key words or phrases and note their context.
Write a title for each section you see in Ruth 3.
What is the sequence of events in this chapter?
True faith demonstrates itself in actions. How does James 1:27 and 2:1-17 describe that kind of faith?
How did Naomi show kindness to Ruth?
How did Boaz describe Ruth’s reputation in the town?
Application: How would people describe your character? How do you demonstrate noble character in your home? How can you apply this teaching in your relationships with family and friends?

Day 3
Read Ruth 3
The characters engaged in cultural patterns that seem totally foreign to us. List what you observe in this regard.
What steps of obedience did Ruth take to comply with Naomi’s plan?
In what ways was Naomi’s request to Ruth difficult for her? How did Ruth respond?
What is Naomi implying in 3:18 that reflects Boaz’s character?
Application: Do people regard you as a person who will do what you say? What is one thing you need to set as a priority in your life?

Day 4
Read Ruth 3.
The Hebrew word, goel meaning “kinsman-redeemer,” (2:20) is a key word in the story. It refers to a close relative who will—or will not—come to the rescue of the person and property to be “redeemed” (3:9, 12, 13; 4:1, 3, 6, 8, 14).
How is the role of kinsman-redeemer played out in these verses?
What were the responsibilities of the kinsman-redeemer according to the following scriptures?
Deuteronomy 25:5-10
Leviticus 25:25-28
Leviticus 25:47-49
Numbers 35:19-21
How does Boaz show kindness as a kinsman-redeemer to Ruth?
How has Jesus Christ acted as our kinsman-redeemer?
1 Peter 1:18-19
Hebrews 2:14-18
Application: Is there someone toward whom you need to show active kindness? What will you do this week to demonstrate this attitude?

Day 5
Read Ruth 3, focusing on biblical truths and the attributes of God.
What biblical truths do you see in this chapter?
Application: State the truth that is relevant to you. How do you fall short in relation to this truth?
What is one thing you can do toward having your life change, based on this truth?
What do you learn about God’s attributes in this passage? How do you see the characters responding to His attributes?
Application: How do these attributes impact your life as a wife and mother today? What change will you make based on your understanding of who God is?
Do you exalt God's worthiness and trust-worthiness enough to obey Him completely? Are you holding back or compromising in any area?

Day 6
Read Ruth 3 and review what you have learned this week.
This chapter ends with both Ruth & Naomi waiting to find out what would happen.
Since waiting is difficult for all of us, how do these verses help us to wait in a way that pleases God?
Ruth 3:18
Exodus 14:13
Psalm 46:10
One evidence of your trust in God’s plan is your willingness to sit still and let Him have His way. How can you demonstrate this truth in your life?
In what ways do you find yourself manipulating your situation in life so that you are
depending on yourself instead of on God's provision?