Mode of Baptism?

UPDATED - SEE BELOW

I was reading something this morning that made me go "hmmm".

I wonder, if a person said that mode of baptism was a secondary issue (secondary to doctrines essential to salvation), and not an issue to divide over, what exactly does that mean?

I would be most interested in your thoughts on this one. (7:53am 05/31/06)

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When I posted this question this morning I honestly didn't expect to see the kind of responses that it generated. I'm not sure what I expected but I was quite impressed with the replies. I also didn't expect to be offline most of the day due to t-storms & being under a tornado watch, so I've been delayed in responding to some of the excellent comments.

When I read that statement this morning, I had several thoughts, and I'm going to go ahead and list them here in no particular order. Feel free to comment further on these things.

1. Secondary issues.

I know what folks mean when they say that, but something about it always seems a bit "off". I know that folks mean secondary to the essential truths one must affirm to be genuinely confessing faith in Christ. I'm not even going to list what I believe those "essentials" are because that would send this off in a brand new direction. I'll leave that for Frank or Dan or Steve to blog about.

When I hear that baptism, or mode of baptism is a secondary issue, it actually makes me cringe for those that I know will be offended by that. I know for example, that many Baptist brothers and sisters are convicted that the mode of baptism (full immersion) is actually symbolic of the very gospel of Christ. The death, burial and resurrection being carried out in the baptismal waters being the very act of Christ's victory over death, hell and the grave. I know that they believe that any other mode is taking away from that gospel. It's hard for me to say where I actually stand on that myself though. I'm not sure if I can say "any other mode is a false picture of the gospel and therefore not the true gospel at all" as some will say.

Some may say that's riding the fence to say that but I don't see it that way, obviously. For me it's a matter of "they've been convicted of this and I have not". But I do know that saying the mode of baptism is a secondary issue is an offense to them.

2. Issues to divide over.

This may seem rather ignorant but if mode of baptism wasn't an issue to divide over, then why are there so many denoms that are divided over that very issue? Of course it's an issue to divide over, at least to some degree or there wouldn't be different denoms.

However, does that mean a Baptist can't have fellowship with a non-Baptist? I sure hope not, since I count quite a few non-Baptists among some of the coolest people I know and do have fine fellowship with. However...

Can we have fellowship when it comes to the topic of mode of baptism? Technically, no we cannot, and here's why...

If fellowship means joint participation, or shared beliefs, then it's pretty obvious someone who holds to believer's baptism via full immersion, isn't going to be able to have fellowship with that person on that subject with someone who doesn't hold those same beliefs. However, with that said, that doesn't mean there can't be fellowship there on other issues (because we all know there can be). It just means that there will be some things at least that are better left alone, since both parties know they don't agree.

However (did I warn you this would be random thinking?), a thought occured to me as I read this, and Rebecca nailed it in the comment section before I even fully formulated it in my own thoughts:

"Sometimes, though, a different way of baptizing accompanies a different understanding of the meaning of baptism, and that different meaning of baptism will touch on what would be one of the essentials of the faith. Like a belief in baptismal regeneration, for instance, or a denial of the Trinity."

So, considering Rebecca's comment, how then can it be said that mode of baptism isn't an issue to divide over? Let's say for example, someone genuinely does hold to baptismal regeneration (regardless of the mode). Then what? Do we break fellowship with them, and divide? Is it then an issue to divide over? Does it then fall into the category of essential doctrines and not secondary doctrines?

I know, lots of questions...

I actually had more but I'll leave it with this comment from David:

"Certainly, the doctrine of baptism is very important, and I would not compromise on it. It is important enough to be partly divide over, which is why I'm not Presbyterian. However, it is not so divisive that I can't worship and fellowship with Presbyterians. Baptism is a lesser divider than soteriology. If faced with the choice, I would attend a Presbyterian church rather than an Arminian Baptist church."

It's ironic that he would say this since this very thing (the part I emphasized) came up in conversation last night in our home. I'm a little concerned David might have a spy-cam installed here somewhere but we'll get to that issue later, right after I figure out how Rebecca read my mind.

You see, we're in this situation right now where we are in fact faced with this choice. The thing is, I'm not a Presbyterian, nor am I an Arminian. Nor am I a Lutheran, Methodist, Mennonite or a Charismatic. I'm a Baptist.

Would I be able to worship in those churches? In all honesty, I don't believe I would be able to. I believe I would feel like I was in the wrong place and/or compromising what I know to be truth. Does that mean there are not true believers in these churches (regardless of their mode of baptism)? Of course not. I'm fairly convinced that there are genuine believers in all kinds of denoms, non-denoms and from all sorts of religious and non-religious backgrounds. But that doesn't mean I'd be any more comfortable in a Charismatic church than a Methodist would be in a Baptist church.

There are legitimate reasons for divisions and differning denoms and mode of baptism is just one of them.

So with that said, I have a hard time reconciling the original statement that mode of baptism is a secondary issue and not something we should divide over.

As always your comments are welcome. I just hope I wont be sorry I said that, lol.

Related Tags: sovereign grace, baptist, the 5 solas, Christian homeschooling, Christian t-shirts and gifts

Everyone knows it's Windy...

My connection has been REALLY unstable all day, and here's why:

3:57 PM EDT Wednesday 31 May 2006

Severe thunderstorm watch upgraded to tornado watch

Persons in or near this area should be on the lookout for adverse weather conditions and take necessary safety precautions. Watch for updated statements. Please refer to the latest public forecasts for further details and continue to monitor the situation through your local radio and television stations or Weatheradio.

'Tis the season... and yes, we get tornados in Canada.

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Update 7:30pm

The storm was a whopper, with extra cheese, but we didn't have a tornado here. Not sure if any touched down in other areas yet, but I hope not. The lightning & thunder, howling winds & pouring rain were a fantastic display of God's power! And He was pleased to bring with it, cooler weather. Ahhhhh.... it's always nice after a storm.

Related Tags: sovereign grace, baptist, the 5 solas, Christian homeschooling, Christian t-shirts and gifts

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Have a swell Tuesday...

Related Tags: sovereign grace, baptist, the 5 solas, Christian homeschooling, Christian t-shirts and gifts

2 New Spelling Words Today...

This week, one of Jordan and Rachel's spelling words is "caprice". For the record:

caprice - noun - An impulsive change of mind.

I thought this rather odd, since this is a word I have never used myself, and to the best of my recollection, I have never heard anyone else use it. It's just one of those words, but a cool word, and I'm glad it was included in their spelling list for this week. Which got me to thinking...

And looking up another word:

hypocrite - noun - a person who professes beliefs and opinions that he does not hold

Today it hit me, that I feel like a hypocrite. Why, you ask? Good question, I'm glad you're interested in why I feel like a hypocrite - let me expound a wee bit on the systematic reasonings of a homeschooling mother...

Short version: we're rebels and believe we can teach our kids better than the public system.

Long version:

Many of us know our kids' individual learning styles, strengths, weaknesses, attitudes, personality quirks, etc. quite well. That might sound like an odd statement, since most parents I'm sure know their kids, but there are things about kids some parents might not notice. For example, learning styles.

Before I started homeschooling, I had no idea what kind of "learner" my kids were. Did they learn better from oral instruction? Are they more inclined to grasp a concept if it's written down? Are they flexible and learn both ways? Do they require parts of one way, and parts of another way? Why are these questions important and why do I care!!??"

Well, these questions don't often come up for public school parents. If you're not the primary teacher in your kids' lives, you'd likely never think to ask yourself these questions. However, that all changes when you become Teacher Mom. If you want to be an effective instructor, you need to know how to reach your kids - what works/what doesn't. To know that, you have to observe how they learn best, and go with that route. A lot of parents do this anyway and don't even realize this is what they're doing!

The more I read about this the more it made sense. The more it made sense, the more I decided to test it out on the kids and see how it works, doing it intentionally like that.

I learned that Jordan isn't a good audio-learner, as she gets easily distracted. She requires hands on, physical/written instruction accompanied with step-by-step examples.

Rachel on the other hand, learns well orally. She can follow verbal instruction quite well and get about the business of doing her assignments.

Samuel learns both ways and/or either way. He's a smart kid and the kind of student every teacher dreams of.

Add to learning styles - strengths & weaknesses and you've got a bit of a different issue.

Our middle 3 homeschooled kids are 5, 7 and 8. None of them are in 1 grade level in all subjects. This is one of the cool things about homeschooling, and also one of the more frustrating (for me anyway).

They all started between the ages of 4-5 doing kindergarten level work in all subjects, but as they progressed in that year, some of them breezed right through it and went on to first grade level work, in some areas. For example, Samuel will be 6 in the fall and he's going to be starting 3rd grade Bible, 2nd grade math, 2nd grade spelling and phonics. If he were in public school, he'd only be entering the first grade.

So what does all this have to do with me being a hypocrite?

Well, I've only been homeschooling since 1999, and I still battle (all the time!) this idea that because my kids are a certain age, they NEED to be in a certain grade level workbook or curriculum. I hate this battle I have with myself and yet I catch myself having it ALL the time. For example this morning I told Jordan she'd be doing 1 math worksheet every day through the summer. Jordan has a hard time with her addition and subtraction math facts, and I can't move her ahead to the next section of her math workbook in the fall before she has a lot more practice with these concepts. I caught myself trying to hurry her along so I could move her to the next level of math. I'm not even sure what grade she'd be in here in Ontario (4th, I think, since they start a year earlier here), but in WA where I'm from she'd be entering 3rd grade this fall and she's NOT ready for 3rd grade math work.

I have to remind myself all the time, that the grade level the kids are in does NOT matter. What matters is that they are working hard at learning where they are, and progressing at their own pace. I keep them challenged, and move them ahead when they're ready, and likewise I keep them where they are when it's clear they haven't mastered the skills they're currently working on.

It makes me feel like a hypocrite when I'm so eager to move them ahead when they're not ready, just for the sake of "well she's almost 9, she should be entering 3rd grade!" NO, she's almost 9, and should be learning what she needs to learn in order to be well educated - no matter what grade level her book says.

It makes me feel like a hypocrite because this moving kids along to the next grade based on their age, is exactly what happened with Jessica when she was little, and exactly why she fell so far behind. By the time we pulled her out of public school, she was at the middle of 3rd grade but only mastering grade level 1 and 2 concepts. (Very much like Jordan is now) And they were prepared already to move her ahead to grade 4 in the fall! All these years later she's still playing "catch-up" to learn & employ the skills they whipped past her in grade school that she didn't understand.

So... I need to remind myself daily that it's not about 'grade levels' it's about a good education. It's not about 'status' it's about working hard at the level they're at. Jordan is an almost 9 year old girl that struggles big time with her addition & subtraction facts - just like her mom did. Just like millions of other kids have.

Our homeschooling goal is to make learning fun, instead of torturous. To make it challenging, without making it too hard. To make it profitable in the long run, without the pressure of labels, levels, status, or (negative) social influence. The real trick to that is for me to de-program myself, a product of public school education, and keep reminding myself every day how it's not about the surface appearance.

It's not easy, but it's my goal. By His grace, we'll get there.

Related Tags: sovereign grace, baptist, the 5 solas, Christian homeschooling, Christian t-shirts and gifts

Questions, questions...

Yesterday, Tim Challies posted his response, to Tony Jones' thoughts on the question:

Is Emergent the New Christian Left?

For those of you that haven't read this yet, you can find it here. I don't really have anything to add to this, and what I did have to add, I left in Tim's comment section.

What did strike me was a question by another commenter as it pertains to the policy of leaving comments open, or not. He's arguing in favor of keeping the comments section closed and he asks:

"All it takes is a couple of broadsweeping declaratory posts to start the fire, and we are off and running. Maybe the bigger question needs to be, "Why is it that we have to continue to address topics such as this one among so-called evangelical believers?"

Well, the short answer is because so-called evangelical believers are jumping on these movement bandwagons all the time. If these things are not addressed, we've neglected the responsibility we have that was given to us in Scripture to be on guard against false teachings, be on the watch for our weaker brothers and sisters, and stand for truth.

For me it's pretty simple - the Bible is filled with warnings about false teaching - and we need to be paying attention to what it says.

But the issue for me in this commenter's question was this:

"Maybe the bigger question needs to be..."

• Maybe the bigger question needs to be, why do so many people get all worked up when a post like this goes up?

• Maybe the bigger question needs to be, why do those caught up in the ECM claim to welcome critique, but then when they get it, cry foul with "you just don't understand us!"? All the while some of the most brilliant and discerning people in the evangelical community have taken a very close look at the ECM and come away with the same conclusion. Do the ECM folks honestly believe they're that hard to figure out, and everyone else is wrong about them & their "conversation"?

• Maybe the bigger question needs to be, why is it okay and/or considered fair game to openly critique such things as TBN or the prosperity gospel garbage, but folks in the ECM are off limits because we're all supposed to be "celebrating the good!" and being nicey-nice and simply gloss over or ignore completely the mystical/pagan/new age/unbiblical influences?

• Maybe the bigger question needs to be, why is it that so many notice that playing favorites and giving some a free pass is the order of the day, and yet it still goes on anyway?

• Maybe the bigger question needs to be, why is it that when men write on these things and get jumped on for it, the critique is on an academic level (usually), but when women write on these things the critique goes to an insulting, personal level, and by men who claim to be Christians?

• Maybe the bigger question needs to be, why are there so many double standards and personal attacks going on, every time a Bible believing Christian makes an effort to critique what's happening under the banner of the "ECM" - which for the record includes not only Emergent the organization, and "emerging" the conversation/movement.

Maybe the answer to the commenter above's question to Tim, is at least in part, the questions that I just posted here? Maybe that's why these things need to be brought up?

Just thinking outloud...

QUARTER HORSES FOR SALE

You know those email forwards you get that just make you laugh and laugh? Well... here's one from my friend Denise, who is clearly not right, if you get what I'm saying... (the image she sent in email was actually animated and much funnier, but it doesn't upload to blogger that way, for some reason!)

Scrapped Plans

Kev and I were planning on visiting a church this coming Sunday, and I just learned they're a church that ordains women & homosexuals, among various other liberal junk. Needless to say, that sort of took the wind out of my sails as I was very much looking forward to visiting and even hoping and praying this would be a sound, Biblical, local church we could go to.

Being without a church is heartwrenching. Something I don't recommend unless you have an inner desire to feel like you're spiritually withering away.

Of course we're praying about it, searching diligently and considering all options - even moving - as much as the idea of moving upsets us all, being without a church isn't a walk in the park either.

If you fine folks would remember us in prayer, it'd sure be appreciated.

I've been busy...

Working on these things:

Pool Update

Well, it couldn't have been better planned, if I'd planned it. Which I didn't. This past week I decided it was time to get the pool area ready for the pool. Sometimes we wait until after school is over in June, but I wanted to have the pool up before then, this year.

The area was finally cleared & levelled by Thursday, and Saturday morning we set the pool up. By 12:30 it was ready to start filling, and 36 hours later, we turned off the water. You read that correctly - the water was running non-stop for 36 hours!

This morning at 6:47 am, I heard a very odd sound. I got up to see what the sound was, and this was what I saw.

Two more weeks of school left, and today the temp is set to reach 91 degrees.

This should be fun, trying to keep these kids focused...

A Lesson in Responding

Q: Does it really get hot in Canada?

A: No, we pay the government boys big money (this is why our taxes are so high!) to make up fake weather forecasts to trick the rest of the world.

It works out pretty well too, because I hear this question a lot.

Which brings to mind the topic of misunderstanding, or misinformed, or misreading or mishearing something someone has said. We've all been misunderstood, and we've all been misrepresented by someone who misunderstood what we've said. We've all been there and we all know what it feels like. It's not a good feeling, is it?

The other day, Kev said something to me (I honestly can't recall what it was) and I replied with "what did you just say!?" He looked at me like I just grew a tree out of my forehead and then laughed & said "what did you think you heard me say?". I repeated whatever it was and he laughed again & said "no, what I said was..." then went on to repeat himself. Of course I apologized for reacting the way I did when I thought he had said something else, and we laughed about it.

Wouldn't it be great if all miscommunication were handled that way? A 10 second exchange to clear up what was said, or written, then an apology & laughter. Boom. Done. Over.

Unfortunately, that's not the way it happens the bigger part of the time. When folks are misunderstood they get upset & when folks mishear or misunderstand, they assume they're right and get all worked up over what they thought they heard. Everyone digs their heels in and gets an attitude toward the other person. I hate when things like this happen. I hate it even more when it's done on purpose!

There are people in this world, that no matter what you say, no matter what you write, no matter how clear you try to make your point - clear enough for a small child to grasp it - they will take your words and twist them, disregard other words, and purposely, intentionally misrepresent what you have said. This is one of the most annoying things people do, and for the life of me, I can't figure out why they do it. I suppose it's some inner-pride thing. They want you to be wrong, they want to misrepresent you so that they can attain some form of inner-booyah (I have no idea what inner-booyah is, I just made that up) and pat themselves on the back for pointing out your error. Even if you didn't make one in the first place.

The more I thought about this, the more "false witness" came to mind. Scripture is pretty clear about believers not bearing false witness against anyone. Someone who bears false witness against other people is quite plainly put, a liar. Someone who goes out of their way to intentionally deceive other people about someone. They know what they're doing, and they're doing it purposefully. Look at this wisdom:

• Proverbs 6:19 A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.

• Proverbs 12:17 He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.

• Proverbs 14:5 A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies.

• Proverbs 19:5 A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape.

• Proverbs 19:9 A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish.

• Proverbs 21:28 A false witness shall perish: but the man that heareth speaketh constantly.

• Proverbs 25:18 A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.

Scripture is pretty clear about what the Lord thinks of people that bear false witness. It's a character trait that is in 100% opposition to the trueness of God.

In contrast, look at these verses in Proverbs that speak of truth:

• Proverbs 3:3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:

• Proverbs 8:7 For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

• Proverbs 12:19 The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment.

• Proverbs 14:22 Do they not err that devise evil? but mercy and truth shall be to them that devise good.

• Proverbs 16:6 By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.

• Proverbs 20:28 Mercy and truth preserve the king: and his throne is upholden by mercy.

• Proverbs 23:23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

A passage that is used quite frequently to describe the times we live in (and it's been used for many generations as each passing generation seems to be outdone in terms of departing from truth) is this one in 2Timothy chapter 4:

3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

Not only is this a time we're living in, it's the time our parents lived in, and their parents before them, and their parents before them, and so on. I'm not sure if I can comfortably say that those who depart from the truth increase in numbers in each generation, but we all know that it happens on a regular basis.

I was recently misunderstood (I know, big surprise eh? lol) by someone who then went out of their way to actually misrepresent what I did say - and oddly enough put words in my mouth that I did not say - nor ever implied, inferred, suggested, hinted at, or did a charades game for. While this is indeed a most annoying thing that some folks do, a dear brother in the Lord gave me this advice:

"Don’t respond in like kind – take the hit and thank the Lord for allowing it as part of your sanctification"

How often do you hear something like that? Welcome it, and thank the Lord for it! I must admit, I didn't welcome it or thank the Lord for it, at first. However, the more I thought about it the more that made perfect sense. The more it allowed me to consider that how I respond to such things is critically important, even IF I never am able to make the person who misrepresented me, understand my position. It's critically important to me because it is my desire to respond Biblically to such things, instead of responding from the flesh.

I will also admit, that an inner-booyah might be a self-serving, victorious feeling for a few moments, but at the end of the day I'd have to do some serious repenting, if I were to respond in like manner, when I'm misrepresented. So while it hasn't been a pleasant learning experience, it's been good for me all the same. Sort of like syrup of ipecac.

You sure wont like what it does to you at first, but in the end it was for your good.

Have a wonderful day today!

Okay, who took the rootbeer?

Well it's been a busy busy day. Between working on getting the pool set up (pics tomorrow, my camera batteries are still charging) and working on some new designs for my store, I just looked at the clock and wondered where in the world this day went??

I had quite a few (read: thousands?) of pictures that I'd taken over the years that I'd been wanting to use for the store, but just never got around to going through them all. It's a huge job. But last night I decided to give it a shot and I found several that I'm going to be transforming into beautiful gift ideas. Some of them are already in the store now, in WildSide.

I'll be working on more in the coming week, Lord willing. I hope you enjoy the new products.

Now... I need chips. And a rootbeer float! (but I don't have the fixins for that, so the chips will have to suffice)

A Somewhat scattered smattering of Saturday morning pre-coffee thoughts...

Well today's the day. POOL DAY! Yeeeeee dawgie! After pancakes this morning, Kev and I retreat the garage to get the pool & begin the process of setting it up. Today's the day I find out just how good of a leveller I really am.

In other news...

I was up WAY too late last night responding to a rather odd post Michael Spencer (aka the iMonk) left at The Jollyblogger. Call me wacky, but if folks are going to take issue what something I've said, I'd much rather they take issue what what I actually said, rather than with what they've heard I said, via some spinned version. You can read about that here.

And in other (more exciting) news...

In the meantime, I'm working on a new project for my store. Actually, it's an entirely new section, WildSide. I currently have 5-6 shots of wildlife I'd like to include there, but for now, I give you.... drumroll please.... The African Tiger:

Tiger Framed Tile $11.49

Product InformationSet off our decorative ceramic tile in its own stylish stained wooden frame – the perfect way to complete a decorative gift or keepsake. Rounded edges and quality construction make this Framed Tile the ultimate wall accent.
• Frame measures 6” x 6” x 0.5”, with 4.25” x 4.25” tile
• Constructed of stained Cherrywood
• Two holes for wall mounting

Also available:

Tiger Mousepad $13.99 Tiger Throw Pillow $18.99 Tiger Postcards (Package of 8) $8.99 Tiger Rectangle Magnet $5.49 Tiger Rectangle Magnet (10 pack) $13.99 Tiger Small Framed Print $32.99 Tiger Tile Box $18.99

And with that... have a GREAT Saturday!

This Isn't Where I Am Right Now

Pictorial update:

My pictorial update:

Rain & t-storms in today's forecast so I'm not sure about any work being done today out there - but if I get a break, that's where I'll be.

Chalk this up to my "this is where I am right now" post.

Dirt, digging, T-shirts & other stuff.

Well, it was another day of hard work in the yard. I was going to take another pic of the progress but I got sidetracked then the sun went down, so I'll get a shot in the morning, Lord willing.

One of the nice ladies that works in the barn was cutting the tall grass with the machine they cut crops down with (the crop-cutter-downer, I believe is the technical term for this machine) and she stopped and asked if I wanted help removing the sod at the pool site. I said "YES YES AND thank you so much!" Funny thing is, I was almost done. I had about another 3-4 feet to go, but I was incredibly grateful for the offer, PLUS she cut down all the tall grass to a managable mowing level. What a sweet deal!

So she finished the sod removal for me, then I raked it out, then levelled it out with a 2x4 and a level. It's not perfect (about .5 inch off here and there) but it's pretty close. The site is now ready for the ground cover, and the pool. Just in time too, the forecast says mid 80's for the weekend and Monday! WOO HOO!!

And... I am as sore as I can be. Been a really long time since I felt like this. Oh well.

_________________________

Last night I decided I'd like to introduce a couple of new T's for Father's Day:

Dad Rules! Ash Grey T-Shirt

(click here for a larger view)

As unique as YOUR dad! Great Father's Day gifts for the greatest dad in your life. The most comfortable t-shirt ever! Our 100% cotton, Hanes Authentic Tagless T-Shirt is preshrunk, durable and guaranteed.
• 6.1 oz. 100% cotton
• Standard fit

Worlds Greatest Dad Organic Cotton Tee

Lightweight for summer comfort or winter layering, our Men’s Organic T-shirt is one of our most popular fine tees. It’s what to wear when you care about having 100% organically-grown cotton next to your skin. The next best thing to nothing, naturally.
• 4.8 oz. Ultra fine combed ring spun organic cotton, great for layering
• Vintage fit (size up for a looser fit)
• Made in the U.S.A.

Go here to see the full line.

Yard work, it's good fer ya!

Well, I worked hard out there yesterday. Too hard, in fact. My bones aches, my muscles ache, and things ache in places I didn't know existed. My hands aren't green though, they're red. It's okay though, it's the good kind of soreness & ache that comes from working hard to get a job done.

As I was out there yesterday morning, I had a lot of time to think. I had thoughts like "if this fly lands on my face one more time, I'm going to snap & turn into Jack Nicholson from The Shining", and even deeper thoughts such as "oh man that breeze feels good".

Actually I did have a lot of time to think about important things as I worked, and that's one of the bonuses about doing that kind of work - alone and uninterrupted. It gives me time to think about a lot things that get swept aside during the course of a normal day. I remembered doing this exact same thing once before, many many years ago. In fact, it was fourteen years ago. We had just moved from the southern California desert back to WA state for the second time (we moved a lot back in those days) and we found a real junky rental home with a huge backyard and tons of potential. Have you ever watched America's Most Wanted when they go into a drug house and find the most horrid living conditions? Well, that's what this place looked like, only worse. The last tennants trashed the place before they moved out, and the rental company had not cleaned it yet. I think they were afraid to go in, actually.

Well, we weren't, and we got the house with the deal that we'd clean it up, fix it up, inside and out, and they'd pay for all the materials. It was a super deal, and we worked hard to make that place look great.

We had bought our very first "real" above ground pool when we lived in the desert, and we brought it with us. Summer was beginning and we needed to level an area for the pool and get it set up. So the process began of digging up a spot for the pool. It was a lot harder then, because it was all grass, and thick grass to boot.

What struck me more than anything though, as I thought yesterday about doing this before, was how my life was fourteen years ago. Ben was battling cancer (and losing), neither of us were saved, the girls were in public school, I was running my own cleaning company, and there was a black cloud over our days and lives, that was at times almost suffocating. Tempers were always short, and blow ups happened on a fairly regular basis. I was miserable most of the time and always on the verge of tears, as I was empty inside. What struck me about that thought was two things, actually.

1. How we seemed to have it all together on the surface, but were falling apart on the inside and 2. How life today is exactly the opposite in every way, from life back then.

Today, illness is met head on with prayer and a peace that no matter what happens, God is sovereign and will give us wisdom, mercy and grace. Today, Kev and I rest in the knowledge that our hope is in Christ. Today, we homeschool our kids and pray that removing the corrupting influence found in public schools will be better for them in every way. Today, I have my store but I don't spend an obsessive amount of time with it hoping to make more money from it. Today, when tempers do run short the Holy Spirit speaks to our hearts and directs us back to the path of grace. Today, I still worry about things (one of my weaknesses) but deep inside is a joy that cannot be defined by the words of men.

It's an entirely different life. It's a life I wouldn't trade at any cost, for anything else.

Hard work often gives me time to think about the important things, and the summation of my thoughts yesterday is that I am simply so grateful for His grace.

And with that... it's time to find my grubby clothes and get back out there and get at it.

OH, and one more thing:

TAYLOR FANS!!!!!! SOUL PATROL!!!!!!!! Yay for Taylor!!!

Because it's funny

I just saw this over at Alpha & Omega, and thought it was so CUTE I'd share it with you folks here.

Oh yeah, you should read the blog post too.

My hands will be green soon...

Well it's official. I'm a day late & a weed eater short.

Until yesterday, we've had rain almost every day for the last 2+ weeks. We've also had mild temps, so that means our grass is (in some places) nearly 2 foot tall. Our badminton court, looks like a jungle and there is no way I can cut it down! Okay that's not true, I could take my little girlie weed eater out there (the real one, the Tim The Toolman Taylor Weedeater died last year, and that's the one I need!) and chop a few feet at a time, which would take me roughly 47 days to finish the job. I still haven't been able to get out there and level the pool area to set the pool up so these waterbugs can have a place to play this summer, Grrr...

So then, I check the weather forecast for the next 5 days and this is staring me in the face for Sunday. Pardon me but what is July weather doing showing up in May? I'll tell you what it's doing, it's saying "Carla, get off the computer, get school started a little earlier so you can get yourself outside and work until you drop, clearing the badminton court and levelling the pool area so you can get that pool set up!". Yep, that's exactly what it's saying. You heard it too, right? Right??

Lest you think I'm blowing this all out of porportion, this is what it actually looks like out there. See that brown spot in the center there? That's where the pool was last year. That's the part I have to level. Which of course means digging to roughly 6 inches the entire area, and then levelling it out. It wasn't level last year and the full pool took on a weird egg shape. See that area just north of the pool? That's the badminton court. That grass is nearly 2 feet tall. NONE of that tall grass was there last fall.

Oh yes... I will be busy for the next week or so. And I will ache, and be stiff, and stained green, and sneeze like a mad woman (I'm allergic to grass, how fun!). Kev is on days this week, so it's all on me to actually get this done, if it's going to GET done.

But in the end, the pool will be up, the kids will have a place to enjoy summer, and the legendary badmintion games where people end up laughing so hard they can't even play anymore, shall begin.

Bring it on!

PS - yesterday when I chopped the area down to even GET to the weird brown spot in the center of the pic there, I cut something down in the grass that emitted a most lovely pineapple scent. It was strong, and Rachel immediately noticed it too when she came over to help. Any ideas what that was??

Calling all haloscan geeks?

How does a person get around the ban at haloscan commenting?

There is someone that I have banned numerous times (I've lost count how many times I've banned this person) from commenting here and they keep coming back and commenting. I remove the comments, ban the IP, and before long they're right back at it.

I don't want this person commenting here. I've blocked them from contacting me in other internet formats, as I want no contact with them whatsoever, for various theological/doctrinal/personal reasons. For some reason, they don't get the message.

So is there something I'm missing, or is there a way to permanently bar someone from commenting via haloscan?

And if you're wondering if it's you, rest assured if your comment is still there, it's not you.

How Come the Strawman Didn't Have a Brain?

I was reading something this morning and the word "strawman" came to mind. One of the more common strawmen is the tired old "Calvin was a murderer!" claim. I cannot even begin to count how many times I've heard that one. It's easy to dislike John Calvin and/or anything he ever said if you can set him up as a brutal murderer. You don't even get the chance to examine his theology and decide if you disagree with him or not, your emotions have already determined you don't like him because he was a murderer. Nevermind the fact that he never killed anyone, confusing our emotions with historical facts is never fun - let's just stick with the strawman!

For the record:

A straw man argument is a rhetorical technique based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position. To "set up a straw man" or "set up a straw-man argument" is to create a position that is easy to refute, then attribute that position to the opponent. A straw-man argument can be a successful rhetorical technique (that is, it may succeed in persuading people) but it is in fact misleading, since the argument actually presented by the opponent has not been refuted. (courtesy: Wikipedia)

I've been accused of this before. Sometimes the accusation is a complete strawman in and of itself, which is rather ironic. Other times it's come as a result of a contrary opinion about my position in the first place, but I don't think it was an intentional misrepresentation.

Where I come from, we used to call this "lieing about someone's position to make yourself look better than them".

It would be fairly easy to do I suppose, if you wanted to set someone up as this horrible person and then tear apart their position to make yourself look like some sort of noble defender of truth. Which in my mind, simply turns the person doing such a thing into what my grandma used to call a bold-faced liar.

Without giving any specific examples (aside from the "Calvin the Killer!" Strawman - I'm sure readers here will come up with examples all on their own) this actually happens in the larger Christian community all too often. I find this most disturbing, and yet another one of those things that shouldn't happen among professing believers. But it does.

I'm a simple person, I like simple things. Simple clothes, simple recipes, simple schedules and simple reading. I like simple solutions too. So here's the simple solution to this issue:

Proverbs 24:28 Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive not with thy lips.

See how simple that is? Don't say anything negative against someone in an undeserved or purposeless or vain reasoning, and don't lie about them. If you feel compelled to say something about someone, be accurate, have a point, fairly represent their position and say what you think needs saying, but do it honestly.

For me, that's REAL simple.

So I had to ask myself today as I was reading about strawmen and the different ways they're used to promote agendas, if I have ever been guilty of presenting one myself? Even in ignorance and not with malicious intent? I can't keep track of every word I've ever said, but in all honesty I can say I have never knowingly done this. It is entirely possible that I have not fully represented a person's position based solely on lack of information - but I've certainly never gone out of my way to purposely deceive, as is the motive in creating a strawman argument. Even there, a new problem arises when you did do your homework then the person you've represented changes their tune (because they know you did the homework), to make it appear as if you've still misrepresented them.

The problem with being a simple person is that life ISN'T simple and life issues aren't always as simple as I prefer them to be.

• I'm black & white and life is a wide array of shades of gray.
• I'm yes & no and life is filled with partial yes's, half-nos & a whole lot of maybes.
• I lean toward the analytical where life in general is filled with the emotional & philosophical.
• I'm all for being accountable, yet life is filled with excuses, reasons, out clauses & head games.

It isn't easy to keep up. Some days it feels like a huge waste of time even trying.

I think I'll spend the day in my garden, pulling weeds & getting filthy. At least with weeds, you know where you stand, they know where they stand, and who is going to win the battle. It's black & white, it's simple, it's analytical, and they are going down.

Silence IS Golden

The book of James is quite possibly one of my most cherished books in all the Bible. It doesn't seem to matter how many times I read it, I get something new from it, or get the conviction or encouragment I need. I want to share with my readers here something I read tonight, with emphasis added (I will explain why after this passage):

James 1:16 Do not err, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. 19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: 20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. 21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. 26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.

I highlighted the sections that truly spoke to my mood tonight.

I am angry. I honestly don't know how much of it is righteous anger (anger toward what I believe to be ungodliness) and how much of it is self-centered anger because myself and others I respect have been personally insulted. In all honesty it's probably a mixture of both.

For that reason, I want to be swift to hear, and slow to speak. I believe that goes a long way in being slow to wrath, as well. For it will not be my angry wrath that brings about the righteousness of God. I desire with all my heart to receive with meekness (gentleness of spirit) the word. To be corrected, guided, instructed and thereby grow.

More than a few people want me to continue commenting on this whole cussing thing that's turned into a blog bomb-o-rama. I want you to know I am not ignoring the comments, I just can't respond to any more of them right now, because I am so angry about the treatment so many (myself included) have received. I know myself too well to respond to anything in anger - this is always a mistake.

I may respond next week, or I may never respond to them. It's hard to say for sure. Distance from the topic will make a big difference, and I would appreciate any prayers that anyone is led to offer.

Hummers now in store

I've been wanting to design a hummingbird graphic for a long time now. Over the last couple of weeks I've taken probably close to 50 shots of both male & female hummers at my window. I was finally able to get the angle, lighting & profile that I wanted, today.

The only problem was, I wanted him on a flowering vine, and mine aren't flowering yet! So, I had to hand draw the vine & spruce it up via the computer. Here is the result. Shown here is the baby blue/white Jr. Raglan which also comes in pink/white and black/white.

Product Information:

Our Jr. Raglan from American Apparel is body contoured and baby soft. Made of 100% superfine combed cotton baby rib, this raglan provides the perfect look for any season.
• 5.8 oz. 100% Ultra-fine combed ring spun 1x1 baby rib cotton
• Size up for a looser fit
• Made in the U.S.A.

You can see the full line of hummingbird products (which include womens and children's T's, lovely wall tiles, throw pillows & more!) right here.

A blast from the (fairly recent) past

I know I said I was going to let James have the last word on this whole "cussing" issue that's been tossed around the blogging community, however...

I was looking for something in the archives when I surprised myself when I found this.

Oddly enough, this post (16 months ago, almost to the day) was also partly motivated by a discussion thread at challies.com. Back then we had a forum there which David (current moderator over there) and I (later) moderated, and some of those conversations got pretty heated. Thankfully, moderating at challies.com was a fairly easy job back then - folks got heated but the majority of the time they remained civil. I'll be honest and admit if I were still moderating now, I'd have blown a lot of the recent comments right out of the water. *poof*

Anyway... EXCUSE MY FRENCH!

(And I am quite pleased to report the Lord has done an astounding work on my language since I wrote this, 16 months ago.)

Shhh... this is a secret!!!

Do you remember when you were little, and you saved up all your pennies to buy something for someone? Do you remember how excited you were and really really hoped they'd like your present? Do you remember wanting so badly to tell them about it?

Okay maybe you don't remember any thing like that at all, but I sure do. One of the first things I ever bought with my own money, was a box of chocolate covered cherries, for my mom, for Christmas. To me, that was a HUGE deal. I don't remember how much they cost at the time, but it seemed like a lot and I do remember I had just a few pennies left over, after I bought them. I wanted so badly to tell her what I got her, and wanted her to open them right away and enjoy them! It was torture keeping the secret until Christmas morning. My mom (who reads this blog) will have no problem telling people that "Carla wasn't good at keeping Christmas present secrets!". I did blow it a few times, I was so excited about these things.

In a way, this is how I feel this morning. I have some exciting news (to me anyway) and I'm not even sure how much of it to share, yet. This is regarding a book project I've been working on for the last 8 months, and it's almost done. Almost. It seems like the closer it gets to being finished, the more I realize I want to add, or change, or do a little differently. I am resisting that urge though, because the dear, sweet lady who has been helping me with editing & formatting shouldn't be expected to keep getting emails from me that say "OH! and one more thing!" :o)

I will share this much with you right now, however. Over the last few weeks the thought has come to me many times as to my "target" audience. I don't like that term, it sounds so "marketing" ish. I can't come up with a better, more suitable term though, so I just think of it as who I want to dedicate the book to. This is what I wrote last night:

This devotional is dedicated to Moms.

Moms of all stripes, moms of all ages. Moms who homeschool, and public school moms. Stay-at-home moms, working moms, widowed moms, stressed moms and content moms. Old moms & young moms. Moms who sew, moms who shop at the mall, moms who scrapbook & moms who bake the best ginger cookies in town. Moms who are funny, moms who pray, moms that cry and moms that write. Moms of newborns and Empty Nest moms. Moms that cry with you, pray with you, laugh with you and aren't afraid to correct you with gentleness when you're wrong. Moms that always seem to give 110% and then ask if there is anything else they can do - and mean it.

There are so many moms that have had such a profound impact on me over the years, in some small way I pray that this book will give back just a little of what I have received.

And to God be all the glory.

The book is not quite done, but when it is, I'll let you know.

Our Heavenly Father the Sky Painter

This is what I come downstairs to, almost every night after I put the kids to bed, and kiss all their little faces. This one was Saturday night.

I come down the stairs, through the living room, dining room, and into the kitchen and see this out my kitchen window. Every night it's the same sky, same sun, same trees and same colors, but every sunset is completely different and completely unique from the one before it.

I've said it before and I will say it again, if I live to see another 10,000 sunsets, I will never tire of just how breathtaking they are. If you can, this evening as the sun is setting in the sky, stop what you're doing and find a place to watch it, and thank God for it. He didn't have to make it so pretty, but He did.

Take me to your leaders...

1Timothy 3: 1 This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. 2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife,vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; 3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy
lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; 4 One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; 5 (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) 6 Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

Today I found myself thinking about the pastors I know. I don't mean the pastors I am aquainted with, or know of, but the men of God I know and count among my friends. Over the past several years Kev and I have been blessed to meet and become friends with several pastors, and it truly has been a blessing to us and our family.

As I thought about the character of each of these men, a few descriptive words came to mind for all of them:

• Genuinely humble
• Genuinely honest (with themselves and others)
• Incredibly reverant of God and His word
• Honorable

I could list many more Godly attributes that these men have, but as I thought about it, what really came to mind more than anything else was that these are men that accurately represent the description of bishop as it's written in 1 Timothy chapter 3.

About 10 years ago, myself being new to the faith by just a couple of years, I met a man who called himself a pastor. He took great pride in his pastoral status and went to greath lengths to let others know that he was ordained. He knew a lot about the Bible (or so I thought at the time) and had many Bible verses memorized. He always seemed to have a Biblical answer to just about any question.

Over the course of a few months I began to notice more and more that this was a man who simply boasted in himself. His "ordination" came by way of two referral letters and $25.00. He never had a single moment of seminary training and didn't even have a flock to pastor. He simply had a piece of paper that he proudly framed and hung on his wall to prove to himself that he was somebody. The more I got to know him the more I realized he was exactly the opposite of many of the things 1 Timothy 3 says a pastor or bishop is to be.

• He was not blameless - he was a fake
• His behavior was not good - it was arrogant
• He was not hospitibale - he was quite selfish
• He was not innocent of being greedy for money - he was obsessed with making money, and a lot of it
• He was not patient - he was quite demanding and impatient
• He was not innocent of covetuousness - he was quite plainly materialist and concerned with status
• He was indeed a novice and his ego was stroked by many who found him quite charismatic, appealing and charming

As I thought about this man, and compared his reputation & character qualities to the reputation of other men I know who are ordained, the disturbing thought occured to me that if this man were still interested in his "pastoral status" as he once was (last I heard he gave that up for big business success), he would blend in quite well with today's idea of what an "authentic" pastor is. He could even (and quite easily) be more of his real self, and that would only lend more "authenticity" to his humility - which of course would be a facade in the first place. But many would be deceived by it.

In thinking about this it was hard not to consider the name of the upcoming Alpha & Omega Ministries conference this fall:

Pulpit Crimes - The Criminal Mishandling of God's Word

Topics for the conference:

• Felonious Eisegesis
• Pulpit Fiction
• Tradition Trafficking
• Impersonating a Preacher
• Where Are the Cops?

What could be a more appropriate and more timely topic in our day?

The pastors that Kev and I have been blessed to know and count among our friends, are people that truly inspire and exhort us to higher things.

These are men who are not only truly humble, but would be the first people to tell you they have so far to go. They're more humble than others around them and they don't even realize it. They have a very low view of themselves in the light of God's word, and constantly seek His wisdom and guidance to grow in Christ.

Men that are honest about who and what they are, with themselves and with others. They know their weak places and they know their gifts. They don't gloss over those weak points nor do they make excuses for them or make any effort to justify them or excuse them away. Likewise they are honest with themselves about where God has gifted them and desire to use those gifts purely for God's glory.

Men that realize quite soberly that the honor of delivering the Word of God is a most serious calling. These are men who study diligently, pray diligently, seek the prayers of others for God's grace and guidance that they might effectively and honorably preach the pure word of God.

Men who know that the position of a leader among God's people is a position of much scrutiny, and responsibility, and accountability. They desire and make every effort to live their lives (publicly and privately) in an honorable and respectable fashion. They submit themselves to their fellow leaders for exhortation, edification and accountability.

The end result is, the people under their pastoral care, in various churches, are nothing but incredibly blessed to have such Godly men as their pastors.

If this describes your pastor, why not send him a thank you card this week? Pastors need our prayers, our support, and a kind word of encouragement, just as much (if not more?) than any other brother or sister. Why not send a note of encouragement to his wife? I'm not a pastor's wife but I do know many of them, and they are truly a Godsend in the pastor's life and that of the church.

If this describes your pastor, thank the Lord for His work in this man's life, because you are so blessed in a day and age when "pulpit crimes" have lost their controversial status and become "pulpit norms". Lift your heart in praise to God for the teaching you're under. Many brothers and sisters in our day deal with "pastoral impersonation" and/or stuggle with being churchless all together.

If this doesn't describe your pastor, pray for him too! Pastoral responsibilities are numerous, and can often be overwhelming. Some pastors have commented that it's a lot like what it might be like to have hundreds of children and grandchildren, and be on call 24 hours a day 7 days a week, to serve and care for them. Parents of newborns with other children in the house to tend to can understand a little bit of what that's like, but imagine if you had 30 newborns at once and 300 older children of various ages? Maybe all pastors don't see this calling in such a way, but even if it's somewhat close to that, you can well imagine the stress and the pressure on these men. They certainly do need our prayers.

Go out of your way this week, and make it a regular part of your prayers, to lift your pastors and leaders up, and let them know you much appreciate their devotion to their calling.

I guarantee you, it will bless their hearts.

And giving James the last word...

I suppose a lot of folks are tired of the "profanity" topic by now. I suppose a lot of folks are also tired of hearing my position on it. I actually did have more to say, but I'm pretty discouraged by the whole thing, so I'll end my participation in this topic with this:

James 3:
1 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
2 For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.
3 Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.
4 Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth.
5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.
7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:
8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
13 Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.
14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.
15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

For the love of birds

I love birds. They look pretty, they sing pretty songs, watching them fly, dip, turn & land is like watching art, in motion.

I know a lot of people have no interest in birds, and that's okay. I do, and when I can, I turn my photography into something that lasts, for other bird lovers like me.

This is my latest, the Baltimore Oriole. You can see the full line right here.

Reconciliation, anyone?

Last November I wrote a bit about online dispute resolution, and why Matthew 18 (applied) doesn't work outside of a physical context. Over the past few weeks this topic has come up again and I'd like to approach it from the other side, so to speak, and address reconciliation between brothers & sisters.

Disagreements happen all the time, between even the closest of people. How we deal with those disagreements goes a long way toward whether we end up holding grudges or end up better off because we dealt with them Biblically and with grace.

A few nights ago I was in a conversation with a couple of sisters and I said that I think sometimes folks just want to hang on to being bitter, angry and abusive towards other people. Sometimes when people are insulted, or falsely accused, or offended in some other way, they seem to think being angry at the person is their right, and they don't have any desire to work it out with them. They want to be angry, they feel justified in being angry.

I can sure understand that. I've been insulted, falsely accused and condescended to by lots of folks over the last 41.5 months that I've lived on this rock. I can only imagine though, if I'd held onto the bitterness and anger I initially had towards all of them, I might be one seriously cold-hearted person.

I also added the other night that reconciliation is the ultimate goal though, among believers. Christianity itself, is all about reconciliation. God, through Christ, reconciling His people to Himself. That's the most astounding example there is!

Reconciliation between brothers and sisters in Christ is a theme that you will find all over the New Testament. Teaching on resolving differences, extending grace to the weak, receiving correction, repenting of sinful conduct, forgiving one another, how often we're to forgive, why we're to do this, the benefits of doing this, and so on & so forth.

But is this easy, or uncomplicated? Nope, most of the time it's neither.

However, I do believe that it's the Biblical way, and the best way, to make every effort to reconcile with your brother or sister if there has been a rift between you.

If someone comes to me and says "you've offended me" or "you really hurt me when you said...", then it's my duty and my obligation to hear them out, and if possible work it out. Likewise, if someone offends me or sins against me, it is my obligation to appeal to them privately and let them know what they have done.

This isn't easy - either to receive the bad news that you've been a dolt, or to tell someone else they've been one. But it's the Biblical way.

It's also the Biblical way to do this privately, one on one and keeping it one on one, if at all possible.

Recently someone hurt my feelings. They didn't do it purposely and didn't even know they did do it, because I didn't tell them. I didn't tell them because I didn't think they did it on purpose and didn't want to make a scene out of the whole thing. It would have been okay if I would have left it there, and just chalked it up to one of those things. Afterall, the person didn't go out of their way to purposely hurt my feelings, it was just that I reacted to what was said in a very overly sensitive way, and took it way too personally.

The problem was, I didn't leave it there. I made the mistake of telling someone else about it. The reason that was a mistake was because I planted a seed of doubt about the person's character, in someone else's mind. It doesn't matter that doing that was not my intention. It happened all the same and it happened because I didn't keep it to myself. Had I just mentioned the situation without naming names, it would have been different. But I didn't do that.

I felt very bad about later on, prayed about it and realized it was one of those things that we do sometimes without really considering the full implications of what could happen later, as a result.

The irony of this is, I did this at the same time I had been planning to write about reconciliation. What's worse is, I did it a second time in another situation! A brother said something hurtful about me, and I heard about it later on. It made me upset so I spoke with a friend about it. No one else knew but the one friend, and then I went to him and told him he hurt my feelings with his lack of charity in his comments. He apologized, we ironed things out but then he said something that convicted me big time. He said:

Before you came to me did you speak of this to anyone else?

I had to admit to him that I did, and then apologize to him as well! It wasn't a pleasant feeling admitting to him that I spoke angrily about him to someome, before coming to him to work things out.

I write about this not from an "I'm a super spiritual person and do all the right things so do things in your life THIS WAY" perspective. I write about this because it's so very dear to my heart and I know I fall so incredibly short when it comes to this area. I write about it also because I don't want to be bitter, or angry or unforgiving when it comes to another brother or sister.

I write about it also, because it's an area that many other Christians struggle with like I do, and I just wanted to let you know you're not alone on this one.

The Jury Remains Out

Welcome challies.com readers - you may be interested in related posts on this as well:

Giving James the Last Word, Take Me To Your Leaders, A Blast From The Fairly Recent Past and Silence IS Golden. The last one explains why I will not be commenting on this issue again, any time soon.

_________________________________

You know, if I denied I was a mother, a wife, a sister, grand-daughter, cousin, friend or blogger... it really wouldn't make it true just because I denied it, would it? Of course not.

Phil Johnson could deny he was a blogger, Kim Shay could deny she likes potato chips, Matt Gumm could deny him and his wife just had a baby - but does denying what is true - make it true?

How about just changing words around and calling it something else? Phil could say he writes, instead of blogs, Kim could say she enjoys fried vegetable wafers, and Matt could say he has children. Then would it be true?

Welcome to the influence of post-modern thinking. Now I'm not going to get into exactly what post-modernism is except to say it's quite a common thing to redefine common words and phrases. Sometimes it's the opposite and new words are dreamed up to define the same old thing. It's fluid, flexible, ever-changing and for a lot of people, highly annoying. Make no mistake, Phil, Kim and Gummby have not and do not do this, I just used them as examples because they were the first people to come to mind.

Many however, among the "evangelical" camp, do indeed do this and they do it all the time.

Today, Tim Challies posted his review of Mark Driscoll's book Confessions of a Reformission Rev. I have not read this book, and do not intend to - I just wanted to clear that up, right off the bat.

I also want to say, to the naysayers that will disregard anything else I say now, because I haven't read the book - let's get real, shall we? If you honestly believe you must experience something (book, movie, satanic human sacrific ritual, etc.) to have an opinion on it, then you're wasting valuable time reading this blog - there are BILLIONS of things that you need to be experiencing right now, before you can have an opinion on them.

With that said...

My only personal contact with Driscoll was last July when I emailed him. The following is my email to him, and his response to me (posted with his permission):

• From: Carla Rolfe
• Sent: Monday, July 18, 2005 2:27 PM
• To: Mark Driscoll
• Subject: Acts29 & the 'emerging church'

Dear Pastor Driscoll, my name is Carla Rolfe and I have a blog called Emergent No. About a year ago, my initial research on the ec led me to be highly suspect of much of the doctrine & practice of the emerging church crowd, so I started a site to share my research & a blog to update ec in the news. I've come across your name & church (and Acts29) many times in my research, and I was hoping you might have time to answer a couple questions for me. I'd also like to post this information publicly on my blog. Your church, and your church planting ministry, has been called (by more than a few) "what's GOOD about the emerging church". In a nutshell, I've read many say that while you're identified as being associated with ec, you're the "solid" end of the spectrum.
With that said, I have a couple of questions.

• 1. Your Acts29 ministries site, lists under spiritual disciplines, the same authors as the ones the more liberal ec folks are promoting - namely - Foster and Willard. I question why your Acts29 site would promote these specific authors for spiritual disciplines?
• 2. Numerous people have assured me that your church, and Acts29 has virtually nothing to do with the more liberal, doctrinally messed up emerging church movement - and yet - just last month the "response to our critics" letter, penned by several 'emerging church' leaders, was signed by Chris Seay, a pastor of an Acts29 church plant.

I do have more questions, but I'll end with those. A lot of people are asking a lot of questions about the emerging church, and I wish to be fair, with my viewpoint, on my blog. I would greatly appreciate your insights on these things, when you have the time. SOLI DEO GLORIA - Carla Rolfe

Mark Driscoll's reply:

Carla I appreciate the offer. But, I've actually got a few big projects I'm working on to lay out where I'm at theologically as well as the pastors I run with as there is a lot of confusion. So, I've got a book coming out with Zondervan on the history of our church and our involvement in the emerging church, finishing a counterpoints type of book for Zondervan on emerging church theology with Dan Kimball, Karen Ward, Doug Pagitt, John Burke and myself that will hit the atonement, trinity, and scripture to be edited by Robert Webber. I have also compiled a team of very solid evangelical theologians who are largely younger for a new network that will be launching a web site with blogs, articles, mp3s, podcasting, national theology conferences across the country, and a line of theologically oriented books for missionally minded emerging leaders. So, I hope to make a contribution to the broader church in a big way very soon. You are free to post any of this you like on your site.

Blessings Mark Driscoll

There was no further contact with Driscoll. I can only assume the book Driscoll was referring to, when he wrote "So, I've got a book coming out with Zondervan on the history of our church and our involvement in the emerging church" was the book Tim just reviewed.

Over the last year, I have heard and read many people (including Driscoll) say that he is no longer associated with the ECM. He's distanced himself from the more liberal thinking, they say. He doesn't want to be associated with the more radical theology, they say. He's not emergent!, they say.

Okay. Well... call it what you want to call it, I don't see much difference in what Driscoll has to say, than what I've seen & heard coming from the ECM camp since day one of my research into it. If Driscoll wants to shun the "emergent" label then that's allright I suppose, but like my example given above, just because he denies it, or even if he changes words around, does it make it true?

Driscoll is known as the "cussing preacher". He knows he's known for this, and he seems to like it. He's known for his vulgarity and what some might call bathroom or locker room humor & language.

If you're wondering exactly what I mean by this, you ought to read Tim's review of Driscoll's book. But PLEASE be warned, you may very well be offended. Tim has taken the liberty to post direct quotes from Driscoll's book, and they are not pretty. I confess, it feels very odd warning my readers about anything on Tim's blog, but there it is all the same.

On the one hand I wish Tim wouldn't have done that, as I read the review I was grieved to read such filth (yes, I said filth) on Tim's fine blog. Grieved isn't even really the most accurate word. It was more of a blend of grief, anger, disgust, shock, shame, and disappointment. Not directed at Tim mind you, but at the fact that a man who professes Christ would seem to take such glee in this kind of language. Not only that, but that so many young believers seem to find Driscoll so "cool" because he speaks this way. There is nothing cool about it, it's revolting and there is no excuse for it whatsoever.

I have said privately and publicly that I am not entirely convinced that Driscoll is "former" EC. Maybe he has discarded the label, but he surely hasn't discarded the disgusting language and the shock value he seems to think is impressive. I honestly can't figure out why he does it - he must know it's against the Scripture to communicate this way? RIGHT?

My hope is, that if Driscoll really IS former EC, he'll come all the way out, and lose the language as well, and apologize for it. He does seem to have some good things to say, but unfortunately he's losing many listeners who can't bring themselve to be verbally offended just to get to the good things he's got to say.

So far, all I've heard and read is that he justifies it, and has no plan to stop being "authentic" to who he is.

How about being "authentic" in Christ, and leaving the old man behind?

_______________

When my husband came home from work, I asked him to read Tim's review. I didn't tell him what it was about, or offer my reaction in any way -I simply asked him to read it and let me know what he thought.

I did this because sometimes I wonder if my reaction is what it is, because I'm female. I wanted him to read this and give his opinion as a brother in Christ.

Here is what he had to say:

• I wouldn’t want him teaching my kids
• Irreverent
• Foul mouthed
• Unsympathetic
• Proud
• A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump
• Worldly
• I feel that this book has absolutely nothing to offer Christianity other than ‘how not to do it’
• If I was in his church I’d leave
• I would think Piper and Carson had more discernment than to share the stage with this man

I told him that every time this topic comes up, it's the Christians that speak out against this kind of language and take the brunt of insults & accusations (legalists, holier-than-thou, moralists, etc.) and he asked me to post this question:

For those of you that defend this language, do you allow your children to speak this way?

I'm almost afraid to read the answers.

Mr. Ruby and Windex

I was just about to get up and head to the kitchen to make breakfast, and when I looked at the feeder there were 2 males there, having their breakfast. I grabbed my camera and remembered THIS is the window I haven't washed yet. then the one on the left flew away! Grrr...

Oh yes, I will be washing this window today! These pics would have been much clearer through a clean window. Click to zoom on the second one, you can see his wee little tongue sticking out. How cool is that, eh?

:o)

Helplessness pt.2

Kev and I have this strange habit of turning just about anything into a song. Any word, any comment. Often, when either one of us hear a certain word or phrase, it just reminds us of a song and one or the other of us will sing a line or two. That happened to me this morning, but Kev wasn't here. The word today was "searching" and instantly my memory of this song clicked in:

"I've been searchin' So long To find an answer... Now I know my life has meaning"

Some of you may recognize this Chicago song from 1974. Yeah, here I go again with the retro-stuff. Well, not really. I'm just one of those people that was affected by the music from that era, and I remember it quite well.

This line from the song is rather interesting in light of the recent trends in the evangelical church (purpose#cough# driven, seeker friendly, etc.) and also in light of what I was writing about in The Helplessness of Man.

A commenter here stated:

"Your post makes me sad - it seems there is nothing I can do. It makes me feel that searching is sort of futile - if God has not/does not elect to show me grace, then I can not be forgiven and I can go to church, read the Bible, try to pray etc but it will all be in vain."

Millions, if not billions of people, search their whole lives for something better. Some kind of higher understanding, or deeper more spiritual way of life. Some people find their "something better" in booze, or drugs, or fortune making. Some people dabble in the occult, or new age spirituality. Some will hook up with pagan/man-centered religions, and find some kind of "higher understanding" there. Some become obssessed with angels, or ufos, or some other "outside source" of a higher being or higher power, or at the very least what they believe a higher power to be. Some will even persue Christianity, or what they think Christianity is. They might join a church, become regular attenders and maybe even be called on to teach or lead in some way in their church.

One common denominator with all of these things is that they are all temporary. While they might appeal to the intellect, emotions or the flesh, they will not last beyond this life. Another common denominator in these things is that they are all ME centered. The person persuing these things is looking for a way to feel better, to serve themselves, and/or be known as a person who is seeking a "higher path".

As I sat here and thought about the various verses in Scripture about God being the first cause in salvation, it made me wonder why anyone would seek Him?

When a man or woman, boy or girl comes to Christ, they come broken before Him. They come humbled at the foot of the cross with Godly repentance and sorrow, seeking grace and fogiveness, mercy and strength. They come with a heart filled with awe, and a heart broken by the weight of sin. They come knowing that they are truly helpless, and truly dependant on His grace.

To assume natural man actually seeks that, makes me think of how a child would gladly and purposely come to his parent and say "hey dad, I'd like to be spanked today!" Of course a child would never do that, most kids do everything in their power to avoid being spanked.

Adults are the same way. We don't go out of our way to welcome in painful situations, and we are so filled with pride we would never seek out correction.

So then, why do some people seek Christ?

The Scriptures tell us quite clearly:

John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

John 6:65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Titus 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost

There are so many more verses that I could have used here, but this is very clear. Man is not able, not capable and has no desire to seek after Christ, unless the work of the Holy Spirit has already taken place in his life and quickened him from spiritual death, to spiritual life. One pastor I heard several years ago, speaking on this topic, said that at this point of regeneration, a man would crawl through broken glass for 100 miles to seek the Lord's mercy and grace.

It is only after a man has been made alive, by His workmanship, that he seeks God. At which point, the man is broken by the realization that he is a sinner in need of a Savior. He is overcome by the seriousness of his destiny in the life to come, without Christ. Pride, vanity, arrogance, carnal desires are all stripped away and he sees himself as the sinner he is, and he knows his only hope is in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. His death on the cross to atone for sins, and His resurrection from the grave.

It's at this point, that anyone searching for God, is truly searching from a changed heart.

I've heard my whole life, that "everyone searches in their own way". Yet Jesus said there is only one way, and that way is Him.

Just now this verse came to mind:

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

It's clear in this verse that those that do seek Him, do so believing, and with faith. That faith and that belief doesn't come from within:

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Philippians 1:29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake

Faith & belief are both required for those seeking God, and these things do not come from within the heart of man, unless that heart has been first changed by Him:

Ezekiel 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

In conclusion the most fitting verse I can think of that addresses those who seek, is this one right here:

Proverbs 16:9 A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.

The commenter that left the statement "searching is sort of futile - if God has not/does not elect to show me grace" is exactly correct. If God has not changed a man's heart, the man may "search" but he is not searching for God. He's searching for his own idea of a god, a god of his own imagination.

The good news is however, if a man is truly searching for God, genuinely desiring to walk in His ways, then that man has already been given faith to believe, his heart has already been changed, and that man's steps will indeed be, directed by Him.

And to Him be all glory!

A 26 Pointer

Night before last as I was drifting off to sleep, it occured to me that I don't take stock as often or as closely as I should. By taking stock I mean really keep in mind a grateful and thankful attitude because of what Christ did on the cross, for me. The more I thought about it, the more it struck me that as Christians we all ought to be celebrating! It is a most joyous thing to have this awesome and incredible blessing to know Him and to serve Him.

For whatever reason the more I thought about it, an alphabetical list came to me, and I started going down the list in my mind. I think I finally dozed off around the letter U, so I'll finish the list now.

This is who we are, what we have, and all because of Christ:

A - atoned for, accepted, assurance

B - bought with a price, blessed, born anew

C - cleansed

D - dedicated to Christ

E - effectively called, everlasting life

F - free indeed

G - glory in the Lord

H - happy to fear Him

I - irresistably called

J - justified by faith

K - knowing truth

L - living and moving and having our very being, by His grace

M - made free to live in Him

N - no fear

O - overwhelmed by His mercy

P - praising Him

Q - quenched by His peace

R - a royal priesthood

S - set apart

T - thankful

U - understanding His way

V - vanity stripped away

W - walking by faith

X - earnest expectation of His return

Y - yearning for that glorious day

Z - ?

Okay, I couldn't think of one for Z. That one stumped me. Maybe someone else can think of one?

At any rate, we have so many reasons to be thankful and to simply rest in His grace and mercy. No matter what our currect circumstances, no matter our good health or poor health, sadness or joy, abundance or pain.

He is with us always, providing for us always, leading us by His Holy Spirit, and He is our hope.

If this isn't a cause for celebration, I cannot imagine what would be.

A bit about me

I saw this at Kim's and because I'm a copycat, I'm doing it too (minus one that had no business on the list):

I AM: complicate mixture of bundled emotions & struggles

I SAID: brush your teeth (at least 400 times today)

I WANT: pie

I WISH: I could have a pet great blue heron

I HATE: being a Jill of All Trades - Master at None

I MISS: Carnation Chocolate Malted Milk Mix

I FEAR: bees

I HEAR: the sound of Jessica's school book pages turning

I WONDER: what that loud crash was I just heard from the kitchen

I REGRET: being a mean kid

I DANCE: like I'm not really white

I SING: okay I guess

I CRY: because if I didn't, my head would blow up

I AM NOT ALWAYS: nearly as funny as I think I am

I MADE: homemade bread for dinner last night

I WRITE: about whatever matters to me

I CONFUSE: pretty much everyone, at various times

I NEED: more coffee

I SHOULD: go outside and level the ground for the pool

I START: lots of projects that I never finish

I FINISH: a few things

I BELIEVE: The Bible is the Christian's final authority in all matters of faith & practice

I KNOW: my hands are cold right now

I CAN: trip over thick air & hurt myself

I CAN'T: flip my eyelids inside out

I SEE: my screen

I BLOG: Because I want to

I READ: good stuff that stretches my spiritual growth

I FIND: messes throughout the house that no one made

I LIKE: plain potato chips

I LOVE: my Lord

The Trend of Contemplatives Influencing the Evangelical Mind

I almost never do this, but the following is a cross-post from ENo:

Reading the news last night I came across an article that had some very familiar wording. "Christian", "emerge", "alternative", "embrace", "breathing". Breathing? Yes breathing. As in regulating your breathing techniques as you incorporate them in a spiritual exercise.

Regular readers here might assume I'm referring to the ever-increasing acceptance of contemplative spiritual disciplines (read: eastern mysticism) that make use of "centering" or "breath prayers", that is so widely receiving a stamp of approval by many in the ECM.

Nope... you'd be wrong.

I'm actually referring to what is being called Christian Yoga.

In the article mentioned above, CY proponent Susan Bordenkircher, a devout Methodist, defines her idea of CY:

"shifting the focus from self to God with yogic postures ("breathing in" the Holy Spirit, for instance), integrating health as critical to effective godly service, and slowing down enough "from our fast-paced lives to actually hear God's voice."

I know there are several sites & blogs out there that specifically address Christians getting involved in Yoga, and I'm sure they're quite thorough in their research. However, I purposely avoided searching them out because I just wanted to do the research myself, first.

I poked around a little bit and found a bio on Bordenkircher at Thomas Nelson publishers. The intro to her trade paper with dvd called Yoga for Christians - A Christ-Centered Approach to Physical and Spiritual Health through Yoga begins as follows:

"When God gave Susan Bordenkircher the vision for her yoga-based Christian ministry, Outstretched in Worship, she truly believed she was stepping into uncharted territory."

I don't know who wrote this intro, but the first thing that struck me was that someone had it in mind that God gave Bordenkircher the vision to begin a blended Christian-Hindu ministry. Not a Christian ministry to witness to Hindus, but a ministry (from God, mind you) that blended Christianity and Hinduism. Where does Scripture ever allow for blending Christianity with pagan religion and then calling it a Christian ministry?

If you go to amazon.com to buy this dvd you'll see it offered as a discount deal if purchased with Invitation to Christian Yoga by Rev. Nancy Roth, an Episcopal priest. (Yes, you read that correctly, and yes, Nancy is a woman).

Reviewer "Abel" in Texas left this review of the book by Roth:

"It is a very powerful book, and help us to realise that Christ was Himself a Yogi. I believe that Jesus Christ and Lord Krishna are the same person. We call Him Christ, and Hindus call Him Krista (Krishna is another name of Krista). Hindus consider Krista as the One who introduced Yoga through His teaching in Bhagawat Gita."

At the retreat section of the website of Nancy Roth, Christian Yoga is defined as "Incarnational spirituality expressed through simple hatha yoga exercises."

What struck me about this connection of Bordenkircher's dvd and Roth's book, was just how quickly the connection is made by consumers - such as "Abel" there in Texas. (Forget guilt by association, how about endorsement by associaton?) It doesn't matter much that he's as wrong as he could possibly be, because we're living in a time when it's now commonplace to blend Christian teachings and practices, with pagan/mystic/new age/old age rituals, and then claim it's a "ministry of God". It really should surprise anyone that when this is done, the result might just be more and more people making the same kinds of claims as Abel there.

I have seen this on the increase with the more "extreme" element within the ECM, as well as within the "moderate". In Ed Stetzer's Understanding the Emerging Church he classified three groups within the ECM. The Relevants, Reconstructionists, and the Revisionists.

The "revisionists" - or the more extreme camp of the ECM, according to Stetzer:

"Much of the concern has been addressed at those I call revisionists. Right now, many of those who are revisionists are being read by younger leaders and perceived as evangelicals. They are not -- at least according to our evangelical understanding of Scripture. We significantly differ from them regarding what the Bible is, what it teaches and how we should live it in our churches. I don’t hate them, question their motives and I won’t try to mischaracterize their beliefs. But, I won’t agree with them. Revisionists are questioning (and in some cases denying) issues like the nature of the substitutionary atonement, the reality of hell, the complementarian nature of gender, and the nature of the Gospel itself. This is not new -- some mainline theologians quietly abandoned these doctrines a generation ago. The revisionist emerging church leaders should be treated, appreciated and read as we read mainline theologians -- they often have good descriptions, but their prescriptions fail to take into account the full teaching of the Word of God. "

Stetzer goes on in his article to note that many “emerging” evangelicals are distancing themselves from the revisionist leaders, and this is something I began to notice myself about a year or so ago. For an example, when some of McLaren's statements became hot-button issues among many ECM folks, his book promos & site links began to drop off of many ECM blogs & sites. It was a rather noticeable change.

A change for the good, and I was honestly glad to see it happen.

What I do find rather disturbing however, is what appears to be a trend on the increase, rather than on the decline. I believe this trend is in a large part what has (and is) influencing the thinking & practice in the ECM in various ways. It's the same trend that says it's perfectly "okay" to blend Hinduism and Christianity and call it a "ministry of God". This is of course the huge push going on right now in favor of Contemplative Spirituality. We've addressed this many times here at ENo, and you can read the archives on this topic here.

Many have addressed it, given lectures, written books, preached sermons & published articles, warning against it. There are links right over there on the sidebar that address it in depth.

I don't think we can sound the alarm on this one LOUD enough.

One of the more respected women's authors & Bible study leaders Beth Moore, was recently involved in a dvd production that promoted this very practice. When questioned, she claimed she had no idea the dvd was promoting contemplative spirituality. You can read more about that here at Slice. Also addressed at here at ENo, at the time.

The point of mentioning this is to show how the same influences that are shaping the ECM, are also now being found in churches and ministries that are not even slightly associated with the ECM. This "emerging spirituality" is showing up in the teachings, books, lectures and churches of people who would honestly not find much else in common with the ECM.

In conclusion - this is just a warning. I'm not the first person to warn about it, and I wont be the last. I just pray that our readers here will take it seriously and be on watch for this, as discerning Christians are supposed to be.

In what might be the most ironic thing of all, the article that motivated me to address this here had a quote from Sannyasin Arumugaswami, the managing editor of Hinduism Today. Arumugaswami (emphasis mine):

"Yoga opens up new and more refined states of mind, and to understand them one needs to believe in and understand the Hindu way of looking at God. ... A Christian trying to adapt these practices will likely disrupt their own Christian beliefs."

How bizarre is it, that a Hindu man would find himself warning Christians about yoga? While I certainly have no common ground with this man, he sure does have my respect. Why? He had the courage of his convictions to tell the truth about his faith. To spell it out clearly that adapting the Hindu rituals will disrupt the Christian faith.

The question that begs now is this:

Will Christians be as honest and bold to declare that coming to Christ will disrupt worldly and pagan rituals? Hindus do not believe you can blend Hinduism and Christianity, so I honestly wonder why Christians do?

SDG...
Carla
tags: emergent church, emerging church, emergent church critique

And now for our daily lesson on proper blog terminology...

From the Hoffman Files...

Before I start, I must explain what the Hoffman Files are. From as early as I can remember, it has always bothered me a great deal (read: grates on my nerves like a big dog) when people say things the wrong way.

Examples:

• liberry (library)
• "what are you, death?" (deaf)
• "ax your mom" (ask)

Saying goofy things in a joking manner is one thing, but seriously using them in conversation is just wrong. It shouldn't be! Oh yes, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking "who do you think you are, we all say things the wrong way!". You would be correct - but it's still wrong, all the same. So there, neener. And don't EVEN get me started about "in hospital".

Now, I've named this The Hoffman Files, for this reason. Go read that, I'll wait.

Allright, now that you understand I was a thug as a child, here is my latest peeve:

"I just posted a blog about that!"

No, you did not. You have a blog (a web log), and you just posted a blog entry, or article or post. Each entry does not constitute a blog. Each individual entry, collectively makes up your blog content, or archives.

Thank you. Class dismissed.

The Helplessness of Man

The other day when I posted about choosing to be chosen, commenter Wilm posted something that I think is very important to address.

"It must be completely by grace that people are saved - I have the head knowledge, but I know it's not in my heart and as much as some days I want to get there, I know that I can't do it myself. Your post makes me sad - it seems there is nothing I can do. It makes me feel that searching is sort of futile - if God has not/does not elect to show me grace, then I can not be forgiven and I can go to church, read the Bible, try to pray etc but it will all be in vain. And I know this is totally not the thing to say - but it does seem hard if salvation is totally God's work, then why is this not extended to all. (I know, very much a wordly attitude and God must be full of grace to save ANYONE. From where I am though it's very difficult)"

If there is one thing I know for certain, I know that I can not possibly answer this question in a way that will convince anyone. Therefore, I will do my best to answer this according to what the Bible teaches. His word is sure, and will not return void, but will prosper where He chooses. that much I am certain of. The part I've highlighted is the part I want to address first.

It's been said that if these kinds of deep spiritual dilemas plague someone, grieving them deep in their heart, then this is a good sign. A good sign because the spiritually dead, the unregenerate brush these things off as the fanciful & philosophical musings of people with nothing better to do but sit around and think too much. In other words, it's the people that never consider these things, never anguish over them, that should have the most to fear, but they're blind to it all and will never fear it, unless or until God opens their eyes.

I believe this to be true as it rings true with the Biblical teaching of man's spiritual state. The Bible says that the gospel of Christ is foolishness to the unregenerate. It also says that the natural man cannot even receive (get ahold of, embrace, take as one's own) the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him and he can't know (understand, learn) them. Natural man cannot grasp these things because they are spiritually discerned.

That phrase there "spiritually discerned" is so very important. First of all it's important because it's telling us clear as a bell that the natural man doesn't have the ability to spiritually discern anything. If I may use an analogy here it would be as if I was telling you that the man without legs will never be able to run the marathon. He can't do that because he doesn't legs to run with. Likewise, natural man cannot receive or know the things of God. The ability simply is not there.

Secondly this is important because of what these things of the Spirit of God are. The context where we find this verse is 1Corinthians 2:

1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

The things of the Spirit of God that Paul refers to here are the things that define Christianity. The power of God, our faith, the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus, the wisdom of God, the teaching and leading of the Holy Spirit.

Man must be regenerated by the Holy Spirit first, before he has the ability (or the desire) to seek the Lord's leading in his life, through the teaching of the Holy Spirit, to discern spiritual things.

I think this important to understand in light of Wilm's question. If a man or woman is wrestling with these things - desirous to understand them, to know them, and not believing them to be foolishness or a waste of time, then it would seem reasonable to say that the Holy Spirit is there, working in that person's life.

Which leads me right into Wilm's statement about searching. I'd really like to address this now because breaking up a post like this causes me to lose my train/flow of thought, but time restraints will not allow me to address this the way I think it should be addressed. I'll do my best to follow up on this searching question, later today.

If anyone else reading would like to address this, please feel welcome to do that. This is important stuff!

Not that I'd toot my own horn or anything... but...

So, I'm strolling skipping floating along today, minding my own busines while flowers bloomed as I passed, birds were singing and suddenly out of nowhere I hear

"Carla rocks and Cent doesn't!".

I thought surely my ears were playing tricks on me, but NO, there it was, clear as day.

Actually I was listening to the Dividing Line and at the same time chatting in #pros, with some friends. In comes Dr. Tom Ascol, today's guest on the DL, then along comes Tim Challies. Dr. James White announced at the beginning of the show that nearly half the reformed blogosphere was in the channel, then named a few names, and (for some reason I still can't figure out) said "Carla's cooler than Frank" or something to that affect. (You'll have to listen for yourself, and feel free to loop those comments to play over and over, just so you know for sure, that I am cooler than Frank, lol)

I'm not exactly sure what he said to tell you the truth, I was gloating so much I went momentarily deaf.

The funny thing is, I once said that if I had a twin brother, Frank would be him. Obviously, I'd be the good twin, but... well, you know how it is. We're both 41 but I honestly don't see a bit of family resemblance.

What fun would sibling rivalry really be, if you weren't able to say NEENER to your evil twin once in a while, eh?

:o)

The Alice Cooper Classical Approach to Homeschooling

Early summer, 1972.

My sister, who is 5 years my senior, had just bought a brand new album and playing it our shared bedroom, seemed non-stop. I was much more interested in the album cover than I was the music.

This was an album cover that was an actual shot of a school desk, that even unfolded like a real desk, with another shot of the inside of a school desk. It was quite likely one of the coolest ideas I'd ever seen at that ripe old age of 8.5.

Yep, I was 8 years old and suddenly became an Alice Cooper fan, without even realizing it. Granted, I was more of a fan of the album cover artwork than anything, but the band's song "School's Out" quickly shot up the charts and became "one of those songs" that you just don't forget. (No matter how much you try!)

Fast forward 32 years later, and the song still pops up in my memory this time of year - and can still be heard on any classic rock station in North America. I wont bother pasting in the lyrics to this song. Besides, now that I've mentioned it, many of you have the song going through your heads anyway (deny it all you want, you know it's there!). :o)

Isn't it weird how music has such an influence on people?

At any rate, this is the time of year I do all our big-time, in-depth evaluations. One kid at a time, I go over every book they're in, and figure out our fall plans:

1. Where they will be in this book by the end of this school year (which ends in 4 weeks).

2. Approximately what time (in the fall) they'll need a new book in this subject.

Sounds relatively easy, right?

WRONG!

This is where the real work for homeschooling moms comes in. It may not be this way with every HS mom, but it sure is with me.

Five kids, from 3 to 16, in working in roughly 8-10 different grade levels, depending on the subject.

For example, Samuel our 5 year old son's grade levels for the fall:

Bible 3, Math 2, Phonics 2, Spelling 2, Science 3, History 3, Handwriting 2

Jordan and Rachel will be in mostly 3rd grade level in all subjects. Then Jessica does a combination of 3 grade levels. Ruth is easy, she's doing pre-kindergarten stuff and I have all I need for her.

So, it gets complicated. Each subject has it's own workbook, and unlike some HS'ers, the kids really like having their own workbooks for each subject.

Let me just say I am MOST grateful for CBD, where we can get all the workbooks we need from Christian Liberty Press for a low price, excellent shipping rates, and FAST delivery. I might add in that, the dollar store where we can get paper, pencils, folders, binders, scissors, crayons, glue, chalk and literally just about everything else we need, for a fraction of the cost we'd pay anywhere else for all that stuff.

Thankfully, my kids don't know the Alice Cooper song (except maybe for Jessica - she's a fan of the retro-rock stuff and often surprises me with what songs she knows!), and school being over for the year for them means something a little different than it does for public schooled kids.

When school is over here, it just means "formal" lessons are done for the summer. Summer is the time for the big projects, hands-on learning stuff. Yard work, clearing the spot for the pool, tackling the cleaning of the garage, getting out the badminton net, pitching the tents in the yard & camp outs (complete with stories of packs of wild coyotes!).

"School" may be out in 4 weeks, but the learning never stops.

More Birdies

Just a couple more pics I took over the weekend. The Baltimore Oriole has to get used to me harassing him at the orange before he'll let me get any closer, but the female hummingbird doesn't seem to mind me hanging around her dinner table. Click to enlarge, if so inclined.

Choosing to be Chosen?

Last night I had the opportunity to speak with a lady who denies particular redemption, or limited atonement. She was somewhat angry about the whole idea, and it came through in her voice when she said "I know a lot of Christians who think they're chosen."

She said that the way you'd say "who do you think you are, someone special!?".

This is a common misconception among those who deny limited atonement, and the more I hear it from them, the more obvious it becomes where this idea comes from, that adherents to limited atonement think they're "special". I suppose in part it could come from 5 pointers who are arrogant in tone, not exhibiting much grace in their speech. They do exist, for certain. However, the vast majority of 5 pointers I know are so utterly astounded by His grace that He would seek to save any of us, that any accusation of arrogance in salvation is simply a false accusation.

The opposing view to limited atonement is more or less "all ya gotta do is believe". Folks honestly think that all anyone has to do is choose to believe the gospel of Christ, and flee to Him. The only problem with this is that our chooser is busted beyond repair and there is no way we could choose, even if we had the desire to - which we do not.

I tried to explain to this lady that we do not simply wake up one day and think to ourselves "hey, I'm a rotten sinner, I think I need Jesus". Doesn't work that way. The ability to believe and the desire to cling to Christ comes from being changed from within, by the Holy Spirit. Not from mustering up some mysterious faith on our own (that doesn't exist) and exercising it. I know I'm preaching to the choir here at this blog, so just bear with me.

Going back to the idea that us "Calvinists" or 5 pointers are arrogant & considering where this accusation comes from, I'm left with no alternative than to consider the source.

Here's where it gets interesting (if you've never really considered this before)...

Those who deny and reject limited atonement, actually credit themselves, for making the decision to be saved. Sure they will say that God had some part in it, but that ultimately it was their choice to believe or not. Some will even agree that it was the Holy Spirit that supernaturally regenerated them from within, and enabled them to believe - but then they will continue with that thought, with "but God gave me the free will to choose to follow Christ or not, and I chose to follow Him". The credit for their salvation rests on them, not Him. Indeed "free will" is at the very core, a man-centered doctrine.

So with those who deny limited atonement and rest in their own choices as the determining factor in their Christian walk, they are greatly offended to hear someone say "no, you were not the determining factor in your salvation, God was".

It is an offense to their pride. From that comes anger, and from that comes accusation. It stands to reason that accusation looks for a target & exploits it.

The target? Those who believe what the Bible says about the chosen, or the elect. Look at her statement again:

"I know a lot of Christians who think they're chosen."

Now I'm no expert in human thinking, but I know when folks are offended they generally lash out & look for some way to offend back, or at least justify their offense by finding something or someone to blame. With offense always comes a catalyst, something that caused it.

In this case it's the Biblical doctrine of election that is causing the offense. It offends the man (or woman) that has a firm grip on his or her idea that he or she is the determining factor in their salvation. How DARE you tell me my choices had nothing to do with my salvation? Well, I didn't say it first:

Romans 9:16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

I could easily sit here and list every single verse and passage that speaks of how we are saved. It's pretty tempting to do, as well. However, the point is (obviously) that we are not saved by our choices we are clearly saved by His grace. God is the first cause in salvation, not man.

This naturally offends the pride in man, the pride that says "no no, look at me, NOTICE me, I am here, I have something to say, you WILL notice me!!". This is (thankfully) also addressed in Scripture in so many places, that I don't even have time to address it this morning. The pride in man, the haughty, lofty arrogance is something that seeks to exalts self, every single time.

Sadly, every one of us has this monster of pride within. Those that have a strangle-hold on their free will, don't even realize what it is they're holding on to tightly to.

May the Lord be pleased to show them, and bring them to a richer understanding of what His grace and mercy in their lives really means. When He does that, it truly changes everything.

(I realize this is nothing new, nothing many of you haven't thought of before, and nothing I certainly haven't thought of before - it was just on my mind this morning.)

Fall Conference - Blogger Get Together?

UPDATE 9/14

Thanks to the quick & efficient work of Paul Martin, we now have a location for our lunchtime meeting (the table is booked for 12:30).

Click here for the directions from the church, to the restaraunt. It's a Swiss Chalet, so I hope everyone is okay with that.

Swiss Chalet at 269 REXDALE BLVD. ETOBICOKE, ON
Saturday 9/23 from 12:30 until - ?

Hope to see you there :o)


UPDATE 9/11

First - welcome readers of challies.com - and thanks to Tim for putting this on the a la carte menu today.

If you plan attending (either for the conference [both days or just one], or just the lunch meeting, or both - please leave a comment & let others know, and/or blog it at your blog and leave a note for other readers here so that we all know who's coming.

Secondly - if you're familiar with the Etobicoke area and know of a good place for lunch that is close to the church where the conference will be held, please get ahold of me ASAP so we can make plans to reserve at least a few tables (if need be) for Saturday 9/23 for the lunch meeting and also let others who are planning on attending, where we will be having our lunch.

Knowing where one is going, is generally helpful if one expects to get there. :o)
-------------------------------------------------------------


(UPDATE BELOW)

Kev and I have been discussing attending this conference in the fall. Yes I realize September is still four months away, but we like to plan ahead. Due to his work schedule and (possible) babysitting issues, we would likely only be able to attend the Saturday morning sessions but would probably be there Friday evening as well (even if we can't attend the sessions).

I thought this might be a good opportunity for some of the greater Toronto area (and beyond?) evangelical bloggers to have a get together, of sorts.

So, I thought I'd toss this out there and see what others think? The church where the conference will be held is in Etobicoke, ON (which is tricky to pronounce but not too hard to find, or so I'm told), which is just outside Toronto.

Anyone else going? Anyone interested in a blogger get together? Will Tim liveblog it? Questions... questions...

UPDATE:

I wanted to note a few folks who have said they'd be there, and/or would be interested in a GTA blogger get together:

• Tim Challies
• Kim Shay
• James Vellenga and his wife Annette
• Ian Clary
• Paul Martin (who has offered to locate a local meeting place for us)
• Dr. Michael Haykin
• Darrin Brooker
• Joshua Robinson

I haven't made any kind of real effort to get the word out on this, so if you'd like please feel free to share this with other GTA evangelical bloggers. I'd like to be able to list here who's coming so we all have a better idea of how many, who, etc. So please leave a quick note in the comments.

Kev and I will be registering for the Saturday session only (he works Friday) so we're thinking the lunch break during the conference would be the perfect time for all of us to get together. Here is the Saturday schedule for the conference:

Saturday Sept. 23, 2006

• Registration: 8:00-9:00 am

• Session 3: 9:00-10:00 am -Issues in Contemporary Hermeneutics: James White

• Break: 10:00-10:30 am

• Session 4: 10:45-11:45 am Responding to Postmodern Hermenuetics: James White

• Lunch (not provided) 12:00-1:30 pm

• Session 5: 1:30-2:30 pm Reading Historical Narratives: Bruce Waltke

• Session 6: 2:45-3:30 Questions & Answers

• Session 7: 3:35 pm Reading Apocalyptic Literature: Derek Thomas

I've been told by others that registration through their website is giving some people some trouble, and it was for me as well. I emailed them and Richard Lambert was quick to respond and tell me you can register via telephone or email. Telephone is You may register by phone (800-563-3529) and the email address is store@sola-scriptura.ca

We're hoping to register this week, and we look forward to the conference and also meeting others there as well. Please leave a note in the comments to let us know if you're coming!

For MY mom!

It may seem contradictory that I recently commented on how I don't really like Mother's Day, and then blog about what Mother's Day means for me. Well... it's not. I hope to explain a bit more, why. (And mom, you'll have to forgive me ahead of time for going on about you!)

See this happy, smiling face? This is the face of the woman who raised me. This is the smile I have seen all my life. It means the world to me. I took this picture of my mom in my kitchen just a few weeks ago.

For as long as I can remember, mom has been smiling. Oh sure she has her moments of pain, frustration, tears & anger (as we all do) but mom has always had a way of smiling that smile, and breaking through any kind of negative mood standing - her own - or anyone else's.

Kim posted today about how Mother's Day always reminds her of the fact that she is not the kind of mother she would like to be. I nodded heartily when I read that and thought "yep, I'm certainly not the mother in those Hallmark Card commercials!" However, it did make me think of my mom.

First, my mom doesn't like it when I go on about her. She thinks I'm building her up to be someone she's not. She doesn't see herself the way I see her. She doesn't see herself the way my kids see her. She probably wont like it too much either when I say that she's a genuine example of someone who doesn't give much thought to herself, but thinks of others first.

The reason Kim's comments made me think of my mom, is because my mom never tried to be the "perfect mom", she just did what needed doing. When my dad walked out when I was a baby, mom got a job & worked hard to raise her kids on her own. She played with us, hugged us, listened to our prayers, scolded us when we needed it (or at least my sister and brother, I was an angelic child, something to which I'm certain she'll agree, lol), taught us how to get along in the world, and told the most corny jokes you've ever heard. Er... I mean... entertained us for hours with fanciful & humorous stories!

She was the mom that caused all my friends to say "man! I wish my mom was more like your mom". And the thing is, she didn't even try. She didn't try to be "my friend" instead of my mom, but she was my friend all the same. If there was anyone in my world I could talk to growing up, it was her. I didn't always take advantage of it, but she was always there anyway.

And she still is.

She didn't join the PTA, she wasn't big on that scene anyway. She did bake, but she didn't dress like Betty Crocker. She wasn't trendy & fashionable, but she was funky & fun! (Yes mom, I remember the bell bottoms with lady bugs on them!). She was (and is) just herself, raising three kids, and doing it the best way she knew how.

I wasn't raised by a perfect mom, but I was raised by one full of love for her kids. All I know for sure about being a "perfect mom" is that I will never be one. I do know however, that if I can be half as good of a mom raising my kids, as this lady was with her kids, I will be content.

There are a few people I know that have lost their mom this year. Some of them were very close to their mom, some were at odds with their moms. My heart goes out to them, as with each passing year I'm more and more grateful that I have the mom I have. God surely knew exactly what He was doing when He ordained that this woman would be the one I called "mom".

I love you mom, Happy Mother's Day!!!

(Republishing this for my mom, who was unable to access it for some reason)

You really have to wonder...

What was going through the mind of the person that did this last night? This is (was?) our mailbox. Kev stayed up later than me, and he said he heard a loud whacking sound & got up to look out the window. Several more whacking sounds later, the car drove away.

So what do you think? Borrowing from Marc at purgatorio, I'll just ask you to supply the caption:

"I did this last night because___________________"

Did you want fries with that?

You're not going to believe this one. Well... maybe you will. Can't say I didn't see this one coming a mile away.

Hoping against all hope, relying on their slogan of being old fashioned, I decided to go visit Wendy this morning to see what she's up to these days. Well, Wendy is still old fashioned and her community involvement centers around adoption issues, teaching kids in the bi-lingual communities, highschool athletics programs and animal welfare. From all appearances, Wendy still seems like a good girl.

Parents, all I can say is, PAY ATTENTION to what is influencing your kids. You'd likely never imagine in a trillion years that something as benign and fairly long lasting cultural icon like McD's, would have a hand in teaching your little girls how to be goth, would you?

Well, they are.

Hmmm... a big bacon classic & a small frosty sure sounds good today, eh?

A dreary Saturday made a little brighter

Introducing... Mrs. Ruby. (Click to enlarge)

Because I can...

Just a brief post to explain the "vote for me" business over yonder in the sidebar. I've registered one of my graphic t-shirt designs at a secular t-shirt promotion site. I've registered it in the "religious section" however.

The more votes this graphic gets, the more people who "rank" it (5 is the highest, always rank it a 5!) the higher up the list the shirt goes. It's already at #3 in the religion section, but I'd LOVE to see it shoot to the top of the SECULAR section. How cool would it be to knock the secular designs (read: somewhat vulgar & profane on some of the shirts - so be warned!) out of the top spots and see a shirt with a verse of Scripture on it, right there at the top!!?? I think it would be extremely cool, but it's entirely up to the voters to make it happen. (Yep, that means YOU)

So... that's what the deal is there. Every vote, every rank, sends this shirt closer to the top of the list. All the stats are reset at the first of the month, so go back every day & vote/rank this T!

Thank you. That is all.

It's pancake day, everyone is welcome, just bring your own plate & fork.

Looking a little closer at gentleness

I had a conversation with a friend last night that left me encouraged, convicted & meditative (the Biblical kind, not that eastern mystic mantra-type stuff).

Encouraged because I could hear in his voice and tone, how the Lord has done a work on his heart and mind. Convicted because he described how sarcastic and abrasive he used to be, and how much he abhors that about himself now. Meditative because he used the word gentle, and for some reason that's the word that really stuck with me.

Anyone who knows me well, will testify that "gentle" is not the first character trait that comes to mind when they think of me. Blunt, practical, critical, logical, analytical might be more accurate. But gentle? Nope, that doesn't accurately define me at all.

When I was a little girl I was a tomboy. Dolls were for sissies. As I grew up I was more inclined to athletics than more feminine things. I'm still very much like that. I have no issue with getting out a power tool or hand tool and busting off all my nails to fix whatever needs fixing. I look at my nails & think "meh, they'll grow back". Now I hope no one gets the wrong idea & thinks I swagger around here with a five o'clock shadow or anything. I'm just not very "girly" and really never have been.

So how does gentle fit into that? As far as being gentle physically goes, that's something I've never really been very good at. Growing up I was the kid that accidentally knocked things off store shelves. I was the one that motivated merchants to come up with that sign "you break it, you buy it". I've improved in that area as I have gotten older, but I'm still prone to being somewhat clumsy.

With a newborn baby, or a tiny bird - it's different. Somehow I can hold them and tend to them in a very delicate & gentle manner. I guess being physically gentle really kicks in when you need it to? I'm not sure, I just know that's an area I'm okay in.

However, my friend last night wasn't referring to any of that sort of thing. He was of course referring to being gentle with people. Gentle in tone, in facial expression, in the words we choose to speak. Being gentle in speech is often mistaken for being a wimp, or a compromiser, but the Bible is crystal clear that gentleness is not only a fruit of the Holy Spirit, but we are called to be gentle. Not recommended, not suggested, but be gentle. Surely we wouldn't be called to be gentle if being so was on the same par with being a compromiser, right?

Due to my conversation with my friend, I looked back at something I studied (and blogged on) a little over a year ago. I listed the individual spiritual traits of the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and how I think I'm measuring up. From Inventory - Produce Aisle:

5. Gentleness. Greek: chrestotes - moral goodness, integrity, kindness.

Hmmm. I am not always kind. I don’t purposely wake up each day and think “hey, I think I’ll be malicious toward someone today”, but often in a reactionary way, I’m more cynical, or sarcastic, than kind or gentle. I’m learning how to be kind, and it’s usually very difficult to do. I don’t mean toward my own family, or those I love dearly, but I mean toward those who are bitter and nasty toward Christ, and His word and/or treat me improper, as a result of it (did that sound “me” centered?). Those are the folks I have a hard time being kind to. And yet, Scripture is very clear in Luke 6:33-35 that as children of God we’re to extend the courtesy of kindness even to those who hate us, slander us, treat us poorly, etc. I can hold to morality all day long, but if I’m not kind, it reflects on my integrity, which in turn shows lack of gentleness. Ouch.

Today I looked at this again, and looked a little more into the word gentleness in Scripture. Granted, all I have is a Strongs, so you'll have to forgive me if my Greek trail here isn't as accurate as it could be.

From all I can gather, the word gentleness there comes from the root word chrestos. This is the same word used seven different times in the NT to define easy, better, kind, goodness and gracious. The meaning can vary somewhat depending on the way it's used, but the dictionary defines it this way:

1) fit, fit for use, useful, virtuous, good
2) manageable: mild, pleasant (as opp. to harsh, hard, sharp, bitter), of things more pleasant, of people, kind, benevolent

That seems rather self-explanitory, doesn't it? Galatians 5:22 says the fruit of the Spirit is (among so many other wonderful things) gentleness. Twice in chapter five Paul repeats "walk in the Spirit" - v. 16 and again in v.25. That in so doing, living according to the fruit of the Holy Spirit, we will not be so easily drawn into the lusts of the flesh and living that way instead. In case it's been a while since you've taken a look at the list of those lusts of the flesh in Galatians 5, here they are:

Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings.

Not a pretty picture, is it?

Not only is it as ugly as it gets, it's also something we have to be diligently mindful of. In Romans 13:14 we're reminded to make no provision for the flesh (don't give ourselves opportunities for it) - because if we do we'll surely act on it. In 1Peter 2:11 we're reminded that these very lusts of the flesh actually war against the soul! This isn't something we can afford to take lightly, or assume we've got conquered and/or is no longer an issue for us. It will always be an issue for us as long as we're walking around in this body of flesh.

Going back to Galatians 5:

16: This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

If we're walking (conducting our lives, intentionally occupy ourselves) according to the leading of the Holy Spirit, we won't fulfil (act, bring to pass) on the desires of the flesh, but instead we'll display the fruit of the Holy Spirit!

As I sat here and took in these verses, one more came to mind. For me, this answers the question as to how we do this:

2 Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ

It really is that simple. Living in the Spirit is intentionally being mindful of who we are, what we say, what we think, what we watch, listen to, respond to, react to, surround ourselves with, etc. It should come as no surprise that the context of this verse is also in regards to walking in the flesh, but not warring in the flesh. Interestingly enough Paul starts this very chapter this way:

Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you

Yep, there's that word again. Gentleness is something to certainly strive for, and be mindful of in every dealing we have. From our kids, spouse and extended family, to business relationships, casual aquaintances, and beyond. Some may see gentleness as being weak or compromising, but I think if we understood it Biblically, and sought after it, that might make all the difference in the world. It doesn't mean being kind or benevolent at the cost of truth, but it does mean being kind and being fair.

This is something I want to be, and want to be known for, by His grace.

Mr. Ruby Returns

(click for a larger view)

And the only reason he comes SO early in the morning, is because he knows I'm not fully awake yet, and can't get close enough, fast enough, to get a really COOL, really up-close & personal shot.

To that I say TAH! Mr. Ruby, I didn't watch Marlin Perkins on Wild Kingdom fer nuttin'! I know how to stalk a bird! He'll be here for another 5 months or so... so Mr. Ruby, LET the games begin!!

:o)

I Don't Like Mother's Day

It's true.

There are so many things about it that just annoy me. Now while I have no issue calling or emailing my mom and telling her how great I think she is, I don't like getting that same attention from my kids. To me it's just WEIRD to be thanked and/or doted over for doing the very things that need to be done day in and day out.

It's like having a Happy Dish-Washer Day, or a Happy Poopy-Diaper-Changer Day.

I know, I know... it's a day set aside to honor the mother who tirelessly works so hard to keep her kids and her house in order. The mother who gives up this & that for the cause of her family. The mother that leaps tall buildings in a single bound, and can wipe a dirty face, rinse a plate, put the dog outside and fix a broken screen door all at the same time.

I think part of my issue is that we (society) spend so much effort on recognizing her on this one day... but what about the other 364 days of the year? Do we take the same time each day to do that, as we do on this one day? Oh the issues I could raise here.

Yes it's a day to buy that super pretty Hallmark Card, and yes it's a day to buy flowers & jewelry & all that other pretty girly stuff & dote over mom, or grandma, or Aunt Gertrude or whoever you dote over on Mother's Day. Do your doting, tell her how much she means to you, but don't forget to tell her that for the rest of the year too. Trust me, she notices the gushy sentiment if it only comes once a year.

The DaVinci Code - How should Christians respond?

I wasn't going to address this here, for the simple reason that so many others have already addressed it and done a very good job. However, for informational purposes I think it would be a very good idea to list some of those resources to assist you in your discernment about all this.

If you have a link or know of an additional resource, please feel welcome to leave the link in the comment section.

• Dan Brown and The Da Vinci Code - How Should Christians Respond? by Pastor John MacArthur

• Deciphering 'The Da Vinci Code' by Dr. Albert Mohler

• Debunking Dan Brown's "Fact Based Fiction" by Dr. James White

Dr. White's three part audio series:

The Da Vinci Code Part 1 , The Da Vinci Code Part 2, The Da Vinci Code Part 3

Dr. White's audio lectures from Auburn University:

• Da Vinci Code Presentation - Separating Fact from Fiction Play Download

• Da Vinci Code Presentation - Questions and Answers Play Download

• The Da Vinci Code Cracks - Stand to Reason

If you're a blogger and you've written on this, please let me know either via email or by leaving a comment with your blog url.

God's High Calling for Women

With Mother's Day approaching, I want to share with you something I've been listening to. I think this will benefit you as much as it has me. These are the daily audio lessons from pastor John MacArthur at Grace Community Church. I would really encourage you to listen to these messages. Each one is about 30 minutes long, and will surely be a blessing to you.

The modern women’s movement promises fulfillment, and fails miserably to deliver. Not so with God’s High Calling for Women. In this series, John MacArthur walks you through the New Testament’s most comprehensive treatment of the woman’s attitude, appearance, testimony, and her contribution to the Lord’s work—the true path to fulfillment.

In addition to the audio messages, you can also read the transcripts of these messages right here.

Getting Real on Homeschooling, pt.2

Since the response to my first installment was so absolutely overwhelming, I thought I'd just go ahead and continue... You can read pt.1 right here.

Dan's list:

3. "While I will say in public–public being church–that my husband is the rock of the household, I'm the one holding our home together."
4. "I'm petrified to admit I'm barely holding on."
5. "I'm terrified of letting anyone else know that I question whether this is the abundant life or not."

In Dan's article (here), he explains that the reasons on this list are quite likely what's behind homeschool moms experiencing burnout.

When I read through this list I would be less than honest if I said I have never felt any of these things myself. However, and I want to be very careful with how I say this, the other thing I notice as I read through this list, is pride & appearances.

#3 I'm the one doing all the work (pride)
#4 I dont want anyone to know how hard it is (appearances)
#5 I don't want anyone to know that I question what I'm doing (appearances)

There are about a million different ways I could approach this. I don't want to appear unsympathetic in the least, however, so I want to approach this with the "yep, I can relate" position.

While all of these thoughts & feelings are legitimate, they're also 100% self-focused.

In #3 we have moms who feel like they're doing all the work to keep their home and their homeschool together. Does it feel like that sometimes? YES. It should feel like that because it's often true, but please hear this part: being true doesn't equal being unfair.

In most HS families its the mom who is at home teaching the kids. She's the one who coordinates all the housework, the cooking, the teaching, taking care of the baby and juggling all the other household duties during the course of the day. She fixes broken dolls, broken trucks, works through complicated English assignments with her 15 yr old, prays with the little one when she falls off her bike, and has a casserole baking & dessert ingredients sitting on the counter. Scrubs the toilets, feeds the cat, answers the phone, plans next week's lessons, and folds the laundry. Sometimes she does these things all at the same time (or fairly close to that anyway).

This is the way it is, and she knew it would be like this when her and her husband made the decision to homeschool in the first place. I understand that not all HS moms feel like they have the support of their husbands that they'd like to have (and how many HS moms give their support to their husbands 100% of the time?), but regardless of that, we have a job to do to all the same, and we'd be a lot further ahead to quit dwelling on what we don't have, and get about the business of what we do have. Is it easy? NO, sometimes it's very hard & very demanding. Sometimes we sneak away and cry to the Lord and get that refreshing boost that we needed to finish the day. But we do what needs to be done.

Numbers 4 and 5 on Dan's list are in the same category so I'll just address them both. Simply put they are the result of Keeping up with the Joneses. In the case of HS moms, they are quite likely the result of spending far too much time comparing our homes, and homeschools, with someone or something else. Something we never should have been doing in the first place.

Yes it's hard, and yes we question what we're doing ALL the time. But the good kind of questioning is when we re-examine the way we're doing things to see if there really is a better way, a more organized way, or a less complicated way.

I was talking to a friend about this recently and she said "sometimes I just really hate homeschooling". I wonder how many HS moms would be boiled in oil, before they'd dare admit that to anyone? All that is, is pride. Does my friend really hate homeschooling? Not at all, she was just having a particularly stressful day and she knew she could vent to me about it. She knew I'd understand & encourage her to pull up her socks, pray, eat an ice cream, and get back at it. She knew that because she's one that I go to when I am feeling the same things, and she gives me the same advice!

I could spend the next three hours (easily) examining the rationale behind each of these statements on Dan's list, but the most important thing I could possibly say (and to hopefully encourage fellow mothers, homeschoolers or not) is that the world does not revolve around you. I know you already know that, but I'm reminding you all the same. Yes we have bad days, yes we struggle and question and often feel like it's all on our shoulders. Yes it is frustrating, and yes some days we want to throw in the towel and just hide somewhere. Now... did you know that there are days when your husbands feel like this too? Do you know he feels this same kind of pressure, and these same kinds of frustrations? He may not express it the way you do, and the sources may be different than the sources that cause you to feel it, but if you went to him and asked him, I'd bet he'd tell you that yes, he does feel like this sometimes.

Being a parent is not easy. Being a Christian parent brings with it a whole new set of standards & struggles. Being a Christian parent that educates their kids at home - another level of challenges. So when Pride and Vanity show up (and they visit here at least once a week, if not more, so please don't think I'm immune to their influences), the one thing to ask yourself (seriously ask yourself) is this:

Why am I homeschooling?

It's easy to get caught up in the details, struggles, frustrations & the like. It's easy to let those things be what defines our days. The better way, is to periodically ask yourself why you've chosen this route. For me, that makes all the difference in the world.

When we pause for a moment and step outside our own feelings, and look at the bigger picture, it helps to get us back on track, and get out of the Me Mode.

Here's a verse to consider today, and the next time you're feeling like this:

Philippians 2:3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

In this verse, the word strife is used in the sense of having a divisive spirit to put yourself above others, promoting yourself, being selfish. Vainglory means exactly what you might think it to mean: empty pride, or self-esteem (lifting yourself up). Lowliness of mind = modesty, or humility. The last part of the verse explains itself, in that our attitude ought to be that of placing others needs before our own. A true servant's heart.

When you start your day with this attitude, and this approach, it changes everything. When you remind yourself of this each and every day, you will have far fewer days described in Dan's list of 5. And a whole lot more peace.

I hope this has blessed someone today.




Currently reading: Losing Our Virtue By David F. Wells



tags: Biblical Christianity

I'm a book, no really!

Hey, this is kinda neat, I read this book too!

You're Dune!

by Frank Herbert

You have control over a great wealth of resources, but no one wants to let you have them. You've decided to try to defend yourself, but it may take eons before you really get back what you feel you deserve. Meanwhile you have a cult-like following of minions waiting for your life to progress. This would all be even more exciting if you could just get the sand out of your eyes.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

I hadda laugh at the cult-like following of minions. If you're a minion of mine, please let me know, as I've never met a minion!

(HT: Scott)

Currently reading: Losing Our Virtue By David F. Wells



tags: Biblical Christianity

Getting Real on Homeschooling, pt.1

Some time ago a friend of mine had something pretty profound (to me anyway) to say about reading or listening to certain kinds of Christian advice on relationships. Especially concerning book form she said:

"I wonder if people don't read these things and suddenly feel they have these problems as described, when they didn't really have those problems to begin with?"

She wondered (and I agreed) if these kinds of things don't actually cause more harm, than they help. So then today I clicked a link, which led me to a link, and on it goes. As I found my way to the article (keep reading, we'll get there!) below, I couldn't help but wonder if that question from my friend doesn't describe this sort of thing.

Doug over at CoffeeSwirls has this new fancy-dan blogroll thingie (I have no idea what it's called) that lists some of the top posts he likes on some of the blogs on his blog roll. It's pretty cool, and I'm not just saying that because Doug has my blog listed too. :o) Doug is a great read, and here's proof:

"CoffeeSwirls is the minty fresh blog of Doug McHone, which snaps back wash after wash!"

If you didn't laugh when you read that, seek help. Immediately.

In any event, Doug has a blog post by Dan listed, that made me think of what my friend said. For those of you that don't know Dan, that would be Dan of Cerulean Sanctum.

Yesterday, Dan took it upon himself to express what he believes many evangelical moms are feeling/thinking. Here's Dan's list:


1. "I'm burned out, burned up, and the ember that is my personal existence is running on fumes–
2. –yet I have to keep up appearances."
3. "While I will say in public–public being church–that my husband is the rock of the household, I'm the one holding our home together."
4. "I'm petrified to admit I'm barely holding on."
5. "I'm terrified of letting anyone else know that I question whether this is the abundant life or not."

I admit, I had some pretty mixed thoughts after reading Dan's list, and the rest of his article entitled "Super Christian Homeschooling Ninja Moms of Death".

First, (and I really have to get this out of the way, because it's been stewing for a good long while), I get somewhat tired of the "jokes" about HS moms. I am a mom that homeschools, but I am not a Homeschool Mom. Homeschooling doesn't define who or what I am, it's just part of what I do. I don't like the title any more than I'd like the title Laundry Mom or Snot Wiper Mom, or Dollar Store Mom. If you're a mom that homeschools and you do like that title, then that's great. It's just not me.

There are probably just as many misconceptions about homeschooling people, as there are about what Calvinism is, and it's just annoying to me. I realize that some folks that crack jokes about HS moms really are doing it in a genuine fun-loving spirit (and I even do it myself), but not everyone does. (This is not to say that Dan was trying to be mean or anything, it just came to mind and it's all Dan's fault - surely he'll accept the honor?)

In any case, I just wanted to let you folks know that not all moms that homeschool fancy themselves a title of Homeschool Mom (say that like you'd say Super Woman! and you get the idea). Now that I'm done snivelling about what a thin skin I really do have about this topic, let's take a look at Dan's list.

1. "I'm burned out, burned up, and the ember that is my personal existence is running on fumes

MmmmHmmm.

This thought is entirely centered on self. But is it true? While I will not presume to speak for all moms, homeschoolers or not, I can honestly say that yes at times, it's 100% true. It's especially true when kids are sick, the phone company just called to remind you that you're late in paying the bill, you get a snotty email from someone who didn't like what you just posted, and the dog just harfed on the dining room carpet. Oh yes, and the baby's diaper smells like that dead coyote you once found in a cave while hiking, and your 7 year old just dropped the jam (full jar, just bought it this morning) all over the kitchen floor, and your almost 9 year old forgot what 5+3 is. Oh yeah... there are days like this.

And then you sneak away to your room, and you pray. This is life, this is YOUR life, and soon it will be nap time, or quiet reading time. By the end of today you will kiss these wild monkeys goodnight, listen to them pray, and tuck them into bed and thank God for them. After they've been in bed for about 5 minutes they'll begin taking turns getting up for that required glass of water, or the ever popular "woops, I forgot to go to the bathroom". Soon though, they'll be fast asleep and the day will begin to wind down quickly. Before you know it however, they will be all grown up and moved out, and you will honestly miss them. No, you will not miss the stress, frustration and brand new jar of jam all over the kitchen floor, but you will miss that precious time of kissing their little faces as you tuck them into bed and secretly pray "please Lord, let them fall asleep, right now".

2. –yet I have to keep up appearances."

Why look our old friend Vanity! He never stays missing for long, does he?

The funny thing is, just today Tim posted a link to something he found humorous at Kim C's blog that simply nails it. (You have to click that & read the comic or the rest of this won't make nearly as much sense - go ahead and click the link, I'll wait.)

No matter if you homeschool or not, if you're a parent you will get this comic. However, there is a special kind of pressure on HS families to stay very close friends with Vanity, lest we become "that homeschooling family". You know the one I mean, it's that legendary HS family with 47 kids that all look sorta.. hmmm funny. They're essentially social misfits that can't function in mixed company, and can often be found staring at their shoes, mumbling inintelligable sounds. I know for a fact this family exists because there's a lady in my church who's sister used to live next door to this guy that knew a guy that knew a guy... that knew them. But they've all moved and no one knows where they are. Or their names. It's true though, I'm telling you!

So in the persuit of never being mistaken for this family, we compare our kids, and measure our lives according to what we think is the ideal HS family. We join this group and buy these books and some even go so far as to actually dress the entire family in the lovely matching turtlenecks so they can pose for the spring family picture in front of that flowing brook out back.

NEWSFLASH: THE TURTLENECK PEOPLE DO NOT EXIST!

This just in, our investigative reporting team has just confirmed that family that we all saw in last month's Homeschool Haven magazine, is really not nearly as organized and perfect as they might appear in the cover shot. Undercover photographer Bubba secretly recorded little Billy slugging little Suzie just as soon as the picture was taken. Suzie responded with "you're stupid and ugly, too". Mom threw her hands up in the air, tripped over the golden retriever and fell into the brook. Allegedly perfect/genius/dazzling smile Teen Tony shrugged and looked at sibling Hanna and said "what, why should I be the one to get mom out of the brook!?" as he put his iPod headphones back on & sauntered toward the house. Hanna's cell phone rang was instantly transported into Girly Cell Phone World, and mom could be hear muttering some frightening threats toward her turtleneck children as she pulled herself out of the brook with Dad's help.

So there ya have it, that's the real story behind the Turtleneck People. They might have whiter whites than you, but I assure you, they have just as many issues & personality conflicts within their family, as you have in yours. Plus, the more kids in a family, only means more personalities to work hard to get along with.

I made this exact mistake again this morning, of comparing my kids to other HS kids. It took about 2 minutes of thinking about it before I mentally slugged myself and said "whoa Nelly, knock it off!". While there is some amount of benefit to this sort of thing (like not having your 15 year old in 3rd grade curriculum for the 5th year in a row), there is also the very real and very tempting danger to unfairly push your kids into being someone or something that they are not. Not to mention, kids aren't stupid, and they know when grown ups are overlooking who they are, in favor of wanting them to be someone else. Kids know when they're being compared to 'someone better' and they don't appreciate it. (And they might even grow up and write a book about you: "Homeschooling Mommy Dearest".)

It certainly can be good to read books to get good ideas, and join HS support groups if you're new to this kind of life. We just have to be careful to remember to appreciate our own kids for who they are.

One of the wonderful things about HS'ing is that both you and them, are free to persue their education at the pace they can work with. If they're ready to move ahead, ahead they go! If they need more work in some areas, you're under no deadline or school system rules, to push them along faster than they can keep up.

I was tempted to put all my thoughts into one post, but then it would be far too long. So... tune in tomorrow (or later today, or next week, or whenever I get around to it) for Getting Real, pt.2.

:o)


Currently reading: Losing Our Virtue By David F. Wells



tags: Biblical Christianity

But the Lord directs our steps...

This past Saturday I was blessed by a lot of birding activity around here. I took quite a few pictures, and many of them turned out quite well. Of all that I took the one that impressed me the most was this one right here.

In this picture, there is a female rose breasted grosbeak on the left, a male American goldfinch in the middle, and a male house finch on the right. When I took this, all I noticed at first was that the feeder was very busy - birds were coming and going and I did get a few of birds in flight coming and going. This one however really caught my attention.

Look closely at the goldfinch. Notice the white wingbar pattern contrasted by the black, on both of his wings. Do you notice anything?

I immediately noticed how the pattern is exactly the same on both wings, just mirrored. I've been bird watching for several years now, and for whatever reason I've never really noticed this about goldfinches. Partly because (I assume) I see them all the time. They're common to me, so I've never really taken a closer look at them. However, when I look a little closer, I can see plain as day the creative hand of God literally right there in that pattern. It's as obvious to me, that this pattern was created, purposely designed this way.

Creation, purpose, providence - revealed.

Last night I had an opportunity to speak to a friend about this very thing. Through a series of events that she did not plan (and actually went against her plans & disrupted them) she found herself in a situation to be able to share the gospel with a Muslim man. She didn't set out yesterday to find a Muslim man and witness Christ to him, but there she was all the same. Plans out the window and new plan in place.

Incidentally, a friend of hers had just been in a debate with a Muslim man, and so the "coincidence of timing" was not lost on her. She told this man about the debate, gave him a gospel tract, and he told her he was very interested in the dvd of this debate when it comes out. What a coincidence, eh?

Coincidence schmoincidence. She relayed to me what was going through her mind was this verse:

Proverbs 16:9 A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.

I was so excited to hear about this, and hear that it was SO OBVIOUS to her that even though her plans had been altered, she found herself in a situation that she had never planned, never expected, and was able to share the gospel.

Interestingly enough, our family devotion last night was on this VERY SAME TOPIC.

In our devotion we were reminded that even though God can do anything (speak to the wind, rain, fire or illness to cause them to cease) He doesn't always do that. He can, and often does, but not always.

In the devotion story was a prayer of a man that was sick. He prayed to the Lord and said "I know you can take this from me, but Lord I pray that if this illness be good for me in some way, you might show me that - if it is your will that I be well again, then I pray for that also". This was a man who understood that while we may have our own set of plans & ideas, it is the Lord that directs our steps. He directs them right where He wants them, for His glory. He also reveals His will to us, in this process. Sometimes it's pretty obvious, other times we only see it in retrospect. Especially if we're not really looking, like the example of myself with the goldfinch.

It's not always easy to see this, and it's not always easy to deal with where He leads us at times. Sometimes it's VERY painful, and very traumatic. Sometimes we need the support and prayers of our closest friends, and constant reminders of this very Biblical truth. Growing in the Lord and coming to a submission to His will isn't always easy, but it's always a blessing.

Funny how the wing pattern on a bird can cause such a reflection into the character of God.

Have a blessed Wednesday.


Currently reading: Losing Our Virtue By David F. Wells



tags: Biblical Christianity

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Currently reading: Losing Our Virtue By David F. Wells



tags: Biblical Christianity

Writing on writing

Fellow 24 addict, and co-sidekick in training to this guy, Nate posted something at his blog yesterday that I want to share with you here:

"Also, the act of writing itself sharpens my thinking patterns. It's like an exercise regimen, keeping my mind active and my ability to communicate taut. Otherwise, I might succumb to the siren song of mere existence, floating along in a fluffy cloud of unconsidered sensations until death ends the music. In less flowery language, writing helps me think through my experiences, when the world beckons me to quit thinking and just experience."

That really summed it up well for me.

When I was about 10 years old, I began to keep a diary. I wasn't sure why, but it was something other girls did, and since I got one for my birthday that year, I figured I should start writing in it. It didn't take long before I looked forward to bedtime when I would pull the little pink book out from under my pillow and begin my entry "Dear Diary". I no longer have that little pink book, and I sure wish I did.

I did have it for a very long time though, and once it was full I had put it away in a special box filled with other special things from childhood. A few years later I browsed through and blushed at my thoughts about my crush on Bobby Baker, how I wanted to grow up and write like a real author, and my roughly sketched plans for the coolest dirt bike jump the neighborhood had ever seen. I never did build the jump, and my dirt bike riding days came to an abrupt halt the day I made a jump and wiped out upon landing. It was the worst wipe out I'd ever had, and it reminded me that I was a girl, and should start acting like one. The last time I saw Bobby Baker was about 20 years ago, in a grocery store in my hometown. He hadn't changed a bit since 5th grade.

Over the next 15 years or so, I always kept a journal. Little pink books were replaced with cloth covered books with lined pages. Entries that used to say Dear Diary were replaced with such things as "Dear No One Who Doesn't Care That I Can't Pay My Electric Bill This Month". Expressions of how cute Bobby Baker was, were replaced with how cute my little girls were, and why God ever gave them to me to begin with.

For a period of about 10 years, I had stopped journal writing. Not because I wanted to, but because someone I once trusted got ahold of a stack of my journals that covered a period of about five years, and they read them from cover to cover. For whatever reason only the Lord understands, this person decided to betray me, and use my writings against me in a most painful way. My own words held me hostage in a way that I can't even begin to describe. I burned the journals, and a few years later that person was out of my life never to return.

That's when I began writing again. It was like coming home.

I recently had a talk with a friend about the benefits of blogging, and especially about the benefits of Christian blogging. Unlike the private journals I kept in their own special box in my closet, blogging is public and brings with it a level of accountability that private journaling doesn't have. Christian blogging raises that accountability level even higher. This is a good thing for those of us who desire to grow, and remain accountable among the household of faith. I think this is part of the whole Christian blogging thing that non-writers just don't understand.

When I read Nate's post yesterday, it was one of those things that you read and think "wow, I wish I'd said that". Nate talks about how writing is like an exercise regimen that keeps him sharp. That's what writing is for me as well. Insomuch as I do desire to bless others with whatever I've been blessed with, that's only part of why I write.

Writing keeps my memory sharp, and helps me stay focused. When I quit journaling for that 10 year time frame I noticed immediately that my memory suffered. Instead of journaling I started keeping lists (something my grandma has done for as long as I can remember). These lists helped me stay organized, and reminded me daily of my priorities. I'm still a list-keeper to this day. I am an expressive/creative/artsy type, so getting sidetracked and distracted is fairly easy for me.

Writing affords me the opportunity to shout "FIRE!" when there's a fire. I was the kid in school who's report card always said "lovely student, but talks too much". Listen, there were things that just needed to be said, okay? My high school guidance counsellor once told me that I couldn't just go around speaking my mind all the time, being so blunt. I asked him "why not?" He assured me that people don't like bluntness, but that they prefer kinder words. I asked him "do you mean they prefer to hear what they only want to hear, and would rather have sugar coated ear candy?". He laughed and said yes. I don't think I was supposed to know that at 16, but it was already pretty obvious to me. My counsellor just advised me to attempt to temper my bluntness with compassion. That didn't take affect until I got saved, and I have to admit that I still struggle with finding words that say what I want to say, without compromising and sounding all fluffy. I'm not into fluff, unless we're talking down comforters.

To me, writing is an art form. I consider myself artistic, although far from what I would call an artist. I dabble in many forms, yet master none. I write, draw, photograph, sew, create graphics on the pc, bake, and garden. In my mind I visualize what I want my kids rooms to look like, whenever I win the lottery and have the money to completely re-do their rooms. In my imagination I've already turned my boring old living room into a Cape Cod beach front get-away. I can't quite explain it but there is something about the challenge of turning nothing, into something, that people like me just cannot resist. Writing is the same way. If I can turn a blank page into something that reaches in and grabs you by the heart, builds you up, makes you laugh, makes you think, and causes you to sit there and nod your head (like Nate's comment did for me), then this is a good thing. Certainly there are millions (if not billions) of people that do this better than I do, but that doesn't discourage me from doing it all the same. It wouldn't, because this is who I am and what I do.

While I appreciate the people who come here every day and read what I have to say, I want you to know that you're a big encouragment to me. You keep me on my toes, and help me turn these blank pages into something worth reading (at least most of the time, I hope).

And with that, I have a vat of oatmeal to make for a small army. Have a great Tuesday.


Currently reading: Losing Our Virtue By David F. Wells



tags: Biblical Christianity

Now loading...

I have issues. Yeah yeah, we all knew that. But let me briefly explain why.

God blessed me with a sense of humor. Some may argue that, but it's true all the same. My issue is, with the vulgar, profane and crass people in this world. They should not be the ones to have all the fun (and their idea of fun is certainly arguable).

So, when I see or hear something that COULD be funny, has the potential of being very funny, were it cleaned up a bit, I go for it.

If you're a computer user (um.... hellewww?) you've all seen the screen that tells you "please wait" while your program is loading. Right?

Well... I recently saw a parody of this, but it was vulgar, nasty and gross. So, I redid it a bit:

(Click HERE for a larger graphic view, you know you want to)

Now, you all know at least 3 people who would proudly wear this shirt.

Half of you reading would probably wear it.

I would wear it!

So there ya go, happy shopping.

:o)

Currently reading: Losing Our Virtue By David F. Wells



tags: Biblical Christianity

Soup's On!

I was reading the news this morning and came across this article about family meal time. This quote immediately caught my attention:

"For working parents and heavily scheduled school kids, family mealtime is as out of fashion as the scene in Norman Rockwell's iconic Thanksgiving supper painting. Supermarkets are trying to lure families back to the dinner table."

I thought "hmm, I guess it's true".

Several years ago, one of our oldest daughter's friends commented how odd she found it, that we actually sat at the table for dinner, together, every night. When I heard this I laughed and asked "where else would we sit, the back yard?". She just thought it was "weird" since she didn't know anyone who did that anymore.

Then our second oldest daughter's friends said the same thing. Then a friend of our third oldest daughter, made the same comment to her, just about a year ago.

I suppose in some contexts, we would be considered weird, or odd, since we do in fact sit at the table every night, together, for dinner. The only exception to that is every other Friday night when we have pizza in the game room (everyone sits wherever they want) and/or those hot summer days when Kev barbeques on the deck and we all eat outside. Otherwise, we really do resemble that Normal Rockwell painting. Kev doesn't show up to the table in a suit & tie, and I haven't worn an apron since 9th grade Home Ec, but otherwise, we're all there by about 6:30 every night.

Funny thing is, it never crossed my mind that we were "out of fashion" as this news article suggests.

Growing up, this is the way we ate dinner. Everyone had their place at the table, and we didn't get down until we said to our mom "may I please be excused?". That was normal, and back then I didn't know anyone who didn't sit down at the table with their family at mealtime. So, when I grew up, got married & had 800 kids, this is the way I started doing things as well.

It's never crossed my mind to think this is the ONLY real way to have a meal together, or that people who don't do things this way are somehow damaging their kids. I guess the stats reported in that article should be worth our time to look at, however.

They say "The more often kids have dinner with their parents, the less likely they are to smoke, drink and use drugs". Surely this is good news. But it was never the reason we have dinner together at the table.

We're creatures of habit, us human beans. For the most part, we parent our own kids the way we were parented. If mom did things this way, we do them this way too. If grandma did something this way, so do we. Sometimes we don't even know why, but if it worked for them, and it made life simple, we grabbed hold of it and worked it into the way we do things too. We might alter our traditions a little bit, to make it fit into our own lives, but that's just the way we do things.

I can't imagine not eating dinner together. When the kids were in public school (the older ones, the younger ones never have been) it was our time to sit together and ask/talk about what went on at school that day. The kids would tell me things about their day, or whatever else was on their mind. It was a time to enjoy a meal & have good conversation. That hasn't changed, as it's the same way now.

I gather up plates & forks while I'm cooking dinner & begin to set the table. Funny thing is, plates & forks are always counted out by names, instead of numbers. I should know (by now) there are 7 of us at the table every night, but I still count them out this way:

"Jordan, Rachel, Samuel, Ruth, Kev, me Jessica"

I don't know why I start with Jordan, but I always do. Creatures of habit we certainly are.

Dinnertime is a time to pray together & thank the Lord for His blessings. A time to enjoy a meal together. A time to have a good conversation. A time to be together as a family, doing something we all enjoy: eating! :o) (And dessert on Sunday night! Last night was gingerbread cake with hot lemon sauce, YUM and yum. Another tradition I snagged from grandma.)

Maybe someday I'll have one of those pretty aprons. However, if Kev shows up to the table in a suit & tie, I might wonder if he's lost his marbles.

Oh, and I don't insist that the kids say "may I please be excused?". It's more along the lines of

"you're done, get outside".

:o)

Currently reading: Losing Our Virtue By David F. Wells



tags: Biblical Christianity

Do we really need the Bible?

Why is it so important that we have a Bible, know what it says, and depend on it?

I'm glad you asked.

Since we are currently churchless, Kev will often prepare a lesson or a little study for us for Sunday morning. Last Sunday's lesson was very good, and I wanted to share it with you. It would be interesting to hear the results if you tried this in your own home.

He took Samuel out in the hall and gave him a message that he had written down on a piece of paper. Here was the message:

"The red shirt goes with the yellow tie, the brown shoes, the green pants and the blue vest."

Samuel was then instructed to call Jordan out, give her the message and pass it on to Rachel. Rachel was then instructed to repeat the message back to all of us.

This message was only passed between 3 people, and by the time it was delivered back to all of us, it was pretty severely mutilated. In an amusing way, the lesson was a huge success for all of us, in understanding why we need the written Word, instead of just depending on what others have to say. I thought it was rather clever of Kev to come up with that idea for the kids - it had a rather practical impact on them in such a way you could almost see the lightbulbs going on over their heads. :o)

If you've ever been on the business end of malicious gossip, you also know how that works in a very similar way. It begins (usually) with a small grain of truth, and as it's passed from person to person the story changes, becomes larger than life, and by the time it gets back to you, it's a fantastic tale about something either never happened, or certainly never happened the way you know it to have happened.

The childhood game of "Add On" is the same idea, only it's done for fun. One person starts the story:

Joe went to the fridge

Next person adds on:

Joe went to the fridge to get a drink but

Next person:

Joe went to the fridge to get a drink but instead he decided

And on it goes. By the time the story ends with the last person, Joe turns out to be in a dream and he's not even Joe, he's Bob, and he lives in a cave without a fridge. Those kinds of games are fun, but really good examples of how passing something along like this can change from person to person.

I recently read a news article about the worship style in a local church. The journalist wrote how the pastor preached a message about living out the gospel, without ever preaching from the Bible at all.

I thought about that for a minute or two.

Obviously, there are a couple of different "sides" to this kind of preaching.

On the one hand, many ministers of the word can present a most valuable lesson by sharing with the congregation Biblical principles and exhortation that they know to be true from having studied the Bible. Many writers & speakers do the very same thing - express sound Biblical teachings & principles, without ever using citations from the Bible itself. (Sidenote: the recent T4TG Statement has generated a bit of discussion in the Christian blogging community for this very reason - lots of statements & affirmations, but no Biblical citation at all).

On the other hand, if they're not resorting to the Bible at all for the congregation's benefit & instruction, then how can they be accurately called ministers of the word? Technically, they're not ministering from the word at all, but from their own thoughts and ideas. This is where the potential for the game of Add On to show up.

When we express what we believe, without any Biblical support, can it be trusted to be Biblical?

If I told you that the apostle Paul said that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and that no man can come to the Father but by Him, would you believe me? If I offered no proof, no Biblical citation, would my words be 100% truth, or my own words?

Astute readers will notice that was a trick statement there. The statement that Jesus is the only way to the Father is of course true, but it wasn't the apostle Paul that said it about Jesus, it was Jesus Himself that said it, as recorded in the gospel of John, chapter 14 and verse 6.

Okay so it's a slight error, but the message is still the same, right?

WRONG

The message about the way to the Father may be accurate, but if you've simply received what I had to say about who said it, without ever questioning it or asking for Biblical support, that's where the door swings wide open to more slight errors. Once that door is open, more and more error will come through and before long, there will be much error.

How do I know this to be true?

Simply because this is the way people are. People (you, me and everyone else) are fallible, prone to error & mistake. Even if we are as meticulous as we can be, we're still prone to error. If I told you the Apostle Paul said this, and you repeated it to 10 people, then they repeated it to 10 more people each, it wouldn't take long at all before my statement to you, would take on a whole new meaning. My 1 little itsy bitsy teenie error in that statement, would likely contain many more errors by the time 1,000 people had repeated it. This is just the way we are, we can't help but be fallible and prone to making errors.

2Peter 2:1 begins this way:

But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

Through the rest of the chapter we get an idea of what these false prophets and false teachers are like, character wise. It's not a pretty picture.

I want to stop right here and make it very clear that I do not believe "false teacher" applies to anyone or everyone who doesn't routinely cite Scripture. I do think however, it's important to take a closer look at the method, motives, style and delivery of a false teacher, according to Scripture.

3. covetousness (greed) & feigned (carefully & purposely crafted) words
10. presumptuous (daring) , selfwilled (self-pleasing, arrogant)
13. sporting themselves (take delight in) with their own deceivings
14. beguiling (to catch with bait) unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices
17. These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest
18. For when they speak great swelling (extravagent) words of vanity , they allure (bait) through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness (outrageousness, shamelessness, insolence), those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
19. While they promise them liberty ( licence, the liberty to do as one pleases ), they themselves are the servants of corruption

Stop and think for a moment about what a false teacher really is, in a Christian context. They use the right words (Jesus, Bible, Heaven, church, etc.), they "walk" the walk, talk the talk, and by all outward appearances (to many) live as a professing Christian.

However, these are men (and women) who are greedy, well-spoken, daring, arrogant, extravagent, deceitful, outrageous & shameless.

They purposefully and intentionally deceive people with their words. Their very well-thought-out, well crafted words. Scripture says they even delight in their ability to do this. These are people who will never resort to the authority of the written word, but will use Scripture in a twisted, contorted, out of context fashion as a means to their own ends. That is, if they use the Scriptures at all. The written word of God exposes such people as this, and they will do whatever strikes their fancy to do, to cause you or I to doubt what it says, or look there for answers there in the first place.

It's rather disturbing to consider that there are people like that among us, but the Bible says there are, and will be. These are the real false teachers, doing these things with full knowledge of what they're doing. They're in a class by themselves, to be sure.

I brought all that up because I wanted to take a close look at their methods, and their character. It's important to know how they operate so that we will not be taken in by them, but it's also important to know how they operate so that we will prayerfully guard our hearts against ever adopting their very methods.

If you're like me, when you read this:

"However, these are men (and women) who are greedy, well-spoken, daring, arrogant, extravagent, deceitful, outrageous & shameless." A name (or two, or three) instantly came to mind. A name well-known in Christian circles. For you, the name or names might have been different than the ones that come to mind when I read this chapter of 2peter, but these names come to mind all the same, for many people.

While I think its fairly common to think of other people when we read something like this, I think it's important to really examine our own hearts when we read something like this. I don't mean ask yourself if you're a false teacher, but I mean ask yourself if you've jumped on the pragmatism bandwagon and ever (or now?) adopted their ways, or style.

Even the most well-spoken man, the most well-educated, charismatic, entertaining, humorous, personable, charming and convincing man (or woman), is just a fallible man with an entertaining story, if he is not a man in submission to the authority of the written word of God.





Currently reading: Losing Our Virtue By David F. Wells



tags: Biblical Christianity

Shots from today

Click any image to zoom in :o)

Currently reading: Losing Our Virtue By David F. Wells



tags: Biblical Christianity

Changes coming

I've decided to downsize. Sort of.

Over the next little while (hours? days? dunno) I'm going to merge my photoblog & my store blog (which no one ever reads anyway) right here into this blog.

That means a few more items in the sidebar, lots more pics (I'm rabid with a camera) and new product announcements right here, whenever I create a new graphic or carry new items in my store.

I'm doing this simply because I don't want to maintain any more blogs than I have to. I thought it would be better to have a seperate site/blog for each, but it's not.

So, I just thought I'd let you all know what's going on, when you start seeing things here that seem out of the ordinary. (Other than the usual out of the ordinary stuff, that is).
Currently reading: Losing Our Virtue By David F. Wells



tags: Biblical Christianity

My friend is home from her trip! My friend is home from her trip! My friend is... okay, you get the idea.


Currently reading: Losing Our Virtue By David F. Wells



tags: Biblical Christianity

You are what you eat?

I have no idea (honestly) how this happened, but I ended up in the weirdest place today. What's more, you all know who this is.



Be sure to read all the articles there. If you get queasy, you might want to skip this. I think the only reason I could read it, is because I'm already sick.

Currently reading: Losing Our Virtue By David F. Wells



tags: Biblical Christianity

This little busted light of mine...

It would be fairly easy this morning to sit here and lament about rotten I feel. But I'm not going to do that. Instead, I'm going to address something else rotten.

Finally this morning I was able to listen to Thursday's Dividing Line.

I heard a sound clip on the show from another radio show, that just really made me shake my head.

The sound clip was the host of the other show answering a question. In regards to how men come to Christ this well known radio personality actually said we have some amount of "light" and that light allows us to walk into more "light". While he did affirm that God directs our steps (Pr. 16:9), it is somehow dependant on this "light" that we have to begin with that enables us to realize we need more light, then make that decision to seek the path with more light.

No, I am not making this up, and yes, he did over-use "light" the same way I just did.

While I sat here shaking my head only one word came to mind:

HORSEFEATHERS

I don't know why, but it continually amazes me that these well-educated, well-studied, nationally known "Christian" celebrity types, keep saying the most ridiculous things, and people just eat it up like it's candy.

So, do we have a light that enables us to seek more light? NO.

Every human being since the fall of Adam is born spiritually dead. No man, woman, boy or girl has ever followed Christ because they flipped on their own light and said to themselves "hey, this light is allowing me to see that I need more light, I think I need to follow Jesus".

Nope, wrong, didn't and will never happen.

We must be quickened, regenerated, given life, born again, before we ever have the ability to see our own sinful nature AND the need for forgiveness AND the godly sorrow that leads to repentance.

That quickening comes from the Holy Spirit. Not us.

This is basic Bible. And yet you've got Joe Famous on these nationally syndicated radio shows yammering on about our own light & more light & blah blah blah.

I really get annoyed with this kind of thing. Does it show?

Ugh.

I have pancakes to make. It's raining, and the cat is out of cat food. Might be a good day to go back to bed, eh?

Currently reading: Losing Our Virtue By David F. Wells



tags: Biblical Christianity

Makes sense to me

We all get heavier as we get older because there's a lot more information in our heads.

So I'm not fat, I'm just really intelligent and my head couldn't hold any more so it started filling up the rest of me!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

(sent to me last night by my friend Debi, who knows how important it is to be able to laugh at ourselves!)

Currently reading: Losing Our Virtue By David F. Wells



tags: Biblical Christianity

Yeah, what HE said!

Do you ever read a blog post or an article on the web that makes you think "wow, I wish I'd said that"? How about one that makes you think "wow, how did they tape our conversations without us ever knowing it!?" Sometimes other folks write the very things you have discussed privately in your own home, with such precision and accuracy, it's almost spooky. Sometimes they even use the very words and phrases you have used.

Steve Camp did this today. I'm not entirely convinced Steve doesn't have surveillance equipment stashed in our game room closet. I might even need to go check, when I'm done writing this. (if it's a video feed I'll be sure and make a goofy face for the camera).

His post today was on the T4G Affirmations and Denials - Final Version that has now been posted at their site. While Steve's comments were more directly focused on the statement itself, I'd like to go a little bit more of a general direction, in regards to some of the things he said.

Steve:

"As I was reading the T4G Statement I began asking myself a series of questions. The first one being a general and practical one that pertains to us especially who “live daily” in the blogosphere: is it right in the public arena to pose questions about what anyone may assert about the Christian faith? What if this involves those whom you admire (like the brothers mentioned above)? What if they are friends or co-laborers in ministry or that are the leading “names” of our day? Is it proper to voice an opinion through the lens and plumbline of Scripture if that opinion is different or in direct conflict with theirs? IOW, are some exempt from public scrutiny concerning doctrine? Does the standard apply to all or just to some? And should some be given a pass because they have faithfully served the Lord for many years?"

When I read that I couldn't be more struck with how many times Kev and I, and other friends have asked those same questions, and spent hours discussing this very topic. It's been said (by me and many others) that it seems it's okay to publicly voice criticism of the TBN folks, but when it comes to the men (and women) in our "camp", if anyone does publicly criticize or question something they've said, taught or wrote, you get the "how dare you!?" treatment. It is a double standard that shouldn't exist, but it does. If it's not wrong to voice concern over TBN doctrine (and I use them only as an example, there are many sources of highly questionable doctrinal teachings), then it similarly should not be wrong to voice concerns over the doctrinal positions that some of our favorites or "heros" hold to. One friend says about this "there is no such thing as a free pass, I don't care how solid they are in other areas". That pretty much sums it up for me as well.

Steve goes on to answer his own questions with Scripture and his own words of caution:

The clear answer came through the words of the Apostle Paul: “Examine all things; cling to what is good” (1 Thess. 5:21); “Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so” (Acts 17:11). Careful testing of all that represent the Lord and His truth, including myself, must submit to and welcome the constructive criticisms and probing questions from any believer in the Lord acting as a “Berean.”

I've highlighted the latter part of this statement because I believe it to be so very important. The moment any one thinks they are above question, beyond critique, and/or 100% solid in 100% of their doctrine, they've crossed the Pride Line. While we certainly can be sure of certain things, and while these things are without question according to Scripture, we need to be extremely cautious when approached by someone with questions or critique. Cautious that we don't instantly go on the defensive and refuse to receive what it is they have to say. Always remembering, faithful are the wounds of a friend.

One of the other things Steve mentions in this post is something that has come up time and time again:

"Today, one of the concerns within evangelicalism is that many of these heresies mentioned above were not born in the womb of local church ministry and leadership, but in the halls of academia and scholarship. The seminaries have virtually no accountability to the local church or local church leadership today and it is troubling."

The heresies that he mentions are things like the Emergent Church, Open Theism, New Perspectivism of Paul, Sabellianism, Pragmaticism, etc. Is it any wonder that these movements or teachings are being so widely entertained? Where did they come from? Who and what is the primary influence that fuels these teachings/movements/worldviews?

It's not the local, physical, Bible teaching church, I can tell you that. Solid churches teach Biblical doctrine. This does not mean that every seminary out there is bad, or even partly bad. Nor does it mean that I'm down on seminaries. Quite the opposite in fact, I think they're a great option for those that are blessed to find themselves in one. I know many humble servants of the Lord that greatly appreciate their seminary training & education.

Unfortunately, many of these folks are the same people I've heard first hand accounts from, about the liberal, unbiblical & heretical garbage being peddled in these same schools. If those words sound harsh, it's because the teachings themselves are the kinds of things that deceive people, draw them away from a Biblical worldview and a Biblical understanding of the very doctrines that we say we hold so dear.

Steve's statement here is something that should not be overlooked:

"Scripturally, the duty was given to the local church to train “faithful men to teach others.” IOW, the most complex truths of the Bible were given to mostly uneducated people and they were expected to understand, comprehend, apply and live according to its truths. "

Then asks this very important question:

"Beloved, if the Apostle Paul who penned infallible, eternal truth writing thirteen of the twenty-seven N.T. epistles under the superintending of the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:16ff) willingly invites examination by others, how much more should any of us, all of us in public ministry welcome it even if it comes in the form of a corrective exhortation, passionate disagreement, gentle encouragement, or in the language of debate?"

A very good question indeed. One that will no doubt pierce through the facade of pride that any genuine believer might have erected (even unwittingly). One that causes me to really take notice of how I react (whether openly or privately in my thoughts) when I'm questioned or receive critique. For me personally, it hasn't been easy to receive correction - all the more reason to really pay close attention to this specific area of growth.

Steve makes some closing comments about this specific issue:

"We must guard our words and bathe them in a heart of Christian love and grace, but we must speak the truth and not shrink from our duty to represent the whole counsel of God. As Proverbs says, “faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.” I submit to you my brothers and sisters, that it is a sign of deep Christian charity that we continually examine our Christian leaders and what they are teaching for “teachers are subject to a stricter judgment.” And to ignore this duty, is to not operate in Christian love, but self-preservation, political posturing, and timidity."

I couldn't have said it better, if I tried. And I wont.

Thank you Steve, may the message be heard far and wide among the household of faith.


Currently reading: Losing Our Virtue By David F. Wells



tags: Biblical Christianity

This one's for the birds, literally

Do you like birds? Do you live in Southern Ontario?

If yes, or even if no, I'd like to tell you about birds in Southern Ontario.

I'm no expert (Kev's the bird ID guy) but I sure love to watch them, learn their names & photograph them when I can. Bird photography is a tricky thing, especially with those wee little guys that don't hold still very long.

It's often rather difficult to get things done around here, especially in May. This is the month that so many of the spring migrants show up, and if we're not careful we can find ourselves glued to the window, watching the action at the feeders. (Sorta like I've been doing all morning).

The hummingbirds return about this time every year, and we're very much looking forward to that. This is the 4th spring we've been here, and last year was the busiest time at the hummingbird feeders we've had yet. It's VERY hard to take a picture of a hummingbird, but I've managed to get a few (mostly with my Minolta 35mm, for me it's a lot harder to get a good shot with my digital camera).

In any event, here are some good tips & sites for getting into backyard birding & attracting birds to your place.

We currently have around 12 feeding stations. I'd have to go outside and actually count them, I've sort of lost track. Between suet cages, regular feeders & hummingbird feeders, I think there's 12. We also have 2 Oriole stations. Those are easy, just pop a nail into your windowsill and stick a half of an orange there. Works every time. One orange will last about a week before they've devoured it.

Some of our feeders contain mixed seed, and others are black oil sunflower seed.

Our suet cages hold peanut butter suet & the woodpeckers just love it.

Our hummingbird feeders are simple dollar store feeders, with a mixture of sugar & water. One part sugar to 4 parts water. We take them down & clean them and change the water once a week.

In southern Ontario, there is a really nice discussion/sightings forum you can go to, for bird ID help, see who's in your area, pictures, and other neat stuff. This site is fairly new, and is an offshoot of this site. I much prefer the new site/format. If you go there, you'll even see that I've posted a few times. :o)

Another really neat site is the Long Point Bird Observatory sightings board. Long Point is located at the very southern tip of Ontario, right on lake Erie. Each week from spring to fall, they actually "trap" birds, band them, id them, give them a little health check up and report the numbers. Then they let them go.

Lest you think this trapping sounds cruel, I assure you it's not, we've been there several times & watched them do it. They have many, long, fine nets that are strung in the wooded area behind the banding station. From very early in the morning they begin collecting the little birds in the nets, in cloth bags (one bird per bag). I'm not sure how often they do it but I think it's about every 15 minutes they go back out and collect birds. The banders then gently remove the bird from the bag and do a little health check up. Male or female, approximate age, etc. Then they band the bird, and let it go out the little chute. It's a very cool process to watch, and if you've never seen anything like it, you need to go! Be sure to take the kids, they'll love it. And it's FREE. Go have a look at their site.

One of the best sites I've ever found on backyard birding, is the All About Birds guide, from the Cornell Lab of Orinthology.

For example, if you were wondering about Bo up there, you'd scroll down the alphabetic guide to Baltimore Oriole, and you'd end up here.

With a menu:


Description
Sound
Conservation Status
Other Names
Cool Facts
Full detailed species account



Not only is this a great site to help you learn about the birds right in your own backyard, but it's a blast for kids too! If your kids are as curious as ours, be careful. You might spend way more time there than you ever planned to, listening to all the different bird sounds & reading cool facts about birds.

Another really good part of this site is learning how to attract birds:

• Feeding Wild Birds The way to a bird's heart is through its stomach! Learn about bird feeders, types of food, and more.
• Nest Boxes Home, sweet home—attract birds by giving them a place to raise their young.
• Other Attractants Bring the birds in by providing water, roost boxes, nest material, and more.
• Landscaping for Birds Learn about the best things to plant and other ways to make your property a magnet for birds.
• Challenges What to do when things don't go as expected: window collisions, sick, dead, or unusual birds, nuisance birds, and more.

So there you have it, birding 101. Enjoying birds & learning about them is a really fun thing for the whole family. You can plan day hikes or picnics in local birding hotspots (which we do) and just make it a real enjoyable time.

Have a great Friday!
:o)



Currently reading: Losing Our Virtue By David F. Wells



tags: Biblical Christianity

Inconceivable!

How can you tell that a woman who is normally analytical, reasonable & practical, is teetering on the brink of sheer madness?

When she briefly considers painting her toenails, instead of making dinner.

Yes, I did that.

Instead, I made dinner, then went outside and refilled the garden pond. Then I took my 7 yr old's bike out of the garage, fixed the front rim, extended the seat, oiled the chain & adjusted the pedals.

I must be sick, I've turned into Carla "The Toolman" Rolfe. I think I liked the painted toenail idea better.

Maybe tomorrow.
Then I'll give my own bike a tune up & ride down the dirt road with my painted toenails.

If only I could get this 50 pound cactus out of my throat first.


Currently reading: Losing Our Virtue By David F. Wells



tags: Biblical Christianity

Mishy Mash

For different folks today, depending on their circumstances, this is a really fantastic day.

For Tim and Aileen, it's a beautiful, wonderful day, filled with joy and thanksgiving. I'm so happy for them I could pop.

For Matty & his lovely wife, it's a day filled with anticipation, as they await the arrival of their brand new bundle of joy.

For me, it's just Sick Thursday.

Last weekend Jessica was in closed quarters for the weekend with lots of other kids. She came home Saturday night & by Sunday morning she wasn't feeling well. By Monday, she couldn't even talk, her throat hurt so bad. She's easy to find though, as she's left a trail of wadded up tissue all over the house. She communicated by hand written notes for a couple of days, so there are still a few of those laying around as well.

Just as she started to feel a little better yesterday, I noticed my throat felt odd. I knew it was coming. By the time I went to bed last night, I knew I was toast. When I woke up this morning I medicated it with a hot cup of coffee. Coffee is medicine, right?

A friend called early this morning and that was (likely) my last conversation for a while. Speaking hurts, and I've got a bit of a cough too. The kind that feels like steel wool in the throat. Yay! The excitement never ends around here, I'm tellin ya.

I did manage to finish a new design for my store, however.

About that t-shirt...



(Click each shirt to see the graphic enlarged)

Click here, to check out all 21 different Evangelical T's, hoodies & tanks.

Buy one for yourself, buy one for a friend, buy one for Frank or Campi.
Just buy one already!
:o)

As for me, I need an Industrial Strength Halls. Do they make those?


Currently reading: Losing Our Virtue By David F. Wells



tags: Biblical Christianity

Here's what some customers have to say about my stuff...

Have you browsed my store and thought... "hmm... this stuff is pretty cool, but I dunno about all this online shopping business"?? Of course you have, we all think that way about online shopping.

Well, to give you at least a little peace of mind, here are some customer comments (which are also at the store's blog):

A rock star needs to look his best,

and I sure do in my new T-shirt!

Mylo Hatzenbuhler

Strasburg, ND Music Icon and The Original Rock & Roll Farmboy

I love wearing my new Homeschool Mom hat and 5 solas
cami from Reflections.

Fantastic on-line service and quick delivery of top-notch merchandise!!! Great place to buy gifts for others, too!

Lisa from Deo Volente

"The shirt arrived less than a week after I ordered it -- about the quickest service I've ever had from an online merchant; it looks just fine, and it fits great! Count me a satisfied customer." Clyde Bauman, Bismarck, ND

"I bought the cardinal and wolves throw pillows and I love them. I have a "lodge theme" in my family room and they're perfect. The black background makes the picture pop, and keeps the pillows looking clean. They fluff up very nicely, even after being used as roll-up pillows by the grandkids!" Kathy Ungren, Belfair WA

Have you ordered anything from Reflections? Would you like to share a customer comment or picture of you wearing/using/showing off what you ordered? I'd love to hear from you, and use your picture at the storefront or at the store's blog (with your permission of course!)

Lest you think we're some fly by night outfit, rest assured that even famous people shop here! I have it on good authority that famous people don't shop at bad stores. I read that on a blog once, so it must be true. Right?

Not only that, but even very small people shop at Reflections! (Okay no they don't, their moms do, but who's counting?) As you can see here by this angel named Ruth:

So what do you say? Send me your pics, send me your customer comments! I'd love to hear from you. :o)

Currently reading: Losing Our Virtue By David F. Wells



tags: Biblical Christianity

Confessions of an Evangelical?

Over the last couple of years, I've noticed more and more that there are quite a few folks taking issue with the word "evangelical". To this group it means this, to another group it means that, and this person doesn't like the connotation for this reason, and that other person over there doesn't like the word for some other reason.

Twice yesterday I heard & read this come up again. Once in a chat room, and the other time over at Campi's blog. Campi said this:

As a Protestant Reformed Christian (I refuse to be known as an evangelical anymore) I believe that the cure for the moral suasion of our day is the proclamation of the gospel, the preaching and teaching of God’s Word and then living in obedience to its truth by the grace and indwelling work of the Holy Spirit. (read the whole thing, it's very good)

The lady in the chat room that mentioned it, expressed disdain for it's liberal use in Christendom in that it's become a useless, meaningless word, covering all sorts of ecumenical bases.

I know and understand why Campi isn't big on the word, and I can certainly understand the point the lady from chat brought up.

However, I'm going to be a rebel and say this...

I like this word, it's a fine word and it has a fine definition. I say we take back the word, make signs, protest and wear t-shirts! Okay I'm just kidding about the political rally. (But maybe a t-shirt isn't such a bad idea, eh? :o) I'll send Campi one, on the house!)

In all seriousness, I really do like this word. I like what it means in the literal sense, and I like what it means in the Biblical sense. What I don't like, is how the definition of words change & render them pointless.

Literally, evangelical means this:

Evangelical: Of, relating to, or being a Christian church believing in the sole authority and inerrancy of the Bible, in salvation only through regeneration, and in a spiritually transformed personal life. (dictionary.com)

There are actually 6 definitions there, but this one was the closest to the Biblical meaning of the word.

Biblically, an evangelical is simply someone who has been supernaturally quickened by the Holy Spirit, believes the gospel to be true, and shares that gospel message with the lost.

Phillip was called the evangelist in Acts 21:8. He did the work of an evangelist (a bringer of good tidings). He was, an evangelical man.

This same word is used again here:

Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ

And here:

1Tim. 4:5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

Simply said, an evangelical (a Biblial one) is one that brings the good news of Jesus Christ, to the lost. The only people that can genuinely and Biblically qualify for this role, are people who have been born again themselves, know how good this good news really is, and have a desire in their own hearts to bring this wonderful news to those who do not know Him yet.

My Greek is a bit primitive, but I'll do my best to break this down in the most simple way. The word evangelist comes from the basic Greek euaggelizo.

Eu: to be well off, fare well, prosper
aggelos: a messenger, envoy, one who is sent, an angel, a messenger from God

In the KJV, this word euaggelizo is used 52 times to define what a believer is doing when he is preaching, proclaiming, declaring and bringing the good news of the gospel of Christ. He's being a messenger of glad tidings, preaching Christ to the lost. He is an evangelical.

Whatever the world thinks an evangelical is, whatever liberal, political, hyper-extreme "Christianity" thinks an evangelical is, there is only one meaning that really matters. That meaning can be twisted, flipped upside down, misused, misunderstood and whatever else, but the Biblical meaning of the word doesn't change. It still and will always mean:

The glad tidings of the coming kingdom of God, and of the salvation to be obtained in it through Christ, and of what relates to this salvation.

I don't mind at all, being called an evangelical. By His grace alone, I am one.

Now... about that t-shirt... :o)

Currently reading: Losing Our Virtue By David F. Wells



tags: Biblical Christianity

This matters, please don't skip by it

I would like to draw your attention to something that really, really matters.

I have a blogger on my bloglines that doesn't update very often. I almost removed her today, for this very reason. I thought maybe she had just quit blogging, as that tends to happen.

I'm really glad I didn't remove her, because she updated today and shares her farewell to her mother.

Please take 2 minutes out of your blog reading to swing by her blog, and leave Jennifer a word of comfort and encouragement. After not seeing my own mom for so many years, and having just spent a great time with her visiting, this really speaks very close to home for me.




Currently reading: Losing Our Virtue By David F. Wells



tags: Biblical Christianity

Whine, snivel, grumble, grumble...

I had a really long post here earlier this morning. It was about suffering, and how most of us (me included) are very selfish, and would just as soon not suffer, for any reason.

I saved it to draft to finish later, then decided to simply nuke it. I have nothing to add to this topic that hasn't already been said, and said far better than I could ever say it.

I'm not exactly sure what a blue funk is, but I'm pretty sure I'm in one. I think it's a combination of just being female, having cabin fever, and being tired of my feet being cold. I want to be barefoot and I want to discard my old-lady-sweater (as my mom calls it). I have many old-lady-sweaters, and I wear them all winter long.

I want summer.

I want to leave the windows open all night & hear coyotes calling in the distance. I want to sit on the deck at sunset and dodge bats. I want to watch fireflies as they flitter through the corn. I want to lay in the grass at midnight and watch shooting stars. I want a tall glass of peach iced tea, with tons of ice. I want to throw myself in the pool and play keep away with the cheapo dollar store beach ball with the kids. I want a barbequed (read: burnt) hot dog with a side of fresh fruit salad. I want to remove the three comforters from my bed and replace them with the light chenille bedspread.

And in 3 months when it's 92 degrees and so humid my wood furniture is melting, I'll be whining again for cooler temps.

Women... there's just no happy middle, is there?

Currently reading: Losing Our Virtue By David F. Wells



tags: Biblical Christianity

Strange Baptist Fire

I guess it was about a year ago, someone sent me this link: www.baptistfire.com. They commented along the lines of "you've gotta see this, you're not going to believe it". I went & read, and at first just assumed it was someone's idea of a rather twisted joke. You know, some rather unfunny parody.

However, the more I read, the more obvious it became that these people were serious. What I read there reminded me very much of dealing with people in chat over the years, that had no idea what Calvinism is, but went on about railing against it anyway. No matter how many times you tried to explain to them what the doctrines of grace are, they acted as if you'd never said a word.

A few of my friends talked about the site & some folks even wrote about a few things that were there, but that was pretty much it.


Until now :o)

You might recognize some of these names: Dustin S. Segers, Evan May, Gene M. Bridges, Nathan White & Timmy Brister.

These men are the contributors to a brand new site, dedicated to addressing the content at baptistfire.com. You'll find that site right here.

I'm glad this is happening. I'm glad these men have taken this responsibility on, to address what's coming out of baptistfire.com. May the Lord bless this endeavor with His grace & truth and may He be glorified in it all.



Currently reading: Losing Our Virtue By David F. Wells



tags: Biblical Christianity

Kid Stuff

This past weekend when our weekly sale papers came, Jordan and I sat down and browsed through them. Both of us spotted the WalMart paper at the same time, and the coolest looking yard item on the front page. This fancy looking thing is a Six Flags Banzai Falls Waterslide. Before I could even say anything Jordan looked at me with the most sincere look she could come up with, and said "mom, it's important that we have one of these for our yard, the whole family could play on this and have a lot of fun". There was no way I could disagree with her on that. Now if they'd only lower the price to a realistic level, then every family could have one and summer would be a lot more fun.


This got me to thinking, however. When I was a little girl, I secretly wanted to grow up and be a theme park designer. I had never been to Disneyland (until I grew up) but I had spent many hot summer afternoons in the cool woods of Never Never Land, and that had a pretty significant impact on me. No one knows how much I wished how our own yard looked like this! I wanted to live there, and might have if someone would have said I could.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I filed away the thought that when I grew up and had kids, I'd have things like this in our yard.

As much as I've tried over the years, it never really worked out that way. We've had little houses, swingsets & pools, but I've never been able to really make our yard look the way I'd like it to. I think I'd like some combination of The Secret Garden, Never Never Land, and a waterpark. :o) Nothing too elaborate, just good fun.

I think part of the reason I've always wanted to do this, is because childhood is too short, and should be filled with massive amounts of FUN. These are the things that fantastic memories are made of, when we grow up and take on (usually) far more responsibilities than we should. At no other time in your life (except maybe if you bonk your head as an adult) can you run through the yard in your swimsuit going from swings, to pool, down the slip & slide then back to the swings, as if you're pretending you're in a world famous sporting event. At no other time in your life can you let your popsicle melt down your forearm & drip on your knees & the tops of your bare feet, while you sit in the grass and tell stories or watch fireflies.

Childhood is over so quickly, and if it's filled with great memories, that's a wonderful way to launch into your adulthood. Unfortunately, I've not been able to shield all of my kids from painful childhoods, as the three older girls lost their daddy when they were very young. Even with that, we did try very hard to make every other aspect of childhood a pleasant & fun filled, memorable time.

Kids just grow up way too fast. If we give them lots of ways to enjoy being kids, while they are kids, I think that's a good thing.

And if you live in the greater Puget Sound area, and you've never been or never taken your kids to Never Never Land, Fort Nisqually, or the Point Defiance park or beach, you need to go!


Currently reading: Losing Our Virtue By David F. Wells



tags: Biblical Christianity

On being churchless

Someone once told me that the more you grow in Christ, the more you study your Bible, and the more the deeper doctrines of Scripture are revealed to you, the harder it will be for you to find a church, should you suddenly find yourself without one.

At first, that sounded sort of arrogant to me. As if to say that somehow a person might find themselves to be superior, or smarter than the average Christian in a local church. The more I thought about it however, the more I realized that it's not about being (or feeling) superior or smarter at all.

It's about convictions.

Kev and I once left a church (and never returned) where the associate pastor stood in the pulpit on a Sunday morning and while laughing said "boy, aren't you glad Christ didn't just die for the elect!?". Mocking those who hold to limited atonement, or particular redemption, right there from the pulpit. That comment went right over the heads of all but 4 people in that church. Kev and I were 2 of the people. The other 2 left shortly thereafter.

The thing is, there was a lot to like about that church. We'd been going there for about a year at this time so we'd spent a pretty good amount of time getting to know what they believed, and getting to know the people. We knew they didn't hold to the sovereignty of God the way we did, but it wasn't until that mocking statement came that Sunday morning that we learned just how much they rejected it, and made fun of those who did hold to it.

As we walked across the parking lot to the van that morning, I said to Kev "how can we justify being in a church, and having these kids in a church learning things we disagree with, just to take them home and unteach those things?". It would be one thing if these were little things, inconsequential, trivial or non-doctrinal things. But they weren't, they were huge things. Things that matter. Sound Biblical doctrine matters.

After a long talk that day, and a longer talk the next night in Bible study with the other couple that also took exception with the statement, we made the decision to begin looking for a new church.

That was 7 years ago.

Looking back over those 7 years I can tell you we've been without a home church more often than we've been with one. It's not something to be proud of or excited about. It's a miserable position to be in.

We did find a great church not too long after this previous incident, and we loved it. Solid on the doctrines of grace, excellent preaching, great people. We loved it, the kids loved it, and from the very first visit we knew this was the church we'd been hoping to find. Kev's rotating work schedule made us unable to attend every Sunday, and then add to that pregnancy issues, kids being sick, the rising cost of gas... and the result was our attendance was only sporadic. When we moved, it made it even harder to keep attending this church, as much as we loved it and did keep trying.

This brings me to 2 years ago. We made the decision (as hard as it was) to find a church closer to home. We didn't want to stop going to this other church, but it was 45 minutes away, and that brought with it many other issues (cost of gas, kids who get carsick & not being able to be there every Sunday anyway).

We began a diligent search for a church closer to home. Kev called every church in the local phone book, to speak with the pastors. It was a complete strike out. Two women pastors, one united (liberal & ecumenical) church, one Presbyterian, one Lutheran and 2 Mennonite churches. None of them held to what we believe, and attending any of them would mean we'd have to set aside what we believe to be true according to Scripture. We couldn't do that, nor could we justify putting the kids into a church that taught contrary to what we believe. (No personal offense to any of the above groups, but if you're a regular you already know I'm a Baptist that holds to the 5 points).

The comment "the more you study the Scriptures, the harder it will be to find a local church, should you suddenly become without one" rang out in my head. Now I understood what that really meant.

Eventually we did find a little Baptist church just down the road from us, where the pastor also held to the 5 points. This church would never be mistaken for a Calvinistic Baptist, or reformed Baptist church, but at least the pastor was a 5 pointer and that was good enough for us. We began attending Father's Day 2004. Over the next 16 months, much good came from being in this little church. We became members, and Kev and Jessica were both baptized. Kev was able to give his conversion testimony, to a full house on a Sunday night. The kids met other kids their age and made many new friends. Kev still worked an odd schedule, so on the Sundays he worked, the pastor came and picked up myself and the kids (that is, if none of us were sick). Almost every Sunday at least some of us were in church. It was good, and it was the way it should be, for a family of believers.

Last fall things changed, and changed dramatically. Kev, Jessica and myself had all begun to notice little things here and there that screamed rather loudly of the kind of influence that wasn't good. Influences that I speak of are of the same category that I write about in opposition to, at Emergent No. Liberalism, ecumenicism, postmodernism and the like. Kev spoke to the pastor (on more than one occaision) and he shared the same concerns. What we didn't know at the time, was that he knew more about the influences than we did, and they were a lot stronger than even we realized.

The church no longer wanted our pastor there. He wanted a simple church that held to the doctrines of Scripture. He wanted Bible preaching, Bible teaching, and in his words "a Baptist church that held to the Bible". That's not what the congregation wanted, and began to pressure him to leave. They wanted trendy, authentic, modern, programs, and fresh new ways of "doing church". It worked, and in late fall last year, our pastor was gone. (I've since learned that several others have also left that chuch, for very similar reasons).

Kev and I prayed about it, talked about it, and prayed about it more, and knew that we couldn't stay there either. To do so, would be to set aside what we know to be true, as if it doesn't matter. Compromising on sound doctrine for the sake of being in a local church, simply wasn't something we could do. It was a very difficult decision, especially for the kids. They're too young to really understand it all.

So, for the past 4 months we're again churchless. We had hopes of returning to the church that we really liked, but the cost of gas says no, we cannot afford that. So we're back to looking for a solid, Biblical church in our area. We've scanned the phone books again, done web searches, talked to folks, and it's pretty much a wash up, for now. We're not giving up hope that there isn't a church out there somewhere that we just haven't been made aware of yet.

The irony of it all is, if we lived 30-40 miles east, we'd have plenty of options of solid, 5 point Baptist churches. Yet where we live, there is nothing. There's something terribly wrong with that. It'd be a perfect place for a church plant. To my knowledge, there has never been a 5 point Baptist church out here, so this isn't news to anyone in this area.

At any rate, I've posted this (and left out quite a few details, obviously) so that you all might join us in prayer in our search for a new church. More than anything, we want to join once again with the household of faith and have our family in church every week. In the interim, Kev teaches us a Bible lesson or preaches a mini-sermon, we sing hymns and pray for one another, on Sunday morning. We sometimes listen to live sermons from a friends church, off the internet. We do what we can to make Sunday mornings at home, our church at home. But it's definitely not the same as worshipping with the saints, and all of us really miss it.

With the increasing infuence of postmodernism, mysticism, and various and sundry other unbiblical junk infiltrating churches these days, we don't expect that this new search for a solid church is going to be any easier than last time. It's not a situation we ever wanted to be in (again) but here we are, all the same.

The idea of moving is something Kev and I have talked about, but are not prepared to do, just yet. We're not prepared to give up on this are just yet, as we hope we can find a good church here where we are.

So, if you would remember us in prayer, we'd sure appreciate it.


Currently reading: Losing Our Virtue By David F. Wells



tags: Biblical Christianity

You artistic types are all alike

As I sit here and ask myself "self, why in the world are you still awake on a school night at 12:41 am!?" the only answer I can come up with is "a creative burst".

I've had several new graphic ideas rolling around in my imagination for the last couple of weeks, and they decided to burst out tonight. :o) I only have this one actually ready for purchase, and you can find that here in Just for Girls.

I do have a few other thought-marbles rolling around in my head as well, but no time tonight to explore them. Maybe this week I'll address the two that are most prominently in mind: being churchless & David Wells' Losing our Virtue. I'm not done with the book yet but did carve out some decent reading time last night.

Now it's wayyyyy past my bedtime so I'm outta here!

Currently reading: Losing Our Virtue By David F. Wells



tags: Biblical Christianity