sarah's journal

It's Been Awhile

2009-04-22T02:48:00.003-05:00

Doesn't even seem like this is my blog! I haven't been here for so long. It's a different sarah that comes here now. Time changes things maybe that same said time will find her again.

My Burial Song

2009-01-25T02:54:00.004-06:00

When I do die, knowledge to which I'm not privy, I want this song to be the song that is sung at my grave site. It probably isn't the best song but I like it. My choice might change with time, but for now it's the one I'll choose.

A Great Book

2009-01-20T14:31:00.005-06:00

Here is a book that lays out a simple yet profound way to pray. It has been a huge blessing to me and I hope it will be to you if you choose to buy it.

When I Cannot Breath

2009-01-15T21:43:00.004-06:00

Sometimes I like to hover in some remote place on the net. A place that has no meaning to me, where no one knows where I am or who I am. A place like "Spam Query" which has no meaning. A place where I don't have to think or defend. A place where no one sees or thinks of how I act. I know it is a false place where I hover, but it is a place of solitude where I can breath.

Talking With God

2009-01-14T03:34:00.002-06:00

Exodus 34:29 "When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God."

Moses' face shone because he had been talking with God. His face reflected the glory of God, and although this reflection of glory was only temporary, it pointed to a time when we would be changed little by little through the tools of grace, because of our High Priest who goes before us.

One cannot think that nothing happens when we come into the presence of the Almighty God. Whenever we pray and read His Word, we communicate with God as Moses communicated with God. It is different in manner in that we don't audibly hear God's voice, but we can "hear" what He has to say to us through His Word. Every time we enter into His presence by praying and reading, we are changed. It is not in vain that we use the tools of grace. May we always delight in Him and anticipate our communion with Him, knowing that it slowly but surely changes us into His image.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T05:28:00.003-06:00

I hope that this year finds us hidden in Christ! I also hope that you took the time to listen to the sermon series "What is Worthwhile Under the Sun". Listening to those will help you identify your life's goal and eliminate those things which hinder you from reaching that goal. My life goal is realizing the righteousness Christ imputed to me in order that I might hallow God's name. I need to identify those things which hinder me in reaching that goal. Ultimately, nothing will keep me from that righteousness, but there are things that I can do which set me back. The times that I do choose to sin, and thus set me back, God still works to my own good. He uses those times to teach me remembrance of the misery that sin brings, which then gives me the strength to resist that sin when it raises its head again. God is so very gracious to us in that He doesn't let our own sinful will have the final say in our lives. We choose to sin, but He chooses to work all things out to our good, and He always gets the final say! It's good to have a goal and set your mind to reaching it. With the grace of God, I will attain my goal! May God's grace go with you all this year!

What is Worthwhile Under The Sun Pt4 by Ravi Zacharias

2008-12-31T22:01:00.000-06:00

What is Worthwhile Under The Sun Pt3 by Ravi Zacharias

2008-12-29T06:42:00.002-06:00

What is Worthwhile Under The Sun Pt2 by Ravi Zacharias

2008-12-25T01:33:00.001-06:00

Please listen to the first part of this sermon in the post before this one.

What is Worthwhile Under The Sun by Ravi Zacharias

2008-12-22T22:35:00.004-06:00

This is absolutely a need to hear sermon/teaching. There are four parts that I will post each day.

Life In God's Law By Grace...Psalm 1

2008-12-05T05:07:00.008-06:00

Psalm 1

1Blessed is the man

What does it mean to be blessed in God?

1 Corinthians 9:23 states, "I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings."

To be blessed of God, is to have God's grace upon you to obey His commandments. This is evident by the next sentences in the chapter,

who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

Paul states in Romans 7:9-13 "I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me."

Here Paul is stating that in his own ungodly view he was alive. Paul as a Pharisee knew that perfect obedience to the law brought life. However, as he tried to fulfill the law, he saw that he fail miserably and that he actually was dead. As Adam's failure to keep God's law killed Adam, so we too were killed by our failure to fulfill God's law when we were outside of grace and Christ's perfect righteous works, which were done in order to impute them onto His people. However, we know that the law represents God's righteous nature. To partake in God's righteous nature, is to have eternal life. Paul continues by stating,

12So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
13Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure."

3He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.

God's law is life-giving when we receive it by the covenant of grace.

Romans 3:24 states, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith."

Romans 7:12 states, "So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good." and verse 22-25 states, "22For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin."

4The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Those who break God's commandments and are not under the grace covenant will be judged and sent to hell. This is confirmed by Jesus' words,

Matthew 7:22 "On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' 23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'"

and again confirmed in the rest of this chapter,

5Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
6for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

The Image of God On Man...continued

2008-12-04T19:46:00.004-06:00

Matthew 6:9 "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name." Is this verse a declarative statement or is it also a command? Martin Luther in his book A Simple Way To Pray states,

"Yes, Lord God, dear Father, hallowed be Your name, both in us and throughout the whole world."

Luther believed this verse was a declarative statement and also a command. Understanding that God's name is hallowed despite mankind's failure to hallow it, is a promise to which we can cling. God never changes according to mankind's theories of Him. This is certainly good news, but how do I hallow God's name in practice? It's nice to say these words, but I believe God demands that mankind hallow His name in their everyday life. The questions which need answers is this, "If God's name is hallow no matter my actions, then why does God command that I hallow it?" and "Since He does command that I hallow His name, how do I perform this hallowing?" To understand and provide answers to these questions, one must go back to the Garden of Eden.

Genesis 1:26-27 "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."

There have been multitudes of thoughts on what God meant by stating that He created mankind in His image. I think they all (at least the ones I've heard about) have elements of truth. I decided to ponder this question by comparing mankind to the animal and plant kingdom and by comparing God and mankind.

Mankind differs from the animal and plant kingdom in many ways. Adam will be my example since he was the first man and was created without sin. Adam was created with the knowledge of God and His will and the ability and want to carry out His will, self-awareness, the ability to reason and think beyond present circumstance, to know the goodness (His creation) which God created or which abide (God's attributes) in God, to control those things which were subservient to him, to communicate to others including God in an intelligent and meaningful way, and to feel emotions which lead to physical acts that improved his state. There are more, I'm sure, but this is a good beginning. These things separated Adam from the other nature-kingdoms which God had created. In many ways, these abilities reflected the communicable attributes of God. In fact, I believe that these are the communicable attributes of God that He gave to Adam. These communicable attributes differed between God and man in that these same attributes in God are infinite and Adam's were not. However, these communicable attributes which were given to mankind placed upon mankind God's image. In Adam, these attributes were sinless and performed without flaw. Adam represented God's image in an upright and righteous manner. However, this honor didn't not come without a price. In order for Adam to carry God's image, Adam had to abide by a contract which would create an agreement between God and mankind. This agreement would keep the image of God on mankind in the original state in which God had first placed it on Adam. To represent God in any fashion other than how God laid out how mankind would represent Him, would fail to represent God. In other words, if you loved well but not without flaw, if you even had the smallest defect in your love, you would not represent God since He is perfect in all His attributes. This agreement is known as the covenant of works. God gave Adam these commands,

Genesis 1:28 "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."

Genesis 2:15 "And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it."

Genesis 2:16-17 "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

These three commandments are different in action but fall into one common theme, which is obedience to God. As long as Adam obeyed God, the covenant of works would remain intact and Adam would benefit from bearing God's image in a righteous manner. As we know, Adam broke that covenant between him and God. Although Adam broke this covenant, that breakage did not nullify the covenant of works. God still demands that mankind bear His image in righteousness and without sin according to the covenant of works. Because God still has His covenant of works in effect, all of mankind is obligated to fulfill this covenant. Obviously, no one has or does fulfill this covenant save our Lord Jesus Christ who did so with completeness and perfection. All of mankind breaks this covenant and so either are brought into the covenant of grace or remain under God's wrath.

When mankind degrades mankind he in essence degrades God's image. A book called The Atheist's Bible contains a quote which does just that. Here is the quote,

"Men...have had the vanity to pretend that the whole creation was made for them, whilst in reality the whole creation does not suspect their existence." Camille Flammarion

Mankind hates God so much that it is willing to tear down the human race in order to tear down God. As said earlier, mankind was made in the image of God according to Genesis 1:26-27. God has given us many commandments to prevent one human being from injuring, in any fashion, another human being. God loves His people and gave Himself for them, and yet, Camille would like to degrade mankind as being nothing more than a plant or animal. We understand that mankind is depraved and deserves only hell. That mankind is to put its entire trust and honor in God and glorify Him only. That mankind is not to think more highly of itself than it should, etc. However, God placed upon mankind His image. So the atheist who stomps on mankind by asserting they are as unimportant as a plant or an animal by stating, "in reality the whole creation does not suspect their existence" is trying to deny that God placed upon mankind His image and the covenant which was placed upon mankind to fulfill. Complete rebellion against God is seen in those who deny mankind's worth being above the animal and plant kingdom. It is because God placed His image upon us that we are worth more than the animals and plants not because of anything inately good and perfect in us or even in Adam even though he was created sinless. It was because of God's image on Adam and that God created Adam without sin that made Adam good, not anything Adam had done in and of himself. We know this because he succumbed to the first temptation to disobey God. It is because we defile His image that we owe a great debt to God.

Those who are brought into the covenant of grace are capable of desiring to uphold the covenant of works. They long to be righteous and holy as God first made man. Sanctification is the grace which brings God's people closer and closer to fulfilling this covenant. All this is possible because of the imputation upon us of Christ's righteous acts which He performed for thirty-three years.

So when I pray, "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name" I am praying for God's name to hallowed by me in performing His covenant of works in a righteous and holy manner. This prayer is answered by God and seen as a change in who I am. Every minute of every day must be dedicated to hallowing His name. He has given us many tools of grace in order for us to strive to that end, and one day will we succeed in keeping the covenant of works when we see His face and become as He is.

I'm A Thief Because I'm An Idolator

2008-12-03T05:04:00.003-06:00

Romans 2:22 "...You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?"

Yes. I do rob "temples". Because of my love for the gods I have placed inside my heart, I rob God and the church of love, money, and time just to name a few!

Bible Study

2008-12-02T03:58:00.006-06:00

I continue my Bible study by disputing the Atheist's Bible with the Holy Bible.

"Men...have had the vanity to pretend that the whole creation was made for them, whilst in reality the whole creation does not suspect their existence." Camille Flammarion

At first glance, this doesn't appear to be a quote appropriate for the Atheist's Bible. They normally take their jabs at God. When I first read this quote, I thought to myself, "Well, some of what he said is right." Many times men are vain and they think that God did everything that He did mainly for them, when we know that God did and does everything for His own glory first and foremost. However, this does not mean that mankind does not benefit from what God has done. With that said I'll pick apart Camille's statement.

Just on the surface without even using Scriptural evidence and using only logic, one could prove Camille wrong. Does the whole creation not suspect their (mankind) existence? He is, of course, wrong if only in one example. My dog knows that I exist. He can even differentiate between me and other people. He can differentiate between types of people...playmates and vets. One he likes the other he doesn't like. My dog is apart of creation, and therefore, Camille is wrong concerning his assertion.

Biblically, he is wrong. God did make the whole of creation for His own glory, but God didn't need plants and animals, air and water, etc in order to live. Mankind needed these things. God knew mankind needed these things and so God created these things for mankind's use.

Genesis 1:29 "And God said, 'Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.'"

God even created mankind for mankind.

Genesis 2:18 "Then the LORD God said, 'It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.' 19 Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. 21So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man."

God even gave His Son Jesus Christ to His chosen people to die for their sins. Although Jesus is the 2nd Person in the Trinity and has been fully God for eternity, He still was given a fully created human body and soul and was given to us.

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

As I said earlier, this quote seemed out of place at first. At first, I did think it was odd that the author of the Atheist's Bible would include this quote in her book, until I remembered just how depraved mankind really is. Isn't it interesting that mankind hates God so much that it is willing to tear down the human race in order to tear down God? Mankind was made in the image of God according to Genesis 1:26-27. God has given us many commandments to prevent one human being from injuring, in any fashion, another human being. God loves His people and gave Himself for them, and yet, Camille would like to degrade mankind as being nothing more than a plant or animal. We understand that mankind is depraved and deserves only hell. That mankind is to put its entire trust and honor in God and glorify Him only. That mankind is not to think more highly of itself than it should, etc. However, God placed upon mankind His image. He allowed mankind the privilege of communicating with Him and learning about Him. He gave mankind a soul and a conscious and self-awareness. He gave mankind dominion over the rest of creation. Mankind has always been responsible for abiding under and following the works covenant He established in the Garden of Eden. No person ever born has been free of that works covenant. No person ever born after the works covenant was broken has ever fulfilled the works covenant save our Lord and Savior, God the Son, Jesus Christ. God's image is clearly on mankind and He takes that very seriously. When mankind defiles this image placed on him, he is either sent to hell or restored and brought into the grace covenant. God's wrath burns against all who defiles His image placed on mankind. God must be reconciled to a person with this debt or that person must suffer God's wrath against him. So the atheist who stomps on mankind by asserting they are as unimportant as a plant or an animal by stating, "in reality the whole creation does not suspect their existence" is denying the existence of God. It is only the theory of a godless creation such as evolution that leads you down the path of mankind being no different than the rest of creation. Evolution and other godless creational theories deny the existence of God. That is why this quote is included in the author's book.

My New Blog!

2008-11-30T16:10:00.002-06:00

I have a new blog called "Recipes For Life" here if you want to join me as a contributor! It will be fun and educational and helpful as we all need new recipes to add to our cookbook! Come join me!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T08:41:00.002-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone and may God bring true thankfulness in all circumstances to each of our hearts.

Sermon

2008-11-24T18:41:00.003-06:00

Here is the eleventh sermon on "The Greatness of God".

The Hand of Righteousness The Hand of Sin

2008-11-23T15:30:00.003-06:00

Sometimes when you least expect it God teaches you a deep lesson with an understanding that you lacked in the past. The truth might have been familiar to you, maybe even thoroughly known to you in an academic manner, but the true understanding in your heart and mind of a lesson is beyond your grasp until God's grace allows you to understand that lesson.

One of those lessons that I have had the grace to understand in a deeper way (certainly not in a full manner) is the vileness of my sin nature. When things are so vile I tend to protect myself by not feeling how horrid it is. For example, an animal being tortured effects me more than hearing about a child being abused. Why? Because my brain does not want to process what all was involved in the abuse of that child. It is more horrendous for a child to be abused than an animal, so I can process the animal's abuse and feel sorry for it and be angry at the abuser. I cannot process the abuse a child receives so I turn off my feelings and say with my mouth, "The poor child. Someone ought to do such and such to that abuser." but that is all I can do. I'm not sure how I would react if I actually contemplated a child being abused.

It is the same with sin for me. I put the reality of how wicked sin is on a back burner. I know in my head and I can say with my mouth that it is wretched, but I don't know with my heart just how wretched. I feel I should go mad if I saw just how depraved I really am. God's grace does keep us from seeing all at once just how depraved we really are, however, He doesn't intend to leave us completely oblivious of knowing with our hearts just how depraved we are. God's righteousness and holiness shines brighter when viewed against our depravity. I believe I must always hold some portion of knowledge of my depravity in one hand while holding in my other hand all the knowledge I can learn about His holiness and righteousness. How can I truly grieve over sin if I cannot see at least some depth to its wickedness? How can I grieve over my sin if I cannot see that which shows me how depraved I am...His righteousness and holiness?

In the end, God knows His children. He knows how much to show them and teach them every day. He is gracious and kind yet firm and disciplinary. God is good to us.

My Niece's Birthday

2008-11-23T08:01:00.001-06:00

Happy Birthday, Ashland! May God's grace bring you unto salvation in Jesus Christ my Lord! I love you, Honey!

Sermon

2008-11-20T19:14:00.000-06:00

Here is the tenth sermon on "The Greatness of God".

Defending Truth

2008-11-17T22:04:00.002-06:00

As some of you might know, I'm doing Bible studies using God's Word and The Atheist's Bible. I combat untruths with truth. Here is another untruth from the Atheist's Bible.

"Epicurus' old questions are yet unanswered. Is [God] willing to prevent evil, but not able? then is he impotent. Is he able, but not willing? then is he malevolent. Is he both able and willing? whence then is evil?" David Hume

To answer, "whence then is evil?" one must concede that there are things that are not told in Scripture.

Deuteronomy 29:29"The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law."

We do not know from where evil first came, so I will not address something I cannot answer. We do know that evil now comes from mankind's totally depraved nature and that Satan and his hellions are always working out evil under God's sovereign control. It is only by God's grace that He doesn't allow mankind to exhibit utter depravity on this earth.

When the Fall occurred mankind fell into total depravity, thus making mankind's heart hardened toward God. The Fall was the falling away from God into evil and this was mankind's fault not God's.

Romans 3:9 "What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10as it is written:

'None is righteous, no, not one;
11no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.
13 "Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.
The venom of asps is under their lips.
14 Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16in their paths are ruin and misery,
17and the way of peace they have not known.
18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes.'"

So Epicurus' question should be, "Why would God be willing to prevent evil?". That question is more fitting since mankind got itself into the evil it did. The way Epicurus puts his question would be like a child asking his mother why she didn't prevent the mud from getting onto his clothes when he played in the mud. His mother could have prevented the child from getting muddy by not allowing the child to play in the mud, but the child wanted to play in the mud and so got dirty by his own choosing. Thus, it is the child's fault for getting muddy not the mother's. Mankind wants its cake and eat it too by sinning all it wants without having sin's consequences. This is impossible. God would be just to allow us to sin and not ever shield us from sin's consequences which is evil.

God is willing to prevent evil sometimes but not all the time. God prevented Peter's sifting by Satan even though Peter denied Christ three times. God out of mercy kept Peter from losing his soul for eternity. On the other hand, God did not keep Judas from being sifted by Satan. God did not show mercy to Judas but allowed Judas to sin and reap the consequences of his own sin...the sin he chose to commit. God did this for His own glory. So He is both able and willing or unwilling to prevent evil. Here is the Scriptural reason:

Hebrews 9:13 "As it is written, 'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.'

14What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! 15For he says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.' 16So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. 17For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, 'For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.' 18So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

19You will say to me then, 'Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?' 20But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, 'Why have you made me like this?' 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?"

Epicurus asks humanistic questions about God because he feels creation is over the Creator. Humanists always feel that everything revolves around them because they feel mankind is supreme. This is contrary to logic. What ever created this universe would have supreme significance. So, even the evolutionist would have to give way to the logic of supremely acknowledging what he feels brought the universe into being, were it the "Big Bang" or whatever it is they believe. In any case, it isn't mankind. Mankind didn't create the universe and so mankind isn't to be supremely acknowledged. Therefore, no one can demand questions of a supreme entity which centers around mankind's thinking. This is true of any supreme entity theory much less of God who is truly the supreme Person of His creation.

Sermons

2008-11-17T21:45:00.001-06:00

Here is part nine on "The Greatness of God" sermon.

Other gods and Their Images

2008-11-14T00:26:00.000-06:00

I was at boarders the other day with my family who were in search of a good book…I had brought my own, my Kindle! I was busy reading when one of my family members handed me a book entitled The Atheist’s Bible. I was intrigued to say the least. I glanced through it and realized that is was a book full of quotes from atheists. I thought to myself, “What a great reference book on which to draw incorrect ideas and dispute them from the Holy Bible!”. I quickly downloaded into my Kindle and will begin my Bible studies by disputing their claims. Here is the first quote:

“Perhaps our role on this planet is not to worship God- but to create Him.” Arthur C. Clarke

My first reaction to this quote is to shudder, which I should most violently, but do I in my daily life? What is God’s law and how do I break it like this man?

Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Arthur is in rebellion and does not have a new nature. He cannot love God and serve only Him, therefore, he has to create a god with whom he is comfortable. I do have a God to whom I own all my allegiance and love, but I do have other gods before Him and those gods show up as graven images.

When life isn’t exactly what we want it to be we tend to create a god and normally it shows up as graven images. We should be careful not to think of the Second Commandment as something only pagans do…the building of images to which they burn incense and pray. This commandment is far more reaching than that common idea of a graven image. God says that we are not to make a graven imagine of anything in the universe to serve neither of Him nor those things He has created. To serve something is to be a slave to it. This image could be as “righteous” as the love of theology or as sinful as viewing pornography. We’ll leave the “big sins” out of this post since we all can agree and readily see it as breaking many commandments.

If my love is found in the image itself and not God, it is a graven image no matter how neutral that image might be or even how good that image might be. If I’m serving my brother or sister because I want recognition, the need for recognition has become my god and the work a graven image. Another example would be dissatisfaction or boredom in my circumstances. I might spend a reasonable amount of time on my favorite hobby. My hobby begins to give me some measure of happiness and I am able to find some personal acknowledgement from others when they view my handiwork. Nothing wrong with this so far until I begin to find my worth in my hobby. My hobby begins to fill most of my thoughts throughout the day. I get excited about resuming my work on my hobby. I quickly try to do all the work that needs to be done in order that I might return to my hobby. Reading God’s Word and praying begins to take second place, and I do it only as a duty. I have now lost my way, at least temporarily, all because I was bored (feel free to put a word in here that best describes you). Dissatisfaction of one’s circumstances isn’t always bad. Had I gone before the Lord and told Him that I was dissatisfied and needed a closer walk with Him, asked for the grace to better pray and read/understand His Word, then I would have grown in my walk with God. However, this dissatisfaction would have been a God sent. The dissatisfaction I described above is a sin. It is a love of self that is greater than a love for my God. In order to resolve my boredom, I created a god with whom I could live, conquer, and manipulate. So what have I done? I’ve taken Arthur’s advice and have broken two of God’s commandments. Yet, we have hope in Christ!

Philippians 1:6 “6And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

How The Persecuted Church Preaches

2008-11-13T10:42:00.000-06:00

Persecution

2008-11-11T23:15:00.001-06:00

Virtuous Woman is a wonderful blog I just found. Unfortunately, I found it only because I was alerted to the persecution this woman is receiving. I pray that you will pray for her and that you will take the time to go to her site and encourage her!

Be Still My Soul

2008-11-10T03:50:00.002-06:00

We sing this song at church. We don't sound like these little guys...but close! :o)

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart,
And all is darkened in the vale of tears,
Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,
Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears.
Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay
From His own fullness all He takes away.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord.
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past
All safe and blessèd we shall meet at last.

Be still, my soul: begin the song of praise
On earth, be leaving, to Thy Lord on high;
Acknowledge Him in all thy words and ways,
So shall He view thee with a well pleased eye.
Be still, my soul: the Sun of life divine
Through passing clouds shall but more brightly shine.

Sermon

2008-11-10T03:07:00.001-06:00

Here is the seventh sermon on "The Greatness of God".

Excellent Things

2008-11-09T04:07:00.003-06:00

Philippians 1:8-10 "For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."

It is God's will that our love abound more and more for Him. When we love God with all our hearts, that love will naturally flow onto everyone and everything we do. This love consumes us and our entire focus will be on God. One way to focus on God is through His Word and prayer and meditation on His Word. The more we love Him the more we study who He is and worship Him through prayer. In so doing, our knowledge of Him will grow and thus our discernment. We will be capable of discerning what God finds to be excellent. We will love those excellent things because He loves them. Those excellent things are the perfect works of Christ or His righteousness which are imputed onto us and which are in the form of the gifts/fruit of the Holy Spirit. This love changes our nature from desiring the world and ourselves to truly loving God and forsaking those things we want which are not excellent.

So we must earnestly pray for His mercy and grace and ask that He provide us with this love. Remember, it is His will that we have this love because it glorifies Him...which makes it a sure thing in us receiving it!

All About Grace

2008-11-08T01:21:00.007-06:00

Philippians 1:7 "It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel."

Paul is full of joy when writing this text. How do I know? Verse four says so. Paul is joyful that the Philippians and he are partners in the Gospel. Then Paul states something that might be overlooked to the dutiful, speed-reader of five chapters a day. He states that they (and we) are partakers of grace. When we think of grace we think of salvation and we should. But look at what Paul is calling partakers of grace: imprisonment and the defense and confirmation of the gospel. The grace of salvation in Paul's life (and others) is displayed as a fruit via imprisonment and the defense and confirmation of the gospel. The fruit didn't save him, him being in prison and even defending the gospel didn't save him. Christ saved him and the evidence of that salvation or the fruit of that salvation shows up as imprisonment and defending and confirming the gospel.

Would we count this as some of grace's fruit? Many times we pray that God's grace may save us from such and such. One might say, "By God's grace, my family will never have cancer or be harassed." But is this necessarily a show of God's grace?...keeping us safe from all the "bad" things on this earth? Not according to Paul. Imprisonment showed Paul he was under God's grace. Remember it was Paul who said that he had learned to be content in any situation.

Where you find yourself today and every other day is God's grace in your life. He has put you where you are in order to work in you sanctification. Earlier in this text Paul stated, "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." God doesn't waste time, energy, or things. What is happening to you today is for your sanctification process and THAT IS GRACE!

Law-Breaking Anxiety

2008-11-07T19:20:00.002-06:00

As a nurse, I deal with many anxious people. As a human being, I also deal with my own anxiety. I used to have a great deal of anxiety and much of it was related to my hypothyroidism. This post will leave out chemical imbalances of the body that can cause anxiety. I will address all other types of anxiety.

Anxiety is the light bulb which signals to us we are on the path of idolatry and covetousness. When we are anxious about a certain situation, we are concerned for our own well being, our wants, self. We are oblivious to the ultimate good that of God.

What do we long for in this life....truly? I ask you to ask yourself in the recesses of your own mind this question. Perhaps you will be able to answer it more honestly. Don't be afraid to answer it honestly. Verbalizing it to yourself won't make it more real than what it already is and remember God already knows what we truly long for.

We have many gods which come before our true and living God. We covet these gods and obsess over them. We nurture them and protect them. We repent of them and then run back to them. Yet they cause us so much grief!

Christ has called us to rest in Him. We are to take His yoke which is easy and His burden which is light. Why are His yoke and burden thus? Because it is He who takes them on for us. When we through His grace truly love Him and want His will to be our will, our anxiety flees. We rest in Him knowing that whatever happens to us, good or bad, is for our ultimate good and for His glory.

Tonight when you pray, ask Him for the promises He has given to us on which we can stand. And ask Him to give you His love in your heart for Him, His people, and the lost. "All other ground is sinking sand."

Sermon

2008-11-06T18:04:00.000-06:00

Here is the sixth sermon on "The Greatness of God"

In Your Face!

2008-11-05T05:16:00.002-06:00

We now have a "IN YOUR FACE" anti-Christian who will be our president in January. Will this wake real Christians up to realize that our country really isn't Christian and hasn't been forever? Will we NOW realize that America needs missionaries just as much as other countries? Will we now yearn to spread the Gospel, folks?

Consider Stealing

2008-11-03T01:08:00.005-06:00

It just amazes me just how little mankind knows about the holiness of God...especially me. Let's consider for a moment the eighth commandment...wait a minute while I go check to make sure I have the right number....
YES! I was right! Do not steal is the eighth commandment.

We will take me as an example of how often this commandment is broken.

When God commands me not to steal what runs through my brain? Be kind now people! Contrary to theory I do have a brain.

I think of all the ways I don't steal. It's kind of hard to confess the sin of stealing when you cannot think of something you stole...recently. ;o)

I sound so very silly and so very flippant with what I just wrote...don't I? Like this is all a big comedy. I also sound like I don't hallow God's name. I wrote that first part this way to show in some small way (because we can never know just how dishonoring we really are) how dishonoring I am to God, how I minimize my sin before a holy and righteous God.

Seriously. When I consider this one commandment a shudder should shake my body.

Let's count many of the ways Sarah breaks the eighth commandment.

When I get hungry at work I do what everyone else does. I take some crackers, maybe some peanut butter, maybe some chicken flavored broth to eat. My excuse? My sugar is low and if I don't eat I could faint or I was preceptor and charge nurse and should have gotten paid the two dollars an hour extra like they said I would but then didn't pay me so I'll take my pay in their food. I am happy to announce these are the only items I have stolen since I have become a Christian...that I can remember and I really don't want to remember any more. I only say that so I don't sound like a complete thief to you all. It some how makes me feel better, somehow you won't think so badly of me. But you should! For I sin even greater than this concerning this commandment.

Recently, God has shown me areas in which I steal from Him and mankind. God in His mercy has given each person on earth gifts. To His children, He has given the gift of peace not only in feelings we feel but also in reconciliation with Him. To those who will never be His children, He has given the gift of peace which they feel whenever things are going well for them, or when they are relatively free from stress, etc. Many of God's gifts can be thought of in this manner.

When I come in anger (whether directed to the person or about another situation) to a person who is feeling relatively at peace, I automatically steal from them some portion of their peace. Even if they are a strong person who isn't swayed by other people's attitudes, the atmosphere around them is disturbed. I have just stolen from them the peace that God has graciously given to them. So I sin against them, but more importantly, I sin against God in my stealing. What do I steal? I steal not only His gift to them, but I also steal from Him the glory He is to receive in giving that gift. Ultimately, He will get all the glory due to Him regardless of my sin and everyone else's sin. He gets it by Christ paying for our sins and He gets it from sending unrepentant sinners to hell...by His mercy I'm not going there, but only by His mercy!

Despite the fact that He will get His glory, shouldn't I grieve deeply that I steal from my God who bought me with Christ's blood and made me His child? Do I grieve like I should or am I more like the first part of my post? It was hard for me to confess that to you all...and you're not even holy!

I should shudder, not because I fear judgement for my sins, but because He is HOLY, HOLY, HOLY and I am NOT.

Isaiah 6

1In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3And one called to another and said:

"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!"
4And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5And I said: "Woe is me!For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!"

6Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7And he touched my mouth and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for."

8And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me." 9And he said, "Go, and say to this people:

"'Keep on hearing, but do not understand;keep on seeing, but do not perceive.' 10 Make the heart of this people dull,
and their ears heavy,
and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed."
11Then I said, "How long, O Lord?"And he said:"Until cities lie waste
without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
and the land is a desolate waste,
12and the LORD removes people far away,
and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
13 And though a tenth remain in it,
it will be burned again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
whose stump remains
when it is felled."
The holy seed is its stump.

John 1:29

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Praise for His abundant mercy!

Have a Blessed Lord's Day

2008-11-02T14:17:00.003-06:00

In our worship service, we were reminded of God's holy and righteous law and were then given our hope in Christ, His grace. For this we confessed our unworthiness and His worthiness.

Our Confession of Sin

God our Heavenly Father, we acknowledge and confess our great sinfulness and guilt. Apart from Christ, our whole natures are corrupt, and we are prone to all evil. All our best thoughts, words, and deeds are defiled. We continually break Your holy laws, doing what You forbid, and not doing what You require. We deserve Your condemning judgement, just wrath, and everlasting punishment. In great sorrow for our sin, we humbly repent, and beg for Your mercy and grace. We ask that You would forgive us all our sins, count us as completely righteous, and enable us to live in new obedience, only for the death and merit of Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our Praise of His Worthiness:

You will say in that day: "I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation." Isaiah 12:1-2

An Amazing Story of God's Love and Protection

2008-11-01T01:11:00.001-05:00

Happy Reformation Day!

2008-10-31T02:48:00.002-05:00

Galatians 3

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6just as Abraham "believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness"?
7Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed." 9So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith
10For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them." 11Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for "The righteous shall live by faith." 12But the law is not of faith, rather "The one who does them shall live by them." 13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree"— 14so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
The Law and the Promise
15 To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. 16Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, "And to offsprings," referring to many, but referring to one, "And to your offspring," who is Christ. 17This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. 18For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.
19Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. 20Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one.

21Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

23Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26for in Christ Jesus ou are all sons of God, through faith. 27For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

Sermon

2008-10-30T11:46:00.000-05:00

Here is the fifth part of "The Greatness of God".

The Book I Read

2008-10-29T05:31:00.002-05:00

Read first and Read Second

We now come to chapter one in Edward's book, "Concerning the End for Which God Created the World". In no way, should you consider my paraphrasing of his book satisfactory to knowing what he states in his book. You must read it yourself to get all the richness of theology which is contained in it. With that said here goes my paraphrasing of the first few pages of his book.

Edwards begins chapter one by discussing what may and may not be God's ultimate end in the creation of the world. God alone knows what His own ends and designs were. Mankind is unable to know God's ultimate end in creating the world without being guided by divine revelation.

First, it should be known that God did not create creation because He lacked something within Himself. God is infinitely, eternally, unchangeably, and independently glorious and happy and therefore could not profit by or receive anything from creation. Therefore, creation cannot be God's ultimate end.

Secondly, God's attributes cannot be the ultimate/last end of His creating the world even though they are desirous in themselves. That is because they are not properly capable of being attained in any divine operation. They are not consequent on any works of God (or in other words they are infinite, they have always existed. No divine operation could have made them come into being. If something already exist, it cannot be a last end to which you work.) Only those things that are itself valuable and is capable of being sought and attained is worthy to be made a last end. So whatever is valuable prior to creation and is attainable by the creation of creation and is superior in value to all else, is God's last end and highest end.

God has supreme regard to Himself which is fitting since He is perfect and holy in all His being and ways and word. God is infinitely the most worthy of regard. One might contend that only an arbiter between God and creation who is a disinterested party and who knows all things perfectly could make this judgement. God is that perfectly wise arbiter since all wisdom originates with Him. Since this be true, then it is fitting that this regard of Himself should appear in those things by which He makes Himself known i.e. His Word and works.

Since God has highest regard for Himself, it is fitting that He should act as having chief regard for Himself. In other words, what is highest in God's heart (His regard for Himself) may be highest in His actions and conduct. God's actions show an image of Himself and thus shows us what manner of Being He is. Thus, His works are done to show this supreme respect to Himself.

Were the Creator to be placed on one side of the scale and all of His creation on the other side of the scale, creation's worth or deserving regard would be as light as dust or even as noting and vanity. So God must be regarded in all His actions and word as chief regard for He is the origin of all good things, He is infinite in all His attributes. He is over all things and His creation is subject to Him because He is its origin. He is worthy to reign as supreme Head with absolute and universal dominion. All of creation "should proceed with a view to God as the supreme and last end; that every wheel, in all its rotations, should move with a constant invariable regard to him as the ultimate end of all; as perfectly and uniformly, as if the whole system were animated and directed by one common soul."

Sermon

2008-10-28T03:24:00.000-05:00

Here is part four of "The Greatness of God".

Comforting Manna

2008-10-28T00:09:00.003-05:00

Often times when we sin, we go down two different roads. If our sin is "light", we quickly say a prayer of confession and move on with our day. If our sin is great, we barely want to approach the throne of God to ask for forgiveness. Once we do, we sometimes feel we must beg Him to forgive us. Only you know how you confess your sins, and so I will let you ponder your method. However, I would like to give all of us some comforting nourishment. When we pray and confess our sins we must remember two things:

1) Christ paid for our sins two thousand years ago. We do not have to beg for God's forgiveness. Christ paid for our sins once and for all time. God doesn't forgive us the moment we commit the sin and then repent, because He already forgave we two thousand years ago.

2) Each sin requires the same degree of confession.

When we come before our God to confess our sins, we should be doing so to obtain true repentance and not sudden forgiveness. God forgave us two thousand years ago and so we are not praying for Him to change His attitude or His mind concerning our guilt of sin. What we should be praying for is that God changes us through prayer to have true repentance or a turning from our sins. This is true sanctification. If we ever get stuck on "God actually forgiving me for this horrid sin", then what we are getting stuck on is believing whether or not Christ actually paid for our sins. We need not get stuck on that point. We need only to thank Him for His payment on our behalf and pray for true repentance in our hearts. Each and every sin should grieve us as deeply as we human beings can feel. We sin against an infinitely, holy God which means each and every sin, although some more wicked than others, defy Him in an infinite manner.

Don't ever stay on your knees for hours at a time pleading for forgiveness. Instead, stay on your knees for Him to show you His holiness and your corrupt heart. Then confess your sins and plead for Him to give to you His promise of sanctification...a true turning from your sins.

The Book I Read

2008-10-24T04:53:00.003-05:00

"Concerning the End for Which God Created the World"

I continue with defining terms according to Edwards.

Last end is that which is regarded and sought by an agent as agreeable or desirable for its own sake. There may be more than on last end or for mankind the last end he began with might change to a different last end. Example he uses: A man's last end might be to have society about him thus he marrys and has children. Afterwards, he realizes that his last end is love, management of a household etc. Also, a man's last end is normally his highest end.

Edward uses "last end" and "ultimate end" interchangeably, so I believe they are the same. I defined last end so that if it is used you will know that it also means ultimate end.

Original and independent ultimate end (concerning the creation of the world) is alone that which induces God to give the occasion of the consequential ends, by the first creation of the world and the original disposal of it. That which God had primarily in view in creating, and the original ordination of the world, must be constantly kept in view, and have a governing influence in all God's works, or with respect to every thing he does towards His creatures.

Consequential and dependent ultimate end would be ultimate ends in particular works of providence that are in themselves valued but are not independent of an ultimate end. Example he uses: Justice between two parties: God doing the justice is agreeable in itself and not merely for some other end but is not the ultimate end in ultimate end's highest sense.

Man's Folly

2008-10-22T00:25:00.007-05:00

I got an email from an organization urging me to vote in November and to vote my conscious. I will. They were very helpful to send links which would tell me about each candidate that is running for office.

In the middle of all their helpful resources, they stated this, "Note: the video and the brochure are both approved for use in churches!"

Really? How-to-vote resources, which could be very good and helpful resources in and of themselves, are approved for use in the church? Do we not stagger at such statements and then bring to mind the reason our nation is in the state in which it finds itself? If we, the church, cannot keep God's house holy by worshipping Him according to His prescribed method of worship, then how do we expect to have any impact on unbelievers outside the church? Do not say, "We don't have an impact on our nation only the Holy Spirit through us can" if you do not say in the same breath the same of His house and our actions in His house. We act as though His house is our house and that we are allowed to conduct our business in it because that business is "good" business. But we are mistaken! It is not our house and we have no right to conduct any of our business in it no matter how "good" that business might seem.

Many I'm sure would argue with me that this organization wasn't asking that the video be shown in church or the brochures handed out and preached upon (although, sadly, this does happen), but think of it, dear reader. The money changers and animal sellers of the New Testament were not asking to be apart of the priest's "sermon". They did not ask the priest to remind the people they were there to exchange their foreign monies into the money of that land which would enable them to purchase the required sacrifice. Remember that the animal which would be given as a sacrifice had to be without spot or blemish. If the foreign traveler brought his sacrifice with him on his journey to the temple, he ran the risk of the animal injuring itself and thus no longer being an acceptable sacrifice. They would need to buy their animal in Jerusalem. Most likely, they along with the foreign traveler probably felt they were doing a good service for God's cause while doing their own business too. Killing two birds with one stone sort of thing. This is the same thing this organization is doing too.

What is more striking is that their service is so very similar to that of this organization. Those in the New Testament felt they were doing a service for God and His people by making available an animal sacrifice to the foriegners to sacrifice for their sins...morality is central here. This organization feels they are doing a service for God and His people by giving out resources in church on how to vote for the candidate who most represents a person who follows God's law (pro-life and anti-homosexual acts)...morality is central here. But Christ says no.

John 2

"13The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16And he told those who sold the pigeons, "Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade." 17His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me."

We should all say no as well. We must keep God's house His house and conduct worship according to the prescribed method He has given to us.

The Greatness of God

2008-10-21T22:30:00.001-05:00

Here is part three of "The Greatness of God"

Obama's Love Affair With Abortion

2008-10-20T10:05:00.002-05:00

Go here to read about Obama's extreme views on abortion. BTW, he is the most liberal government official to date. Unless there are Christians who are ignorant of his pro-abortion stance, I cannot believe that any true Christian would vote for him. I cannot vote for him for this very reason.

The Book I Read

2008-10-19T22:43:00.009-05:00

As I have told my readers earlier, I am a slow reader. I am determined to read all of "Concerning The End For Which God Created the World". I need your help to succeed in my endeavor. I am going to use you as a learner while I am the teacher. Don't laugh! When I "teach" I learn and so I in actuality become the learner and you the teacher. Here goes the first lesson on this book.

Edwards begins his book by defining in great detail several concepts. The first concept is "chief end". My teaching on the subject will be far inferior to that of his book but hopefully will give you some idea of that which he speaks.

Chief end is always an ultimate end, is opposite to an inferior end, and is most valued and most sought after than any other end. To be a most sought after and valued end, is not exactly the same thing as an end valued for its own sake. Two ends might be valued for their own sake, and yet one end is valued or most sought after than the other, making the former end an ultimate end and the later end the chief end. Example he uses: A man goes on a journey to get a bride for possession and enjoyment of having a bride and partly to gratify his curiosity in looking in a telescope. Both are ultimate ends but the chief end is his getting the bride and the looking through the telescope is the inferior end.

Ultimate end is not always a chief end, is opposite to a subordinate end, is that which the agent seeks in what he does for its own sake and not merely as a means of a further end. It is always superior to its subordinate end and more valued unless it depends entirely on the subordinate end which renders them equals. Example he uses: eating a piece of fruit to gratify his pleasure and for no other reason. Gratifying his pleasure would be the ultimate end.

Subordinate end is what an agent aims at, not for its own account, but wholly on the account of a further end. Examples he gives: Going to a store to obtain medicine (the subordinate end) to cure a disease (the ultimate end). If the medicine didn't heal, then going after the medicine would be useless and not wanted.

There may be many subordinate ends which lead to the ultimate end. Examples he gives: a man sells his ring to buy tools to till his land to get a crop to get some food to gratify his appetite. All his actions are subordinate ends which leads to the ultimate end of gratifying his appetite.

Some subordinate ends might be more valued and sought after than some ultimate ends that it is not subordinate to. Example he uses: a man goes on a journey to obtain a large amount of money only for the value of the pleasure and honor that the money may be a means to. The pleasure and honor would be more valued and thus be the ultimate end and the money be the subordinate end. Yet he might value the money which is the subordinate end more than some other ultimate end to which it is not subordinate and has no connection. For example, he might value the money more than the comfort of a friendly visit he made with a friend on his journey.

There are more types of ends to come in a later post.

The Greatness of God

2008-10-18T04:33:00.001-05:00

Here is part two of the series on the greatness of God.

Sermon is Ready

2008-10-15T16:36:00.003-05:00

Here is the sermon entitled "The Greatness of God" I promised you all. There will be a total of twelve sermons and each time I upload one I'll let you know.

The Greatness of God

2008-10-13T17:23:00.004-05:00

As some of you know, I run my church's audio sermon outreach ministry on sermonaudio. I will begin a series on the greatness of God preached by my pastor. What better subject to study than the greatness of our God. It's always a much safer haven to first study the doctrine of God and have it as your foundation than to first study even the depravity of the human heart. So keep an eye out for a post which I will place letting all know when it is uploaded to sermonaudio. Here is link to my pastor's sermons.

My Favorite Psalm

2008-10-05T05:50:00.001-05:00

Psalm 145

A Subject In Consistency

2008-09-30T21:53:00.003-05:00

The one thing at which I am good is consistently being inconsistent. Although I am a creature of habit, I rarely stick to a schedule. I guess not having a schedule is my habitual act. Ok, I'll get to the heart of the matter. :o)

I love to start a project, any project, but I rarely finish one. I love new things and once they are no longer new my attraction to them diminishes. Not that the object is of any lesser value than when I first discovered it, but my appreciation for that object changes.

I can see this most prominently in books. I have so many books filled with so much great information that I truly desire to acquire. When I first see the book I really want it, so I buy it. Then I start reading the book and find that it indeed has wonderful information contained within it. However, after sometime I lay it aside and soon it's months before I read more of it.

One of those books is "The End For Which God Created The World by Jonathan Edwards. Edwards is a genius and it is hard to causally read page after page of his writings...especially this book!! I was quite aways into this book when it dawned on me that I had little idea of what he was speaking! This happened for two reasons: I read it too fast when there was much commotion around me, and because I would lay it down and not take it up for a few weeks, thus, forgetting what he had said in the last page. I decided that if I were going to get any thing from the book, I would have to get a journal and write notes and be diligent to read a small portion each day. So far it is a mind-busting, highly-intelligent book that will squash my pea-size brain! But in the end, I will know a little more about God than I do now and that is certainly my chief end. ;o) See, I've already learned something that the Westminster Shorter Catechism left out!

I dare anyone to start reading this book with me. I'm sure you will finish it before me, but we can learn together! It really is a good book and will widened your reading scope!

My Photos from My Visit in Canada

2008-09-28T17:49:00.013-05:00

Click on photo to see enlarged image.

...me the photographer

Abortion Facts

2008-09-28T13:35:00.003-05:00

Here is an article which shows how liberal our abortion laws are. In essence, a woman can have an abortion up to nine months of pregnancy.

Just in case someone thinks that link is prejudicial, here is a link from Plan Parenthood which states the same thing. Pay attention to the first paragraph and in it you will find your answer.

Now, here is a link to see a baby in the womb from 6 weeks to 40 weeks old. You tell me whether or not it's a baby!! (A hearty thanks to TurretinFan for this link)

Have You Ever Read Romans 9?

2008-09-27T22:55:00.000-05:00

Sarah Palin

2008-09-25T22:10:00.002-05:00

I don't normally put up political rhetoric on my site. I believe that whoever gets into office is put there by God. My duty is to pray for those in office, obey them along as they do not go against God's commands, and vote. BUT! I cannot not resist sharing with you Sarah Palin's speech. She is an outstanding speaker. She never once fumbled over her words or forgot what she was going to say. AND! She was kicking! Go here to watch the video of her speech.

What a Friend We Have In Jesus....praying for Jim

2008-09-03T22:51:00.001-05:00

What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful
who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden,
cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In his arms he'll take and shield thee;
thou wilt find a solace there.

Prayer Request

2008-09-03T09:18:00.002-05:00

I have a friend whose name is Jim. He is the owner of Old Truth. He is not doing well physically. His family isn't doing so well mentally. This family needs every prayer you can spare them. PLEASE PRAY!!

I'll Cry If I Want Too

2008-08-23T17:06:00.002-05:00

It's my birthday and I'll cry if I want too...I'm 40 now, and my niece thinks I deserve a black cake. As long as it's chocolate, that's fine with me! Yes, I'm getting wrinkles, but I don't have any gray hair! :o)

God's Imagine In Mankind

2008-08-16T21:46:00.003-05:00

According to Sproul, the meaning of the saying "man was created in the image of God" is man's ability to reflect God's communicable attributes. This ability was not erased at the time of the Fall but only suffered, as did the rest of creation, the curse of the fall. We are still able to love for example. Though it not be pure love, it is love which is laced by the curse. This is certainly not a quote from Sproul. I only got the general idea from him. But I certainly like the meaning of the saying. It fits well within my mind and rings true within my heart. This meaning is sustainable inside and outside the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were created in the image of God. For them, their reflection of His communicable attributes were without sin. Bearing the image of God, would necessarily have to continue after the Fall. If mankind did not bear the image of God, then nothing would be required of him. Hell would not await those who disobeyed God. Heaven would not await those on whom God was pleased to show His mercy. We would be as the cattle or fowl knowing nothing and without meaning to life and its end. Therefore, we also bear the image of God however diminished and blundered it may be.

A Change Is My Gift

2008-08-08T01:11:00.004-05:00

Good news is always prefaced by bad news. To this end, I must confess my heart and lay bare the bad news before I can tell of the good news.

A bad temper has been my constant companion through out my life. Before I was saved, it was my greatest boast. After my salvation, it was my greatest shame. In either case, I was never master. Many trials sprang from this one sin, but they are not without their fruit!

All of the sudden and without the slightest indication, God has changed my heart. I see things more clearly. Perhaps I see things from a different light or a different perspective. I believe this change is a culmination of many trials throughout my Christian life, but it seems that the pinnacle of change began when I began to repent of my self-love, self-absorbency, self-protection...you get the picture. I earnestly asked that God would allow me to truly love Him and others as I ought. I contended that it was a promise He made to me and that I longed to have Him fulfill it soon.

I began to see that much of my anger came about in order to protect myself. If someone displayed anger towards me, then I lashed out in anger towards them. If I felt condemnation from others towards me, I would lash out in anger to protect myself. Other times, I would become unthankful or impatient or haughty and these things would lead to my anger.

God began to show me how to separate other people's behavior from my own. They must own their own behavior and I must own my own. If they were angry, I didn't need to take on their anger to protect myself. Keeping my tongue under control and speaking to them in a calm manner was my responsibility.

I feel a steadfastness in my change. It was brought by God for His glory, and thus, is a sure change. I am content to know that sin is never quite out of the way. We will fall into sin. I'm not so ignorant to think I shall never get angry again. But I feel as though I have on a different pair of glasses. I see more clearly now. I don't feel chained to anger any more. A change has taken place, and I wish to never return to the old way in which I walked. All to the glory of God!

In the midst of our lives, we must always remember to use the tools of grace: Scripture, prayer, worship, and the sacraments.

So Quiet!

2008-07-31T20:16:00.002-05:00

Wow! The Internet around me is soooo quiet these days. Many of my Internet brothers and sisters have either had to quit their sites due to illnesses and family problems or some have taken a leave of absence. I really do miss them and pray they continue to get more healthy and prosper in their lives. I also pray they come back to the world of the Internet.

I don't have the excuses they have for not writing on my sites. I've just plain abandoned my sites. I use to write as a therapy agent for myself because I didn't have any readers back then. Maybe I should start that again...it was helpful.

Man's Foolish Wisdom

2008-07-11T00:04:00.002-05:00

I have a co-worker at work who sends me emails with "sweet" little sayings in them. I normally tell her why they are not sweet but down right anti-christ, but she keeps sending them to me. Here is the worst one yet that she has sent to me. It truly is a sign of our culture. They have made the description of hell to represent heaven and the description of heaven to represent hell. The whole little story wasn't even necessary in order to convey the reason for the title of the story. Here it is.

Why WE Send Jokes

A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the
scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead.
He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead
for years. He wondered where the road was leading them.
After a while, they came to a high, white stonewall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight. When he was standing before it he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold. He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side. When he was close enough, he called out,

'Excuse me, where are we?'

'This is Heaven, sir,' the man answered

'Wow! Would you happen to have some water?' the man asked.

'Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right
up.'

The man gestured, and the gate began to open.

'Can my friend,' gesturing toward his dog, 'come in, too?' the traveler
asked.

'I'm sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets.'

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued
the way he had been going with his dog.

After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a
dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as i! f it had never been
closed. There was no fence.

As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and
reading a book.

'Excuse me!' he called to the man. 'Do you have any water?'

'Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come on in.'

'How about my friend here?' the traveler gestured to the dog.

'There should be a bowl by the pump.'

They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand
pump with a bowl beside it.

The traveler filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he
gave some to the dog.

When they were full, he and the dog
walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree.

'What do you call this place?' the traveler asked.

'This is Heaven,' he answered.

'Well, that's confusing,' the traveler said. 'The man down the road said
that was Heaven, too.'

'Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That's
hell.'

Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?'

'No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their
best friends behind.'

Soooo ..Sometimes, we wonder why friends keep forwarding jokes to us
without writing a word. Maybe this will explain.

When you are very busy, but still want to keep in touch, guess what you do?
You forward jokes.

When you have nothing to say, but still want to keep contact, you forward jokes.

When you have something to say, but don't know what, and don't know how, you forward jokes.

Also to let you know that you are still remembered, you are still
important, you are still loved, you are still cared for, guess what you get? A forwarded joke.

So, next time if you get a joke, don't think that you've been sent just
another forwarded joke, but that you've been thought of today and your friend on
the other end of your computer wanted to send you a smile.

You are all welcome @ my water bowl anytime

Difficulties Fixed

2008-07-02T16:44:00.002-05:00

We were finally able to fix the problem keeping me from uploading the Holy Spirit series on sermonaudio. Here is the link again. Enjoy!

Songs

2008-07-01T11:13:00.001-05:00

Here are two songs I really enjoy. They are a bit too "rocky" for my taste but the words are what I like.

Proverbs 3:5

2008-06-27T11:05:00.002-05:00

My friend Becky and I have started what is called the verse challenge. We find a verse that has not been taught by pastors and glean from it what the Holy Spirit teaches us. I'll be posting them as we go along for all who can benefit from it. If you would like to join our Bible study feel free and contact me at my email address which is in my profile. My verse challenge was the previous post and this one is hers...enjoy!

Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Isaiah 55:9
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

This may be obvious to you as it should be to me, but God shed new light on these verses yesterday.

Often times when I contemplate God's attributes, such as his Solitariness, (no one is like him and he needs no one), His decrees, His knowledge, and on and on, I come to the edge of my understanding, He is so great. And when I am on this edge of comprehension I find in my self the up swelling of unbelief and it scares me. I pray for forgiveness and a greater faith in Him. I run to his word which I know is true.

Well, this unbelief is nothing other than sin springing from my desire to bring God down to a level I can grasp. If I can not comprehend it, I can not believe it. Idolatry of my own mind and capacity to think logically. Obviously, put this way it is easy to see. Of course we see this sin and temptation addressed in the passages I noted at the top. God knows what our weaknesses are and the sins we can easily fall into and he gives us a way out.

Praise Him for his word and promises to us in Jesus Christ.

Becky

Grace in Hidden Places

2008-06-23T23:14:00.006-05:00

Philippians 1:7 "It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel."

Paul understood that living the Gospel wasn't "Your Best Life Now". Instead, he teaches us that signs of grace upon your life are trials and tribulations that come into your life and the ability to continue to defend the Gospel and living according to the Gospel during those times of hardship.

Many of us struggle with reoccurring sin. When we are in the heat of the trial what is our reaction? Do we yearn for "Our Best Life Now" or do we yearn to shed ourselves and take on Christ? Do we see those trials as grace that has been heaped upon us? God takes us through those trials in order to sanctify us...THAT'S GRACE, Y'ALL!

1 Peter 4:12-13 "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed."

Difficulties

2008-06-22T16:47:00.002-05:00

I'm having difficulties uploading the third part series of The Holy Spirit onto my church's site at sermonaudio, and right now I'm doing a long stretch of working 12 hour shifts. So if I can't get to it Monday, I'll definitely be able to work on the problem Thursday. In the meantime, perhaps my pastor will do it...we'll see what happens. Sorry of the delay.

The Pitfalls of Scriptural Ignorance

2008-06-10T02:07:00.004-05:00

My good friend and sister in Christ, Cristina, has just introduced to me a heretic here at her site. His name is Todd Bentley. He is a heretic because he believes that an angel gives him power and revels new things to him. He believes that God told him to tell others of this angel. When he asked God why the angel and not Jesus, Todd states that God told him that everyone knows about Jesus and that they need to learn about this angel. So he is indeed a heretic for so many reasons. That does not mean he is not savable as long as he hasn't blasphemed the Holy Spirit. I'm not so sure that Todd Bentley hasn't blasphemed the Holy Spirit, but I will let God deal with that question. This man is not only dangerous to the church He is plain dangerous to the general public. If the church doesn't call him out, someones relative who isn't a Christian just might sue this man for all he's worth when he injures their loved one. He is either demon possessed (I do not use this phrase very often at all, but I'll make an exception for him since he does claim that he had 20+ demons cast out of him AFTER his salvific experience) or he is mentally ill. Right about now, I'll go with either of these two diagnoses and possibly both.

It is true that he will be held to a higher level of judgement for leading people astray. However, we cannot stand before God and claim, "He taught me this junk! It's his fault!" We as individuals are required to study His Word to show ourselves approved. There are many in the evangelical world who have fallen prey to an unbiblical teaching of the Holy Spirit. God willing, most of these dear brothers and sisters will not fall prey to men such as Todd Bentley. But Todd Bentley is a good example of why we need to have correct doctrine on ALL things.

I am going to be posting at my church's sermonaudio.com site a series on the Holy Spirit. For all who long to have a Biblical view on the Holy Spirit and His work or for those who would just like affirmation on what they believe, click on the link to the right entitled "My Pastor's Sermons". For those who have never heard of the Godhead defined, the Godhead is three Persons in one Essence. The three Persons doesn't mean human beings except for Christ who is Godman, nor does it mean three gods. There will be eight teachings on the Holy Spirit, and I'll post one every three or four days. Let's not fall prey to Satan's devices!

Root Sin

2008-06-09T00:10:00.002-05:00

"The first root produced from a seed is called the radicle. In many dicotyledonous plants this root greatly enlarges to become the most prominent root of the plant and is known as a tap root. Many smaller branch roots may grow from the tap root."

I used to always think that pride was the root sin. I have recently changed my mind. I believe self-love to be the root sin. If I didn't love myself so much, I would care little of pride. Pride is possible a branch root which grows out of self-love. In any case, if you kill the sin of self-love, you kill sin. We will never be rid of self-love entirely this side of heaven, but God certainly will rid us of the enormity of this sin by giving us a love for Himself.

Giving

2008-05-28T22:16:00.006-05:00

I'm still in the process of learning to be a giving person. I don't find it hard to give money. Money is the easiest thing to give. It's not apart of you and you can always get more. What is hard to give is your: time, love, patience, kindness, mercy, truth you've learned, etc. There's more that can be added to the list.

I have difficulty with organization, prioritizing and concentration. At work, I'm better at these things but lack them at home. What does that have to do with giving? Much in every way. I find that I cannot give much of any of those things in the list if I'm not organized, if I don't prioritize, and if my concentration is low. All of that takes discipline something I severely lack.

All of our sanctification comes from God, but He gave us a mind for a reason. If I would organize and prioritize my time, that would cause me to concentrate on things outside of my at-the-moment desires. When my life is unorganized then my anxiety level goes way up because I know I have certain things that I need to accomplish. I feel like I cannot get everything I WANT and everything others want done.

Prioritizing your time on paper is the easy part. It would be God, family, others, self. However, I have difficulty knowing how to organize my life. Maybe you, the reader, would be most kind and offer some suggestions. Here is my work schedule. I work any three days in the week from 7pm to 730am. So I might work three days in a row or I might work two days have a day off then work my third or I might work a day, off a day, work a day, off a day, work a day. Well, you get the idea. Most of the time I have two or three days off in a row. Some times I can get four or five days off in a row...that's not too often. In any case, I sleep during the day and work at night. On my off days, I have to switch to being a day person. So literally I spend one whole day and night "recovering". Then I normally have decreased energy during the rest of the days off. My last day off I have to stay up all day and then stay up till at least 3am so that I can switch back to night shift then sleep during the day that I have to go back to work. So if I have only two or three days off in a row, I spend most of those days changing from night to day then back to night shift. Now, what I need from someone who is better at organization than I am is how do I set up a routine that I can follow every day. Let's start off with one of the priorities, God, then we can add the others later.

How long do you guys pray and study the Word each day? Do you have days on which you study and pray longer? If you have long and short studies, can you describe them. Sometimes people don't want to announce these kind of answers to anyone and that's ok. When I do a long study it can last for hours because I'm doing a lot of searching. If I do a short study, well then that's usually just reading a few chapters of the Bible. Just reading some chapters doesn't really work for me...my mind begins to wander. I actually have to do studies in order to concentrate. Do any of you know of some quick studies (around 30-40min) that I could do on the days I work? Maybe like important word studies or something. Just randomly reading some chapters is hard for me at times (I have the attention span of a gnat!). Maybe my short study times could be reading some chapters on issues on which I need to improve...reading about the greatest commandment then talking that over with someone about how well we are obeying it. Does that count as studying the Bible?

I could use all the ideas all of you can give to me. I want to become more giving...I'm really tired of being so selfish!

Luke 14:26 "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' 31Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple."

My loved ones!

2008-05-27T00:46:00.022-05:00

My sister, Jeanie, came down to visit and we've been having a great time with her! Here are some of our pictures.

My beautiful mother, Judy, and her great grandson, "baby"

My beautiful sister, Jeanie with her grandson...baby.

My beautiful sister, Suzan

The mostest cutest baby in the world!

My beautiful niece, Ash...mom and sis

That's Suzan's husband

The rest of these pictures are of me and my loved ones

I had a picture here a lost it.

Mankind Is Evil

2008-05-21T22:08:00.000-05:00

My "Letter"

2008-05-20T23:51:00.005-05:00

So I sent out more letters to the persecuted church yesterday. I sent them out with a whole different perspective with which I have ever sent them out. Suffering with the church...

My suffering isn't what they suffer AT ALL, but we can suffer with our brothers and sisters. When we "pick" Christ over ourselves, our flesh suffers or dies and Christ grows more within us. Suffering is a purifier.

What have I learned about suffering? I don't like being lonely. Perhaps I put too much satisfaction in seeing my loved ones...I don't know. Perhaps I, like Paul, will learn to be content in whatever situation that I am in. I haven't been content since this incident happened. My vacation with my sister was suppose to start today...ok, soon it will be Wednesday so it was suppose to start Tuesday. I was sad and depressed that it didn't, and so instead of being content in my situation, I did things to distract myself. No, I didn't run to the Bible and to prayer. Of course, I did my daily study and prayer time, but I didn't fall before God to express my discontentment and to ask His to fill my heart with His joy. I didn't read and read the Bible in order to renew my mind and to gain encouragement so that I might glorify God to the fullest extent that this suffering would have brought.

What else did I learn about suffering? I learned that I wouldn't blame God for my suffering. I learned that I would know that He had a reason for my suffering and I needed to learn what that reason was. I think I've learned at least part of it. This particular suffering has brought my head knowledge of knowing that God is God to my heart knowledge in a deeper way (we can always learn things that we think we already know in a deeper and fuller way). That no matter what happened to me He would never change. Though I suffer "bad" things, He is still good and holy, just and merciful. Nothing in my life changes who He is. I cannot say that just because "bad" things happen to me He is somehow not as worthy of as much praise and glory as He was before my suffering. As Job said, "Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?"

What else did I learn about suffering? I learned in a very small way not to be so self-centered. I thought to myself, "What if God has orchestrated all of this to teach my sister and her family a lesson which will bring them closer to Him? Should I be so selfish to deny them that lesson just so that I can have some fun with my sister and enjoy her company?" I have lessons to learn but what if they also have lessons to learn? There is just so much we can learn through suffering. I have learned that if I stop being such a wimp I can learn much more.

I say all of that to tell you all that I got my "letter". My sister just called me from Canada and said that someone called her house and told her where all her stolen items including her passport were. They said that they were in a dumpster. She and her husband went to that dumpster and sure enough there were all of her stolen items minus their birth certificates in the dumpster (pray that they find their birth certificates...criminals can use them in a greater capacity than any of the other items which were stolen...meaning the passport numbers can be canceled...birth certificates and cannot be canceled they are good for as long as you have them in your hands!). The only thing that will stop her from coming down is an unavailable flight. She told me to still not hold my breath on this. What can I do? I do hope she comes down!!! But if she cannot, can I go a step further than what I did before this point in time and not only glorify God in all that He is but also be CONTENT? I've got my letter and it's from God. Now, can I read that letter and learn all that I can from it?

Speaking of letters...how many letters are our persecuted brothers and sisters going to open? Will they get a love letter from you and me in a consistent manner long after our suffering is lightened? May we always remember them.

Matthew 25:34-40 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' 37Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' 40And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'"

There's A Need...and it's for you!

2008-05-18T22:14:00.005-05:00

I don't normally write about the persecuted on this blog. I have a blog designated especially for them. But I just received some disappointing news today from my sister and so I thought I would talk about these two subjects.

My sister lives in Canada and was going to come to visit us in a few days and spend nine days with us. Last night someone stole her passport which makes it impossible for her to come...unless they find the person who stole it and he confesses. I'm not going to hold my breath on this one! I miss her so much and feel very lonely right now. I really, really want her to come down, but "if wishes were horses all beggars would ride".

I began to think about how sad and lonely it made me to know she was going to come and visit and then just like that she isn't. Then I began to think about our brothers and sisters who are in prison for the faith that is within them. Besides all the hardships they endure, many times they are denied visitors who would not only meet their physical needs but would also give them a ray of sunshine and something to which they could look forward. I'm not even beginning to know their sufferings. I don't even know if they get lonely, because I don't know their level of spiritual maturity. But they're human, right? God made humans to have relationships. So everyone needs someone in their lives to encourage them and comfort them. To cry with them and laugh with them. They too need human contact in some form. I can't visit them or call them, but I can write to them. I can't even imagine how wonderful the letters are that they receive from different people! Perhaps every day they look forward to getting a letter from us. Every day they wait for the prison guard to throw that white envelope at them. The joy that springs up in their hearts that there are people outside those prison walls thinking of them, praying for them, and loving them! Not only that...these letters contain precious verses from the Bible!

I know that God sustains our brothers and sisters in prison, but what a bright moment (brighter than we could even know!) we could make in their lives. It means so much. If you have ever felt isolated, then you can know in a small way how our persecuted brothers and sisters feel. Do something for them. Go to the link I provided to my other blog and write to them. Once you've clicked onto a link I have provided at my other site (which you can find under the heading of "Love Letters To The Saints"), it will take you to Voice of the Martyrs and you can write to many different people.

Glorious Righteousness!

2008-05-15T21:28:00.004-05:00

I learn at an exceptionally slow pace when it comes to the things of God. I'm even slower at demonstrating godliness. However, through God's persistence because of His promises to continue doing the good work He began in me, I am ever learning great truths of Him.

Learning everything about His glory is a daunting task. Certainly, not a task mastered by human will. In fact, it is a task when left to us is warped and stained. However, God is good and helps us to learn of His glory in bit size pieces...amounts which we can handle without being overwhelmed to the point of madness and death.

I have learned bits and pieces here and there about His glory. "Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever." We all know this and agree with it. Unfortunately, we really don't understand with what we agree! Our new nature knows it to be a true statement and therefore we agree to its content.

I tried to separate God and myself when glorifying Him. I thought this was the perfect way to give Him all the glory and me none of it. He is already separate from me in all His ways but not wholly separate. Also, His creation already yells out His glory. He doesn't need me to assign to Him all the good works He does...that's already been done by Him. The fact that He has done all good things isn't dependant upon whether or not I give Him glory for doing those good works. He's done them and He doesn't need me glorifying Him in doing so. God is glorified without mankind's contribution of glorifying God. I'm not saying that we don't need to verbally express that He has done all good things and that He deserves all the glory...we must do so. But how do we really glorify God? Well, how would we give credit to someone who came up with a great idea on how to perform a certain task? We would give them credit (glory) by actually doing that task as they directed us to perform the task.

A righteous life lived out day by day is how we glorify God. Running around saying, "God gets all the glory in our salvation, sanctification, and everything else good!" is only condemning our actions if we don't live a life of righteousness. Our mouths profess what we do not live. The reformed church has much knowledge on the doctrines of God, but do we have much righteousness expressed in our daily life? Am I living what I'm being taught? Slowly. Slowly, God is sanctifying His children to be perfect as He is perfect.

I love this article from John Newton!

2008-05-13T03:21:00.000-05:00

New Horizons
On Controversy
John Newton

Editor's note: A minister, about to write an article criticizing a fellow minister for his lack of orthodoxy, wrote to John Newton of his intention. Newton replied as follows:

Dear Sir,

As you are likely to be engaged in controversy, and your love of truth is joined with a natural warmth of temper, my friendship makes me solicitous on your behalf. You are of the strongest side; for truth is great, and must prevail; so that a person of abilities inferior to yours might take the field with a confidence of victory. I am not therefore anxious for the event of the battle; but I would have you more than a conqueror, and to triumph, not only over your adversary, but over yourself. If you cannot be vanquished, you may be wounded. To preserve you from such wounds as might give you cause of weeping over your conquests, I would present you with some considerations, which, if duly attended to, will do you the service of a great coat of mail; such armor, that you need not complain, as David did of Saul's, that it will be more cumbersome than useful; for you will easily perceive it is taken from that great magazine provided for the Christian soldier, the Word of God. I take it for granted that you will not expect any apology for my freedom, and therefore I shall not offer one. For method's sake, I may reduce my advice to three heads, respecting your opponent, the public, and yourself.

Consider Your Opponent

As to your opponent, I wish that before you set pen to paper against him, and during the whole time you are preparing your answer, you may commend him by earnest prayer to the Lord's teaching and blessing. This practice will have a direct tendency to conciliate your heart to love and pity him; and such a disposition will have a good influence upon every page you write.

If you account him a believer, though greatly mistaken in the subject of debate between you, the words of David to Joab concerning Absalom, are very applicable: "Deal gently with him for my sake." The Lord loves him and bears with him; therefore you must not despise him, or treat him harshly. The Lord bears with you likewise, and expects that you should show tenderness to others, from a sense of the much forgiveness you need yourself. In a little while you will meet in heaven; he will then be dearer to you than the nearest friend you have upon earth is to you now. Anticipate that period in your thoughts; and though you may find it necessary to oppose his errors, view him personally as a kindred soul, with whom you are to be happy in Christ forever.

But if you look upon him as an unconverted person, in a state of enmity against God and his grace (a supposition which, without good evidence, you should be very unwilling to admit), he is a more proper object of your compassion than of your anger. Alas! "He knows not what he does." But you know who has made you to differ. If God, in his sovereign pleasure, had so appointed, you might have been as he is now; and he, instead of you, might have been set for the defense of the gospel. You were both equally blind by nature. If you attend to this, you will not reproach or hate him, because the Lord has been pleased to open your eyes, and not his.

Of all people who engage in controversy, we, who are called Calvinists, are most expressly bound by our own principles to the exercise of gentleness and moderation. If, indeed, they who differ from us have a power of changing themselves, if they can open their own eyes, and soften their own hearts, then we might with less inconsistency be offended at their obstinacy: but if we believe the very contrary to this, our part is, not to strive, but in meekness to instruct those who oppose. "If peradventure God will give them repentance to the acknowledgment of the truth." If you write with a desire of being an instrument of correcting mistakes, you will of course be cautious of laying stumbling blocks in the way of the blind or of using any expressions that may exasperate their passions, confirm them in their principles, and thereby make their conviction, humanly speaking, more impracticable.

Consider the Public

By printing, you will appeal to the public; where your readers may be ranged under three divisions: First, such as differ from you in principle. Concerning these I may refer you to what I have already said. Though you have your eye upon one person chiefly, there are many like-minded with him; and the same reasoning will hold, whether as to one or to a million.

There will be likewise many who pay too little regard to religion, to have any settled system of their own, and yet are preengaged in favor of those sentiments which are at least repugnant to the good opinion men naturally have of themselves. These are very incompetent judges of doctrine; but they can form a tolerable judgment of a writer's spirit. They know that meekness, humility, and love are the characteristics of a Christian temper; and though they affect to treat the doctrines of grace as mere notions and speculations, which, supposing they adopted them, would have no salutary influence upon their conduct; yet from us, who profess these principles, they always expect such dispositions as correspond with the precepts of the gospel. They are quick-sighted to discern when we deviate from such a spirit, and avail themselves of it to justify their contempt of our arguments. The scriptural maxim, that "the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God," is verified by daily observation. If our zeal is embittered by expressions of anger, invective, or scorn, we may think we are doing service of the cause of truth, when in reality we shall only bring it into discredit. The weapons of our warfare, and which alone are powerful to break down the strongholds of error, are not carnal, but spiritual; arguments fairly drawn from Scripture and experience, and enforced by such a mild address, as may persuade our readers, that, whether we can convince them or not, we wish well to their souls, and contend only for the truth's sake; if we can satisfy them that we act upon these motives, our point is half gained; they will be more disposed to consider calmly what we offer; and if they should still dissent from our opinions, they will be constrained to approve our intentions.

You will have a third class of readers, who, being of your own sentiments, will readily approve of what you advance, and may be further established and confirmed in their views of the Scripture doctrines, by a clear and masterly elucidation of your subject. You may be instrumental to their edification if the law of kindness as well as of truth regulates your pen, otherwise you may do them harm. There is a principle of self, which disposes us to despise those who differ from us; and we are often under its influence, when we think we are only showing a becoming zeal in the cause of God.

I readily believe that the leading points of Arminianism spring from and are nourished by the pride of the human heart; but I should be glad if the reverse were always true; and that to embrace what are called the Calvinistic doctrines was an infallible token of a humble mind. I think I have known some Arminians, that is, persons who for want of a clearer light, have been afraid of receiving the doctrines of free grace, who yet have given evidence that their hearts were in a degree humbled before the Lord.

And I am afraid there are Calvinists, who, while they account it a proof of their humility, that they are willing in words to debase the creature and to give all the glory of salvation to the Lord, yet know not what manner of spirit they are of. Whatever it be that makes us trust in ourselves that we are comparatively wise or good, so as to treat those with contempt who do not subscribe to our doctrines, or follow our party, is a proof and fruit of a self-righteous spirit.

Self-righteousness can feed upon doctrines as well as upon works; and a man may have the heart of a Pharisee, while his head is stored with orthodox notions of the unworthiness of the creature and the riches of free grace. Yea, I would add, the best of men are not wholly free from this leaven; and therefore are too apt to be pleased with such representations as hold up our adversaries to ridicule, and by consequence flatter our own superior judgments. Controversies, for the most part, are so managed as to indulge rather than to repress his wrong disposition; and therefore, generally speaking, they are productive of little good. They provoke those whom they should convince, and puff up those whom they should edify. I hope your performance will savor of a spirit of true humility, and be a means of promoting it in others.

Consider Yourself

This leads me, in the last place, to consider your own concern in your present undertaking. It seems a laudable service to defend the faith once delivered to the saints; we are commanded to contend earnestly for it, and to convince gainsayers. If ever such defenses were seasonable and expedient they appear to be so in our own day, when errors abound on all sides and every truth of the gospel is either directly denied or grossly misrepresented.

And yet we find but very few writers of controversy who have not been manifestly hurt by it. Either they grow in a sense of their own importance, or imbibe an angry, contentious spirit, or they insensibly withdraw their attention from those things which are the food and immediate support of the life of faith, and spend their time and strength upon matters which are at most but of a secondary value. This shows, that if the service is honorable, it is dangerous. What will it profit a man if he gains his cause and silences his adversary, if at the same time he loses that humble, tender frame of spirit in which the Lord delights, and to which the promise of his presence is made?

Your aim, I doubt not, is good; but you have need to watch and pray for you will find Satan at your right hand to resist you; he will try to debase your views; and though you set out in defense of the cause of God, if you are not continually looking to the Lord to keep you, it may become your own cause, and awaken in you those tempers which are inconsistent with true peace of mind, and will surely obstruct communion with God.

Be upon your guard against admitting anything personal into the debate. If you think you have been ill treated, you will have an opportunity of showing that you are a disciple of Jesus, who "when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not." This is our pattern, thus we are to speak and write for God, "not rendering railing for railing, but contrariwise blessing; knowing that hereunto we are called." The wisdom that is from above is not only pure, but peaceable and gentle; and the want of these qualifications, like the dead fly in the pot of ointment, will spoil the savor and efficacy of our labors.

If we act in a wrong spirit, we shall bring little glory to God, do little good to our fellow creatures, and procure neither honor nor comfort to ourselves. If you can be content with showing your wit, and gaining the laugh on your side, you have an easy task; but I hope you have a far nobler aim, and that, sensible of the solemn importance of gospel truths, and the compassion due to the souls of men, you would rather be a means of removing prejudices in a single instance, than obtain the empty applause of thousands. Go forth, therefore, in the name and strength of the Lord of hosts, speaking the truth in love; and may he give you a witness in many hearts that you are taught of God, and favored with the unction of his Holy Spirit.

Giving

2008-05-04T22:46:00.003-05:00

I've always thought of myself as a giving person. I like to give to people. However, for some time now, God has been showing me how limited my "liking to give" really is. I like to give to the people to whom I want to give. Unbeknownst to me, I was rating people and deciding whether or not they deserved to receive anything from me. Sounds pretty horrible doesn't it? If it wasn't so reflective of my depraved nature, I would chuckle in amazement! I didn't even realize that I was doing this and I would have argued for the opposite before God showed me this in myself.

A few things have "popped" into my life which has shown me how little I do like to indiscriminately give. Do I like to give to those who take advantage of me? No. Do I like to give to people who I don't like particularly? No. Well, you get the idea. In other words, I wasn't any more giving than the heathen down the road.

What do we know about God? We know that He is holy, righteous, and good among other things. We also know that He gives freely not only to His children but also to the wicked. None of us deserve ANYTHING He gives to us, but all of us want all the good things He gives to us. Yet, here I was deciding which person was good enough to receive anything from me!

This is one area where I can begin to be like my heavenly Father and give to those who ask (and to those who don't ask but just take) and honor and glorify Him. I can do this knowing that if I never receive anything more from Him, I have received more than I ever deserved and more than many people will ever get from Him or me. Do I love Him that much? Yes, I think I do for it is not my own love but His that works within me!

Luke 6:27-36

"But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. 31And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
32 "If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 35But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful."

Sermons

2008-04-22T02:42:00.002-05:00

Many people do not have access to biblical preaching. Well, God has promised that His children will not go begging for bread. I would like to be apart of the dispensing of that bread. Here is a link to my pastor's sermons that I know you will enjoy. I also have the link on my blog roll.

Errors

2008-04-18T01:26:00.002-05:00

We all have beliefs that are not doctrinally correct. No one is without error. That is why all should continue to study to show themselves approved. However, some times people find out through hard study that they have been wrong for years and years. That is hard for many different reasons but mostly because you know you have misrepresented God's Word and that's devastating.

There is an article that I came upon about a man to whom this happened. He was of the reformed baptist church and did not believe in covenant theology or paedobaptism. For 15 years, he debated and wrote books and articles against these doctrines until God showed him the truth. Here is his story. This is ONLY his story not the lay out of these doctrines.

Book Review of The Expository Genius of John Calvin by Steven J. Lawson

2008-04-14T17:17:00.004-05:00

On March 9, 2008, I spoke of a new blog created by Ligonier Ministries. Some time ago, they put forth an offer for a free book if a book review was completed on the PFD version of the selected book. Well, I took that offer and on March 11, 2008 I received my PDF version of "The Expository Genius of John Calvin" which is the book I had selected. I began the read several times but never did I finish it. Then just last night my good friend and sister in Christ, Courtney from Running the Way of His Commandments, reminded me of this undertaking by asking me if I was aware of it. She is so ambitious that she inspired me to finish reading my PDF version and to write the book review. So here is my review of this wonderful book!

None can grasp the English language and sculpt it into a Picasso as did many of the writers to which the eighteenth and nineteenth century gave birth. These writers grace our pages with tantalizing speech that send the mind whirling. I speak of none other than Jonathan Edwards in his "Religious Affections" and of a lesser quality, Jane Austen and my more favorite of the two women, Emily Bronte. However, Steven J. Lawson is not lacking in his writing abilities when he pens The Expository Genius of John Calvin. One has to be kind to modern day writers and not compare them to our forefathers(mothers) of literature. Our modern day writers are quite capable of saying what they mean even if it isn't written with the eloquence of the past which we will forgive since eloquence of speech isn't of utmost importance. Lawson indeed gives to his reader valuable information which will not leave the reader wanting. With that said, no one should compare Lawson's book with those books of the past nor should anyone compare this review with any other writing unless one seeks after disappointments.

Lawson begins his book with a triumphal entry into the life of John Calvin. All of Calvin's achievements not only as theologian but also as a citizen are laid out which will pleasantly surprise some of his readers.

Lawson sets his battlefield under the protective covering of good works accomplished by Calvin. Considering the pendulum of attitudes towards Calvin, this is a highly intelligent way to approach the "Calvin subject". He may gain some naysayers to Calvin's side, calm the hypercalvinist, and will ultimately reassure and delight the modest friends of Calvin.

Lawson begins by dividing Calvin into several categories which I will attempt to summarize.

The first category being "The Real Calvin" who was the theologian all intelligent Christians have come to know and hold dear.

The second category being "Calvin the Man" who was endowed with intelligence with which only a few have been blessed. Latin, logic, philosophy, law, literature, and writing books are only some of his achievements which aided him in Scripture interpretation. Lawson continues under this heading and lays out Calvin's conversion, his ravenous appetite for learning, his determined work for Christ, and both common-man and Pauline sufferings and experiences. Lawson lists other great men such as John Knox who were influenced under the direct teaching of Calvin and who were the universal and fertile soil from which other godly men sprang covering vast amounts of countries. In the end, Lawson captures what Calvin the man was...God's man.

The third category being...well, that being Lawson's book title. Under the chapter Approaching the Pulpit, Lawson cradles his writing in lavish paintings of grandeur but also of hardship or more to the correctness of terms...persecution. He doesn't disappoint either the lover of stories nor the lover of doctrine which is dressed with history and both soaked in devotion for God's glory. Tales of unsurpassed devotion to God by the hearers of Calvin's sermons stir the hearts of Lawson's own readers and leave them praying for pastors such as Calvin. But Lawson doesn't just leave his readers clinging to nothing. Under subsequent chapters, Lawson lists in detail the reasons for Calvin's extraordinary command of the pulpit. These reasons will make some pastors blush with shame but will make others confident in their task while giving them an outline with which to guide their own pastoring. It should also make the naysayers mute with bowed heads. For if one takes the time, one will find a humble and Christ-centered servant of God in Calvin. Lawson indeed captures not only the genius of Calvin but also a servant devoted in his entirety to God's glory.

New Blog

2008-04-13T01:24:00.001-05:00

A friend or rather one of my sisters in Christ has started her own blog. Go here to read it.

The Warrior Is A Child

2008-04-07T01:12:00.005-05:00

Warrior is a Child

Lately I've been winning battles left and right
But even winners can get wounded in the fight
People say that I'm amazing
Strong beyond my years
But they don't see inside of me
I'm hiding all the tears

(Chorus)

They don't know that I go running home when I fall down
They don't know who picks me up when no one is around
I drop my sword and cry for just awhile
'Cause deep inside this armour
The warrior is a child

Unafraid because His armour is the best
But even soldiers need a quiet place to rest
People say that I'm amazing
Never face retreat
But they don't see the enemies
That lay me at His feet

Chorus x2

I drop my sword and look up for His smile
Because deep inside this armour
Deep inside this armour
Deep inside this armour
The Warrior is a Child

I don't feel like a very good warrior! Please pray for me that I will love Christ more than family, friends, earthly goods, and most of all myself.

Homemade Brownies?

2008-04-04T23:21:00.000-05:00

Last week, I walked into my office to find a sandwich bag on my desk containing three chewy, tasty,
Home-made chocolate brownies.

Some thoughtful and anonymous person who knew my love for tasty homemade brownies had placed them there, along with a hand written short story.

I immediately sat down and began eating the first chewy, tasty, homemade brownie as I read the following story:

Two teenagers asked their father if they could go the theater to watch a movie that all their friends had seen.
After reading some reviews about the movie on the Internet, he denied their request.

"Aw dad, why not?" they complained. "It's rated PG-13, and we're both older than thirteen!"

Dad replied: "Because that movie contains nudity and portrays immorality as being
normal and acceptable behavior.

"But dad, those are just very small parts of the movie!
That's what our friends who've seen it have told us.
The movie is two hours long and those scenes are just a few minutes of the total film!

It's based on a true story and good triumphs over evil, and there are other redeeming themes like courage and self-sacrifice.
Even the movie review websites say that!"

"My answer is 'no,' and that is my final answer.
You are welcome to stay home tonight, invite some of your friends over, and watch one of the good videos we have in our home collection.
But you will not go and watch that film.
End of discussion."

The two teenagers walked dejectedly into the family room and slumped down on the couch.

As they sulked, they were surprised to hear the sounds of their Father preparing something in the kitchen.
They soon recognized the wonderful aroma of brownies baking in the oven,

and one of the teenagers said to the other,
"Dad must be feeling guilty, and now he's going to try to make it up to us

with some fresh brownies.
Maybe we can soften him with lots of praise when he brings them out to us and persuade him to let us go to that movie after all."

About that time I began eating the second brownie from the sandwich bag and wondered if there was some connection to the brownies I was eating and the brownies in the story.
I kept reading...

The teens were not disappointed.
Soon their father appeared with a plate of warm brownies, which he offered to his kids.

They each took one. Then their father said, "Before you eat, I want to tell you something: I love you both so much.
"The teenagers smiled at each other with knowing glances.
Dad was softening.
"That is why I've made these brownies with the very best ingredients.
I've made them from scratch.
Most of the ingredients are even organic.
The best organic flour.
The best free-range eggs.
The best organic sugar.
Premium Vanilla and chocolate."

The brownies looked mouthwatering, and the teens began to become a little
impatient with their dad's long speech.

"But I want to be perfectly honest with you.
There is one ingredient I added that is not usually found in brownies.
I got that ingredient from our own back yard.
But you needn't worry, because I only added the tiniest bit of that ingredient to your brownies.
The amount of the portion is practically insignificant.
So go ahead, take a bite and let me know what you think."

"Dad, would you mind telling us what that mystery ingredient is before we eat?"

"Why? The portion I added was so small.
Just a teaspoonful. You won't even taste it."

"Come on, dad; just tell us what that ingredient is."

"Don't worry! It is organic, just like the other ingredients. "

"Dad!"

"Well, OK, if you insist.
That secret ingredient is fresh organic...dog poop."

I immediately stopped chewing that second brownie and I spit it out into the waste basket by my desk.
I continued reading, now fearful of the paragraphs that still remained.

Both teens instantly dropped their brownies back on the plate and began
inspecting their fingers with horror.
"DAD! Why did you do that?
You've tortured us by making us smell those brownies cooking for the last half hour, and now you tell us that you added
dog poop!
We can't eat these brownies!"

"Why not? The amount of dog poop is very small compared to the rest of the ingredients. It won't hurt you. It's been cooked right along with the other ingredients. You won't even taste it. It has the same consistency as the brownies. Go ahead and eat!"

"No, Dad...NEVER! "

"And that is the same reason I won't allow you to go watch that movie.
You won't tolerate a little dog poop in your brownies, so why should you tolerate a little immorality in your movies?

We pray that God will not lead us unto temptation, so how can we in good conscience entertain ourselves with something that will imprint a sinful image in our minds that will lead us into temptation long after we first see it?

I discarded what remained of the second brownie as well as the entire untouched third brownie.
What had been irresistible a minute go had become detestable!
And only because of the very slim chance that what I was eating was slightly polluted. (Surely it wasn't . . . but I couldn't convince myself.)

What a good lesson about purity!
Why do we tolerate any sin?

On the day of the Passover, the Israelites were commanded to remove every bit of leaven from their homes.

Sin is like leaven - a little bit leavens the whole lump;
faith and sin, don't mix.
(1Corinthians 5:6, 7)

author unknown

I'm Back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-04-04T15:47:00.005-05:00

Oh my! It's been a looooooooooooong two weeks! But God showed me many things during my time out! I'll probably write about those sometime. Right now I want to walk around the net world and tell everyone hi! See ya later!

Out of Commission

2008-03-20T16:53:00.001-05:00

My computer crashed today and I'm using my sister's computer to tell everyone I won't be around for awhile. I'll miss you guys but hopefully not for long. Love to everyone and God bless you all.

Self Accountability

2008-03-19T02:38:00.005-05:00

Romans 14:10 "...For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; 11for it is written,

'As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
and every tongue shall confess to God.'

12So then each of us will give an account of himself to God"

Does this put fear and trembling into your heart? It should! God is a holy and fearsome God. He isn't our buddy with whom we hang out. He is our friend in that He is no longer our enemy. Sometimes people forget that we are to have fear for our God. Not a fear of judgement but an awesome fear. When I read this text my heart was stricken. I stared blinking at this text for a few seconds. Why? Because I know what is in my heart. I know what an evil heart still lies within me. Ever sinning...how relentless I am in my sin! What will be my account of myself to God?

I have NO idea what it will be like to stand before God and give Him an account of myself. It says that I will be bowing before Him confessing the account of myself. Will I be wracked with trembling and sobbing with gratitude? I don't know. But this I do know. My account of myself will be thus:

"There was nothing I did that would ever bring me Your favor. Nothing I said or did that caught Your eye or made Your face to shine upon me. Nothing that my mind could construe or formulate that would make Your head nod my way in acceptance. Instead, I had been a God-hater. I have been disobedient, wayward, and a vile creature. But it is not I who I offer as a satisfactory account on my behalf but Your Son who is the perfect sacrifice for all my sins. You gave me to Him and it is under His blood that I approach Your throne and give an account of myself to You...my self account is Christ Jesus my Lord and Savior!

A New and Great Blog!

2008-03-09T22:14:00.001-05:00

Ligonier Ministries (R.C Sproul) has started their own blog!!!!!!!!! Go here to read quality material.

My Earthly Loss Is Eternal Gain

2008-02-14T13:26:00.002-06:00

I went on a cruise from Feb 2 to the 13th which was paid in full by my sister and her family. While I was there I learned a valuable lesson which we all know and yet might not always KNOW.

The second day I was there my camera was stolen. It was a relatively new camera which cost me $600. I really liked my camera. It was my camera and I didn't want another camera. I was familiar with it and had some good memories with it. Luckily, I had gotten a new card to store new pictures on and left my relatively full card at home.

When I first noticed that it was missing I didn't panic really. I just knew it was gone but somehow felt I would get it back. Everyday I went to "Guest Services" and asked if anyone had turned in my camera. As time went by, I realized that the thief was not going to return my camera, and I was going to miss taking some really beautiful pictures! I was angry but not in way which would have ruined the trip. Instead, I was angry in a subtle way. My first thought was, "I'm God's child and there is no way that He is going to let you (the thief) get away with stealing my property." They had wronged me and since I didn't know who they were, God did and would take care of them for me. Pretty arrogant, huh? Well, don't worry, because God didn't leave me in that arrogance. I cannot fully express to you what God showed me right after that arrogant thought, but I will try to express it as well as I can.

The first thing I heard in my head was laughter. Have you ever heard yourself laugh inside your own head at something you didn't particularly find funny? Then I heard the words, "Are you serious?" I was talking to myself without my own conscious effort to talk to myself. "Are you SERIOUS!!!!!!? You think that just because someone has stolen your camera God is going to take vengeance TODAY on them for you? You are a sin-making machine and yet you want vengeance TODAY because someone sinned $600 worth against you??? What about God and His holiness? The sin they committed against Him is infinitely sinful AND YET His mercy flows so abundantly towards them in that He doesn't eradicate them altogether. I was astonished. I knew how angry I was at them and their sin against me. Why then was I so lenient with myself when it came to sinning against God? Why wasn't I just as angry about my own sin against an infinitely, holy God? That person's sin against me totaled $600, but just one sin from one person against God was worth an infinite amount. I know that we all grieve over our sin but not nearly to the degree we should. We cannot grieve in an infinite manner and that's where Christ's blood comes into effect. We have NO idea the depth to which we offend God with our sins. We have no idea the depth of His mercy and grace. If what I felt the day I had my earthly valuable stolen from me can help put into perspective in a small way my sin against God, then the $600 payment for this knowledge was not a payment at all but was an earthly loss for an eternal gain of knowledge.

The Adam and Eve Syndrome

2008-01-28T20:15:00.000-06:00

I was talking with my mother about someone who is very close to us and the despair in which they are finding themselves. This particular person felt bad about not wanting to be around another person who is always pointing out their failures...he is tired of being around them. His despair is great but he has a greater God who loves him.

Sometimes we can become despondent over our sins. They are so great and overwhelming and the new nature that God gave to us grieves deeply unto despair. We become like Adam and Eve. When they sinned they hid from God and didn't want to communicate with Him any longer. They made up excuses for their sin and did not repent at that moment when God called out to them. We do the same many times. When we sin greatly we tend to "hid" from God thinking He might forget or "cool down" from His anger with time. Therefore, we don't turn to God immediately after our great sin. We probably let at least a day go by without truly repenting. We do this either to punish ourselves or/and because we think that God loves us less at the moment of our committing a sin. Time, we think, is our friend...our buffer from God's anger. However, that is exactly the opposite of what God demands from us. We are to turn to Him immediately after our sin, humble ourselves before Him, repent, and accept His gracious forgiveness. When we don't we fall into despair, but even our falling into despair is worked out for our own good. I believe that God brings us to the point of falling off the cliff of despair in order that He may catch us. We must acknowledge that we are failures in and of ourselves. This acknowledgment drives us to the one who isn't a failure, Jesus Christ. He demands that we depend solely upon His good work in our lives. Giving up on ourselves and throwing ourselves upon the Lord Jesus is what He has ordained for us to do. This is our only hope and source of true joy, peace, and contentment. If we are looking unto ourselves for achievement, we will always be disappointed. However, we have victory over our sins in Christ's righteous work on our behalf and His payment for our sins. He bought us with the greatest price ever to be paid. We, therefore, do not belong to ourselves but to Him. And if we belong to Him, then we will not stay failures, but He who began a good work in us will finish it.

So the next time you feel despondent over your failings because of your sins, run to Jesus Christ and accept His forgiveness and remember that it is sanctification He is working in you!

Understanding

2008-01-11T00:31:00.000-06:00

A month or so ago my workplace had a required, attendance, staff meeting. My director wanted to find out what was making everyone so unhappy on our unit and making them leave to go to other units or go to completely new jobs. Everyone was telling what they didn't like about other people's character and how they wished they would stop. I knew they were asking for the impossible for these character "flaws" which they disliked were really sins. Most of these people are unsaved and so their sins will never diminish. However, I thought of something that we could all do as a group which might improve our situation. Number one we could think about the things that we don't like in others and see if perhaps we might be doing those same things and try act the way we would want others act. Number two we should try to seek out the character "flaws" that others have and work with them finding out why they do what they do. An example I gave was on myself. I can't see far distances or even hear real well, so if you're talking to me and I don't answer, it's not that I'm ignoring you it's because I can't hear you and I can't see that you're speaking to me. Also, I always look like I have a frown on my face because I'm trying to see people. I told them that knowing this about me might stay off some preconceived idea that I'm mad and might then stay off the now defensive person's attitude towards me. Knowing this would give the other person peace about how I look and would give them courage to say, "Sarah, you're frowning. Can you not see me?" And then we laugh about it and peace reigns on the unit. I gave another example of a nameless person who isn't fond of working hard. I told them that she does like to sit a lot, but if you ask her to do something for you she does it willingly and without a bad attitude. Knowing that she is lazy but encouraging to be helpful might help her to stop being so lazy. Yes, it takes some effort on our part for that person, but on the flip side of the coin they might be helping you with a "flaw" you have. In the end, we are giving of ourselves and improving our unit's atmosphere.

Why am I blabbering about all of this? I think that we as Christians could help each other walk uprightly by seeking out each other's sins or even just a weakness (like my bad eye sight and hearing) and help bear their burden by directing them onto the path of righteousness. If a brother or sister, for example, is always in a bad mood, don't leave them in that state. We are commanded to bear them up. In a very loving manner, sit down with that person and let them know how concerned you are about them and that you think they are very unhappy. It could be that person feels isolated from others. It could be that they always feel ill. It could be something that they are unwilling to talk about. It could be something of which they themselves are unaware. It could be a another sin they are fighting and are not conquering because they haven't put it into Christ's hands...you could help them by showing them the Biblical way to handle that sin which would improve their bad mood. Letting them know how it is effecting the rest of the Body of Christ is important, but also telling them that you're in the long haul for helping them is very important. We must all show real concern and love for each other. We all must be willing to be sanctified by Christ who uses His children to do this at times. We must all be willing to help each other out for the long haul of each others sin. We must bear each others burdens and we must be willing to be corrected by others who love us which is the body of Christ. In short, we need to get to know each other and understand where each person is in life. Giving up our pride and learning to trust each other and be trustworthy is essential. Through God's grace we can do this.

...so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

2008-01-02T20:29:00.000-06:00

Ever wonder how you can get three day and three nights squeezed into Friday unto Sunday morning? Well, I have. One explanation which satisfied me for a long time was the one which states that any part of a day is considered a day. So part of Friday, all of Saturday, and part of Sunday makes three days. Maybe like me, you forgot all about the "three nights" part of Jesus' statement. Well, I was in the process of trying to figure out on which day of the week the Passover was celebrated when I stumbled over the answer to the question of "three days and three nights" here. It's funny how man-centered we really are and don't even realize it. When God created the heavens and the earth each day began in the evening and lasted until the next evening. He decided each day would begin in the evening. This is how the Israelites lived their lives. Their Sabbath began Friday evening and ended Saturday evening. This Biblical time changed some time along the timeline of human history. Man thought he was smarter than God and decided that the day began in the morning and ended the next morning. This got us into a lot of trouble in terms of interpreting the Bible in many areas not just this one topic. I'm not sure when it changed, but I'd bet my bottom dollar it changed with the Roman Catholic church. Who brought in Easter? This was a pagan holiday in the beginning but the Catholic church brought it into the church and turned it into a "Christian holiday". They threw in Good Friday because of their lack of OT knowledge. People don't think Easter is wrong to celebrate and I never had a foot on which to stand when I stated that it was wrong to celebrate.......until now. Celebrating Good Friday and Easter makes Jesus a false prophet because you can't squeeze three days and three nights into Friday unto Sunday morning. Go read the link I've provided and ponder!

Happy New Year!!!!!!!!

2008-01-01T08:47:00.000-06:00

"They did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year." {#Jos 5:12}

Israel’s weary wanderings were all over, and the promised rest was attained. No more moving tents, fiery serpents, fierce Amalekites, and howling wildernesses: they came to the land which flowed with milk and honey, and they ate the old corn of the land. Perhaps this year, beloved Christian reader, this may be thy case or mine. Joyful is the prospect, and if faith be in active exercise, it will yield unalloyed delight. To be with Jesus in the rest which remaineth for the people of God, is a cheering hope indeed, and to expect this glory so soon is a double bliss. Unbelief shudders at the Jordan which still rolls between us and the goodly land, but let us rest assured that we have already experienced more ills than death at its worst can cause us. Let us banish every fearful thought, and rejoice with exceeding great joy, in the prospect that this year we shall begin to be "for ever with the Lord."

A part of the host will this year tarry on earth, to do service for their Lord. If this should fall to our lot, there is no reason why the New Year’s text should not still be true. "We who have believed do enter into rest." The Holy Spirit is the earnest of our inheritance; he gives us "glory begun below." In heaven they are secure, and so are we preserved in Christ Jesus; there they triumph over their enemies, and we have victories too. Celestial spirits enjoy communion with their Lord, and this is not denied to us; they rest in his love, and we have perfect peace in him: they hymn his praise, and it is our privilege to bless him too. We will this year gather celestial fruits on earthly ground, where faith and hope have made the desert like the garden of the Lord. Man did eat angels’ food of old, and why not now? O for grace to feed on Jesus, and so to eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan this year!

Spurgeon

May we constantly find our rest in Him! Happy New Year and may God bless you all!

God's Promise

2007-12-29T21:28:00.000-06:00

Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

"For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for Your everlasting mercy and grace toward me an undeserving SINNER!

2007-12-24T21:50:00.000-06:00

One of my hobbies is photography not because I'm good at it but because I love photography. I've only made a few pictures that are worth viewing. Of course, they always look wonderful in real life. I have a hard time capturing exactly what God can display so well. One of my favorite things is to take pictures of the moon when it is really bright and you can see the landscape. This picture is of one of those nights although it doesn't show up as bright as it is in real life. If you look closely you can see remnants of the ice storm we had a few days ago on the tree. See the shiny spots?...that's ice. Tilting your computer screen down will reflect how it really showed up on my camera and somewhat of how it was in real life. Enjoy!

A Spurgeon Encouragement

2007-12-18T16:10:00.001-06:00

"I WILL HELP THEE, SAITH THE LORD." {#ISA 41:14}

This morning let us hear the Lord Jesus speak to each one of us: "I
will help thee." "It is but a small thing for me, thy God, to help thee.
Consider what I have done already. What! not help thee? Why, I
bought thee with my blood. What! not help thee? I have died for thee;
and if I have done the greater, will I not do the less? Help thee! It
is the least thing I will ever do for thee; I have done more, and
will do more. Before the world began I chose thee. I made the
covenant for thee. I laid aside my glory and became a man for thee; I
gave up my life for thee; and if I did all this, I will surely help
thee now. In helping thee, I am giving thee what I have bought for
thee already. If thou hadst need of a thousand times as much help, I
would give it thee; thou requirest little compared with what I am
ready to give. ‘Tis much for thee to need, but it is nothing for me
to bestow. ‘Help thee?’ Fear not! If there were an ant at the door of
thy granary asking for help, it would not ruin thee to give him a
handful of thy wheat; and thou art nothing but a tiny insect at the
door of my all sufficiency. ‘I will help thee.’"

O my soul, is not this enough? Dost thou need more strength than
the omnipotence of the United Trinity? Dost thou want more wisdom
than exists in the Father, more love than displays itself in the Son,
or more power than is manifest in the influences of the Spirit? Bring
hither thine empty pitcher! Surely this well will fill it. Haste,
gather up thy wants, and bring them here—thine emptiness, thy woes,
thy needs. Behold, this river of God is full for thy supply; what
canst thou desire beside? Go forth, my soul, in this thy might. The
Eternal God is thine helper!

Fear not, I am with thee, O, be not dismay’d!

I, I am thy God, and will still give thee aid.

Good Times...aren't always so good

2007-12-16T22:05:00.000-06:00

We all know those sayings which state, "It's the wind that makes the tree strong" or "It's the lack of rain which makes the tree extend its root deeper into the earth in search of water thus making it stronger" and so on. These are quoted to those who have adversity in their lives in order to encourage them...not much of an encouragement is it? Romans tells us, "Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." Before any real, great trial came into my life I had a small notion of what it meant by suffering producing endurance and then endurance producing character. However, I had no idea why character would lead to hope. I had not a good understanding of what type of character Paul was speaking. I was also shady on which hope he meant. Of course, that was a long time ago, but for the past few days I have been thinking along these lines and remembered my past ignorance. The character of which Paul speaks is the character of Christ. When we have His character, we then have our hope in Him. Sometimes God has children who seem to live in suffering more than they do outside of suffering. Those of us who have been in the sufferings God brings our way know the rewards which come to us. Those who suffer most often sit at God's table in the midst of their enemies most often. It really is a favorable place in which to be. Just about the time your own strength fails you during these times, His strength comes rushing through to you and you can drastically see the difference in your own strength and His strength and what His strength accomplishes. It is a time of suffering, but there is a DEEP peace and joy that always comes with it. Truly, during these times our hope is deepened and our joy abounds. But...just as quickly as these times come upon us so do the "good times". We see God giving to us on ALL sides. Everyone with whom we come into contact is giving us something, the days are always bright and shining, you can shovel the driveway without very much effort :o), nothing seems to be going wrong. Of course, you're always waiting for the other shoe to drop, but then smile to yourself because you know that shoes don't just drop and God doesn't bring suffering to His children just because "it's their turn"...He does it because He loves us. Then after you've enjoyed the bounty for awhile, you look around and you feel as though you're in a wasteland. Ahhhh! Such is the entrance into the sufferings which lie ahead. I've entered enough sufferings now to spot the beginnings of those sufferings (Let me stop here and say that I don't pretend to have the sames sufferings as the persecuted church or even like some of the brethren I know personally). I don't despair, and in fact, get excited about the spiritual bounty that God always lavishes on His table at which He seats me after a long stretch of suffering. My disappointment is this: That I cannot dig deeper and thirst harder and huger more after God when I'm in the "good times". I know that He IS going to teach me this lesson. When I can do this I know that I will be doing it more for His glory than when I do it during my sufferings. I'm about to enter into suffering and I welcome it. I've missed basking in my Father's presence. I pray I start to bask in His presence during both the times of suffering and the "good times" and in doing so obsess in giving Him glory.

Cabin Fever!

2007-12-15T15:53:00.000-06:00

I've been cooped up in my house since getting my wisdom teeth pulled last Thursday! I'm literally going stir-crazy and have even made plans of moving to first Idaho which would be close to my elder sister but at last no nursing jobs available in Bonners Ferry! Now I've decided to move to my dream home in Palmer, Alaska. My best friend, Sarah, from high school lives there and I must say I'm green with need! I've already found an OPC which would be my main goal and I have emailed Sarah to ask her what the housing costs are and if Palmer is in need of nurses! Someone better pray for my mouth to heal quickly so that I can get back to work or I'll be gone from Wisconsin before you know it! At last, this is all I have to offer in way of scenic beauty...enjoy!

Please Pray!

2007-12-09T23:38:00.000-06:00

I cannot give details, but my sister, Suzan, needs all of your prayers right now! Please pray for her and her child...they need Christ desperately! Thank you!

Dentists

2007-12-07T07:48:00.000-06:00

I was one of the luckiest people alive yesterday! I had the privilege of going to an oral surgeon and having my wisdom teeth pulled. The first thing he said while getting me ready was that he was going to let me put in my own IV. Suddenly, I got a queezy feeling and began to have a lot more compassion for my own patients! I passed on that assignment and let him. Don't tell him this but I think I do better than he does. :o). Anyway, when I got home my mouth bled FOREVER, but I'm still alive. Now my face is swollen and warm with just a little bit of pain. The pain is NOTHING like the pain I had when my dentist gave me a new crown which had a hole in it....now that's pain! Anyway, if you think of me today and the days to come, pray for me because I'm pretty wimpy. :o)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-22T22:34:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours. Here's a little piece of our thanksgiving time. This is at my sister's house

First Snow Fall

2007-11-21T20:27:00.000-06:00

Ahhhhhhhhhh! Winter is here and here's the proof. Is that snow falling in the bottom picture? :o)