The Family and the Church

A decision

2010-09-29T16:32:00.001-07:00

All future chapters will be posted at betty.tracyent.com

hope to see you there!

2010-06-17T15:51:00.001-07:00

Birth control

2009-10-20T15:47:00.000-07:00

What is the average American couple’s attitude towards babies? “A boy for me and a girl for you and praise the Lord we are all through.” Where exactly do you find this idea in the Bible? The fact is that nowhere in the Bible are children born to committed, God-fearing people anything but a blessing from God. How many Christian couples even pray about how many children God wants them to have? It is clear from scripture that God can and does open and close the womb. It is also clear that God loves humans and the devil hates them. Who would be most likely to want to keep families as small as possible? Who is most likely behind the idea of small families for all? Why don’t we pray about this issue first like we do when deciding where to live, work, vacation or spend our money?

“A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

“It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep (You are wasting your time working to build a life if God isn’t in it. Next verse…)

“Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is His reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.

“Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.” Psalms 127:1-5

Planning your family without God is foolishness and a waste of time. We aren’t really in control of this issue anyway. No one is guaranteed to have children or more children. Life, ultimately, is created by God, not by the will of mankind. Now, we have to do our part of course. But God is in control. It is not an accident that infertility is at epidemic proportions in this society. God is not necessarily punishing couples by not giving them children (God certainly wasn’t punishing Sarah of old with her barrenness, but was using her to display His glory), but He is punishing our society as a whole for our attitude towards children and Him.
Can you imagine the church having this attitude towards new converts that we have towards children?

“We have enough people and don’t need anymore. What can we do to fix it so we don’t grow anymore?” How horrible!

The Bible says children are blessings and debt is a curse, yet we take medicines and have surgeries to avoid the blessings and apply for the curses. Something is not right here.

I wonder how long before this attitude does seep into the church about new converts. “More people would be too expensive (more Sunday school curriculum, bigger building, etc.), it would be too hard to train them, there are enough Christians in the world, etc.”

Yes, I know all the arguments. “We can’t afford more, it would be irresponsible, the world is over populated, I can’t handle more, I don’t want to destroy my health, etc.”

Let’s look at them…

“If it is God’s will, it is His bill.” You can afford whatever God wants you to afford. If children are a gift of God and God supplies our needs, God is bound by scripture to provide for those children He gives you.

Now, everyone I have heard say they can’t afford to take a chance of having more children by asking God His opinion on the number of children they should have are living a middle class lifestyle. So their actions say that they really mean “We can’t afford our fancy house, cars, clothes, and vacations if we have more children.” This may very well be true. God doesn’t want us to worship in the predominate religion of America known as Materialism. He just might give you enough children (if you let Him) to bring you down to a level where He becomes the most important thing in your life instead of your importance being in your standard of living and your image.

I am not saying everyone should have two-dozen children. I am saying we, the American church, have kicked God out of the bedroom. We don’t want to know what He thinks in this area so we don’t ask Him. We are afraid He will mess up our nice little, ordered world by telling us to do something like bring one more eternal human souls into the world than we planned on. It is almost like we think God is sitting up in heaven waiting for us to say “How many children should we have?” so that He can say “Bwahhhh (evil laughter)! Now I’ve got them. I get to ruin their lives with more babies!”

Does this bring us to “It would be irresponsible”? After all, we all look at the large family in the fast food restaurant and think “welfare mom!” Don’t tell me you never have. (I did. About eight children ago.) Our media and schools are too good at their brain washing for this to not be true. We need to get over what other people think. Easier said than done, I know.

Of course we all know that there are too many people on this planet. I mean, there have been whole books that have figured out that England will have food riots and America will have mass starvation; disease will be rampant everywhere, natural resources will skyrocket in price…oh, wait a minute. Those books were written more than forty years ago and set the date for these events to be in the 1980’s. I am writing this in 2009. I either missed all that or it never happened. In fact, the leading, none catastrophe news items this year has been “Everyone is too fat! We are all dieing of fat induced diseases like diabetes, heart disease, cancer, etc.” Natural resources (when adjusted for political meddling) are cheaper than ever in history. More people all over the planet are living better, healthier, longer lives. There is no evidence for the world being overpopulated. Just opinions.

The idea that the world is over populated stems from the idea that there is no God. If there is a God, and He is all knowing and loves human beings, why would He create a world without all the resources necessary to support all the lives that will be here in the course of history? Claiming we can not trust God to control our wombs in order to keep from running out of resources is a pretty big condemnation of God's wisdom, power, and love.

Technology is increasing FASTER than the world’s population. In fact, it may be that all those new minds that have entered the world in the last hundred years are responsible for that increase. More people mean more workers, more division of labor, more prosperity for everyone!

You will find the countries that have the biggest “population problem” are not the most densely populated countries (those would be Monaco, Hong Kong, Singapore, Gibraltar, and Vatican City. Not India, Ethiopia, China, nor any of the others you hear about when this subject is discussed.) The fact is that all the countries listed as having too many babies really have too many politicians! They are socialist and/or religious dictators. The common people in these countries equate babies with more workers and prosperity. The politicians are the ones killing each other off and blowing up food supplies. I say we have as many babies as possible and put limits on the number of politicians instead!

“I can’t handle more children.”

How do you know that? You may have been over stressed once while baby sitting more children, but baby sitting in no way resembles caring for your own.

Many people feel too stressed at two or three children to consider having more, also. I will reveal the best kept secret of large families: It gets easier after the fourth. Yes, that's what I said. It is easier after four. When my first child was born I had to entertain her, care for all of her physical needs, do all the house work, and cook all the meals. I was alone (at least until my husband got home from work). Stressville. Numbers two and three just added toddlers into the mix.

By the time my fourth was born I had other children old enough to really help around the house. I never had to worry about entertaining the little ones. I had time to really enjoy my baby! This is not saying I make my children slave all day. Yes, there is a lot of work to make a large family house run, but we have so many people working I have trouble giving them enough to do! (About an hour of chores and a total of an hour of straightening up spread out over the whole day per person working, total, in order to teach a proper work ethic.)

Babies seem to be a curse to us because we make them to be. ANY blessing can be turned into a curse if you try hard enough. We have all heard of people winning the lottery and being broke and declaring bankruptcy within five years. Humans are quite good at this.

11 ways to turn God's blessings into a curse.

1) Get mommy a career so she can resent any time her kids distract her from her "real" job.
2) Deliver your babies in a hospital. Just the atmosphere is so sterile and unnatural that it makes you want to avoid going there at all costs. And with the current c-section rate at 30+%, the very real chance of major abdominal surgury is enough to keep anyone form getting pregnant.
3) Stick your kid in daycare as soon as possible so they can't possibly bond with anyone and learn trust and security much less how to behave or work. Plus, since daycare kids have a much higher rate of ADHD and learning disabilities, this will make them even more of a pain.
4) Send your kids to government school so they can't learn your values or become more attached to you than to their peers. This will creat conflict in your home.
5) Buy your children every latest do-dad, beginning before they are born. You want to make sure they think they have to have what everyone else does. And the fastest way to make something into a curse is to hit your pocket book.
6) Dress your children in fashionable clothing. Looking like everyone else makes them think like everyone else, encourages rebellion and will cost you thousands of dollars to boot.
7) Set them in front of the TV every waking moment. This warps the brain and molds attitudes into the image of the Hollywood snobs.
8) Never teach them to obey, use manners, or control themselves. Then you won't be able to stand being in the same room.
9) Don't teach them to work so you will be expected to be their slave.
10) Make sure you tell everyone you meet what awful kids you have and how awful parenthood is. This will reinforce the sentiment in your brain. And if said in front of your children, so much the better. That will instill a spirit of rebellion in them.
11) Don't love your mate. You must make sure your children have no examples of love to confuse them.

12 ways to turn a curse into a blessing.
1) Mommy determines that caring for her children IS her career, and strives to do the best job possible at it. (Could there possibly be a more important career than raising citizens for the kingdom of God?)
2) Deliver your babies at home (if health permits). Pregnancy is not an illness. The normal atmosphere of the home reduces stress (and exposure to deadly germs!) and makes the whole event more enjoyable and far less dangerous.
3) Keep your children at home with you. This promotes bonding and security in little minds.
4) Teach your children yourself. This gives you the opportunity to teach them your values as well as the added bonus of learning all the neat things you have always wanted to learn and never had the chance before.
5) Give them very little time with their peers. You want them dependent on their family not other little kids.
6) Provide them with plenty of siblings. Far more entertaining than toys and better for them.
7) Teach them to be discerning of what things are needs, what are wants and what are desires. Supply all their needs, some of their wants and few of their desires.
8) Buy second hand or low cost clothes. Actively teach them not to follow the crowd.
9) Do not let them watch much TV. Teach them to serve others and entertain themselves instead. This actually produces better attitudes and a great deal more entertainment for you as you watch them play.
10) Teach them to obey, use manners, and control themselves. Then everyone will love being in the same room with them.
11) Give them chores to do, gradually teaching them to run a household. This gives them a work ethic they will need in adulthood and relieves your work burden. In addition, it teaches them that they are worthwhile, important members of society. (Studies show that those who do chores as children are happier and richer as adults.)
12) Make sure you tell everyone you meet what wonderful, beautiful, brilliant children you have and how wonderful parenthood is. This will reinforce it in your brain.
13) Love your mate. If you do nothing else, this will make a vast difference in their lives.

I think a major cause of the rise in child abuse in the last couple of decades is that so many of us were raised in two child homes, then squirreled away into classrooms filled with people our own age. We have never really been around small children and have no idea how to treat them or what to expect. Many parents don't know you can expect to tell a two year old to do something and they will do it if you have taught them how.

I can see the difference between my oldest daughter and me, already, even though she is not yet a mother. When they first handed her to me in the hospital, I said "Hey! I'm a mommy…. Now what?" I didn't have a clue what to do with this new little person. Subsequently I made many mistakes due entirely to the fact that I didn't know anything about little kids.

My oldest, however, already knows how to hold a baby, play with a toddler, and comfort a preschooler. She knows what to expect from different children of different ages. She is going to be a far better mommy than I ever was.

“I don’t want to destroy my health.”
God designed our bodies to have many babies. In fact, science is beginning to prove that the natural break from monthly cycles provided to our bodies by pregnancy and nursing is very healthy (as healthy as working to make a church grow is to the congregation) and a cancer and osteoporosis preventative! One doctor observed (about fifty years ago when large families were more common) that all of his patients that had large families were strong healthy women. Those with small families were weak and sickly. He didn't know which came first, the strength or the children, but he leaned towards children causing mothers to be stronger. There may now be proof of this. It seems when a woman is pregnant, the baby leaves some of its cells behind after birth. These cells go to different places in her body and aid healing. Also, every baby you have lowers your risk of cancer by 7%. That is the way God designed us.

Besides, big families are FUN. There is always someone to play with and you are never lonely. I don't know what my hubby and I ever did for entertainment before children. Now we just enjoy sitting around and watching them play:-)

Note: This following chart was written during the time my hubby and I were deciding whether we would have more than two or three children. This is the actual list I made myself to help me decide.

Small Families

Can go to Disneyland, out to eat, go on vacation and other places more often.
Have newer clothes and more toys.
Have one room per child.
Provide solitude.
Can more easily afford college

Big Families
Always have someone who wants to "play with me."
Learn to share, cooperate, get along and work with a team.
Teach older children how to care for those younger and weaker than themselves. Younger children usually have nieces and nephews just the right age to learn on.
Are never lonely
Can more easily influence society.

A large family provides for my children companionship, servitude in the New Testament model, teamwork, and socialization (the right kind because I know what their playmates (siblings) have been taught).

A small family provides things and events.

We now have eight.

"Having five children in six years is the best
training in the world for Speaker of the House."
Nancy Pelosi

Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. Psalms 127:3-5

Let’s run some math; if the average Christian family has two children just like the sinners, then in an imaginary neighborhood with ten families, nine unsaved and one Christian, we would end up with eighteen sinners and two Christians in the next generation. If they each found someone just like themselves to marry and had two children, by the third generation we would have thirty-six sinners and four Christians- still a nine to one ratio.

Now, if the Christian family decides to let God control their family size and they have the historically normal seven children who find mates of like belief and have seven children each, by the third generation we have forty-nine new Christian adults to thirty-six sinners. Research says that it takes thrity-four Christians to win one sinner to God; so in the first neighborhood we have yet to have enough Christians to win one sinner while in the second we have one convert. By the fourth generation we would have 343 christians (not counting our convert) to seventy-two sinners; a ratio of 4.8 christians per sinner, or enough Christians to lead at least ten sinners to God. the numbers just get bigger as you go along.
There are, in fact, two ways to grow a church: bring in new converts throught the door, and bring new babies into the families of the church.

Both are equally valuable.

The Marriage Relationship

2009-10-15T09:36:00.000-07:00

How would you feel if your spouse said “I love you very much but I don’t have time to talk to you everyday. Not even for fifteen minutes.”? Not very loved, I am sure. How long would your marriage last under these circumstances?

Marriage is a symbol of our relation with God. How often do you talk to your Spiritual Hubby? Is it really too much to ask to give fifteen minutes of your time everyday? How do you expect to build a relationship with Him if you don’t?

Many say they are too busy for daily Bible reading and prayer. But how many hours do you spend in front of the TV everyday? Most Americans spend three to eight hours communing with the “Boob Tube” and none with God.

If you are in control of your own schedule (don’t slave for someone else) would fifteen minutes less work per day really make that much difference in how much you accomplish? Would fifteen minutes less sleep per day really make a difference in how rested you feel over all? And surly missing 15 minutes of TV time won’t kill you.

It doesn’t matter what comes out of your mouth. How you choose to spend your time will tell what is important to you.

In the same way, sex is important to a marriage. Women, the average sex act takes about 12 minutes. Surely you can afford that much time to give hubby what he needs. And, yes, men have a physical need for sex, much as we women have a physical need for our husbands to talk to us.

Sex (orgasim in men and cuddling in women) produces a hormone called Oxytocin. This hormone strenthens the heart physically and emotionally. It is known as the bonding hormone and is responsible for the overwhelming feeling of love a mother feels to her newborn baby. Everytime hubby has sex with his wife, his heart is knit to her in the same way. Women, denying hubby sex is much like shooting yourself in the foot. You are weakening his bond to you.

Wifey’s duty

2009-08-31T15:11:00.000-07:00

“Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and He is the savior of the body Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.” Ephesians 5:22-24

"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord." Colosians 3:18

"Likewise, ye wives, [be] in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation (life) of the wives;" 1 Peter 3:1

"That they (older women) may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, [To be] discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed." Titus 2

(Before anyone says we are not held to this anymore- that it is an archaic left over from the ancient days- let me point out that every one of these settings of scripture tells the hubby to love his wife sacrificially. Also, note the above scripture in Titus. If a woman is no longer required to obey her hubby and be a keeper at home, she is also no longer required to love him or the children, be discreet, chaste, or good. You can't take one word out and throw it away. You have throw the whole book out.)

Can you imagine the church daring to tell God “I think you are wrong and we should do things my way!” or “What about my rights? When do I get to do what I want?”

This is how many women treat their hubbies. God says to submit yourself to your hubby just like the church submits to God. This means that if you are not obeying hubby you are also disobeying God. Hubby is the boss in the family by Dvine appointment. It doesn’t matter if he is good at it or not, he is still the boss. And doing what he says only when you think he is right is not obeying, it is agreeing.

To obey, we must do what he wants cheerfully and promptly even when we think he is wrong. God will reward us for that obedience, even when our hubbies are wrong. We are not commanded to bear the burden of making the right decisions, just the burden of obeying.
This is actually very freeing and empowering. When you realize that God is telling us to honor Him by honoring hubby, we are no longer dependent on deciding whether hubby is right or in a good enough mood or fair or smart enough for us to go along with. We can choose to cheerfully obey God by cheerfully obeying and honoring hubby. We are no longer dependent on another human being for our mood and obedience to God.

Saying a woman should obey her hubby is in no way saying she is less inteligent. No one would dare to say the vice- president was less intellegent than the president just because he wasn’t the head guy. Nor would anyone say the secretary of a business is less inteligent than her boss. She just has a different job to do. In the same way, a wife is no less inteligent or valuble than hubby. She just has a different job to do. Much like the major’s job in the army is to advise and assist the general, or the manager’s job is to advise and assist the owner, a wife’s job is to advise and assist her husband.

When God made woman, He made her to be a helper to the man. She is to help her husband complete the assignments God has given him. If God blesses them with children, He has called them to raise spiritual warriors for Him. If God calls hubby to be a truck driver, He has called wifey to be a truck-driver’s wife. If He calls hubby to pastor, wifey is called to be a pastor’s wife. They are to work together as a team- hubby leading and wifey helping- to achieve the goals God has set before them.

Now, back to my statement; “Can you imagine the church daring to tell God “I think you are wrong and we should do things my way!” Did you know the church often does this?

Just like we women get our eyes off of what we are really called to do (submit to and help hubby) the church often gets its eyes off of its calling (submit to and help God.)

Most churches today have Sunday School programs, for example. If you point out that such programs are not biblical, that in fact, when corporate worship is mentioned in the Bible, it is the entire family worshiping together as one unit, they look at you like you are from a different planet. They then tell you of all the successful Sunday School programs they know of and how important it is to teach the children of the new convert or unsaved.

I agree it is important to do these things, just like it is important to clothe my children. But if I dress my children in the way that displeases my hubby, I am not doing my job. I am disobeying. When the church uses unbiblical means to teach the children who the Bible clearly tells parents to teach, we are in disobedience, no matter what our good intentions are.

Our churches should focus on doing things God’s way, not “the business way” or “the way it has always been done” or “the way we think it should be.” It is not our job to increase the church at any means. We (the church) are to love God (our Heavenly Hubby) and obey Him. He will send the increase.

This works the same way that it does in the natural family. If the wife wants to increase the family (she wants a baby), she doesn’t go out petitioning the neighborhood, or meditate on baby clothes. She loves on her hubby.

If we want to grow our churches, the primary step should be to love on our Hubby in Heaven, God. He will send the increase. Now again, I am not saying we shouldn’t go door to door or any of the other things that have been tried in church evangelism. Sometimes God tells us to do these things. And when He does, He will reward our obedience. But we shouldn’t be focusing on “programs” to increase the church like businesses do to increase customers. We should simply be obedient to God and be loving on Him.

Hubby’s duty

2009-08-17T15:50:00.000-07:00

Marriage is an object lesson for the church’s relationship with God.

Ephisians 5:25-33
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; …

Do you realize what God is telling men to do here? Christ did not want to die. He knew the pain and suffering the cross held for Him. He did not want to go. But He did anyway.

And from Jesus Christ… that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, Revelation 1:5

God tells men to be willing to DIE a torturous death for their wives! That is a pretty heavy command!

Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. Mat 13:46

This verse tells us that Christ thought we were valuable enough to “sell” all that He had to buy us. This goes along with ...

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price [is] far above rubies. Proverbs 31:10

We, the church, are as valuable to God as pearls or rubies. A good wife should be just as valuable to her husband; a very special treasure that he does all he can to protect from harm and present to the world in her best light.

(Ephesians 5:25-33 again) …That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,…

Sanctify=Hagiazō (hä-gē-ä'-zō
1) To render or acknowledge, or to be venerable or hallow
2) To separate from profane things and dedicate to god
A) Consecrate things to god
B) Dedicate people to god
3) To purify
A) To cleanse externally
B) To purify by expiation: free from the guilt of sin
C) To purify internally by renewing of the soul

A husband’s job is to cleanse, purify, make his wife holy, separate, dedicate her to God, free her from guilt. This is a tall order!

…That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot,...

Spots are spots of sin. It is the hubby’s job to lead his wife out of sin with the same kind of love Christ showed the church in leading her out of sin through His sacrifice. Now, every human must come to God on their own and no one can force another to accept Jesus. A husband cannot make his wife be a Christian. But he can do everything within his power to encourage her in the direction of righteousness. And if the wife is a Christian, hubby can lovingly point out areas of sin and help her overcome them. A husband is as responsible to provide for a wife spiritually as physically.

…or wrinkle, or any such thing;…

Wrinkles are caused by disuse. “If you put a shirt on a chair and piled a bunch of stuff on it and left it there it would wrinkle. Your wife will wrinkle if she doesn’t use her talents God gave her.” (Michael Pearl, Marriage God’s Way, DVD available at www.nogreaterjoy.com and store.breadoflifecf.com) It is a man’s job to make sure his wife uses her God-given talents just as Christ makes sure the church uses those gifts He gave her. He must provide the opportunity and resources for her to use those talents. God gave her those talents to help her husband achieve God’s goals in his life. It is like shooting yourself in the foot to not provide your wife with what she needs to develop them.

… but that it should be holy and without blemish.

So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of His flesh, and of His bones….

Men are to nourish and cherish their wives as much as their own bodies. Certainly, hubbys are to physically protect their wives.

But, what does this mean on a day-to-day basis? Men, you are to give up some of the things you like to do, even things you think are important, because your wife needs or wants to do something else. Even if you think it is silly or a waste of time and money. You are to make her needs a priority and sometimes what seems silly or a waste of time to you is very needed and important to her.

Don Aslett gives a good example of this in his book Who Says it is a Woman’s job to Clean. He asks men how many expensive, new power tools they have in their garage that they use once or twice per year at most. Then he asks about their wives old, cheap, broken vacuum she uses every day. Men, this is not “loving your wife as yourself.” Look around your house and see what your wife uses everyday. What condition is it in? What could you do to make her job easier? Put yourself in her place. What tools would you need to do her job that she doesn’t have?

(Now I am not saying you should tell her how to do her job. She has her own way of doing things and your way, though more logical to you, would not work for her. So unless she asks for advice, don’t tell her how she could do her job more efficiently or better. Remember how it irritates you when your boss, who spends all his time in his office, tries to tell you how to do your job? But also remember how difficult it is to do your job when you have insufficient or outdated tools. Be a “perfect boss” to your wife.)

Sometimes the biggest help you can be is just cleaning up after yourself. Pick up your own dirty socks and put them in the dirty clothes hamper, for example. Take your own plate to the kitchen. Put up your own tools when you are done working on a project. I have heard of divorces over this kind of thing. Your wife is not your slave, but your partner. God has given you a job to do and He has given you your wife as your biggest asset to accomplish that goal. Don’t make her job harder by your selfishness and laziness.

…For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh….

When a man and woman get married they are no longer part of their parent’s families. They are now a whole, brand-new family. A husband should cherish his wife as his greatest asset, his primary counceler, his “right-hand man” as it were. They are now one cororation, one ministry to the world. They have the goals God has given them to achieve…together. Hubby is the owner of the company and wifey is the head manager.

…This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church….

The church is to be just the same to God as the wife is to be to her hubby. God is the owner of the world and the church is to manage His affairs according to His will. This may requier us going against worldly wisdom and doing things the way the Bible says instead of the way human logic says. We should be obedient enough to our “Hubby/God” to follow His Word no matter what.

"And who is my neighbor?" Luke 10:29b

2009-07-01T14:31:00.001-07:00

Jesus responds by telling him the story we now call "The Good Samaritan."

And Jesus answering said, “A certain [man] went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded [him], and departed, leaving [him] half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked [on him], and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion [on him], And went to [him], and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave [them] to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.” Luke 10:35

The Levite and priest were high officials in the church. They were fellow countrymen to the injured man, distant family members, if you will. They were also supposed to be in the business of caring for the hurt and poor. It was part of their job. Samaritans were highly despised by the Jews and the feeling was generally mutual. Yet in Jesus' story it was the despised one, the one the hurt man would have spit on if he could have, who helped him.

Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, "He that shewed mercy on him." Then said Jesus unto him, "Go, and do thou likewise." Luke 10:37

We live in an odd country. Many, many are very eager to go find an enemy or stranger to care for in order to fulfill this story. Yet that rather misses the point. It was the culturally unimportant, the despised one that Jesus told the lawyer to care for. Listen very carefully to women talk (on TV and in magazines and books as well as in person) and make a list of who bad things are said about, who is considered unimportant. (“It’s so hard to be a parent. Kids are such an inconvenience. The little brats don’t give me a moment’s peace. The ole’ ball and chain. That Man! …”)

God does nothing by accident. He has a purpose, or often, several purposes for everything He does.
God created a man and woman to begin with. He did not make two men and one woman or four women and one man. He made one woman and one man.
There is only one church and one God. Now, many of us worship in different buildings all over the world, but we all belong to the same church. There is one God as there was one man in the beginning. There is one church as there was one woman in the beginning.

What is the character of God?

2009-06-02T12:54:00.000-07:00

What is the character of God?

He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 1John 4:8

And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 1John 4:16

He hath shewed thee, O man, what [is] good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy. Micah 6:8

But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, and to walk humbly with thy God? Ephesians 2:4

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son [to be] the propitiation for our sins. 1John 4:10

God is Love.

Touching the Almighty, we cannot find Him out: He is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: He will not afflict. Job 37:23

Justice and judgment are the habitation of Thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before Thy face. Psalms 89:14

Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. Isaiah 9:7

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. Jeremiah 23:5

God is Justice.

But my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want (have needs). Psalms 23:1

O fear the LORD, ye His saints: for there is no want (needs) to them that fear Him. Psalms 34:9

The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want (be lacking) any good thing. Psalms 34:10

The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul: but the belly of the wicked shall want (be empty). Proverbs 13:25

Not that I speak in respect of want :(need) for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. Philippians 4:11

God is the supplier.

If God is love and He is the supplier of all our needs and He is just, than if He tells us to do something, He will give us all we need to do it. He will not tell us to do something and then sit back and laugh at us while we flounder. We can depend on His supplying all we need. Oh, we can't always tell where that supply will come from and God often waits until what seems to us the last minute to give us those supplies in order to build our faith that He WILL supply. But we CAN depend on Him. So the next natural question is…

What does God want from me? What is my purpose in life?

This is the most important question to ask after "Is there a God."

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man (human kind). Ecclesiastics 12:13

If ye love Me, keep My commandments. John 14:15

And He said unto him, "Why callest thou Me good? There is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." Matthew 19:17

If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love; even as I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love. John 15:10

And hereby we do know that we know Him; if we keep His commandments. 1John 2:3

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep His commandments. 1John 5:2

OK, He wants us to keep His commandments. What are they?

Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, …Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. Deuteronomy 6:1,5

To be continued....
Jesus said unto him, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." Matthew 22:37-40

So if we Love God more than anything else in the world and love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves we are obeying all the laws and commandments contained in the Bible. We might ask with the lawyer speaking to Jesus;

"And who is my neighbor?" Luke 10:29b

An open letter to friends and family.

2009-05-06T15:58:00.000-07:00

Dear friends and family

There once was a traffic court judge who tried to always be just and honest with his rulings. One day he looked up from the bench to see his daughter standing before him. Charges of grievous violations were being read. When asked how she pleaded the answer was a quiet, tearful, “guilty.”

What was the judge to do? He had the power to simply dismiss her case, but that would not be right. The law decreed a heavy fine for her crime. Far more, he knew, than she could afford. If he levied the fine, and she couldn't pay she would go to jail. The law said this was justice, but how could he send his own daughter to jail?

After a moment’s thought, he pronounced her guilty, and named the fine. This was what justice demanded.

After his hammer fell, he laid it on his bench, stood up, removed his judicial robe, stepped over to the cashier, opened his wallet and paid her fine himself. This is what love demanded.

God is the judge. You and I are the child standing before Him, condemned, guilty. We are each sentenced to eternal death for our sins. This is justice. God removed His godly robes, stepped up to the cross and paid our debt for us. This is love.

On judgment day each of us will stand before God and present our reason for entrance to heaven. Some will show God their money, their status, beauty or their accomplishments. Others will show their not so bad life (certainly better than the neighbors), their good deeds, even their self-sacrifices.

God will take each reason and examine it. In each of these He will find a flaw (selfishness, pride, insensitivity, etc.) He will sadly shake His head and say "No imperfect reason is permitted. I am sorry. It is not enough" and the holder will be turned away.

But some, when asked for their reason for entrance will hold up a Lamb named Jesus. God will take this Lamb and examine it carefully. He will not find one blemish, not one fault in this Lamb. He will smile and open the door to eternal bliss to presenter.

Please, I beg of you, don't refuse this "Lamb for Sinners Slain," this Lamb without spot or wrinkle. He is the only key to Heavens Gate, the Way, the Truth and the Light. The only way to get to God.

I want to be your neighbor in heaven. I want you there celebrating for ever with me. Please accept Christ today and don't put off accepting Him until later. You never know what tomorrow may bring: a heart attack, aneurism, a bus with bad breaks. You have no guarantee of tomorrow.
What have you got to lose by accepting Christ into your heart? A life of the pointless pursuit of self-satisfaction? Can "self" ever be satisfied? "Self" is a heavy taskmaster. “Self” is never happy with the present, only seeing what he doesn't have. “Self” is a hard god to serve, and in the end gives nothing in return; at best oblivion (if I am wrong about God). At worst…Hell.

What do you have to gain by accepting Christ into your heart? A life with purpose? A life of fulfillment? Yes, and more. Christ said "My yoke is easy, My burden is light." This God only requires two things: that we love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength; and that we love others as much as ourselves. And what is our reward? At worst being fondly remembered when gone. At best…Heaven (The Eternal Party).

Good and Evil

2009-04-07T15:25:00.000-07:00

Did you know there is no such thing as cold? There is only a lack of heat.

Did you know there is no such thing as darkness? Only a lack of light.

These are scientific facts.

Did you know there is no such thing as evil? Only a lack of God. The devil is completely lacking in any part of God at all. Humans are created in God's image. We have some shadows of the likeness of God. When you choose God, you choose good. When you choose not-God you choose evil. There is no neutral. Only God and evil. Every human, no matter what their upbringing, no matter who their parents, must make that choice for themselves.

I can't explain why things happen in our lives. I know much of the bad that happens is the result of people choosing to deny God. Micheal Pearl in “Divine Design” states it something like this: God is capable of sinning against us. He could behave in a selfish, cruel manner if He chose to. He chooses not to. He created us in His image. If He had not given us the ability to sin, to choose selfishness and cruelty over love and goodness, we would have been no more than chimpanzees. We had to have a choice in order to be in His likeness; to fulfill His desire to have someone like Him to love Him.

We all choose to deny God at some time or another. This has negative consequences on all those around us. It also separates us from God, as evil is a lack of God. In eternity we will all receive just what we have asked for in this life. Those that choose to have a lack of God in their lives will be totally removed from all aspects of God. They will exist in pure evil. Hell. Those that choose to have God in their lives will have total God in eternity. Pure presence of God. Paradise. (That last part is from one of Hubby's sermons:-)

In the 1800's, doctors would go straight from performing an autopsy to delivering babies without washing. It was common for half of the women in a delivery ward to die from post-natal infection. If these doctors had followed God's command to Israel in the Mosaic Law by washing and staying separate for a time after touching the dead, hundreds of women wouldn't have died. Notice, the women did nothing wrong. They did not disobey. Yet they died. When we choose to not listen to God, often others suffer. This seems so unfair to us.

I don't understand. But I do know that there will come a day when all the wrongs will be righted and everything will be squared up. There IS eternal justice. ALL wrongs will be paid for. Yes, those sins that I have committed WILL be paid for. They are horrible sins deserving of the greatest, most awful punishment. But you know what? My sins have already been paid for. You know the story. “He paid the debt He did not owe; I owed a debt I could not pay.”

Jesus said "Whatsoever you do to the least of these my brother, you do it unto me." When we are cruel or selfish or even just indifferent, it is as if we were beign that way to our Lord. If we treat everyone like we would treat Jesus, imagine what a wonderful world this would be.

You have a choice, my friend. You can continue to be a victim for the rest of your life. You can let things in your life give you the excuse to behave without God. You can keep your eyes on people. But people will fail you every time.

I know people that have made this choice. They have no friends, no family (at least none that can stand to be with them), no nothing. They are getting sicker and sicker. Every few months they are diagnosed with a new illness, especially a mental illness (let's see, depression, chronic fatigue, manic depression, obsessive compulsive, diabetes, heart disease, etc.) Poor them. Sad them. Every Christian they meet turns on them. No one likes them. No one is Godly enough to rescue them.

There is a different woman that was in much the same state plus drugs and all that entails. She chose to change her path a couple of years ago. She is heading towards God instead of away. Today she has a fulltime job, friends, family, and a ministry, is off all of her mental meds, was told by her psychiatrist she no longer needed her, in short her life is getting gooder and gooder, or should I say Goder and Goder? No one was Godly enough to rescue her either. Only God is Godly enough.

Ultimately, you can't blame anyone else. You have to make your own choices. Will you choose to be a victim? Will you choose the religion of humanism (human worship) or will you choose to be a victor? It is all up to you, friend.

To live without God is to try to be God

All of us have had enough bad things happen to us to 'justify' the poor me's; the anger, the depression. God is seeing who will really trust Him. Who will really choose to love Him no matter what. Imagine someone telling you, “I will love you as long as you do everything I say and act exactly as I want.” That wouldn't be real love would it? Yet many of us who say we love God, treat Him just this way. God loves us no matter what. He wants real, unconditional love from us, too. He wants us to trust Him that He really does know what is best, has it all under control and it will all work out in the end. He wants us to look at Him, not our parents, lovers, friends, children, neighbors, politicians, teachers, social workers, counselors, scientists, etc.

I painted a picture once. A girl is walking on water, with her hands in her pockets and her eyes straight ahead. She is not bothered by the big waves or the on-coming storm. She has her eyes fastened on her goal. You can't see the goal, but you can see the reflection of it in the water under her feet; a Cross. This is what life is like when you choose God. You see only God, not the storms of life. Only His love shown through the Cross. Oh, you could see more. But you choose to only see Him.

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Faith is keeping on keeping on, no matter what life throws your way. When you stand before The Throne, you will not be able to say "It is my mother's fault. It is the mean people at church's fault. It is my lover's fault. It is my teacher's fault. It is society's fault. It is my politician's fault, it is my boss's fault." It will boil down to the choices YOU have made.
But you know the most wonderful thing about it? Jesus is sitting next to you right this minute waiting to take you in His arms and hold you. If you let Him, He will hold you while you snuggle into His lap. He will reassure you that it is all right and He will take care of you. Oh, things will not be perfect immediately (or ever, really, until heaven). But you will not be alone. He will hold you in the hard times. Hold your hand or even carry you if that is what you need. I could FEEL Him carrying me when I had a miscarriage. It was three months before I could feel my "feet" on the ground again, and then just barely. He was still supporting me for a long time afterwards.

He doesn't care how fat or skinny we are. He doesn't care how smart or dumb we are. He doesn't care how much money we have. He knows that this outer shell isn't the real us. It is the person inside He cares about and He knows that person can be beautiful. All we have to do is trust Him and He will make us beautiful.

Oh, we will have to work too. You don't jump out of a broken plane and say “God save me.” First you put your parachute on, jump, pull the string and THEN trust God to take care of you. You have to do all you can, too.
Before you go to bed tonight, get your Bible out and read one Psalm. Just one. When you wake up say “Thank you God for the clouds, the trees, the flowers, that I am still breathing, and for my thumbs.” Even if you don't mean it, just try it for one week. Just for me. You will feel better. God will speak to you. Maybe not in an audible voice. Maybe through the clouds or a bug crawling across your floor. Maybe in a dream. But He will speak to you.

Within The Heart Of Every Living Soul,
Is A Great Big Giant God sized hole.

Who was Jesus- Part 2

2009-02-27T10:23:00.000-08:00

The Romans who crucified Christ were experts at execution. Those soldiers would have lost their heads if they did not do it right, so they always made sure they did. Christ was dead when He was removed from the cross. They placed Him in a tomb and rolled a stone so heavy that three healthy women were concerned they would not be able to move it away enough to get in. They sealed the tomb with wax and placed a guard around it that, again, would loose their heads if they did not do their job right. Christ was not in a coma, as some have clamed. There is no way He could have moved that boulder to get out, even if He had been perfectly healthy, and especially not just three days after the ordeal of the cross (with no water, food or medicine in the mean time).

The disciples did not steal the body. The soldiers (somewhere between 12 and 20 of them) would have killed them if they had tried (besides, these are the same men who had just run away when Jesus was arrested. Hardly the examples of courage necessary to attack trained soldiers.)
Every disciple but John was executed for claiming Christ was alive.

Again, these men's teachings were those of sane men (“Love your neighbor as yourself”), yet they died for the belief that Christ rose from the dead. They obviously believed it. In addition, they had just spent three and a half years living day and night with Christ. They could not have been fooled about His identity.

Can we believe the Bible? The Bible was written by eyewitnesses to the events they record. This is the gold standard for historical evidence. No other document in the history of the world has been as thoroughly challenged, examined, torn apart, and criticized. Yet it has NEVER been proven wrong. There have been times when people claimed to have proven it wrong. "King David never existed. He was just a legend". Within two years of this statement, archeologists dug up his signet ring; positive, proof he did exist. They have said the same thing about Nineveh, Babylon, and the Hittites. Same results. It almost looks like God is withholding the physical evidence until someone says something in the bible doesn't exist and then He allows the remains to be discovered to make the scientists look like fools. Who says God does not have a sense of humor?

The fact is that, whether they like it or not, science is continually proving more and more of the Bible to be right.

Do you know why so many scientists refuse to believe in God? If they believe in God, they must believe there is a right and a wrong. If there is a right and wrong then they must change their lives and their religion. Many scientists who have been challenged to honestly examine the real evidence of science have ended up giving their hearts to God. Others go to extreme lengths to continue to believe in their religion of atheism. Ever heard the reasons an atheist scientist gives for why older fossil layers are often found on top of younger layers? It has to do with multi-thousand ton boulders playing leap frog over thousands of miles without leaving debris trails, skid marks or stress fractures. This is more logical than Noah's flood?!

You know, if we can't believe the Bible, than we can't believe any other ancient document. None of them can stand up to the same standards of examination. If the Bible isn't true, than Buddha, Confucius, Caesar, Hannibal, Justinian, Nero, Plato, Aristotle, Socrates and many, many others never existed. There is no proof of their existence that even comes close to being as reliable as the Bible.

There are many prophecies in the Bible that have been fullfilled. Only Someone who knew the beginning from the end could have told Isaiah that a man named Cyrus would send the Israelites back to their homeland…seventy years before he was born! Jeramiah prophecied that Judah would be in captivity for sevety years, and they were. Abraham received word that his decendents would be in Egypt 400 years and they were. Joseph received interpretation of dreams that came true. Daniel received and recorded several prophecies about the rise and fall of Babylon, Meda-Persia, Greece, Syria, and Rome, plus an exact time table for the time of the Messiah. The prophecies concerning Christ Himself are mathmaticly impossible for one man to fulfill (He shall come from Nazarene, come up from Egypt, come from Bethlehem for example) and yet Christ fullfilled EVERY ONE!

If the Bible is true historically and scientifically and its prophecies have proven true in the face of astronomical odds, there is no logical reason to doubt it spiritually.

Who was Jesus?

2009-02-10T12:00:00.000-08:00

Let us look at Jesus. It is a historical fact that Jesus of Nazareth existed, preached, and was executed by the Romans at the insistence of the Jewish leaders. Secular history says this much. All Jesus would have had to do to avoid being executed in the most torturous way humans have ever come up with was to say He was not God. That is all. Yet He went to the cross with the words "I am (God)" on His lips.

Mark 14:61 “Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, "I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven."

Why would He do this? There are only two possibilities. He either was God or He was not. There is no in between. I am either God or I am not (I will tell you right now that I am not!). You are either God or you are not. The chair I am sitting in is either God or it is not. There is no in between.

If Jesus was not God, He either knew He was not or He did not know He was not. Again, there is no in-between. He was either a liar, a lunatic or really Lord.

Liars- con-artists- are capable of convincing large numbers of people that they are divine. But they all have one thing in common: a strong sense of Self Preservation. A liar of the magnitude Christ would have had to be to pull off the things He did, would have been able to work out a deal with the Jews to avoid being crucified. The fact that He didn't even try shows that the man actually believed what He was saying. Anyone who honestly believes He is God (enough to go to the Cross for that belief) is either coo-coo or God. No alternatives.

The level of insanity that convinces a man He is God (strongly enough to override the self preservation instinct) is called Complex, Paranoid Schizophrenia. We have many examples of this disease available for study. Charles Manson is the most famous modern case, probably. I once saw a filmed interview of the man. No doubt about it. He is NUTS. He couldn't carry one thought to completion. He changed subjects in the middle of every sentence. All victims of Complex, Paranoid Schizophrenia have one thing in common; they are very violent. Charles Manson committed his crimes (slaughtering a houseful of people) trying to start a race war that would allow him to take over the world.

He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
Do good to them that wrongfully use you.
Turn the other cheek.

I could go on and on with quotes from Christ. Do these sound like the rantings of a lunatic? What about the results of His teaching? "You shall know a tree by the fruit it bears." Christianity has been the greatest force for peace and brotherly love all over the world (despite a few very unchristian people who called themselves Christians). Christianity is responsible for the elimination of cannibalism. It has stopped countless feuds and wars. It stopped human sacrifice. Is this the fruit of a Complex, Paranoid Schizophrenia? I don't think so.

"Once you have eliminated all the possibilities, what ever remains, no matter how implausible, must be the truth."(Sherlock Holmes)

If Christ was not a liar; if He was not a lunatic; He must be Lord.

"There is a God, and you are not Him." Andrew Tracy

Is there a God?

2009-01-06T01:36:00.000-08:00

This is the fundamental question of life on which all other questions hang. If there is no God then life has no purpose beyond our momentary pleasure. There is no meaning. There is no right or wrong. Take all you can get and enjoy yourself for the moment because when it is over, it is OVER. That is all she wrote, so to speak.

If there is a God, however, than there is a heaven to gain and a hell to shun; a Great White Throne to stand in front of and give answer to. There is a right and a wrong. There is an eternity that is more real than anything you have every experienced in your life, good or bad.

Can we know if there is a God? And if so, how?

Within the cells of every living organism is a thing called DNA. This is the programming that determines whether you are a watermelon or a woman, whether you have blue eyes or brown, whether you are tall or short. This DNA is an intricate code that we humans are just now beginning to be able to read.

Noah Webster says:
CODE,
n. Any collection or digest of laws.

LAW,
n. [L. lex; A law is that which is laid, set or fixed, like statute, constitution, from L. statuo.]
1. A rule, particularly an established or permanent rule, prescribed by the supreme power of a state to its subjects, for regulating their actions, particularly their social actions. Laws are imperative or mandatory, commanding what shall be done; prohibitory, restraining from what is to be forborne; or permissive, declaring what may be done without incurring a penalty. The laws which enjoin the duties of piety and morality are prescribed by God and found in the Scriptures.

You do not have green vines coming out of your ears, grapes hanging off your nose, or a horse-like-tail because the laws prescribed by the Supreme Power who wrote your DNA says you don't. Could your DNA have written itself? No. DNA is a language. Language takes intelligence.

LAN'GUAGE, n. [L. lingua, the tongue, and speech.]
Words duly arranged in sentences, written, printed or engraved, and exhibited to the eye. (DNA is exhibited to the eye through the microscope. Different from my glasses only in degree) Style; manner of expression. Any manner of expressing thoughts.

"Any manner of expressing thoughts." For DNA to express thoughts there had to be thoughts to express before it was written down in our cells. There has to be a Creator God.

Have you ever examined a giraffe? Their necks are so tall they must have an extraordinarily strong heart in order to pump the blood all the way up there. But with such a strong heart, if they bend their head down, gravity + the heart would blow their brains out (high blood pressure). So they have a set of valves in the arteries of their necks that shut the blood flow down when they put their head down. But then when they lift their heads suddenly (as in a lion attack) they would pass out (low blood pressure). So they have little sponges in the back of their brains that hold enough blood in reserve to keep them conscious until the valves open. If any one of these steps was missing, the giraffe would die (either by exploding brain or hungry lion). They must have all been there from the start. They could not have evolved. They must have been created as a complete animal. There are many other creatures (the woodpecker which would knock its eyes out if it had not been programmed to close its eyes with each strike, the garden spider which would starve if its web was not just right, the chicken egg where the chick would suffocate without its microscopic air holes, the human eye, the bombardier beetle which would blow itself up if it did not have all systems functioning at once, etc.) that simply could not exist without a Divine Designer.

Did you know that the earth is just the right distance from the sun to support life any closer, we would burn up. Any father we would freeze.

Our atmosphere contains the perfect amount of oxygen to support life. Do you know how simple it would be to have too much or too little?

The evidence is increasing everyday. There is no way this Universe could have happened by accident. It was designed by a highly intelligent being......God Himself.