Why Celebrate Halloween?

Note: This will be the top post until after Halloween. I will post more stuff, just scroll down and read.

I have a serious question. If we call ourselves Christians why do we celebrate Halloween? Is it just a harmless children’s holiday where they dress up and get people to give them candy or is there a more sinister aspect to the celebration of this holiday? Just for the record my family does not celebrate this holiday and we never have. Also I want to make it clear I know that the majority of children will never be harmed by the practice of dressing up and collecting candy, other than the occasional tummy ache. That argument will not fly here. My question here is why we “wink” at this holiday by allowing our children to participate in the less sinister aspects, yet ignore that this is the most important holiday of the year for the occult.

I could go on and on about this subject but I will leave you with some passages from the Word and some web sites for you to do your own research on the subject. I will also challenge anyone to give me a solid argument as to why we as Christians should celebrate Halloween. Telling me the children will be left out is not a solid argument.

21 But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good;
22 abstain from every form of evil.
1 Thesalonians 5:21-22 NAS

10 "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer,
11 or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.
12 "For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD; and because of these detestable things the LORD your God will drive them out before you.
13 "You shall be blameless before the LORD your God.
14 "For those nations, which you shall dispossess, listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do so.
Deuteronomy 18:10-14 NAS

6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
7 Therefore do not be partakers with them;
8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light
9(for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),
10 trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.
11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;
Ephesians 5:6-11 NAS

The first site is a Christian site the second in a pagan site. I am using both so that I can show that the research I have done on this is not just Christian propaganda. This is truly a holiday for the pagans and we as Christians should not participate in its practices and traditions.

A Christian take on Halloween history
A Pagan take on Halloween history

Theology Pair Flips Out

I read things like things like this article on WND and wonder how it is that these people are news worthy. Then I remember this is just what the people want to hear. People taking the Word and corrupting the meaning to fit their particular worldview, and not letting the truth of the Word change them to conform G_d’s view.

“James L. Crenshaw, professor of Old Testament at Duke Divinity School, questioned Scripture's authority to govern matters of sexuality – the Old Testament text, he argued, was written over 12 centuries under a variety of shifting circumstances. It is the reader, he argued, that determines the text's meaning.”

It is amazing that the Word is consistent in its teachings on sexuality considering the amount of time that it has been written over, and the changes in culture through that time period.

“While agreeing that homosexuality is forbidden in passages of Leviticus, Crenshaw said those prohibitions should not be taken as the final word.”

WHAT????? If the Word is not the final word on these matters what is? I was going to comment more but I just keep getting upset. I know I will have to work on this but for now read what my mentor had to say on this.

“Read this and check out how subtle the professors are with their
interpretation model. They use an interpretation model where the individual believer interprets as they choose.

This sounds right to many people concerning the idea of the priesthood of the believer. The problem is that the interpretation must come form the other direction, from the understanding of the author and the original understanding of the original hearers. The difference is inductive verses deductive study methods. The historical/Grammatical method of interpretation is essential to keep from reading our own thoughts into the text.

We want the text to speak to us from the historical setting and the grammar of the text as well as from the culture from where it came. It is only logical to conclude these men are more interested in reading a western mindset into the text, which is insidious to understanding the authority from the Biblical text itself.”
Jimmie Kersh

NFL Picks Week 8

6-8 last week lets see how it goes this week.
Overall since I started picking is 41-29 or 58.57%

Blue = Win
Red = Loss


Cleveland at Houston : Cleveland
Green Bay at Cincinnati : Cincinnati
Arizona at Dallas : Dallas
Chicago at Detroit : Detroit
Oakland at Tennessee : Oakland
Washington at NY Giants : NY Giants
Jacksonville at St. Louis : Jacksonville
Minnesota at Carolina : Carolina
Kansas City at San Diego : San Diego
Miami at New Orleans : Miami
Tampa Bay at San Francisco : Tampa Bay
Philadelphia at Denver : Denver
Buffalo at New England : New England
Baltimore at Pittsburgh : Pittsburgh

Update: At the end of Sunday I am 9-4 for this week. As I am sure Pittsburgh will hand Baltimore its head I will be 10-4 for the week. GO BOYS!!!! Take a much needed rest next week.

Update 2: 10-4 for the week and 51-33 total with a percentage of 60.71%.

Now I am Going to Sound Like a Real Minister

The unfortunate part of starting a ministry is that unless you are independently wealthy you have to survive on the donations of others. While I am not quitting my day job yet it does not afford me the extra money I will need to work on my education process and then cover expenses once I start to travel from church to church. I am not asking for money, but if you feel led to give I have added a link to my Pay Pal account on the sidebar.

D.C.‘s Real Gospel Vs the Whole Gospel

I am a regular reader of Digital Cowboy’s blog. I was reading a post on real masculinity V evil and he had a link to a prior post (The Real Gospel) he had written. It was while reading that post that I felt a check in my spirit, and I am beginning to listen to those checks more often. I stopped and asked the Father what he wanted me to see and how should I respond if at all. While his premise is good it has a fundamental flaw in that he glosses over the why it was that Yeshua had to die on the cross.

"I wish more churches preached the Gospel. The word means, "Good News." Is it "good news" that you’re a sinner? Is it "good news" that you don’t measure up? Is it "good news" that you’re not perfect? That’s what many religious churches preach. Probably the second most often quoted verse in the Bible is "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."
Well, duh.
Do you wanna share the solution or do you just want to beat people over the head with the problem?
The answer to all those previous rhetorical questions is, "Nope. That’s not good news." All those things are true, none of them are "good news" and that’s why Jesus Christ came. That’s the good news. No reasonably sane person has to be told that they don’t meet God’s standard. We all know that instinctively because we’re spiritual beings. I find it fascinating that John 3:16 is the most well-known and oft-quoted verse in the Bible, but it seems no one ever reads or quotes on into John 3:17. You can’t get the full message of the Gospel without them both."


While the Gospel is the good news in that Yeshua came and died on the cross and was raised from the dead on the third day it is also the story of why it was necessary. D.C.’s statement that no reasonably sane person has to be told that they don’t meet G_d’s standard is not necessarily correct. There are many reasonable and sane people who do not believe they are doing anything wrong, yet they still fall short of the mark. The fact that we are spiritual beings has nothing to do with whether or not we “instinctively know” we have fallen short of G_d’s standards. If that were the case the Word would not be full of references to our sinful nature.

The quoting of John 3:16 has become a popular because it imparts the essence of the gospel in a simple to remember verse. It was never meant as a substitute for the gospel message. If you wish to take the verse in full context it needs to be included in a series of scriptures from John 3:11 to John 3:21.

11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.
12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

As we can see Yeshua was not sent to condemn the world, it was already condemned by the evil actions of man. To gloss this fact over and ignore it because it is uncomfortable or might offend is just as wrong as it is to crush someone’s spirit by focusing in the sin. Rather we should portray the gospel in its entirety showing a righteous and just G_d that cannot abide the imperfection of sin, man’s complicity in that sin, and the message that G_d through His Son has provided a perfect sacrifice for that sin. All we have to do is acknowledge our need and accept the gift.

D.C. goes on to discuss the numerous passages in the Bible concerning His mercy. Yes the Father is very merciful, but He is also righteous and just. D.C. states that it is religion that brings the talk of sin into the picture, I strongly disagree. It is religion that distorts the picture of sin. Religion takes sin to the point that it makes a mockery of Yeshua’s perfect provision for our degenerate nature. As much as D.C. says he hates religion, it is also religion that glosses over why it was that Yeshua had to die. Religion is when man takes the truth and distorts it to fit his own worldview. We are all guilty of doing this to some point or another. It is the nature of man. It is our job to look beyond our worldview study the scriptures and ask the Father to show us the truth.

Miracle Monday (a little late)

I am sorry this is late. I had a difficult weekend and then an interview for a second job this morning. It just slipped my mind. Serena linked me a story of the miraculous provision G_d worked out for them over the past year and a half. Some of you already know this story but others do not. I thought I would share it with you. I know it will touch you as much as it touched me.

YHWH's Faithfulness

Just Bragging

It seems that I have been posting on a number of subjects, yet I have neglected to post about some of the most important people in my life, my children. I thought I would post something about each one just to let you know I have the best children in the world.


Ditto:
He is my creative one. Words are tools that he uses to paint pictures. He has great stories and I look forward to one day seeing his work published. He is also a die-hard football fan, he works on creating plays and enjoys dissecting what went wrong on a particular play from the coaches perspective, and dissecting how a coach made the wrong choice in a situation.

Pookie:
She is my nature girl. She has been given a gift with animals. At the tender age of ten I have lost count of the number of animals of all types she has rescued. From a kitten that the mother spurned, a dying dog she coaxed into eating and drinking (saving it’s life) when no one else could, a young bird that she (with help from her brother) kept alive weeks longer than the vet said she could, to an injured baby rabbit (mother was killed by a coyote while the children watched) she kept calm until a rabbit rescue group came to get the bunny. The thing I am most proud of is how she overcame a hearing problem from an undiagnosed for over a year ear infection. Because of that hearing problem she had a hard time learning to read. She is now ahead of her peers in reading.

Sneefert:
He is the prototypical boy in motion. I am so glad he is not in public school. He would be pigeon holed, as ADHD and nobody would see his value. He is extremely intelligent and understands math instinctively. He is an auditory learner and has talked since he was five months old (I jokingly say he started talking a 5 months and has not stopped since.) Also at seven he throws a tighter spiral than I have seen professional quarterbacks throw.

Puddleglum:
This child when he grows up is going to be a very large man. At 4 ½ he weighs more than his seven year old brother by a good 15-20 pounds. He is not fat he is just big. He is also twice as strong as Sneefert. He is very precocious and is the family clown. You can almost count on him to say something or do something to make you smile. He is also the most sensitive one when someone is feeling down and will try his best to either comfort or cheer up.

The Crickets are Loud

Do you remember the cartoons where Buggs Bunny gets up and does something to spectacular applause and then Daffy Duck gets up and all you hear are crickets? Well,....... I am feeling a lot like Daffy right now.

Where have you gone?

NFL Picks Week 7

11-3 last week lets see how it goes this week.
Overall since I started picking is 35 - 21 or 62.5%
Blue = Win
Red = Loss

Kansas City at Miami: Kansas City *
Detroit at Cleveland: Cleveland
Green Bay at Minnesota: Green Bay
Indianapolis at Houston: Indianapolis
New Orleans at St. Louis: St. Louis
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati: Pittsburgh
San Diego at Philadelphia: San Diego
San Francisco at Washington: Washington
Dallas at Seattle: Dallas
Baltimore at Chicago: Baltimore
Buffalo at Oakland: Buffalo
Denver at N.Y. Giants: Denver
Tennessee at Arizona: Tennessee
N.Y. Jets at Atlanta: Atlanta


* Ok I found out as I was making this list That the NFL allowed them to play the game yesterday due to the hurricane. You will just have to trust me that K.C. is the team I would have picked.

UPDATE:
UUGGGG!!!! 5-8 Where did I go wrong? The Boys are driving a stake in my heart.

Mentoring

When getting a biblical education I have always considered an approach more in line with the biblical model set by the apostles than what is considered the normal path through seminary. While seminaries can churn out a lot of “ministers” I am very concerned about the quality of that education. Things ranging from students who are looking at ministry from a strictly employment angle to professors who teach unbiblical dogma are my concerns. In light of this I started praying for someone to mentor me. Very soon after that Birdie sent me some e-mails from someone on one of her e-mail loops. After reading some of his writings I was “told” I should contact him. After contacting him I have found that he agrees with me on the issue of the seminaries and has agreed to mentor me. I am sometimes amazed at how G_d works things out.
This is what he has said about himself:
“I am reformed in my theology and extremely conservative theologically. I am irreverent, sarcastic and critical of almost all institutionalized Christianity. If it is not Biblical, I want nothing to do with it.”
His name is Jimmie Kresh he has been a youth minister, is called to be a pastor, and is currently writing several books. He also has a blog and I thought you would like to check him out.


Jimmie W Kresh

A Clarification

I want to thank Joelle, She brought up a point, and after rereading my post I can see what she saw. I need to put my comments about the death of Christ in the proper context. This epiphany came while contemplating what happened to Jesus during the three days after his death and this is what I was told: “I lived in torment separated from the Father”. This was not a permanent separation but is was the most excruciating part of what he went through. This prophet thing still freaks me out a little, and I did not make it clear that the separation was temporary.

Sounding the Alarm

I just want you to know I am going to sound a little alarmist here, but is that not what a prophet is supposed to do? One of the things that has broken my long stint as Jonah is what G_d has impressed upon me (no real details just the knowledge that something IS going to happen) is that a time is coming when His church here in America will be tried, tested, purged, and persecuted. In the brief history of our country the church has never been persecuted. It has always been revered and honored. It takes a truly blind man to not see what is happening now. Slowly the freedoms that the church once had are being taken away. People are coming to think of the church as irrelevant, and an undercurrent of hostility is brewing. Although He is not giving me any time frame for this to happen the message is urgent and very persistent. Right now the church is being deceived by a very cleverly marketed lie, one of prosperity and feel goodisms. The people who buy this lie will be consumed when this storm hits. It will become very hard to be a follower of Yeshua in that time. I pray that He holds back the tide as there are a lot of lost souls still left out there to reach. Now is not the time to be timid, go share your faith, and the love of Yeshua.

An Epiphany

A couple of days ago I had something hit me out of the blue. An insight that some of you may already know but was stunning when it dawned on me. Most of us know that Yeshua died a horrible death on the cross and was tortured before he was placed on that cross. It was at the time the most horrible way a man could die. He boldly accepted the pain as what he must go through for His love for us. All through this there are only two incidences of Yeshua ever indicating any kind of discomfort. At one point he showed his human side by claiming he was thirsty, but the other exclamation was my epiphany. Yeshua cried out in utter agony when the sins of he world were placed on him and the Father forsook Him. You see the pain, and the shame, of being on the cross was nothing compared to G_d literally ripping a third of himself off taking on all of our sins and dying. He was cut off from what he had always known and cast into ultimate torment. Throughout the Word G_d equates death and love. To gain an insight into what He went through makes my love for Him that much deeper.

I am Worth Something

At least my blog is.

My blog is worth $16,371.66.
How much is your blog worth?

Thanks DBS for the link.

How Long?

Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him." But the people said nothing.
1 Kings 18:21 NIV

And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, “How long halt ye between two opinions? If the LORD be God, follow him”: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.
1 Kings 18:21 KJV

Fundamentally this is what my ministry is about. Offering the choice to His bride as to whom they will serve. And the truth is that we are choosing between Baal and Yeshua.
Just like Elijah I have been charged with a great task, the task of bringing His true message to the church. A message of hard choices and ultimate love. The church is facing one of its hardest tests in the near future and he wants his bride prepared. Not only is the church going to face an enemy from without but is now facing and enemy from within and the very elect are being deceived.

Pray that the Lord will strengthen my resolve and give me the courage to walk out in faith and trust His provision for the hard road ahead. I have much to learn before the journey begins and not a lot of time to learn it in. He is calling His people to battle and the time is NOW. The question is will we wait until it is to late or will we take up our cross, follow Yeshua in dying to ourselves and bring the message to a church that has forgotten its true love?

Miracle Monday

It is time for our weekly dose of uplifting stories. Hope these lift up your soul.

Lunch is on you

Go Serve the Lord

The Miracle Of Fire In My Furnace

Basic Truths of Salvation

My friends I am still working on my posts about the corruption of the gospel by the church growth movement, but I wanted to start with some basic truths about salvation. For most of you this is basic, stuff you have heard many times. This is also what we must remember, what we are to tell the world. This also helps me when I write these things down. I am called (I believe in conjunction with others) to bring His bride (the church) back to Him. So I am getting down the basics of my ministry, and to share it with others. Who knows someone may read this and realize their need for Yeshua.


1. We are all sinners and have fallen short of the mark set before us by G_d.

21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Romans 3: 21-24

2. The penalty for sin is death. Being cut off from G_D for eternity.

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord
Romans 6:23

3. The penalty was paid by G_d when He as Yeshua died on the cross and was resurrected on the third day.

But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us
Romans 5:8

For He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him
II Corinthians 5:21

4. His Death was more that enough to pay the penalty our sins. All we have to do is accept and believe. To take up our cross and follow Him in dying unto ourselves and giving our lives to Him in love and devotion.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life
John 3:16

If you wish to know more about His provision for our sin and accepting Yeshua as your Savior this is a good resource.

NFL Picks Week 6

Blue = Win
Red = Loss


Minnesota at Chicago: Chicago
N.Y. Giants at Dallas: Dallas
Carolina at Detroit: Carolina
Cincinnati at Tennessee: Cincinnati
Washington at Kansas City: Washington
Atlanta at New Orleans: Atlanta
Jacksonville at Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh
Miami at Tampa Bay: Tampa Bay
Cleveland at Baltimore: Baltimore
N.Y. Jets at Buffalo: Buffalo
San Diego at Oakland: San Diego
New England at Denver: New England
Houston at Seattle: Seattle
St. Louis at Indianapolis: Indianapolis

Update:
At this point I am 10 - 3. The Boys won ugly but I will take an ugly win over a beautiful loss any day.

Update 2:

11-3 for the week. My best week yet. The Colts, just to make it interesting, spotted the Rams 17 points and shortened the game to 3 quarters and still scored 45 points to win the game.

Rearing Lords and Ladies

Birdie received this article in her e-mail. I love the premise that we are the stewards and lords over creation, and that is how we should be raising our children.



Rearing Lords and Ladies

by Betty Burger

Imagine yourself a father whose hobby is restoring cars. You own a 1970 Mustang, now in pristine condition, which you have spent years restoring. Today your seventeen-year-old son, just licensed, says to you, Dad, may I have the keys to the Mustang? Would you give them to him?

Has it ever occurred to you that God did something very like that, only much grander, for Adam and Eve in Eden? He made them lords of his new, perfect creation in which He delighted.

Now consider in contrast the most recent clothing ad you've seen for young people. A friend of mine quipped that the girls' clothing in such ads should properly be labeled Early Prostitute and the boys' clothing Bum . Lords and Ladies or Prostitutes and Bums? Which is the right description of the human race? Which are you? Which are you raising your children to be? These are very important questions.
The Mustang illustration above began a recent sermon by Dr. T. David Gordon of Grove City College . This excellent exegesis of Psalm 8 entitled What Is Man delighted (as well as encouraged and convicted) me because it brought a number of things that have disturbed me about our culture together under their proper heading the doctrine of man. I was also grateful that my children were hearing these things from someone other than their parents.


So . . . why is this doctrine important and what does it have to do with homeschooling? Families and the church are engaged in a war for the minds of their children, and to a great extent the war is won or lost based on who or what the children come to believe they are. In the past hundred and fifty years, the common man has gone from assuming that he is a lord of creation made in the image of God Himself and endowed by Him with dominion over the rest of creation to the idea that at best he is an animal among animals. Is it any wonder people act like bums and prostitutes and assume it to be normal behavior?

Consider these aspects of our culture:

Child centeredness
Once upon a time it was considered normal for children to be seen and not heard in the presence of adults. Was this disrespectful to children? Perhaps sometimes, but the underlying assumption was that children wanted to grow up to be dignified adults. In order to do that, they had to quietly observe models of adult behavior in action in order to learn to be like them. Instead, our culture regularly lets children dominate the conversation in the presence of adults. Remember the toy store ad I don't want to grow up? In our culture, no one wants to grow up. It is no longer our goal to be mature, dignified adults, much less to teach our children how to be.

General lack of self-control
Ever since the sixties our society has deemed it a virtue to let it all hang out. The self-control once demanded of a lady or gentleman is passé. Some even consider it cruel to expect children to control themselves. I have read that a four-year-old cannot possibly be expected to sit still or concentrate on anything for more than fifteen minutes. Ours have sat through hour-and-a-half worship services since babyhood. Are they exceptional? No, like all the other kids in our congregation, it was expected of them.

The Rise and Fall of Christian Standards
This book tackles a divisive issue in the church with scriptural reason and a gracious spirit. It answers all the hard questions about dress and appearance with biblical and practical logic. You may disagree with the authors position, but you will find it hard to base that disagreement on the Bible. Essential reading for every Christian!

Fear of aging and disrespect for the old
Are you terrified of every new gray hair? Do you look forward to the respect that advanced age will merit you due to the wisdom you have learned through life with the Lord? Probably not, but you ought to be able to. The fact that no one does so is a further evidence of the cult-of-the-young that grips us.

The glibness with which we speak evil of the image of God
How often do we make smart remarks about our elders, our civil leaders, our friends, and even ourselves? My grandparents' generation believed that if one could not speak well of a person, he ought to keep his mouth shut.

Positive encouragement to be bums
Socially we expect irrational, antisocial behavior. Linguistically, we teach that language has no meaning, offers no real communication, so why endeavor to be precise. Aesthetically, we actively cultivate the art of the ugly .

The frenzy to prevent people having donminion
The media tell us to worship the earth, to conserve and preserve it at all costs to humans, to let the wilderness that our Christian forebears fought so hard to drive back overtake us. In our personal lives we excuse and encourage disorganization, lack of discipline, and plain, ordinary sloth, and we get praised for it! Orderly, productive people are considered too uptight.


We are all products of our culture and infected with these ideas. How can we prevent their growth in our children and erase them from our own minds? The basic answer, of course, is to study the Scriptures ( Rom. 12:1-2). The following are practical suggestions for change:

Model dignified adult behavior that our children will be proud to imitate
Set an example as the apostles did for us (Phil. 4:9). What characteristics does a dignified adult have? Read Titus 2:1-5 for models of what mature behavior should look like. Even on simple issues, set an example dress like a respectable adult, stand and sit like one. Kings and queens do not slouch.

Build from our children's earliest days the image of who they are in their minds
When our little children came yelling, Mommy, Mommy! I would answer, Yes, Little Prince (or Princess). And always remember, it is a wonder that God gave us dominion. Marvel at it the way the Psalmist does in Psalm 8, and you will retain the proper sense of humility.

Teach self-control
Guard your reactions, verbal and otherwise, whether you are waiting in traffic or melting in humidity in the worship service. Teach your children to control their bodies and their tongues. They can sit still and be respectful. We can control what we do and even what we think about. Indeed, we are required to (Phil. 4:8). But we cannot give away to our children what we do not possess ourselves. Self- control is a part of the fruit of the Spirit, and it has been said that you can't have any of the other parts without that one first (Gal. 5:22 & 23).

Practice and teach respect for the aged
Give your time to your parents and extended family. Teach your children to value their wisdom (even if they are not believers) by valuing their presence and developing relationships with them. Make sure your children address anyone old enough to be their parent by his last name and title. If you lack grandparents for your children, visit a nursing home and build relationships with older members of your congregation. Obey literally Leviticus 19:32. And don't fret if your hair is going grey. Remember, it is a crown of glory if it is found in the way of righteousness (Prov. 16:31 ).

Actively cultivate the image of God in you
Plant a garden, read a book to broaden your mind, show your children you love to learn, beautify your home in simple ways. Especially value language. Teach grammar, diction, proper articulation, spelling, and effective speaking and writing skills. In history show what happens in all cultures that reject the high, biblical view of people. In science examine the underlying philosophy of conservationism and environmentalism. Above all, refuse in every way to be a savage or simply immature. Savages never exercised much dominion over the earth (Gen. 1:26-28). We won't either if we are content to be narrow-minded people who know little about anything.

Take dominion and subdue the corner of His world which God entrusted to you
Clean out your closets or garage; organize your books, desk, or kitchen; pull the weeds in your garden. After you have set this example, require your children to be responsible for their schoolwork, their possessions, and their appearance. We can't subdue the earth if we cannot subdue ourselves by His grace first.

We are ruled-rulers as T. David Gordon termed it; we must act the part or disgrace the One who made us in His image. As we learn to be like Him, we are responsible to teach our children to do the same. May the Lord give us grace to honor Him by honoring His image in all people.



Betty and her husband have homeschooled their eight children from the beginning. They live in Housatonic , MA in the lovely Berkshire Hills.


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A Humbling Experience

I have to say I am humbled by the responses to my last post. I have been ignoring / running from (whatever you want to call it) this calling for years. In the past when I have brought this up I have received little support to ridicule for my effort. It only reinforced my attempts to run from my calling. I thank all of you for your support. I just hope that my ramblings on this blog make sense to a dying world. I know I am called to take the “church” to task and it is a daunting calling. I am a nobody when it comes to facing this “giant in the land”. I am reminded though that this is what He has done through the years. He has taken the week, the small, the insignificant and used them to change the world. I am truly humbled by what has been entrusted to me and I pray that I will not let the Father down. Thank you all.

The Gospel is Offensive

I hope that made you sit up and say “wait a minute did he just say that?”. It was intended. I have been in a pensive mood today. It is days like today I am reminded what I was called for and why I am a Jonah. You see I am a prophet I was called to be one so therefore I am one. I have as of yet foretold a future event and I am not sure that is what the Father had in mind. I am to go out and tell the truth. This is what the prophets of old did for the most part. I do not want to, I have spent my entire early life learning to be invisible. One thing a prophet is not is invisible. I have spent my life being a peacemaker and generally prophets are confrontational. There is nothing in my nature that would make this calling a part of me, and hence the reason I know it is from Yeshua.


I will try to get to my point. It will probably take several posts to get all my information out. I will try to summarize it for now. We are losing our foundation. Churches are starting to spread a watered down “gospel lite” that omits the need for the shed blood of Yeshua and why it was necessary. We have moved away from a gospel preaching about man’s degenerate nature and our need of repentance in favor of making us feel good and meeting our felt needs. The true gospel should offend, it should make us feel the guilt of our sin, and realize the need for the cleansing blood of Yeshua. A person must stumble upon his own sin and the realization that without Christ he will go to hell. Apart from this there is no salvation I know this is harsh but it is the truth, and sometimes the truth hurts.

I leave this post with the lyrics to a song I have loved for years.


Scandalon
By Michael Card

The seers and the prophets had foretold it long ago
That the long awaited one would make men stumble
But they were looking for a king to conquer and to kill
Who'd have ever thought He'd be so weak and humble
Chorus
He will be the truth that will offend them one and all
A stone that makes men stumble
And a rock that makes them fall
Many will be broken so that He can make them whole
And many will be crushed and lose their own soul

Along the path of life there lies a stubborn Scandalon
And all who come this way must be offended
To some He is a barrier, To others He's the way
For all should know the scandal of believing
Chorus
He will be the truth that will offend them one and all
A stone that makes men stumble
And a rock that makes them fall
Many will be broken so that He can make them whole
And many will be crushed and lose their own soul

It seems today the Scandalon offends no one at all
The image we present can be stepped over
Could it be that we are like the others long ago
Will we ever learn that all who come must stumble
Repeat Chorus
He will be the truth that will offend them one and all
A stone that makes men stumble
And a rock that makes them fall
Many will be broken so that He can make them whole
And many will be crushed and lose their own soul

P.S.
I know the last couple of posts have been shallow. It was my vain attempt to stick my fingers in my ears and say “la la la la la la la I can’t hear you”

This is Just Not Right

I will have to say I am not a big movie fan. I have not seen a movie in the theater in years. There just is not much out there worth seeing. As a teenager I loved the James Bond movies although I never wanted to be James Bond, I wanted to be Q. He got to play with and make all kinds of neat gadgets. James Bond should not be blond, It is not right I think the producers are making a big mistake. He doesn’t even look like a prototypical James Bond

James Blond

P.S.
I know my geek is showing through.

Something Cool

I ran across this a couple of days ago and filed it in my “you don’t see this every day" file and thought I would share it with you. This is Europe’s largest water bridge. This is the first time I ever saw such a marvel of engineering and decided to pass it on

Europe's Largest Water Bridge Opens

Miracle Monday

I have been contemplating writing about miracles each Monday. The hard part is coming up with credible real life stories. I have found a few, but I thought I might start with a couple of miracles that have affected our lives. I decided to do these on Monday because Mondays are hard on people for some reason, and stories of miracles are uplifting.

The first is one that happened to Birdie before she became a Christian. She was 14 at the time, and had gone to the Texas State Fair. She was having a normal day with one of her friends. That night she and here friend got in line to ride an amusement ride called the Enterprise. For those of you who do not know what this is I will try to explain. It is a high speed spinning ride that tilts up 90 degrees once it reaches speed. It is very intense. She was in line and part of the next group to get on when she was given a VERY STRONG feeling she should not get on the ride. She convinced her friend not to get on. After they walked away (her friend somewhat in disgust) one of the cars on the ride broke off and killed one of three people inside the car. Birdie is convinced she and her friend would have been in that car. She now believes it was G_d telling her not to get on that ride. I am very thankful that she heeded this warning as I would have never met her and none of our wonderful children would be here today.

The second is one that happened to me. While not as dramatic as Birdie’s story it still touched me personally. A little over three years ago I started suffering from a very painful foot ailment called plantar facitis. This is a condition where the ligament in the bottom of the foot loses some of its elasticity. It makes it hard to walk and in my case hard to climb ladders (my job called for climbing smokestacks then). When it first started I saw a podiatrist and had a cortisone shot done. This treatment is painful in itself, but it seemed to take and I had no pain for about nine months. It came back with a vengeance. I went back and saw my doctor and had another treatment done. I was also told about the other options, including surgery. Surgery would have laid me up for a couple of months and I could not afford that, plus there was no guarantee that the surgery would work. The second treatment did not work, the pain had subsided some but not completely. I started praying that I would be healed so that I could continue to provide for my family. Shortly after that, one of our cars broke down and Birdie had the other taking the kids to co-op classes, she was going to be late and we lived a couple of blocks away from the office so I decided to walk home. As I was crossing the only major street I would have to cross I had a searing pain shoot from my foot all the way up my leg. I knew right then that it would be the last time that I would have any more trouble with my foot. I was in pain for about a week and I have never hurt scince that incident. I now believe that G_d allowed the ligament to tear just enough to heal my foot without the need to go through any surgery or lengthy recoveries. I also found out that this is essentially what is done in surgery. I was very thankful that Yeshua provided for us in that way.

NFL Picks Week 5

Blue = Win
Red = Loss

Tampa Bay at NY Jets : Tampa Bay
Seattle at St. Louis : Seattle
New Orleans at Green Bay : Green Bay
Chicago at Cleveland : Chicago
Baltimore at Detroit : Baltimore
New England at Atlanta : New England
Tennessee at Houston : Tennessee
Miami at Buffalo : Miami
Indianapolis at San Francisco : Indianapolis
Carolina at Arizona : Carolina
Washington at Denver : Denver
Philadelphia at Dallas : Philadelphia
Cincinnati at Jacksonville : Cincinnati
Pittsburgh at San Diego : San Diego


I know I picked against the Boys but I just don’t see them winning this one. I will be glad to eat the loss on my list if they pull off the win though.

Update:
WOW!!! I was way wrong about the Boys. They totally manhandled the Eagles.

Update 2:
7-7 not a good week. It was a tough week to pick. We had bad teams playing each other, and good teams playing each other. It was just hard to pick a clear cut winner.

Our Power in Christ

Even before I came to know Yeshua I have believed in the supernatural, a force beyond us that would apply its power to miraculously change what cannot be changed through natural means. As a young teen I thought I could harness that power and escape from the living hell I lived in. I am now very glad I never figured it out. I would never of known what I was getting into. I now know there are two sources of supernatural power one is malevolent and the other benevolent.

I am not going to cover the malevolent source other that to acknowledge that it is from the enemy of Yeshua. I do not want to go there it is too dark and not what this post is about. I do want to talk about the benevolent source. This is Yeshua the Messiah, Creator of the universe, and my personal Savior and Lord. When we talk about the supernatural in connection to Yeshua we generally refer to miracles.

Before being redeemed I was intrigued by the miracles Yeshua performed while He was here in the flesh. I was even more intrigued by the fact that his early followers performed miracles as well. Although not being a factor in my accepting Him as Lord I believed (and still do) that if we want to, and we have enough faith we can perform miracles as well. This belief got me into quite a bit of trouble with church leaders in the past. Enough so that I learned to be quiet and “not rock the boat”. I was saved in the Southern Baptist Church and they seem to teach that for the most part that miracles are a thing of the past. We do not need them because we have the Word and that is all we need. It seems to me when they pray for someone to be healed they put in “ if it is His will” as a caveat implying that they really don’t believe He will. I say hogwash. The Word says He is the same today, yesterday, and tomorrow. Why would He stop now? The early Christians had scripture as well. It was used very effectively to point to Yeshua being the Messiah and yet they still performed miracles.

The scriptural basis for what I believe about miracles is very simple. The most important verse is this one:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
John 14:12
The works of Yeshua are well documented, as are the works of the apostles. I did a search on Bible.com and came up with 32 verses with the word “miracle” specifically in the New Testament alone. I could list them but it would take to much space on my post.


The following excerpt is from “Blessed Child” by Ted Dekker and Bill Bright. It is a wonderful fictional account of an orphaned boy that grew up in a monastery in Africa and was thrust out into the world. The story is sort of a noble savage story with a definite Christian slant. Yeshua gave the boy the gift of healing and he had been brought to see a prominent and dying church leader. This was part of the conversation after Caleb (the boy) did not heal the man.

“Miraculous or not, walking in the Spirit means stepping into the Kingdom of God, and most Christians aren’t willing to walk there. They enter the kingdom at their rebirth but take few steps.” Dr. Thompson grinned and faced them. “ At least that’s the way Caleb puts it, and I think I like his perspective. Those who do walk in the kingdom have far more power than you would ever guess. It might not be the straightening of bent spines; you may not even see it here among the mud pies, but believe me, the power of the Spirit-filled man is quite stunning. Whoever said that a straightened hand was more dramatic than a healed heart anyway? Caleb may be a vessel of God’s spectacular power, but he is not as unique as you think. You’re just not seeing the rest of it with your eyes – the fruits of the Spirit, the power of love, the color of peace. What you need is to have your eyes opened.”



1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.
2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.
3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
II Corinthians 12 1- 11

Here is where the rubber meets the road. Each one of us, if we are willing to walk in the Spirit, can perform the same works that Yeshua performed and greater. Not every one will have the same gift but each one of us has the capacity to perform miracles. It just depends on Yeshua as to what we are gifted with. The Spirit will lead you and guide you in your calling. Yet we all have the capacity to do the most miraculous thing of all, heal the wounded heart. When we are walking in the Spirit and we touch other people’s lives, their lives will be changed forever. That is the most dramatic miracle of all.

“No, I am Praying”

I am still working on the miracles post but here is an amusing moment that happened last night while I was at work.

The children are quite good at making up games, and last night they made up one they call rock bowling. Apparently it is fun enough for the oldest but simple enough for the youngest. Well they were playing the game and it came up to be Puddleglum’s turn ( BTW he was loosing). They waited and waited and then prompted him. He turned around and said, “ No, I am praying” turned back around finished his little prayer and promptly started scoring better.

On Heresy

“That doesn't mean that we can tolerate actual heretical teachings which all, in the long run, teach we can do something through our own efforts to be righteous and make the blood of Messiah of no effect.”
Serena

My comments were never meant to imply tolerance of heresy. I stated in my first post there were certain basic tenets in being called one of His children. There are groups out there who call themselves Christian who cannot even hold to these basic tenets. These tenets are not up for argument. My post was meant to convey my dismay over the total lack of love we as believers seem to show one another when we see things differently as to how scripture is interpreted. Things such as weather or not His followers can perform miracles today, security of the believer, how one is to dress, what kind of music we listen too, or weather or not women are allowed to teach or preach are just a few of the things we argue over and use to make our claim that “our church” is better that the one down the block. Are there denominations that are teaching heresy today? Yes there are, and Yeshua (I am learning to prefer this name for the Messiah) will weed them out.

P.S. I will post soon on miracles and what I believe. I want to back up what I am going to say and find a quote from a book that has shaped some of my belief.

The Body

Now my friends I have been to a number of churches of several denominations over the years. This has been mostly in an attempt to find a church that I could comfortably worship in. To be honest I have yet to find one that fits just right. Either I run into doctrinal disagreements, (Mostly over security of the believer. I do not wish to engage in a doctrinal discussion over that point right now.) I find a church that is too uptight to worship, or I run into a church that wishes to tear down another denomination down because they do not believe the same way for whatever reason. This last reason is the one I find to be most disturbing.

My first introduction to Jesus was through an Assembly of God church. It was because of them I was cool towards religion for a while, but the seeds were sown. If you have ever been to an AoG service you are in for a treat. I found Jesus while attending a Southern Baptist Church. While most of my beliefs line up with the SBC we differ when it comes to miracles. It was this that got me into some spats with the leadership of the church. After that I tried the Church of the Nazarene. I loved worship in that church, it was open, and full of the Spirit, but I could not join them as a member because I could not accept every portion of their doctrine. Sadly this is also where I met my worst taste of the disturbing practice of demonizing other denominations. They had an evangelist come for a revival and she could not say anything with out some comment about how horrible the Baptists were.

This is all to set up my belief on the body of the church. I have heard in a number of sermons on the body all in the context of the local church never on the church as a whole. Back when I traveled allot, driving was my time to reflect on life and focus on Jesus, basically my alone time. It was during one of these times that Jesus revealed a truth to me. All of the scriptures pertaining to the body of the church could be applied universally. Each denomination serves a unique function within the church as a whole. The Creator knowing that each individual person is different allowed the denominations to flourish so that a person who would turn away from one would be find Him in another. That is precisely what happened to me. I have a burden to share this with the church because we are losing our effectiveness while we fight with each other and turn those seeking away because they never find the love they so desperately need. The denominations were meant to compliment one another not to divide. The enemy has used our differences to split us. I honestly believe that if the denominations could put their differences aside, agree on the basics, and show each other the love that should flow like a river from the body we would see a revival that would make the Great Awakening look like a Sunday picnic.

Blogroll Update

I updated my blogroll. Please let me know if I left you off, or that you wish to be added.

Nicknames

I was asked what the nicknames of my children are. So I will repost them with an attempt to give some explanation for each.


Ditto: He is the oldest at 14. We had another nickname for him but he hated it and asked for something different. After much discussion it was decided that he would go by Ditto because he was named after me. The funniest thing is that in reality he is my direct opposite.

Pookie: She is my only daughter and is 10. She got her nickname because Mama felt she was too small for her name when she was born. She was convinced until she was two that her real name was Pookie and preferred to be called that until she was five.

Sneefert: He is the middle son at 7. I am still not sure how he got that name. I traveled a lot during that time and I have heard many times from Birdie how she came up with it. It is still confusing and I am not sure I could explain it without revealing his real name.

Puddleglum: He is my youngest currently born child at 4 ½. His nickname is a story, but here it is in a nutshell. He was a bit of a cranky baby and Ditto was reading the Chronicles of Narnia. The name just fit his personality.

NASCAR Fans, We Start Them Young

There I was in the kitchen working on dinner, (Birdie was having an all day bout with morning sickness) when I noticed the two younger boys were playing some kind of car racing game. Sneefert(7) was busy saying “ready, set, go” and Puddleglum(4 ½) pipes in and says, “ NO, it is gentlemen start your engines.” I have never taught him that, so he had to get it from watching NASCAR with dad.

NFL Picks Week 4

Last week I was 8-6 I was doing good until the last two games.

Blue = Win
Red = Loss

Houston Texans at Cincinnati Bengals: Bengals
Indianapolis Colts at Tennessee Titans: Colts
San Diego Chargers at New England Patriots: Patriots
Buffalo Bills at New Orleans Saints: Bills
St. Louis Rams at New York Giants: Giants
Detroit Lions at Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Buccaneers
Seattle Seahawks at Washington Redskins: Seahawks
Denver Broncos at Jacksonville Jaguars: Broncos
New York Jets at Baltimore Ravens: Ravens
Minnesota Vikings at Atlanta Falcons: Falcons
Philadelphia Eagles at Kansas City Chiefs: Eagles
Dallas Cowboys at Oakland Raiders: Cowboys
San Francisco 49ers at Arizona Cardinals: 49ers
Green Bay Packers at Carolina Panthers: Panthers

I am picking the Boys mostly out of loyalty. I think that Dallas is a better team over all, Dallas has this pesky little problem defending the deep pass, and Oakland has this wide receiver that is going to prove problematic in that regard.

Update:
Went 9-5 for the week. Not as good as Astro, but I am trying. Condolences go out to my oldest son who is doomed to a long season of Packer defeats. He is still in denial. (How the worlds biggest Cowboys fan raised a Packer fan I will never know)