1. That God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16
2. The description of the Proverbs 31 woman and the Titus 2 principle that has been my guide for the past three years.
3. A wise and thoughtful husband.
4. Five beautiful daughters.
5. Girlfriends who lead by example.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Excerpt from Storm Warning
Excerpt from Billy Graham's 1992 book titled, Storm Warning. . .
A part of the confusion of the world, however, is in the church itself. Whereas once the church offered a unified standard of values and beliefs to pull the world back from the precipice of self-destruction, too often that standard has been compromised by convenient social theories in place of the Bible's truth, and discredited by the moral failures of its leaders.
In numerous churches the Bible is treated as a collection of fairy tales and fables written by half-educated men of an ancient time. While it offers challenging spiritual myths and wholesome encouragement, some "modern" churches seem to feel that no one should go to the Bible expecting to find absolute truth.
Such teaching is an abomination before God. Nothing could be more destructive to true faith and peace on earth. In the face of such a growing storm, the world desperately needs moorings, and God has given us that anchor in His Word, the Bible.
I guess what I have been feeling these past few months is nothing new. Billy Graham saw the same things happening in the church and felt the same concerns 16 years ago.
I only have limited exposure to the worldwide church, but it has been so confusing to me to see so many who profess Christianity actually believe very different truths. However, Billy Graham preached to over 100 million people in eighty-four countries in his lifetime, and had vast knowledge and experience in the worldwide church. He saw this as a problem everywhere he went.
Our natural self wants to be in control and it's when we give over to that natural self that we fail to submit to God's authority, to make His Word the final word, and to put His reasoning above our reasoning. When our church leaders start to create their own truth and change God's original intent, they take the people with them, causing them to drift off course with them. The only way to get back on course is to return to God's Word as absolute truth.
May you be in God's Word daily, searching for understanding of His truth, and then be His truthful testimony to the world!
A part of the confusion of the world, however, is in the church itself. Whereas once the church offered a unified standard of values and beliefs to pull the world back from the precipice of self-destruction, too often that standard has been compromised by convenient social theories in place of the Bible's truth, and discredited by the moral failures of its leaders.
In numerous churches the Bible is treated as a collection of fairy tales and fables written by half-educated men of an ancient time. While it offers challenging spiritual myths and wholesome encouragement, some "modern" churches seem to feel that no one should go to the Bible expecting to find absolute truth.
Such teaching is an abomination before God. Nothing could be more destructive to true faith and peace on earth. In the face of such a growing storm, the world desperately needs moorings, and God has given us that anchor in His Word, the Bible.
I guess what I have been feeling these past few months is nothing new. Billy Graham saw the same things happening in the church and felt the same concerns 16 years ago.
I only have limited exposure to the worldwide church, but it has been so confusing to me to see so many who profess Christianity actually believe very different truths. However, Billy Graham preached to over 100 million people in eighty-four countries in his lifetime, and had vast knowledge and experience in the worldwide church. He saw this as a problem everywhere he went.
Our natural self wants to be in control and it's when we give over to that natural self that we fail to submit to God's authority, to make His Word the final word, and to put His reasoning above our reasoning. When our church leaders start to create their own truth and change God's original intent, they take the people with them, causing them to drift off course with them. The only way to get back on course is to return to God's Word as absolute truth.
May you be in God's Word daily, searching for understanding of His truth, and then be His truthful testimony to the world!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Crossroad
Crossroad
I found this wonderful website and wanted to share it with you. Here's why it's so important to me.
In the last few months, God has really opened my eyes to the onslaught of worldly views into the church. Little by little, Satan's lies have infiltrated the hearts of some of our Christian leaders and have taken them captive. A captive leader does not teach God's truth but rather Satan's lies. A people who blindly follow a captive leader will also be taken captive by buying into the lies themselves. These churches will lose their lamp stands and become ineffective for God's work, but quite effective for Satan's.
I never dreamed I'd find spiritual warfare within the church itself. I guess I was naive, but I was really shocked when I began to see, through God's grace, the lies being taught in the church. We have been fortunate enough to find a new church home, a biblically sound church, teaching God's truth. Thanks be to God!
Nonetheless, I have been so grieved by what I have seen, I can only imagine how God grieves to see His people so willingly go down the wrong path. I also sense a forthcoming rise in Christian persecution in this country. God's Truth is being attacked and soon God's witnesses, us, will be attacked too.
Last night in our family bible study, we really stressed to our kids how important it is to know what the bible says for yourself because the world will preach a different message. Your defense is knowing God's uncompromising, unchanging Truth for yourself. This has always been a Christians charge but maybe one that needs to be repeated and modeled in our homes.
I found this website while researching a book called The Shack. I first became aware of this book, in our new church. One Sunday they opened the microphones up to the congregation to speak if they felt God had stirred something in their heart to say. One woman came up and spoke about how her Christian friends were encouraging her to read this book but she had a stern warning to everyone that this book was heresy. That was my first hearing of this book.
In the last few weeks, a Christian friend of mine highly recommended it saying, "A must read for any Christian" and our former Pastor included it as a must read in the holiday letter sent out to the congregation. I, now, had two conflicting points of view and I just had to check it out for myself which led me to the website mentioned above.
I believe this book is another way Satan is chipping away at the Christian faith. Captive unbelievers, captive Christian leaders, and captive Christians are all buying into the idea that God is something that can be changed to suit our needs and that we must redefine Christianity and our beliefs to fit who we are today as a people, instead of changing who we are as a people to fit who God wants us to be.
The timing of Focus on the Family's, The Truth Project couldn't be more precisely needed than now. I am so grateful to be going through this small group, DVD study. I am so thankful for our new church family, our new small group family, and the resources I am finding by God-inspired servants, such as this website, to counter the culture we are in today.
May God break the chains of Satan's grip on our heart and restore us fully unto Himself so that we may persevere until the end and be claimed as one of God's own children!
I found this wonderful website and wanted to share it with you. Here's why it's so important to me.
In the last few months, God has really opened my eyes to the onslaught of worldly views into the church. Little by little, Satan's lies have infiltrated the hearts of some of our Christian leaders and have taken them captive. A captive leader does not teach God's truth but rather Satan's lies. A people who blindly follow a captive leader will also be taken captive by buying into the lies themselves. These churches will lose their lamp stands and become ineffective for God's work, but quite effective for Satan's.
I never dreamed I'd find spiritual warfare within the church itself. I guess I was naive, but I was really shocked when I began to see, through God's grace, the lies being taught in the church. We have been fortunate enough to find a new church home, a biblically sound church, teaching God's truth. Thanks be to God!
Nonetheless, I have been so grieved by what I have seen, I can only imagine how God grieves to see His people so willingly go down the wrong path. I also sense a forthcoming rise in Christian persecution in this country. God's Truth is being attacked and soon God's witnesses, us, will be attacked too.
Last night in our family bible study, we really stressed to our kids how important it is to know what the bible says for yourself because the world will preach a different message. Your defense is knowing God's uncompromising, unchanging Truth for yourself. This has always been a Christians charge but maybe one that needs to be repeated and modeled in our homes.
I found this website while researching a book called The Shack. I first became aware of this book, in our new church. One Sunday they opened the microphones up to the congregation to speak if they felt God had stirred something in their heart to say. One woman came up and spoke about how her Christian friends were encouraging her to read this book but she had a stern warning to everyone that this book was heresy. That was my first hearing of this book.
In the last few weeks, a Christian friend of mine highly recommended it saying, "A must read for any Christian" and our former Pastor included it as a must read in the holiday letter sent out to the congregation. I, now, had two conflicting points of view and I just had to check it out for myself which led me to the website mentioned above.
I believe this book is another way Satan is chipping away at the Christian faith. Captive unbelievers, captive Christian leaders, and captive Christians are all buying into the idea that God is something that can be changed to suit our needs and that we must redefine Christianity and our beliefs to fit who we are today as a people, instead of changing who we are as a people to fit who God wants us to be.
The timing of Focus on the Family's, The Truth Project couldn't be more precisely needed than now. I am so grateful to be going through this small group, DVD study. I am so thankful for our new church family, our new small group family, and the resources I am finding by God-inspired servants, such as this website, to counter the culture we are in today.
May God break the chains of Satan's grip on our heart and restore us fully unto Himself so that we may persevere until the end and be claimed as one of God's own children!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Back to the Bible
Back to the Bible - Today on Back to the Bible
This edition of Back to the Bible touched on false teachers in the church and since I've been writing about that a lot, I thought I'd shared this with you all.
This edition of Back to the Bible touched on false teachers in the church and since I've been writing about that a lot, I thought I'd shared this with you all.
Teach to be Good Friends
Just a quick note to parents today.
Teach your kids how to be good friends to each other.
My 15 year old daughter is heartbroken this year because her friends don't seem to "be" there for her.
She lost her Grandpa to cancer this September and none of her friends even asked how she was doing, much less send a card, or attend the wake. She makes plans with other kids and they don't show up. They don't call and cancel. They just ditch her.
She is such a loyal friend who would give the shirt off her back to anyone and it just breaks my heart to see her self esteem drop because other parents haven't taught their own kids how to be compassionate and aware of others, how to keep their comittments, and how to be honest.
Too often parents neglect to instill these values in thier children because they are too busy with their own lives, but they also don't seem to lead by example either. We have become too much of a "me" society that we can't see others' needs.
What will the next generation look like if these children continue with this "me" attitude?
Whatever happened to the 'best friends forever, through thick and thin, no matter what, no one will break us apart' mentality? Have our little girls lost this very important bonding skill? I pray not.
Teach your kids how to be good friends to each other.
My 15 year old daughter is heartbroken this year because her friends don't seem to "be" there for her.
She lost her Grandpa to cancer this September and none of her friends even asked how she was doing, much less send a card, or attend the wake. She makes plans with other kids and they don't show up. They don't call and cancel. They just ditch her.
She is such a loyal friend who would give the shirt off her back to anyone and it just breaks my heart to see her self esteem drop because other parents haven't taught their own kids how to be compassionate and aware of others, how to keep their comittments, and how to be honest.
Too often parents neglect to instill these values in thier children because they are too busy with their own lives, but they also don't seem to lead by example either. We have become too much of a "me" society that we can't see others' needs.
What will the next generation look like if these children continue with this "me" attitude?
Whatever happened to the 'best friends forever, through thick and thin, no matter what, no one will break us apart' mentality? Have our little girls lost this very important bonding skill? I pray not.
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