I learned something this week! It was an Aha! moment. In Sunday School Class we are studying the Bible with the focus of seeing where we are right now in the progression of the 'end times' - - with the intent of seeing events through that filter.
The first thrust of that focus has been centered in a comparison of the parables of Matthew 13 (the first 7 of Jesus' parables) and the seven churches of Revelation (Chapters 1-3).
It was in re-reading Matthew 13 yesterday that my Aha! moment occurred. The Parable of the Sower (as it is titled, and as Jesus references it) has previously struck me as being more appropriately 'The Parable of the Soils.' After all, it is the receptiveness of the different types of soil which represent the receptiveness of peoples' hearts and minds. I've even noted that my soil conditions can vary from one time to another in how much I absorb.
But - in reading this passage this week, what jumped out at me was that the sower sowed no matter what kind of soil it was.... He could have been very selective where he sowed. He wasn't. He cast the seed - did his part - without caution. It spoke volumes to me. Too often I have hid behind the 'Don't throw your pearls before swine' notion - - not wanting to speak up about my faith if it was within what I perceived to be a non-receptive group. I still believe that is something to be considered under the parameters of the leading of the Holy Spirit - - but what I realized yesterday was that I don't have to pre-determine the receptiveness of the soil.
Freely I have received. Freely I must give. It needs to come naturally out of my life and relationship to God, whether I am in a receptive situation or not.
So - with that lesson noted, last night I attended a 'party' I was invited to - and in visiting with 2 lovely ladies, it came up that I had left my former church. Our visit began with my affirmation of how cute the hat was that one lady was wearing. She's a 'red-hatter.' I said, When I was at my [former church] I wore my hats. I love my hats. But I could never do that where I am attending now. That's when she said "I didn't know you left." And I was asked why - so I explained about the theological differences that caused me to make that decision. I could tell one lady was very receptive to hearing what I had to say, and one was not. But - I was just reporting. So I continued.
I explained that God is the one who made the rules - not me - and that He was who had decided that Jesus was the only way to God. God couldn't save through any other way. He had already established that as the parameter. I wasn't being narrow. I didn't make the rule - - but I had to go by what the Bible teaches....
Seeing the one lady's pursed lips - - I knew she was holding back what she might have said - but, finally she said, "I would make a good Jew. I believe in God, but I don't believe in Jesus." And then she asked, "If Jesus was so important, why did they lose him for all those years?" She related that she used to even teach Sunday School, but one time she asked her pastor about events related to Jesus' birth - and he told her that the Christmas Story was just 'made up' - so she stopped believing and never believed again.
Our discussion progressed to my sharing a little of my personal testimony - - how I had walked away from my faith for a couple of years - - but in my moment of deepest hurt and despair when I was on the verge of miscarrying the baby I was carrying I cried out to God, "IF you are there, IF you exist, if you will save this baby, I will recommit my life to you." He did - and I did.
I told her, "It's O K if you don't believe. It's your choice. But - there are over 700 prophecies in the Old Testament that point to Jesus, and He fulfills every one of them." I also suggested that if she really wanted to know, God was up to the challenge....
I had no idea where she stood in her views or her faith when the conversation began. I wasn't trying to offend. It just came up naturally in conversation. I didn't try to determine the receptivity of the soil before casting seed.
I want so desperately to not offend - - but when I stand before the LORD who created heaven and earth, I don't want to offend HIM for not sharing His story!
I am a child of God's grace - - absolutely unworthy - - but washed in the blood of the lamb. When God sees me, he sees me through the filter of His Son - - through the blood Jesus shed as our sacrifice for sin. He took the punishment so we don't have to. What an amazing GOD - - that He would choose to come to earth - - God incarnate - - and take on human form, then die for the created to pay the penalty sin demands.
I believe in Jesus! What He did for me is unbelievable, unfathomable. We are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone.... The promised Messiah came as a babe to Bethlehem. He came to draw men to Him. Proclaimed himself as God, not just another prophet as some religions promote. He died. He took his life up again in glorious resurrection. He lives! His kingdom is in mens' hearts. He is Savior! He is LORD!!!!
Last night after I came home from the party my human concern leaped straight to: I hope I didn't offend her. And - it's true. I would rather not offend - - but I realize that when we speak the truth - - even in love - - some people will be. But - - what if there is a tiny seed planted? What if in the interest of finding out someone goes to their Bible and starts reading? What if we can be a catalyst? One plants, one waters, one harvests. I may not get to see the end result - but I do need to be faithful in my little corner of the world.... It is my job to sow....
Lord, I know you love this lovely lady so much that you died for her. Reveal yourself to her. As I told her, I can't be her Holy Spirit!!! But you can!!!!
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Thursday, November 25, 2010
THANKSGIVING
THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE. LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT!
Every day should be a day of Thanksgiving - but the special thing about the designated day we celebrate today is that it was...designated.
Our nation’s first President, George Washington, issued the following proclamation:
“Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor, and
Whereas both houses of Congress have by their joint committee requested me to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God,
Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these states to the service of that great and glorious being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.”
Our founding fathers certainly weren't all Christians - but our foundation was based on belief in God as the one and only true God - yet the allowance was made for the freedom for all people to believe as they choose within the boundaries of our nation. It is a philosophy that allows differences of opinion - yet that very 'freedom' seeks to destroy the hand that fed it....
America as we have known it was created by the assimilation of people from all over the world. Not everyone who comes here shares the faith we were founded on. That is their choice. But - we have always been 'One Nation Under God' and instead of changing laws to embrace peoples' differences of religious expression, there should absolutely be tolerance of those differences without compromising our nation's foundational belief. We are a Christian nation. When we cease to be a Christian nation, we will be devoured and cease to retain any resemblance to the nation we were founded to be. In fact, we may cease to exist at all....
And - while all who come make this their home don't share our foundational religious belief, they seem to love the freedom they are allowed here that they wouldn't be afforded in their native countries. Yet, more and more I hear that political decisions are being made to incorporate laws of other belief systems that conflict with the laws we are governed by. If that happens it will spell disaster. It is too great a compromise.
The problem with being too 'politically correct' in wanting to make everyone happy is that we take God out of the equation. He still reigns supreme. He is still on the throne. I'd think as a nation that we'd want to remember to honor that reality!
Just saying...we still have a LOT to be thankful for. First, thanks to God just for being God, then continued thanks for the land of the free because of the brave, as well as thanks for the blessings living here has allowed us...but we have been promised CHANGE, and the changes I see so far aren't in our best interest....
Every day should be a day of Thanksgiving - but the special thing about the designated day we celebrate today is that it was...designated.
Our nation’s first President, George Washington, issued the following proclamation:
“Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor, and
Whereas both houses of Congress have by their joint committee requested me to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God,
Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these states to the service of that great and glorious being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be.”
Our founding fathers certainly weren't all Christians - but our foundation was based on belief in God as the one and only true God - yet the allowance was made for the freedom for all people to believe as they choose within the boundaries of our nation. It is a philosophy that allows differences of opinion - yet that very 'freedom' seeks to destroy the hand that fed it....
America as we have known it was created by the assimilation of people from all over the world. Not everyone who comes here shares the faith we were founded on. That is their choice. But - we have always been 'One Nation Under God' and instead of changing laws to embrace peoples' differences of religious expression, there should absolutely be tolerance of those differences without compromising our nation's foundational belief. We are a Christian nation. When we cease to be a Christian nation, we will be devoured and cease to retain any resemblance to the nation we were founded to be. In fact, we may cease to exist at all....
And - while all who come make this their home don't share our foundational religious belief, they seem to love the freedom they are allowed here that they wouldn't be afforded in their native countries. Yet, more and more I hear that political decisions are being made to incorporate laws of other belief systems that conflict with the laws we are governed by. If that happens it will spell disaster. It is too great a compromise.
The problem with being too 'politically correct' in wanting to make everyone happy is that we take God out of the equation. He still reigns supreme. He is still on the throne. I'd think as a nation that we'd want to remember to honor that reality!
Just saying...we still have a LOT to be thankful for. First, thanks to God just for being God, then continued thanks for the land of the free because of the brave, as well as thanks for the blessings living here has allowed us...but we have been promised CHANGE, and the changes I see so far aren't in our best interest....
Monday, November 22, 2010
THANKSGIVING: Our Christian Heritage
I found the following on the internet this morning. It whets my appetite for wanting to read the book this excerpt is from! My education in public school, Sunday School – and even college at a Christian University – never informed me of the extent of the Christian foundation of America! My first insights came through viewing THE TRUTH PROJECT, by Del Tackett, which provides a Christian Worldview as opposed to the altered version we received in our textbooks. This article continues that insight. It is a wonderful link to our history this Thanksgiving season!
God in Washington D.C.
by Gary DeMar
The official minutes of the first session of the continental congress in 1774 show that Sam Adams made a proposal that the sessions be opened with prayer. Not everyone agreed. John Jay and John Rutledge opposed the recommendation claiming that the diversity of religious opinion precluded such an action. Their minority opinion did not carry the day. At the end of the debate over the proposal, Adams said that it did not become “Christian men, who had come together for solemn deliberation in the hour of their extremity, to say there was so wide a difference in their religious belief that they could not, as one man, bow the knee in prayer to the Almighty, whose advice and assistance they hoped to obtain.”
After the appeal by Sam Adams, the disputation ceased and Reverend Jacob Duché led in prayer. John Adams wrote home to his wife that the prayer by Duché “had an excellent effect upon everybody here…. Those men who were about to resort to force to obtain their rights were moved by tears” upon hearing it. The Continental Congress also issued four fast-day proclamations. The July 12, 1775, fast-day is especially significant. All the colonies were to participate. John Adams, writing to his wife from Philadelphia, said, “We have appointed a Continental fast. Millions will be upon their knees at once before the great Creator, imploring His forgiveness and blessing; His smiles on American Councils and arms.”
Declaration of Independence
With the drafting of the Declaration of Independence in July of 1776, the colonies moved into a new era of political independence with ties to its Christian past. The Declaration is a religious document, basing its argument for rights on theological grounds. Rights, the Declaration maintains, are a gift from the Creator: “We are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights.” The logic is simple. No Creator, no rights.
The moral state of our nation is directly tied to this single phrase in the Declaration. Today, while our nation clamors for rights, it rejects the standard by which those rights secure their moral anchor. “Nature’s God,” who is the “Supreme Judge of the world,” makes rights a reality. While the Declaration is a theistic document, referring to “Divine Providence,” it is not specifically a Christian document. Even so, the religious phrases found in the body of the Declaration were easily understood in terms of the prevailing Christian worldview of the time. One Roman Catholic signer of the Declaration wrote: “When I signed the Declaration of Independence I had in view, not only our independence from England, but the toleration of all sects professing the Christian religion, and communicating to them all equal rights.”
The Congressional Bible
In 1777 Congress issued a proclamation for a day of thanksgiving for November of that year. December 18 was also to be set aside for “solemn thanksgiving and praise.” The proclamation called upon all citizens to “join the penitent confession of their manifold sins,” and to offer “their humble and earnest supplication that it may please God through the merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of remembrance.”
The same year Congress issued an official resolution instructing the Committee on Commerce to import 20,000 copies of the Bible. With the outbreak of war with England, the sea lanes had been cut off to the colonies. This meant that goods that were once common in the colonies were no longer being imported—including Bibles printed in England. Congress decided to act. Historian B. F. Morris states the following:
The legislation of Congress on the Bible is a suggestive Christian fact, and one which evinces the faith of the statesmen of that period in its divinity, as well as their purpose to place it as the corner-stone in our republican institutions. The breaking out of the Revolution cut off the supply of “books printed in London.” The scarcity of Bibles also came soon to be felt. Dr. Patrick Allison, one of the chaplains to Congress, and other gentlemen, brought the subject before that body in a memorial, in which they urged the printing of an edition of the Scriptures.
The committee approved the importing of 20,000 copies of the Bible from Scotland, Holland, and elsewhere. Congressmen resolved to pass this proposal because they believed that “the use of the Bible is so universal, and its importance so great.” Even though the resolution passed, action was never taken to import the Bibles. Instead, Congress began to put emphasis on the printing of Bibles within the United States. In 1777 Robert Aitken of Philadelphia published a New Testament. Three additional editions were published in 1789, 1779, and 1781. The edition of 1779 was used in schools. Aitken’s efforts proved so popular that he announced his desire to publish the whole Bible; he then petitioned Congress for support. Congress adopted the following resolution in 1782:
Resolved, That the United States in Congress assembled, highly approve the pious and laudable undertaking of Mr. Aitken, subservient to the interest of religion as well as the progress of the arts in this country, and being satisfied from the above report, of his care and accuracy in the execution of the work, they commend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States, and hereby authorize him to publish this recommendation in the manner he shall think proper.
The Continental Congress’s records show that it was not neutral to religion. “Its records are full of references to ‘God,’ under many titles, to ‘Jesus Christ,’ the ‘Christian Religion,’ ‘God and the Constitution,’ and the ‘Free Protestant Colonies.’”
The First United States Congress
The first order of business of the first United States Congress in 1789 was to appoint chaplains. The Right Reverend Bishop Samuel Provost and the Reverend William Linn became publicly paid chaplains of the Senate and House respectively. Since then, both the Senate and the House have continued regularly to open their sessions with prayer. Nearly all of the fifty states make some provision in their meetings for opening prayers or devotions from guest chaplains. Few if any saw this as a violation of the First Amendment.
On April 30, 1789, George Washington took the oath of office with his hand on a Bible. After taking the oath in Federal Hall, New York, he added, “I swear, so help me God”—words that were not part of the oath. Every president since Washington has invoked God’s name in this way. The inauguration was followed by “divine services” that were held in St. Paul’s Chapel, “performed by the Chaplain of Congress.” The first Congress that convened after the adoption of the Constitution requested of the President that the people of the United States observe a day of thanksgiving and prayer:
That a joint committee of both Houses be directed to wait upon the President of the United States to request that he would recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a Constitution of government for their safety and happiness.
This resolution was opposed by some as an infringement on the authority of the states: “It is a business with which Congress has nothing to do; it is a religious matter, and as such is proscribed to us.” Nevertheless, the resolution was adopted. Washington then issued a proclamation setting aside November 26, 1789, as a national day of thanksgiving, calling everyone to “unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions.” Washington called for days of prayer and thanksgiving on January 1 and February 19, 1795.
Good Government and Religion
Prayers in Congress, the appointment of chaplains, and the call for days of prayers and thanksgiving do not stand alone in the historical record. The evidence is overwhelming that America has in the past always linked good government to religion—and, in particular, to Christianity. Historians and constitutional scholars Anson Stokes and Leo Pfeffer summarize the role that the Christian religion played in the founding of this nation and the lofty position it has retained:
Throughout its history our governments, national and state, have co-operated with religion and shown friendliness to it. God is invoked in the Declaration of Independence and in practically every state constitution. Sunday, the Christian Sabbath, is universally observed as a day of rest. The sessions of Congress and of the state legislatures are invariably opened with prayer, in Congress by chaplains who are employed by the Federal government. We have chaplains in our armed forces and in our penal institutions. Oaths in courts of law are administered through use of the Bible. Public officials take an oath of office ending with “so help me God.” Religious institutions are tax exempt throughout the nation. Our pledge of allegiance declares that we are a nation “under God.” Our national motto is “In God We Trust” and is inscribed on our currency and on some of our postage stamps.
After only a cursory study of the years leading up to and including the drafting of the Constitution and the inauguration of the first president, it becomes obvious that Christianity played a foundational role in shaping our nation. It is not surprising that when courts had to define religion, they linked it to the Christian religion. In 1930 the Supreme Court declared, “We are a Christian people, according to one another the equal right of religious freedom, and acknowledging with reverence the duty of obedience to the will of God.” Further evidence of the role that the Christian religion played in the maintenance of our nation can be found in national pronouncements and inscriptions in our nation’s capital.
[Excerpt from America's Christian History: The Untold Story (Powder Springs, GA: American Vision, 1993, 2008), 113-118. Used by permission.]
God in Washington D.C.
by Gary DeMar
The official minutes of the first session of the continental congress in 1774 show that Sam Adams made a proposal that the sessions be opened with prayer. Not everyone agreed. John Jay and John Rutledge opposed the recommendation claiming that the diversity of religious opinion precluded such an action. Their minority opinion did not carry the day. At the end of the debate over the proposal, Adams said that it did not become “Christian men, who had come together for solemn deliberation in the hour of their extremity, to say there was so wide a difference in their religious belief that they could not, as one man, bow the knee in prayer to the Almighty, whose advice and assistance they hoped to obtain.”
After the appeal by Sam Adams, the disputation ceased and Reverend Jacob Duché led in prayer. John Adams wrote home to his wife that the prayer by Duché “had an excellent effect upon everybody here…. Those men who were about to resort to force to obtain their rights were moved by tears” upon hearing it. The Continental Congress also issued four fast-day proclamations. The July 12, 1775, fast-day is especially significant. All the colonies were to participate. John Adams, writing to his wife from Philadelphia, said, “We have appointed a Continental fast. Millions will be upon their knees at once before the great Creator, imploring His forgiveness and blessing; His smiles on American Councils and arms.”
Declaration of Independence
With the drafting of the Declaration of Independence in July of 1776, the colonies moved into a new era of political independence with ties to its Christian past. The Declaration is a religious document, basing its argument for rights on theological grounds. Rights, the Declaration maintains, are a gift from the Creator: “We are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights.” The logic is simple. No Creator, no rights.
The moral state of our nation is directly tied to this single phrase in the Declaration. Today, while our nation clamors for rights, it rejects the standard by which those rights secure their moral anchor. “Nature’s God,” who is the “Supreme Judge of the world,” makes rights a reality. While the Declaration is a theistic document, referring to “Divine Providence,” it is not specifically a Christian document. Even so, the religious phrases found in the body of the Declaration were easily understood in terms of the prevailing Christian worldview of the time. One Roman Catholic signer of the Declaration wrote: “When I signed the Declaration of Independence I had in view, not only our independence from England, but the toleration of all sects professing the Christian religion, and communicating to them all equal rights.”
The Congressional Bible
In 1777 Congress issued a proclamation for a day of thanksgiving for November of that year. December 18 was also to be set aside for “solemn thanksgiving and praise.” The proclamation called upon all citizens to “join the penitent confession of their manifold sins,” and to offer “their humble and earnest supplication that it may please God through the merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of remembrance.”
The same year Congress issued an official resolution instructing the Committee on Commerce to import 20,000 copies of the Bible. With the outbreak of war with England, the sea lanes had been cut off to the colonies. This meant that goods that were once common in the colonies were no longer being imported—including Bibles printed in England. Congress decided to act. Historian B. F. Morris states the following:
The legislation of Congress on the Bible is a suggestive Christian fact, and one which evinces the faith of the statesmen of that period in its divinity, as well as their purpose to place it as the corner-stone in our republican institutions. The breaking out of the Revolution cut off the supply of “books printed in London.” The scarcity of Bibles also came soon to be felt. Dr. Patrick Allison, one of the chaplains to Congress, and other gentlemen, brought the subject before that body in a memorial, in which they urged the printing of an edition of the Scriptures.
The committee approved the importing of 20,000 copies of the Bible from Scotland, Holland, and elsewhere. Congressmen resolved to pass this proposal because they believed that “the use of the Bible is so universal, and its importance so great.” Even though the resolution passed, action was never taken to import the Bibles. Instead, Congress began to put emphasis on the printing of Bibles within the United States. In 1777 Robert Aitken of Philadelphia published a New Testament. Three additional editions were published in 1789, 1779, and 1781. The edition of 1779 was used in schools. Aitken’s efforts proved so popular that he announced his desire to publish the whole Bible; he then petitioned Congress for support. Congress adopted the following resolution in 1782:
Resolved, That the United States in Congress assembled, highly approve the pious and laudable undertaking of Mr. Aitken, subservient to the interest of religion as well as the progress of the arts in this country, and being satisfied from the above report, of his care and accuracy in the execution of the work, they commend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States, and hereby authorize him to publish this recommendation in the manner he shall think proper.
The Continental Congress’s records show that it was not neutral to religion. “Its records are full of references to ‘God,’ under many titles, to ‘Jesus Christ,’ the ‘Christian Religion,’ ‘God and the Constitution,’ and the ‘Free Protestant Colonies.’”
The First United States Congress
The first order of business of the first United States Congress in 1789 was to appoint chaplains. The Right Reverend Bishop Samuel Provost and the Reverend William Linn became publicly paid chaplains of the Senate and House respectively. Since then, both the Senate and the House have continued regularly to open their sessions with prayer. Nearly all of the fifty states make some provision in their meetings for opening prayers or devotions from guest chaplains. Few if any saw this as a violation of the First Amendment.
On April 30, 1789, George Washington took the oath of office with his hand on a Bible. After taking the oath in Federal Hall, New York, he added, “I swear, so help me God”—words that were not part of the oath. Every president since Washington has invoked God’s name in this way. The inauguration was followed by “divine services” that were held in St. Paul’s Chapel, “performed by the Chaplain of Congress.” The first Congress that convened after the adoption of the Constitution requested of the President that the people of the United States observe a day of thanksgiving and prayer:
That a joint committee of both Houses be directed to wait upon the President of the United States to request that he would recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a Constitution of government for their safety and happiness.
This resolution was opposed by some as an infringement on the authority of the states: “It is a business with which Congress has nothing to do; it is a religious matter, and as such is proscribed to us.” Nevertheless, the resolution was adopted. Washington then issued a proclamation setting aside November 26, 1789, as a national day of thanksgiving, calling everyone to “unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions.” Washington called for days of prayer and thanksgiving on January 1 and February 19, 1795.
Good Government and Religion
Prayers in Congress, the appointment of chaplains, and the call for days of prayers and thanksgiving do not stand alone in the historical record. The evidence is overwhelming that America has in the past always linked good government to religion—and, in particular, to Christianity. Historians and constitutional scholars Anson Stokes and Leo Pfeffer summarize the role that the Christian religion played in the founding of this nation and the lofty position it has retained:
Throughout its history our governments, national and state, have co-operated with religion and shown friendliness to it. God is invoked in the Declaration of Independence and in practically every state constitution. Sunday, the Christian Sabbath, is universally observed as a day of rest. The sessions of Congress and of the state legislatures are invariably opened with prayer, in Congress by chaplains who are employed by the Federal government. We have chaplains in our armed forces and in our penal institutions. Oaths in courts of law are administered through use of the Bible. Public officials take an oath of office ending with “so help me God.” Religious institutions are tax exempt throughout the nation. Our pledge of allegiance declares that we are a nation “under God.” Our national motto is “In God We Trust” and is inscribed on our currency and on some of our postage stamps.
After only a cursory study of the years leading up to and including the drafting of the Constitution and the inauguration of the first president, it becomes obvious that Christianity played a foundational role in shaping our nation. It is not surprising that when courts had to define religion, they linked it to the Christian religion. In 1930 the Supreme Court declared, “We are a Christian people, according to one another the equal right of religious freedom, and acknowledging with reverence the duty of obedience to the will of God.” Further evidence of the role that the Christian religion played in the maintenance of our nation can be found in national pronouncements and inscriptions in our nation’s capital.
[Excerpt from America's Christian History: The Untold Story (Powder Springs, GA: American Vision, 1993, 2008), 113-118. Used by permission.]
Monday, November 8, 2010
23 MINUTES IN HELL
This is my first entry after our trip. We traveled over 10,000 miles - and some of our experiences will make their way into my blog and my facebook page eventually....
But, today I am detoured by a link I received and listened to in trying to catch up on e-mails. The leader of the small group (AKA Adult S. S. class) I attend on Sunday mornings sent a connection to a 64-minute video of a man named Bill Wiese telling about his out-of-body experience of spending 23 minutes in hell.
It is compelling viewing, even though the speaker is soft-spoken and not at all like the fire and brimstone preachers of my childhood. In fact, he is not a preacher, but a Real Estate agent. But God chose him for this task....
You can type in '23 minutes in hell' and get several options for viewing portions of the full message. As our instructor said, I recommend not doing it before bedtime. I did, though - - listened to it, then went to sleep. It did not haunt my dreams. It informs my 'awake.' Now that I have seen this, I don't know what to do with the information.
If I thought it would draw unbelievers to God, I'd definitely want them to see it - to be admonished by the warning, and to turn to God before it is too late.
The reality is: I cannot think of one person who was drawn permanently to God out of fear of hell. We as Christians need to know it is real so we don't deny it exists. There is a heaven to gain, which means there also is a hell to shun. And, I admit, I've been guilty of 'hoping' that those who are good people who never accept Jesus just 'die' - - not go to such an awful, wicked place - - but this man's message curtails that hope. The portrayals are beyond-belief horrible.
It is, at the very least, a reminder of what we have been spared by the love of God: sin demands payment - and God, in his enormous love, provided us a way of escape by paying the penalty himself - - by coming to earth and becoming the sacrifice justice demands. God incarnate. Yeshua/Jesus/Messiah taking the full brunt of sin by being rejected, cruelly beaten, then dying on a despicable cross so we can escape the judgment we deserve. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world...if people only turn to Him. After all the blood sacrifices of the Old Testament, he became the final sacrifice. We are saved by His shed blood. He sealed salvation with His resurrection, defeating death, hell and the grave. He rose in victory!
Non-Christians feel that hell is a threat: They hear the message "You need to turn to God and accept Jesus Christ or you will die - or worse yet, go to hell" as merely a threat instead of the truth. Their focus is on the negative side - and so they choose to dismiss it as unloving and unkind, rather than seeing that there is very loving God who forewarns - - much like a 'Bridge out' sign placed purposely before a cataclysmic drop-off.
All I know to do is to keep proclaiming Jesus as THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE, and pray for the Holy Spirit to do His work. I can't do it for Him - - no matter how badly I want to help! And I pray for those I know and love to hear God's message of love for them before it is too late. I know God's Word is true - - and believe that anyone who truly wants to find out only has to challenge God with "Show me!" then open His Word to search for whether He reveals himself! He will respond to all earnest seekers!
He who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son of God does not have life. Whether or not we accept Eternal Life is our choice - but it is accomplished by His grace and what He did for us on the cross. We can't earn it. We don't deserve it. But we can have it! I am amazed anew at the reality that GOD - who created the universe - cares so deeply about me (and you) as an individual that He yearns for me (and you) to have a personal relationship with Him!
Thank you, Lord. You are amazing! Open eyes to see and ears to hear the TRUTH of the Good News of your Word! And help me live faithfully as a model of your amazing grace.
Amen.
But, today I am detoured by a link I received and listened to in trying to catch up on e-mails. The leader of the small group (AKA Adult S. S. class) I attend on Sunday mornings sent a connection to a 64-minute video of a man named Bill Wiese telling about his out-of-body experience of spending 23 minutes in hell.
It is compelling viewing, even though the speaker is soft-spoken and not at all like the fire and brimstone preachers of my childhood. In fact, he is not a preacher, but a Real Estate agent. But God chose him for this task....
You can type in '23 minutes in hell' and get several options for viewing portions of the full message. As our instructor said, I recommend not doing it before bedtime. I did, though - - listened to it, then went to sleep. It did not haunt my dreams. It informs my 'awake.' Now that I have seen this, I don't know what to do with the information.
If I thought it would draw unbelievers to God, I'd definitely want them to see it - to be admonished by the warning, and to turn to God before it is too late.
The reality is: I cannot think of one person who was drawn permanently to God out of fear of hell. We as Christians need to know it is real so we don't deny it exists. There is a heaven to gain, which means there also is a hell to shun. And, I admit, I've been guilty of 'hoping' that those who are good people who never accept Jesus just 'die' - - not go to such an awful, wicked place - - but this man's message curtails that hope. The portrayals are beyond-belief horrible.
It is, at the very least, a reminder of what we have been spared by the love of God: sin demands payment - and God, in his enormous love, provided us a way of escape by paying the penalty himself - - by coming to earth and becoming the sacrifice justice demands. God incarnate. Yeshua/Jesus/Messiah taking the full brunt of sin by being rejected, cruelly beaten, then dying on a despicable cross so we can escape the judgment we deserve. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world...if people only turn to Him. After all the blood sacrifices of the Old Testament, he became the final sacrifice. We are saved by His shed blood. He sealed salvation with His resurrection, defeating death, hell and the grave. He rose in victory!
Non-Christians feel that hell is a threat: They hear the message "You need to turn to God and accept Jesus Christ or you will die - or worse yet, go to hell" as merely a threat instead of the truth. Their focus is on the negative side - and so they choose to dismiss it as unloving and unkind, rather than seeing that there is very loving God who forewarns - - much like a 'Bridge out' sign placed purposely before a cataclysmic drop-off.
All I know to do is to keep proclaiming Jesus as THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE, and pray for the Holy Spirit to do His work. I can't do it for Him - - no matter how badly I want to help! And I pray for those I know and love to hear God's message of love for them before it is too late. I know God's Word is true - - and believe that anyone who truly wants to find out only has to challenge God with "Show me!" then open His Word to search for whether He reveals himself! He will respond to all earnest seekers!
He who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son of God does not have life. Whether or not we accept Eternal Life is our choice - but it is accomplished by His grace and what He did for us on the cross. We can't earn it. We don't deserve it. But we can have it! I am amazed anew at the reality that GOD - who created the universe - cares so deeply about me (and you) as an individual that He yearns for me (and you) to have a personal relationship with Him!
Thank you, Lord. You are amazing! Open eyes to see and ears to hear the TRUTH of the Good News of your Word! And help me live faithfully as a model of your amazing grace.
Amen.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
PEACE CHILD
Week before last my daughter's church in Puyallup hosted a man named Don Richardson, who was a missionary to Headhunters in the early 1970's. His story is fascinating and compelling. There are two video clips on u-tube. If you Google DON RICHARDSON PEACE CHILD they should both come up.
I don't want to give away the story. It is far more compelling seeing it through the videos and from his own voice....
I just love that God makes a way in the wilderness - - when we feel like there just couldn't possibly be a way - - He makes a way - - and in doing it, there is no doubt that the provision comes from His hand, and His alone.
Life is full to the brim with the impossible to us. But nothing is impossible with God. Wow, God. You are amazing! I am overwhelmed with your majesty!
'And a little child shall lead them.'
'For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son.' (The ultimate peace child!)
I don't want to give away the story. It is far more compelling seeing it through the videos and from his own voice....
I just love that God makes a way in the wilderness - - when we feel like there just couldn't possibly be a way - - He makes a way - - and in doing it, there is no doubt that the provision comes from His hand, and His alone.
Life is full to the brim with the impossible to us. But nothing is impossible with God. Wow, God. You are amazing! I am overwhelmed with your majesty!
'And a little child shall lead them.'
'For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son.' (The ultimate peace child!)
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
A SHARED LETTER
I received a compelling letter in this morning's e-mails regarding the unrest in Kashmir, in India. The letter reported that many people have lost their lives in what they feel is a fight for freedom. In the last few days rioting has intensified to a new level. Christians are beginning to be targeted because of rumored accounts of Quran burnings in America. Westerners working in the area have had angry mobs outside their homes. Buildings associated with Christianity have been burned and the airport has been closed with several workers having no way to leave. Their spirits are remaining strong, however, as they are relying on the hand of God to protect them. The national believers are also at high risk.
The author of the letter asked that we pray that God would keep them strong!
This person's letter struck me forcefully for several reasons - - but one of the most distressing realities is that the threat of one pastor in Florida whose congregation is only 50 people could have such wide-ranging, devastating impact. Yet - - the Good News that we proclaim over and over in myriads of churches across the world - - seemingly falls on deaf ears.
But, I know that trouble is the doorway to opportunity -- and what an awesome opportunity to proclaim the true Gospel -- the LOVE of Jesus Christ for all of mankind. It's time to take the lemons and make lemonade.
The truth of the core of the Gospel - - the good news of Jesus Christ - - is John 3:16!
'For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life.' And verse 17 - 'For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved."
God is still in business. He offers His love freely - - but accepting it requires the cost of laying our lives at His feet, and sacrificing our wills to His. Eternal life begins the moment we accept Him - - and then it is no longer about us - but all about Him. And in being His servant, we are finally free. God - the creator of the universe - the Master of all that is, or was or ever will be - comes to reside in the hearts of those who choose to accept His sacrifice of His Son. There is no other way to God. We have this one brief window before the door to eternity closes forever.
Anyone thirsty for some lemonade?
The author of the letter asked that we pray that God would keep them strong!
This person's letter struck me forcefully for several reasons - - but one of the most distressing realities is that the threat of one pastor in Florida whose congregation is only 50 people could have such wide-ranging, devastating impact. Yet - - the Good News that we proclaim over and over in myriads of churches across the world - - seemingly falls on deaf ears.
But, I know that trouble is the doorway to opportunity -- and what an awesome opportunity to proclaim the true Gospel -- the LOVE of Jesus Christ for all of mankind. It's time to take the lemons and make lemonade.
The truth of the core of the Gospel - - the good news of Jesus Christ - - is John 3:16!
'For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life.' And verse 17 - 'For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved."
God is still in business. He offers His love freely - - but accepting it requires the cost of laying our lives at His feet, and sacrificing our wills to His. Eternal life begins the moment we accept Him - - and then it is no longer about us - but all about Him. And in being His servant, we are finally free. God - the creator of the universe - the Master of all that is, or was or ever will be - comes to reside in the hearts of those who choose to accept His sacrifice of His Son. There is no other way to God. We have this one brief window before the door to eternity closes forever.
Anyone thirsty for some lemonade?
Monday, September 13, 2010
GREAT WEEKEND
What a wonderful weekend.
[A brief observation: After I posted the pictures I noticed that it puts them into the blog from the last first.... So what I talk about earliest comes last in the photos, FYI.]
Al is gone hunting, so while the cat's away the mouse must play....well, sort of!
Friday morning I went up to Puyallup to go to the 'Cattle Drive' and the opening day of The Puyallup Fair with my daughter and youngest grandaughter. I got some great pictures. I posted 101 of them on Facebook! I posted 5 here!
Before I arrived, Erin told Bryn (who is 4), "Yo is coming up today." (I am Yo to my grandkids, in case that wasn't apparent.)
"I know," replied Bryn.
"How do you know?" Erin responded, surprised.
And Bryn replied, "I know lots of four-year-old things and that's one of the four-year-old things that I know."
That girl keeps us in stitches!
The cattle drive and the parade were delightful - - and we got all of the animal looking and smelling we needed for the year. As an added treat, we saw our friend, Neil and his wife, Lore. He was a friend of Al's family before I ever met Al - and we enjoyed a nice visit. Later I ran into Meghan Black of King 5 - that was fun! Check my Facebook page if you want to see us together.
Erin, Bryn and I shared one elephant ear ($6.50) - but opted to go to Costco for lunch after our Fair time. Fair food is way too expensive! Just before we left the Fairgrounds we went into the Fred Oldfield Museum. I recognized his name because my friend, Carla, has talked about him so many times - - that he was a family friend. We met Fred. He is a genuinely talented artist - and equally genuinely 'really nice' guy! What a treat!
Friday night a friend and I went to a very humorous play at the Olympia Little Theater that my neighbor gal is performing in. I wanted to go to support Kristina - - but to my delight, Evelyne wanted to go too, to see someone she knew who was in it - - and it was just one of those wonderful moments that God sometimes allows us.... The play had some great lines, well delivered, by the way.
Our nephew, Darold, called Saturday morning to say he had shot a 5 X 5 elk opening day of hunting season! Elk hunters will appreciate that bit of good news!
Saturday evening I went to church - - since I wasn't going to be there Sunday morning - - and when I got home, our youngest daughter was here, so Kami and I watched a movie together and got to bed very late....
Sunday was another day filled with treats. Erin and her 3 girls met Kami and I enroute and traveled to Montesano together to go to a special event at Montesano Presbyterian Church where I went to church for 30 years - - and the only church the girls ever attended until they headed off to college. The church was dedicating its long-awaited new fellowship hall, which includes a wonderful, new kitchen, new & larger bathrooms, new office for the pastor - that more than 1 person can squeeze into. It's wonderful, practical, beautiful, and offers them the opportunity for more ministry options. They are beginning an AWANA program in another week! While the new addition was wonderful - - I went for the people. The big surprise of the day was honoring Steve Fischback and his wife, Carol, for 20 years of ministry in and contribution to the City of Montesano. The first 10 of those years, I was there. I adored Steve and Carol, and they are cherished friends. Two of their boys were able to come - all grown up and so much fun to see. I had not been back to a worship service in Montesano for 10 years - and it was wonderful to be there - - to see people -- to collect hugs.
We stopped briefly to say hi to a neighbor lady who is now 95. She didn't remember us. I didn't expect her to. I've stopped to see her a couple of times in that 10 years since we left Montesano, and she remembered before - - but 95. I don't even expect to live to be 95.
And - before we left town we stopped to see Carla, who was one of my best friends in Monte. Our lives don't cross paths much now - but I treasure the memories. I came home full to the brim with hugs and love and remembered joys!
Every day, of course, I have begun my day immersed in The Psalms. Highly recommended reading - in case you haven't done that for awhile!!!!
God is good! I am filled to the brim with His goodness.
BUCKET LIST DETOUR
I keep telling people I am going to report - - and didn't want to do that prematurely - - but since things are on hold for awhile - I will just let you in on it anyway, because it is HUGE for me! My musical that I wrote in 1997 - - and shelved because I couldn't find someone (after asking 1 good friend and 1 professional musician) to write the accompaniment is nearly finished!
But - - equally wonderful is God's timing! He has used the process of this musical as a tool for His divine direction in my life, and is allowing me to see HIS timing, and doors that He has opened - - and now I just trust that all completely to Him! For years it was a dream - - and a touchstone. I believed He did not just give it to me for 'no reason' and He has proved that. But - - it sat in a file for 10 years initially - - then was improved to become the Westminster Edition, which was presented by the Westminster Kid's Choir in 2008 - - and now is being improved again to be the 2010 Edition. Who knows when it will hit the stage again? I don't - - but I am so thrilled it is coming together!
Even yesterday I saw evidence of God's plan and timing - - and it thrills me to be part of that! It's such a joy to see Him weave His patterns in and through our lives! This is a 'bucket list' dream come true for me at this juncture - - that is true - - but all I want is for it to honor the Lord! And I am assured it will!
But - - equally wonderful is God's timing! He has used the process of this musical as a tool for His divine direction in my life, and is allowing me to see HIS timing, and doors that He has opened - - and now I just trust that all completely to Him! For years it was a dream - - and a touchstone. I believed He did not just give it to me for 'no reason' and He has proved that. But - - it sat in a file for 10 years initially - - then was improved to become the Westminster Edition, which was presented by the Westminster Kid's Choir in 2008 - - and now is being improved again to be the 2010 Edition. Who knows when it will hit the stage again? I don't - - but I am so thrilled it is coming together!
Even yesterday I saw evidence of God's plan and timing - - and it thrills me to be part of that! It's such a joy to see Him weave His patterns in and through our lives! This is a 'bucket list' dream come true for me at this juncture - - that is true - - but all I want is for it to honor the Lord! And I am assured it will!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
A NEW INSIGHT!
I have been reading The Psalms for my devotions. Wow, do they speak to me, in reflecting over the past and seeing with gratitude what God has done. Even before I got up this morning, I determined to praise God for the difficult issues I faced in the recent past - and even the distant past. What an attitude adjustment it is to praise God for the bad stuff, from the perspective that He allowed me to experience just a trifle of what he experienced on earth when he was misunderstood, maligned and misrepresented. He, and He alone is my refuge.
I decided to read in the ESV for my devotions - but had read some mornings in the NIV, so during my time of re-reading the first 19 chapters of the Psalms in the ESV this morning, I had an amazing, exciting insight. I realized that running to God in prayer is also praise - because it places him in the place of Lord - the only answer to our problems - and that glorifies Him. I got totally excited by that revelation. We do need to praise Him - just for who He is - and thank Him - - but our prayers of supplication and pouring our woundedness out to Him is also part of worship and honor to God - and therefore is praise! Wow!
It makes the phrase 'He inhabits the praises of His people' even more poignant. He lives with us in every moment of our need, and our seeking His guidance, direction, solace and solutions honors Him, for he is truly the only one who has the solutions - the only one who holds my life in his hands. Wow!
So I'm off to see what the day brings - and looking forward to being able to report on my big 'bucket list' project soon - - I yearn for its completion! And - - am working diligently toward that. Soon - very soon! Al's hunting trip is perfect timing for me - because I can devote myself fully to the project!
Today, Lord, "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:14.
I decided to read in the ESV for my devotions - but had read some mornings in the NIV, so during my time of re-reading the first 19 chapters of the Psalms in the ESV this morning, I had an amazing, exciting insight. I realized that running to God in prayer is also praise - because it places him in the place of Lord - the only answer to our problems - and that glorifies Him. I got totally excited by that revelation. We do need to praise Him - just for who He is - and thank Him - - but our prayers of supplication and pouring our woundedness out to Him is also part of worship and honor to God - and therefore is praise! Wow!
It makes the phrase 'He inhabits the praises of His people' even more poignant. He lives with us in every moment of our need, and our seeking His guidance, direction, solace and solutions honors Him, for he is truly the only one who has the solutions - the only one who holds my life in his hands. Wow!
So I'm off to see what the day brings - and looking forward to being able to report on my big 'bucket list' project soon - - I yearn for its completion! And - - am working diligently toward that. Soon - very soon! Al's hunting trip is perfect timing for me - because I can devote myself fully to the project!
Today, Lord, "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:14.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
DAILY DEVOTIONAL TIME WITH GOD
I typed this into my computer yesterday - did a bit of editing on it this morning, and decided I might as well share it.
DAILY DEVOTIONAL TIME WITH GOD
Some people call it devotions – some call it a quiet time with God. Whatever you call it, maintaining a daily devotional time set aside to be alone with God grounds us and keeps our focus directed to Him. It is the perfect way to begin the day – before the clutter of life clouds the mind – or creates the risk of neglecting this special, important personal worship time with God. It requires self-discipline, but it is essential for spiritual growth. God will honor your commitment!
A daily devotional time is not study time. It is simply a specific time – preferably early in the day – to be alone with God – to read something from his Word, perhaps something inspirational as well, and then pray. . .. Before you begin reading your selected portion of the Bible, ask God to open your eyes to see, your mind to understand and your heart to receive what He has for you that day.
Next is prayer time. There are four primary facets of prayer, easily remembered by the acronym A-C-T-S. It isn’t difficult to spend time in prayer when you have a fundamental prayer outline. [Also see Matthew 6:5-15.]
A is for Adoration – simply praising God for who He is. This should not be confused with thanks. It is pure praise – acknowledging God as the wonderful, amazing God He is. Genuine praise is music to our Father’s ears. He inhabits the praises of His people! “Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name.” Psalm 103:1
C is for Confession – a time to search your heart – and allow God to search you as well, inviting His cleansing, and asking His forgiveness for intentional and unintentional sin and shortcomings. Sin falls into two categories: sins of commission (things we do) and sins of omission (things we should have done, but failed to do.) We are most often aware of the sins we have committed. But – what we omit and fail to do is also sin. Confessing is ‘house-cleaning.’ It keeps us right with God and doesn’t give opportunity for sins to fester or grow roots. It is an attitude adjustment! “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. “ 1 John 1:9 Isn’t God amazing?
T is for Thanksgiving – simply saying thanks for everything you can think of. You’ll be amazed how your list grows – and how much more thankful you will be by paying attention to all God has done for you, beginning with salvation. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise His name. Psalm 100:4.
S is for Supplication – asking for what we need from God. This is where we end – not where we begin. Too often we run to God asking – and forget all the other aspects of prayer. We need a lot from God. We need Him daily. We need to pray for our own needs and needs of others. This area includes intercessory prayer. We make commitments to pray for people and bear their burdens. Carry each others' burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2.
DAILY DEVOTIONAL TIME WITH GOD
Some people call it devotions – some call it a quiet time with God. Whatever you call it, maintaining a daily devotional time set aside to be alone with God grounds us and keeps our focus directed to Him. It is the perfect way to begin the day – before the clutter of life clouds the mind – or creates the risk of neglecting this special, important personal worship time with God. It requires self-discipline, but it is essential for spiritual growth. God will honor your commitment!
A daily devotional time is not study time. It is simply a specific time – preferably early in the day – to be alone with God – to read something from his Word, perhaps something inspirational as well, and then pray. . .. Before you begin reading your selected portion of the Bible, ask God to open your eyes to see, your mind to understand and your heart to receive what He has for you that day.
Next is prayer time. There are four primary facets of prayer, easily remembered by the acronym A-C-T-S. It isn’t difficult to spend time in prayer when you have a fundamental prayer outline. [Also see Matthew 6:5-15.]
A is for Adoration – simply praising God for who He is. This should not be confused with thanks. It is pure praise – acknowledging God as the wonderful, amazing God He is. Genuine praise is music to our Father’s ears. He inhabits the praises of His people! “Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name.” Psalm 103:1
C is for Confession – a time to search your heart – and allow God to search you as well, inviting His cleansing, and asking His forgiveness for intentional and unintentional sin and shortcomings. Sin falls into two categories: sins of commission (things we do) and sins of omission (things we should have done, but failed to do.) We are most often aware of the sins we have committed. But – what we omit and fail to do is also sin. Confessing is ‘house-cleaning.’ It keeps us right with God and doesn’t give opportunity for sins to fester or grow roots. It is an attitude adjustment! “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. “ 1 John 1:9 Isn’t God amazing?
T is for Thanksgiving – simply saying thanks for everything you can think of. You’ll be amazed how your list grows – and how much more thankful you will be by paying attention to all God has done for you, beginning with salvation. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise His name. Psalm 100:4.
S is for Supplication – asking for what we need from God. This is where we end – not where we begin. Too often we run to God asking – and forget all the other aspects of prayer. We need a lot from God. We need Him daily. We need to pray for our own needs and needs of others. This area includes intercessory prayer. We make commitments to pray for people and bear their burdens. Carry each others' burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2.
A BLOG TO LOVE & A LINK TO ENJOY
I have one blog I follow faithfully - - even if it means 'catching up' on a few posts on occasion when life has been too full to check for her entries. I am offering the connection to you because the author both blesses me and challenges me. It's too good not to share - so I'm sharing. During lent each year she posts daily. Other times of the year, less often, but well worth reading.
Type peacefulones.blogspot.com into your Web browser and it will take you to the link - then you can save it as a favorite if you want to follow Rosemarie's blog. I'm a fan!
The other thing I want to share is the following link. You may need to highlight it, copy it, and move it to your browser to see it - - I have never tried to copy a link from an e-mail to my blog before, so I am not sure how that is going to work - but it is excellent. I also posted it on my Facebook site - and I know you can access it there if you have trouble here.
http://www.andiesisle.com/creation/magnificent.html
Type peacefulones.blogspot.com into your Web browser and it will take you to the link - then you can save it as a favorite if you want to follow Rosemarie's blog. I'm a fan!
The other thing I want to share is the following link. You may need to highlight it, copy it, and move it to your browser to see it - - I have never tried to copy a link from an e-mail to my blog before, so I am not sure how that is going to work - but it is excellent. I also posted it on my Facebook site - and I know you can access it there if you have trouble here.
http://www.andiesisle.com/creation/magnificent.html
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
THE SAGA CONTINUES
Wow! I love my grandkid time - but I sure have found that a major deterrent to writing in the blog. In addition to my adorable grandkids there has been a LOT going on! Some I will wait to share....but the good times have included:
Exciting progress on one of my bucket list items - - I will report on that when it comes to fruition....
July 29-30 A trip to Leavenworth to see THE SOUND OF MUSIC in an outdoor theater. Two daughters, 6 grandkids, Pa and I were on the trip. The salient highlights of the trip were the production - and my visit with my friend, Lucy, for a few hours on Friday the 30th. We first met when we were 8 years old. Now she and her husband are up to their gills in being antique dealers - - in a wonderful shop with lots of dealers in Cashmere. What a treat!
July 31 Helped with Children's Church for the Saturday night worship service.
August 1 I was a last-minute fill-in helper for Children's worship for the 11:00 a m service
August 1 Two grandkids came for overnight - and 2 more came for Monday, for a total of 4. The only reason the other two weren't here was that they were at summer camp!
August 3 I had 4 of my college friends here for dinner. Of that group, 3 are pastors. What a treat to have that shared time. I would have loved for it to last longer - but what a gift. I'm 'logging on' for a longer visit when we get to heaven! I relish the memory of it. With the visit with Lucy in Cashmere, and then the visit with Dave, Judy, Dan and Anita on Tuesday, it just extended the 1960's College Reunion ambiance! What a joy! What memories!
August 5 My brother Ken arrived for a visit (from Idaho).
August 6 we celebrated my eldest grandson's GED. All 4 of our kids were there - a rare treat. We didn't have the 2 kids who were away at camp - or one son-in-law who was in his softball league state championship - but considering how hard it is to get everyone together - it was good!
That night, Erin and her two youngest stayed overnight so they could go pick Mak up at camp the next morning, and Kami was here overnight - and my brother - so it was a fairly full house.
August 8 we entertained a group of 30 for the West Tacoma Newsprint Reunion.
August 9 I spent the day with my brother, Ken.
August 10 The Meyer kids came down to spend the night. Ken stayed to see them - then headed south about 2 p m.
August 11 That's today! I had the Olson kids for the day - plus the 3 Meyers until about 1:30....
That's the nutshell version.
Just want you to know I have missed getting to write - - and have missed my pursuit for finding answers - - or at least defining questions - - regarding the eschatological quest.
Hope I can get back to this soon - - but it seems that the other blogs I read regularly are in the same boat - busy!
I planned to add a couple of other photos - but it isn't working....so I'll hope to do that later....
Monday, August 2, 2010
THE GIFT OF TIME
Wow! My eldest granddaughter has really entertained the troops today! What a joy! So - I'm taking a little get-away and spending some more time in my office while they traipse off to pick wild berries.... I only had 2 cousins that I saw regularly growing up - and they were a lot older than I was - so I treasure the time my grandkids have with each other - building memories....
But I wonder about their future. Those of us who did a good chunk of our growing up in the 1950's lived in a Pollyanna world politically - or so it seemed. I do remember being terrified of airplanes as a younger kid - fearing it could be the Japanese coming to bomb us. And I grew up fearing the Russians - who were our sworn enemies - but they all seemed so very distant.
Then I grew up. The world got a lot smaller. And my views were informed by being exposed to realities I had not previously known. That process continues, actually! But - with that, I live with an awareness of how fragile the continued existence of the world is. We used to be concerned about someone 'pushing the red button' that would bring nuclear disaster - now we have to be more concerned about the apathy that is paving the way for terrorist ideology to destroy everything we know.
I've begun wondering how a country like Turkey - which was Christian - became Muslim, and I found a fairly concise reply on site called Christian History.com. What I read was shocking. The extremists were ignored until it was too late - then genocide followed. The short version is that all who didn't comply were killed.
We are a country who champions religious freedom. It has even become a dividing factor within Christian churches. Everyone has an opinion. But the bottom line is what God thinks - and His Word portrays Him accurately and clearly. And - - when we lack wisdom, He promises us that he gives liberally to all who ask....yet it is still in His time.... He is in the driver's seat!
But I wonder about their future. Those of us who did a good chunk of our growing up in the 1950's lived in a Pollyanna world politically - or so it seemed. I do remember being terrified of airplanes as a younger kid - fearing it could be the Japanese coming to bomb us. And I grew up fearing the Russians - who were our sworn enemies - but they all seemed so very distant.
Then I grew up. The world got a lot smaller. And my views were informed by being exposed to realities I had not previously known. That process continues, actually! But - with that, I live with an awareness of how fragile the continued existence of the world is. We used to be concerned about someone 'pushing the red button' that would bring nuclear disaster - now we have to be more concerned about the apathy that is paving the way for terrorist ideology to destroy everything we know.
I've begun wondering how a country like Turkey - which was Christian - became Muslim, and I found a fairly concise reply on site called Christian History.com. What I read was shocking. The extremists were ignored until it was too late - then genocide followed. The short version is that all who didn't comply were killed.
We are a country who champions religious freedom. It has even become a dividing factor within Christian churches. Everyone has an opinion. But the bottom line is what God thinks - and His Word portrays Him accurately and clearly. And - - when we lack wisdom, He promises us that he gives liberally to all who ask....yet it is still in His time.... He is in the driver's seat!
SENIOR ROAD TRIP
In lieu of what I'd love to write today - I am just going to give you the treat of a cute story....I have 4 grandkids here - so my time is parametered for me!
SENIOR ROAD TRIP - author unknown - I received it as an e-mail....
While on a road trip, an elderly couple stopped at a roadside restaurant for lunch. After finishing their meal, they left the restaurant, and resumed their trip.
When leaving, the elderly woman accidentally left her glasses on the table, and she didn't miss them until they had been driving for about forty minutes.
By then, to add to their aggravation, they had to travel quite a distance before they could find a place to turn around, in order to return to the restaurant to retrieve her glasses.
All the way back, the elderly husband was the classic grouchy old man. He fussed and complained, and scolded his wife relentlessly during the entire return drive. The more he chided her, the more agitated he became…. He just wouldn't let up for a single minute.
To her relief, they finally arrived at the restaurant. As the woman got out of the car, and hurried inside to retrieve her glasses, the old geezer yelled to her, "While you're in there, you might as well get my hat and the credit card."
This coming week is National Senior Mental Health Week…. You can do your part by remembering to contact at least one unstable Senior to show you care.
SENIOR ROAD TRIP - author unknown - I received it as an e-mail....
While on a road trip, an elderly couple stopped at a roadside restaurant for lunch. After finishing their meal, they left the restaurant, and resumed their trip.
When leaving, the elderly woman accidentally left her glasses on the table, and she didn't miss them until they had been driving for about forty minutes.
By then, to add to their aggravation, they had to travel quite a distance before they could find a place to turn around, in order to return to the restaurant to retrieve her glasses.
All the way back, the elderly husband was the classic grouchy old man. He fussed and complained, and scolded his wife relentlessly during the entire return drive. The more he chided her, the more agitated he became…. He just wouldn't let up for a single minute.
To her relief, they finally arrived at the restaurant. As the woman got out of the car, and hurried inside to retrieve her glasses, the old geezer yelled to her, "While you're in there, you might as well get my hat and the credit card."
This coming week is National Senior Mental Health Week…. You can do your part by remembering to contact at least one unstable Senior to show you care.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
HOME AGAIN!
This weekend marked the 10th gathering of 1960's-era students who attended Northwest College - now University.... Well, '60's era plus a few additions....
I have not made it to all of them - - but have loved being there for most of them, beginning with my first gathering at the home of Dale and Phyllis Larson.... Their kind hospitality made it easy to feel welcomed, and created a trust level for going again the next year. That reunion took us to Molalla, Oregon, to the home of Ray and Becki Sparre - a very special , memorable time - again filled with welcome - and then because Elvin Huston had a relationship with his former Sunday School teacher in Sedro Woolley, our next gathering was at Danny and LaVonda Vandenburg's private campground - and we've been going back ever since annually in July for what Ray Sparre dubbed 'a blessed reconvergence.'
The participants fluctuate a bit each year - - but it is always a wonderful time of reconnecting; and relationships are being forged through the reunions - not just with who we knew in college - and that is an additional blessing. We take our trips down memory lane - that is true - but we also share the present - what is going on in each others' lives and ministries...and it is a precursor of the joy heaven will offer.
It was hard at first for me to go. My perfect plan of changing the world didn't happen the way I planned. I blew it - ruined a good friendship by marrying the guy - got a divorce - felt like I was the only failure in the whole school.... So - connecting was hard at first. Even though I had recommitted my life to the Lord within 2 years after walking away from Him, I gave wide berth to friendships of the past, afraid of further rejection - but God had a bigger plan. Not just for me, but for many who needed to find the comfort of His amazing grace and healing in reconciling past with present. He forgave freely - and His mercy was extended. He paid the price for my sin and offered pardon without recrimination - but dealing with people.... That was harder. Joyfully, God's grace extended even there....
Every person I've talked to who has been willing to step beyond their fears and step toward the loving arms of welcome have been joyfully accepted. It is healing and wonderful - and such a testimony of what heaven will be.
God has used everything that has ever happened to me for His glory - redeemed it by allowing me to help someone else along the way because of pain I suffered....and through the N C reunions, He has affirmed that. A few people appear to have made it through to this point unscathed, without making huge mistakes, and I applaud their commitment and faithfulness - but those of us who faltered or failed and have recommitted are also blessed, because we are very aware how much God has done for us, and we are his arms extended - - a model of His grace, beckoning others: come, be blessed, receive the comfort of friends who care and share the journey...who share a history together...who share roots. We're family! Weekends like this affirm that reality!
If the Lord doesn't return before July 2011, come....
I have not made it to all of them - - but have loved being there for most of them, beginning with my first gathering at the home of Dale and Phyllis Larson.... Their kind hospitality made it easy to feel welcomed, and created a trust level for going again the next year. That reunion took us to Molalla, Oregon, to the home of Ray and Becki Sparre - a very special , memorable time - again filled with welcome - and then because Elvin Huston had a relationship with his former Sunday School teacher in Sedro Woolley, our next gathering was at Danny and LaVonda Vandenburg's private campground - and we've been going back ever since annually in July for what Ray Sparre dubbed 'a blessed reconvergence.'
The participants fluctuate a bit each year - - but it is always a wonderful time of reconnecting; and relationships are being forged through the reunions - not just with who we knew in college - and that is an additional blessing. We take our trips down memory lane - that is true - but we also share the present - what is going on in each others' lives and ministries...and it is a precursor of the joy heaven will offer.
It was hard at first for me to go. My perfect plan of changing the world didn't happen the way I planned. I blew it - ruined a good friendship by marrying the guy - got a divorce - felt like I was the only failure in the whole school.... So - connecting was hard at first. Even though I had recommitted my life to the Lord within 2 years after walking away from Him, I gave wide berth to friendships of the past, afraid of further rejection - but God had a bigger plan. Not just for me, but for many who needed to find the comfort of His amazing grace and healing in reconciling past with present. He forgave freely - and His mercy was extended. He paid the price for my sin and offered pardon without recrimination - but dealing with people.... That was harder. Joyfully, God's grace extended even there....
Every person I've talked to who has been willing to step beyond their fears and step toward the loving arms of welcome have been joyfully accepted. It is healing and wonderful - and such a testimony of what heaven will be.
God has used everything that has ever happened to me for His glory - redeemed it by allowing me to help someone else along the way because of pain I suffered....and through the N C reunions, He has affirmed that. A few people appear to have made it through to this point unscathed, without making huge mistakes, and I applaud their commitment and faithfulness - but those of us who faltered or failed and have recommitted are also blessed, because we are very aware how much God has done for us, and we are his arms extended - - a model of His grace, beckoning others: come, be blessed, receive the comfort of friends who care and share the journey...who share a history together...who share roots. We're family! Weekends like this affirm that reality!
If the Lord doesn't return before July 2011, come....
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
YOU'RE TURNING 65....
I was getting irritated by the plethora of reminders that the magic age of '65' was just a hop, skip and jump away. But - the perpetual reminders - - and having my current health insurance company call me to remind me I needed to follow through on signing up for Medicare - - motivated me to do just that. I knew my full retirement age wasn't going to happen until age 66....but had decided to sign up for the Social Security benefits anyway so it would pay the Medicare Part B premiums without my having to pay for it out-of-pocket. My current health insurance is a whopping $688.00 per month - and just getting rid of that monthly bill was something to look forward to. Al retired April 2005 - and after COBRA ran out for me, I've had to pay for private insurance - and it is expensive!!!! But necessary, in case of the unknown happening.... But getting rid of that payment is like getting a paycheck - and taking my S S early to cover the cost of Part B - and once I sort it out, Prescription Drug Coverage....is, well, delicious.
Still, I have a feeling like 'waiting for the other shoe to drop.' This is all new territory - unexplored for me. But - in light of the alternative - I'm welcoming the journey!
I was practically giddy with incredulity last night when I found out I'd be getting a much larger paycheck than I expected....and my first joy was "I will have something to tithe." Thank you, Lord, for your blessings that allow us to be a blessing.
Yesterday I read Daniel 1 - 6; and finished Daniel today - - but will be going back to the last half of the book and doing more research. I know I'm in over my head - but am not in over God's head - so am interested to see where the exploration takes me, all the while knowing He will only reveal what He is ready to have me know.... And, knowing that knowing is not as important as trusting....daily and completely. But there is that fig tree....
Still, I have a feeling like 'waiting for the other shoe to drop.' This is all new territory - unexplored for me. But - in light of the alternative - I'm welcoming the journey!
I was practically giddy with incredulity last night when I found out I'd be getting a much larger paycheck than I expected....and my first joy was "I will have something to tithe." Thank you, Lord, for your blessings that allow us to be a blessing.
Yesterday I read Daniel 1 - 6; and finished Daniel today - - but will be going back to the last half of the book and doing more research. I know I'm in over my head - but am not in over God's head - so am interested to see where the exploration takes me, all the while knowing He will only reveal what He is ready to have me know.... And, knowing that knowing is not as important as trusting....daily and completely. But there is that fig tree....
Sunday, July 18, 2010
LIFE HAPPENS!
It has been crazy-busy - - and I still have a ton to do in my office - - but I just had to pop in to say hi to my few faithful friends who actually check....
I cleaned and cleaned to get ready for the Women's Retreat that happened here - - a Women's Ministry Leaders Retreat for 6 ladies who needed a place to get away for a couple of days. We babysat while Erin was here with the group...but got to sleep in the camper at night while the kids slept at Lynley's.... It all went well - - and it gave me enormous joy to know the house was being used for something so special. Al got to spend some time with the ladies. He took them ziplining - - and all 6 tried it - - some of them twice. And - - when they went out for their morning walk on Friday, they ran into him and invited him in to have a waffle with them. That was pretty sweet!
Before I got so busy cleaning in preparation for the retreat I finished the book I was reading, but haven't had a chance to write anything about it. It is titled THE AMERICAN PROPHECIES, and is by a Middle East consultant named Michael D. Evans. Anyone who is curious about the role the U S has played in Israel's well-being - the off-spring of Isaac - - and conversely in the countries who are descendants of Ishmael, should read the book. It was an eye-opener. We have straddled the fence and helped both - -yet the Bible is very clear that those who help Israel will be blessed, while those who do not will be - - I hate to say it - - cursed....
I'm just reporting. I didn't establish the parameters. But we need to pay attention. My heart is heavy with the implications.
I cleaned and cleaned to get ready for the Women's Retreat that happened here - - a Women's Ministry Leaders Retreat for 6 ladies who needed a place to get away for a couple of days. We babysat while Erin was here with the group...but got to sleep in the camper at night while the kids slept at Lynley's.... It all went well - - and it gave me enormous joy to know the house was being used for something so special. Al got to spend some time with the ladies. He took them ziplining - - and all 6 tried it - - some of them twice. And - - when they went out for their morning walk on Friday, they ran into him and invited him in to have a waffle with them. That was pretty sweet!
Before I got so busy cleaning in preparation for the retreat I finished the book I was reading, but haven't had a chance to write anything about it. It is titled THE AMERICAN PROPHECIES, and is by a Middle East consultant named Michael D. Evans. Anyone who is curious about the role the U S has played in Israel's well-being - the off-spring of Isaac - - and conversely in the countries who are descendants of Ishmael, should read the book. It was an eye-opener. We have straddled the fence and helped both - -yet the Bible is very clear that those who help Israel will be blessed, while those who do not will be - - I hate to say it - - cursed....
I'm just reporting. I didn't establish the parameters. But we need to pay attention. My heart is heavy with the implications.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
INTERRUPTING THE 'FLOW' FOR LIFE
Recently it has been such a whirlwind of 'have-to-do' that I haven't had time for my quest.... I'll skip the details - but yesterday brought a welcome break after spending about 9 hours 'cleaning' house!
One daughter, son-in-law, their 3 kids, Al and I took a 6-mile bike ride on the Chehalis Western Trail. We drove to a different access point and went a direction I had not gone before. It was a delightful reprieve. And delightful that I never ever felt winded or had to push my bike.... Though I did stop for a railroad crossing while going uphill a bit - and stayed straddled on the bike, while I walked forward a few steps to be able to begin again.... It gave Miah a good laugh.
Today and tomorrow are 'vacation days' for us to share with 6 grandkids.... We have a plan - - one I am certain will be adapted and tweaked as we enjoy the next couple of days together. They are growing up so quickly! In fact, the 'baby' will be 4 on Thursday.
Friday, July 2, 2010
VBS 2010 - Day 5, the final day
Wow! What a VBS. The lady who said FAL's is VBS on steroids was right! It was an absolutely amazing VBS. Superb leadership. Outstanding musicians. Inspired skits. So many good helpers. So much fun for the kids. Well, and fun, too, for those helping whose hearts are so in it. It was God's VBS - and He showed up!!!!!
Today was my day to teach the lesson in Bible Voyage. I didn't feel the script the publisher had planned was adequate, so I re-wrote today's lesson - and the other Bible Voyage leader took my script and made it her own as well. I didn't use the exact script I wrote - but it formed the framework for what I shared with the kids.
I was in a pretend boat on a pretend Lake Galilee. I did a little fishing with a pole - then showed them how I saw the fisherman cast a net when I was in Israel on a boat like Jesus and his disciples would have been on 2,000 years ago.
I read how Jesus called the fishermen Peter and Andrew - and made them fishers of men. Then I went fishing with my net, and pulled in the catch: 1 baby bottle and 4 fish, each fish representing a message. The baby bottle was a visual reminder that we all start out as baby Christians when we ask Jesus to come live in our hearts - and that someone can be 5, 15, 44 or 89 when they accept Jesus as their Savior - and they become a baby Christian no matter how old they are.
As for the fish - Green was for God's Word - with the message that we have to read God's Word if we want to grow. That we can ask Jesus into our hearts, but if we do not read God's Word we will stay a baby Christian our whole life - and then only if we are at church regularly to get a little food.... The picture on the back of the 'fish' was a Bible.
The next fish was white for prayer, and I explained 4 basic parts of prayer: Praise, Thanks, Confessing our sins, Asking for things (supplication.) The picture on the back of the fish was children praying.
The 3rd fish was blue for faithfulness in fellowship - church, Sunday School, having Christian friends. The picture on the back of the fish was one I took a couple of days ago of children at VBS with FAL in the background. Just like baby people, baby Christians cannot survive alone....
The 4th and final fish was red, which represented sharing the good news with others.
And then we made a necklace with a whale in the center and the 4 colors as reminders. I know that overall it is too much information - but there was food there for everyone: kids and crew leaders.
We finished with a review of the week:
God's Word is True.
God's Word is Comforting.
God's Word is Surprising.
God's Word is Life-changing.
and for today:
God's Word is for Everyone.
And off they went....
Lord, through your Holy Spirit, please bring these lessons back to them and draw them closer to you.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
VBS - Day 4
Today's message was 'God's Word is Life-changing' and I pray that it was for many kids who heard the stories, sang the songs, and felt loved at VBS.
God's Word is life changing! Thank God for his clear message of love and provision of salvation through the shed blood of Jesus - Yeshua - Savior.
Tomorrow is the final day. We will finish strong! That is my bucket list motto: finish strong!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
VBS - DAY 3
Another day - another terrific VBS! Out Bible Voyage today was the story of Paul on the island of Malta - getting bit by a poisonous snake and God protecting him. God bringing good out of bad...but the bad still happened. Paul served God - yet he was shipwrecked and in this story - bitten by a snake. 'Paul' told us bad things happen - but God is with us - and because of the surprise of Paul not puffing up and dying from the snake bite, the kids learned that God's Word is surprising. It holds lots of surprises for us!
Our story teller today had a wonderful imaginative idea for having the kids jump off the ship and swim to the island - using mini-trampolines. It was a wonderful addition to creating a memory! I love God's infusion of energy and imagination in our stories this week....
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
VBS Days 1 & 2
A pastor's wife from another church brought her kids the first day and asked if she could stay and help.... Her description of FAL's VBS was 'VBS on steroids.' Every moment of every bit of effort in preparation is worth it. I can see it in the kids'faces!
We change our room every day to fit the story. Monday we had Rhoda tell how Peter got out of prison - and no one believed her when she ran back to the gathered group and said Peter was at the door. My granddaughter, Miah, was Rhoda. She did an excellent job.
Today Missionary Mark Schaufler dressed in the full uniform of a Roman soldier - and told the story of Paul down in the hold whom he was escorting to Rome - and the shipwreck. It was awesome!
All of this - and we are just one station in the kids' fun-filled day! It is a wow event!
And - in between one picture from yesterday and one from today, I inserted a photo I took from our deck last night as the sun was setting....enjoy!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
HANGING IN THERE
Many times when I've believed I was doing exactly what God asked of me things have gone topsy-turvy, and I've felt like I was left hanging upside down. I don't know the reason why things sometimes go that way - and may not ever know this side of heaven - and when I get there, I won't care!
Jesus tells us in John 16:33 "In this world you will have trouble." Thankfully the good news he extends follows immediately, "But take heart! I have overcome the world." That verse actually begins with the statement: "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace."
He is our peace in the storm. When the script doesn't go the way we thought it would. When we need direction. His Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119:105)
The words of the Psalmist come back to me for comfort: Yeah, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. (Psalm 23 KJV)
And - the words of the hymn 'It is well with my soul' sing comfort as well. In the storm, when there is trouble - or turmoil - or distress - I can do a soul-check and know with certainty:
"Whatever my lot, thou has taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul."
Thank you, Lord. And help me fine the fun when life leaves me hanging upside down. It must be lurking there somewhere!
Friday, June 25, 2010
GOD'S PEACE IN THE STORM
This is the picture on my computer screen. It is one I took July 27, 2009 of Mt Shuksan - after Al and I hiked out from our overnight campout closer to the mountain.
It is a perpetual reminder of God's majesty - and in the face of challenge - that the peace that he brings us is peace with him. I don't have time to write today - so one picture is going to have to be worth a thousand words.
Life has lots of challenges. The relatively inconsequential screams at us with urgency - and the challenge is to find true peace - peace with God.
When cacophony pierces my ears and troubles my heart I have to remember the basics:
God is faithful.
He deserves our praise and worship no matter what our circumstances.
The greatest gift we can give him is to live out our praise of him by living our lives in faithfulness and obedience.
Everything but the eternal is temporary.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
SIGNS OF EXTREME EROSION; Matthew 24:45-51
Delicate Arch in Utah is one example of astounding erosion. It sits alone on a mountain top - exposed, vulnerable.... How was it spared when everything else around it washed away? So many things in nature to wonder about....
I took this of Al on a trip we took to Utah and Colorado. So many amazing wonders....
All I can say is, "Good job, God. You amaze me, and your handiwork declares your greatness."
It is easy to see the effects of erosion in nature - conspicuous indicators that the flood defined in the Bible really occurred. Some people want to point to billions of years of the passing of time. I don't care how long God's days were for what he created - but I do care that he was/is the one who crafted the world, etching out its designs with great intention.
It's also easy to see the erosion of society - and to find it startling that we can be propelled down a path of utter destruction as a country because we aren't paying attention to the road signs. I have to admit that I've been too much of a fatalist - believing it is forewarned and will happen - - and not praying as I should for God's patience and mercy so more people will have time to choose eternal life.
But - I keep feeling that we have headed in....to a spiral from which there is no recovery.
I have never been 'negative' - as in always seeing the bad in everything - but I am a realist - and the Bible's realities provide some pretty dramatic warnings. I want to finish Matthew 24 - then move on....
Matthew 24:45-51
Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, 'My master is staying away a long time' and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
There is a lie being promoted that since Jesus' death was 'for everyone' that it automatically means every person will be saved. It's a feel-good religious belief - - but it doesn't hold up to what the Bible teaches. Not just here, but in other Bible passages, it is very clear that there is a place we don't want to risk going.
These verses specify faithfulness as the key - and that is consistent with other Biblical teaching. 'He who endures to the end will be saved.' Matthew 10:22. I'm glad knows what he is doing - and that it is all in his very capable hands. The only purpose there is for me to study end times prophecy is just to see how much has been fulfilled and ascertain which bits are left...and there aren't many...
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
END TIMES PROPHECY: As it was in the days of Noah
As a follow-up from yesterday, I decided to use a net like they did in Bible days. Our VBS Director had a cheapie net made of lightweight string – and I cut it in half this morning and painstakingly tied the two halves together, then threaded a nylon rope through the outside edge. It took time. Time for the kingdom. If it creates a visual that God can use for planting His Word in a child’s mind it will be worth every minute….
Yesterday I got a lot accomplished for VBS – the house will wait until after VBS. I am a project person – and this is the project I am immersed in. I decided to put the pictures we catch while fishing on cut-outs in the shape of fish – well, whimsical whales, to be specific. The colors of the fish will match the colors of the beads that will reinforce and hopefully remind the kids later of what they learned. I’m excited for the kids – and joy-filled to have the privilege of going on the journey with them….
As for the End Times Prophecy Pursuit – it rattles around in my brain while I am doing the tasks that need to be accomplished in preparation for next week.
Sunday morning while I was showering God reminded me of two things: One – as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the last days; and number two – He warned them.
Genesis 6 tells us how it was in the days of Noah. Man’s wickedness on the earth was great. God regretted he had ever made man. Men of God had married daughters of men who did not honor God – and their children were not brought up to love and honor the Lord. But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. In all of that sin and corruption, there was one man who was righteous – who lived according to God’s standard – who lived such a good life that he was blameless even among the people of his time…. Well done, Noah!
As for everyone else, the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. All the rest of the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God made a covenant with Noah. And Noah was obedient. He did everything precisely as God commanded him to do. Well done, Noah!
As it was in the days of Noah…people were preoccupied with what was going on in their lives to the exclusion of paying any attention to God. When Jesus talks about they were ‘marrying and giving in marriage’ – it wasn’t just about having weddings….it was about the reality that men who were supposed to know better – men who knew God – were drawn into a snare of following after beauty and sensual desire instead of keeping themselves pure by only marrying God-fearing women, and in that decision, they turned away from God, and were swept into lives that bred wickedness and corruption.
It only takes one generation of turning away.
God told Noah to build an ark. The people of his day thought he was a whack job. They mocked. They guffawed. They ridiculed. They certainly didn’t listen.
Can you blame them, really?
It had never rained before. Prior to that the earth was watered by dew. And now this bizarre over-500-year-old man was gathering a ton or so of wood to build something that floated on water – building it so far from any sea that he would never be able to get it to shore. No wonder they laughed.
Board by board, notch by notch, they watched Noah’s progress. He was sort of a public humiliation – that guy on the outside of town building some sort of ship….
They went about their business while he hewed out shapes according to the design God had given him, then coated it both inside and out with pitch, just as God had directed. It was a huge undertaking. It didn’t happen overnight!
As it was in the days of Noah…. God provided them a warning. If they had hearts inclined at all to the Lord, they would have asked Noah for wisdom, and God would have heard their heart’s plea – but their hearts were hardened against God.
As it was in the days of Noah. Does it sound like our world today? Corrupt. Wicked. People turning away from God by the droves, immersed in self-satisfying pursuits. And – even those who have known God diluting their faith by pursuing after what God warns against?
It is getting harder and harder to find something decent to watch on T V. Recently when we were flipping channels, I commented to Al that ‘this must just make God sick. ‘ and he responded, “Yeah. If there was a God, why would he let people get away with this kind of behavior?” “Grace,” I replied. But – I do wonder. The filth is beyond belief. Even when we try to keep everything we watch above PG-13, the line keeps getting moved further and further. When will God say, “ENOUGH.”
He has warned us very clearly that when we see these things happen, to look up for our redemption is nigh – very close. Just like at the auction – fair warning.
Yesterday I got a lot accomplished for VBS – the house will wait until after VBS. I am a project person – and this is the project I am immersed in. I decided to put the pictures we catch while fishing on cut-outs in the shape of fish – well, whimsical whales, to be specific. The colors of the fish will match the colors of the beads that will reinforce and hopefully remind the kids later of what they learned. I’m excited for the kids – and joy-filled to have the privilege of going on the journey with them….
As for the End Times Prophecy Pursuit – it rattles around in my brain while I am doing the tasks that need to be accomplished in preparation for next week.
Sunday morning while I was showering God reminded me of two things: One – as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the last days; and number two – He warned them.
Genesis 6 tells us how it was in the days of Noah. Man’s wickedness on the earth was great. God regretted he had ever made man. Men of God had married daughters of men who did not honor God – and their children were not brought up to love and honor the Lord. But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. In all of that sin and corruption, there was one man who was righteous – who lived according to God’s standard – who lived such a good life that he was blameless even among the people of his time…. Well done, Noah!
As for everyone else, the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. All the rest of the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God made a covenant with Noah. And Noah was obedient. He did everything precisely as God commanded him to do. Well done, Noah!
As it was in the days of Noah…people were preoccupied with what was going on in their lives to the exclusion of paying any attention to God. When Jesus talks about they were ‘marrying and giving in marriage’ – it wasn’t just about having weddings….it was about the reality that men who were supposed to know better – men who knew God – were drawn into a snare of following after beauty and sensual desire instead of keeping themselves pure by only marrying God-fearing women, and in that decision, they turned away from God, and were swept into lives that bred wickedness and corruption.
It only takes one generation of turning away.
God told Noah to build an ark. The people of his day thought he was a whack job. They mocked. They guffawed. They ridiculed. They certainly didn’t listen.
Can you blame them, really?
It had never rained before. Prior to that the earth was watered by dew. And now this bizarre over-500-year-old man was gathering a ton or so of wood to build something that floated on water – building it so far from any sea that he would never be able to get it to shore. No wonder they laughed.
Board by board, notch by notch, they watched Noah’s progress. He was sort of a public humiliation – that guy on the outside of town building some sort of ship….
They went about their business while he hewed out shapes according to the design God had given him, then coated it both inside and out with pitch, just as God had directed. It was a huge undertaking. It didn’t happen overnight!
As it was in the days of Noah…. God provided them a warning. If they had hearts inclined at all to the Lord, they would have asked Noah for wisdom, and God would have heard their heart’s plea – but their hearts were hardened against God.
As it was in the days of Noah. Does it sound like our world today? Corrupt. Wicked. People turning away from God by the droves, immersed in self-satisfying pursuits. And – even those who have known God diluting their faith by pursuing after what God warns against?
It is getting harder and harder to find something decent to watch on T V. Recently when we were flipping channels, I commented to Al that ‘this must just make God sick. ‘ and he responded, “Yeah. If there was a God, why would he let people get away with this kind of behavior?” “Grace,” I replied. But – I do wonder. The filth is beyond belief. Even when we try to keep everything we watch above PG-13, the line keeps getting moved further and further. When will God say, “ENOUGH.”
He has warned us very clearly that when we see these things happen, to look up for our redemption is nigh – very close. Just like at the auction – fair warning.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
UP TO MY GILLS IN VBS
Ahoy!
Our church is having Vacation Bible School next week - and they are going all out in their preparation. My job for the week is hosting one of the Story rooms with Anita - Bible Voyage - and each day we change the room to fit the story. I spent all day on that yesterday - - and Anita helped me for over 5 hours of that time - - and Al even got into the act, making us archaic looking crutches and a cross.... Then - a trip to Shipwreck Beads to find beads for reinforcing our final day object lesson.... There is still a bit more to do.
It is an excellent program - except that I didn't like what we were supposed to do for Friday - - and finally, this morning I got it re-written in an acceptable form. It feels wonderful to have that done. Now - off to find cellophane in fire colors for the day we find Paul shipwrecked - - when the snake bit him....
But I will leave you with my story for Friday - since I don't have time to write any more today!
Day 5: God’s Word is for Everyone
Props for Day 5:
____ Bible
____ big blue tarp as water
____ Bible times fishing net – net with rope woven into edge OR
Fishing pole and barrier for helper to hide behind to attach caught fish
____ large fish to ‘catch’ – in green, white, blue and red poster paper
____ 1. baby bottle – (or a picture of a baby bottle or baby with a bottle)
____ 2. picture of God’s Word, the Bible (on green fish)
____ 3. picture of children praying (on white fish)
____ 4. picture of church with a group of ‘friends’ out front (on blue fish)
____ 5. picture of a crowd of people (on red fish)
____ a ‘fish’ bead for each child (ours is a whale)
____ green, white, blue and red reminder beads
____ cord or yarn to put beads on to be a necklace (30” long; heat sealed if nylon)
____ small Ziploc sandwich bags to hold all the necklace parts – 1 per child
____ beach blankets for sitting on shore (optional)
All of the reminders for each day for review:
Day 1: Set of plastic handcuffs
Day 2: Cargo box & Ship’s wheel
Day 3: Rubber snake and ‘fire’
Day 4: Cross and bandaging strips
Day 5: Necklace & 4 colored fish….
Posters for the week.
Day 5: God’s Word is for Everyone
Memory Verse for today: “Your faithfulness extends to every generation, as enduring as the earth you created.” Psalm 119:90
Adapted Bible Passage for today:
Matthew 4:18-20 (New International Version)
Mark 1:16-18 (New International Version)
The Calling of the First Disciples
18As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." 20At once they left their nets and followed him.
BIBLE STORY: Gone fishing!
Lesson Objective: How to Grow
We are going fishing today! Some of the disciples were fishermen, and Jesus taught them that he was going to make them fishers of men. In fact, when Jesus first started his ministry on earth, he called 2 fishermen to be his first followers. Their names were Peter and Andrew.
In those days they fished with nets. They threw out their net, and then gathered it back in, and they caught how ever many fish were in it. Jesus used fishing as an example for them, because they could understand what he meant since they were fishermen. He taught them how to throw out a net of what God’s Word taught – and all who jumped into that net were saved.
The difference between fish and people, of course, was that people have a choice whether or not they jump into Jesus’ net of salvation. And – people can be any age when they accept Jesus as their personal Savior. Jesus is LORD over all the earth – but we have to choose whether or not we want him to be our Savior. But – God’s Word is for Everyone!
If we were going fishing we’d do it with a fishing pole – but I’m going to try a net. I watched them do it in Israel a few years ago! So – let’s do a little fishing and see what we catch.
1. BABY BOTTLE
Hmmm. I wasn’t expecting to catch baby bottles out here fishing….but it does remind me of something important.
When we are born into our human family, we all start out as babies. When we are born into God’s family, we start out as baby Christians. WE don’t become Christians by being born to parents who believe in God – we have to place our faith in him ourselves. That’s how we become a Christian – by asking Jesus to come live in our heart. It doesn’t matter if we are 6, 10, 15, 44 or any other age, when we ask Jesus to come live in our heart, we are a baby in Christ. So – you can’t look at a person and know how old they are in Jesus. Sometimes people are over 80 years old before they become a baby Christian – because becoming a Christian can happen at any age. Once we are old enough to understand Jesus’ love, and we feel him tugging at our hearts, that lets us know we are ready to invite him in.
And what do babies need to grow? Food. Do human babies start out with steak and hamburgers and French fries? No they start out with milk. That’s what this baby bottle reminds me of.
It is the same with growing in our walk with God. We start out as babies. We have to have the basics. First we learn that Jesus loves us . We learn about the message in John 3:16, which tells us that God loves us so much that he sent his one and only son to earth – and that anyone who believes in him can have eternal life.
When we believe that message, we ask Jesus to come live in our hearts – and bam! We are born again – born into the family of God. We should send out birth announcements! It’s the most amazing thing that will ever happen in your life!
But what do human babies do? Do they stay brand new? No, they grow! How do they do that? They eat and sleep and eat and sleep and before you know it – we have a toddler, then a kid, then a pre-teen – then a teenager…. And all that time they are growing.
Baby Christians also grow – they grow spiritually. They need food to do that. What is that food?
Let’s see what else we caught in our net Wow!
2. PICTURE OF A BIBLE
This is a picture of a Bible – God’s Word. God speaks to us through His Word. (Can also hold up your own Bible – but to be consistent with the fish and beads – there has to be a picture.)
Reading God’s Word – the Bible – is the most important thing we need for growing. The Bible tells us all about God – and it teaches us how to live, how to love, and how to honor God with our lives. It teaches us who Jesus is – who God is – and who we are in relation to him. It teaches us Truth. There are lots of things in the world that are not true, [God’s Word is true, Let’s go!] but God’s Word is true. It is what we need to live by. Reading the Bible is one of the most important ways to get our spiritual food. We have to read God’s Word if we want to grow.
What color do you think of when you think of plants growing? Green. Green is going to be our color to remind us we need to read God’s Word to grow.
Let’s see what else we caught.
3. PICTURE OF CHILDREN PRAYING
Prayer is also important for growing. We are never too young to pray. God hears our prayers. There are four main parts to prayer: The first is Praise. Praise is telling God how wonderful He is – just because He deserves to be told. He loves our praise.
Thanking God for the good things he has done for us is another part of prayer. We have a lot to be thankful for. Sometimes we forget to say thank you – but we need to do that. We need to find something good in every day to say thank you for – and then tell God thank you.
Another part of prayer is saying we are sorry for things we have done that wouldn’t make God happy. When we tell God we are sorry we are confessing our sins. That’s what we call it. He is our heavenly father. Sometimes we do things that make God sad or unhappy. We need to say we are sorry – and he promises us he will forgive us. Then we need to ask him for his help not to do that same sin again.
And finally, asking God for the things we need is part of prayer. Sometimes people forget to thank God or praise God, or confess their sins – they just start asking him for things they want. In fact sometimes people tell God exactly what they want – and just expect him to do what they say. God doesn’t work like that. As we grow out of the baby Christian phase, we learn that prayer helps us ask for the things God wants for us – and the thing he wants most is for us to become more and more like Jesus. So – when we read our Bibles we need to ask God to help us understand it and do what it says.
Let’s have white be our color for reminding us to pray. White reminds me of being clean – and prayer makes me feel clean.
Let’s see what else we caught:
4. PICTURE OF A CHURCH WITH A GROUP OF ‘FRIENDS’ IN FRONT
The next thing we need to grow is to be faithful to God, and that includes being part of a Christian community. We have to be faithful in being part of a Bible believing church. Just like God puts baby people in families so they have someone to care for them, God places us in spiritual families. No matter how cute the stories about Tarzan and Mowgli are, baby people do not survive alone. Baby Christians don’t either. We need to be in the family of God. We need to be in Sunday School and church – and we need Christian friends. FAL is not the only wonderful church – so if this is not your church – just be faithful where God has planted you – and grow.
Being faithful – making honoring God your top priority – is the most important goal you can have.
When I think of a color that reminds me of faithfulness, I think ‘true blue’ so let’s have blue be our color that reminds us of our faithfulness to God.
Ah! There is one more fish in our net today.
5. PICTURE OF A CROWD OF PEOPLE
Do you know what happens when you start growing as a Christian? You start wanting to share the truth with others! God’s Truth is for everyone. His Word is for everyone. Jesus loves everyone. We want to share the good news when we know him.
Do you remember those fishermen Jesus first called – Peter and Andrew? Well, they used to be just fishermen who caught fish – but then they became fishers of men -
and as they shared the Good News about Jesus, thousands of other people became baby Christians – who grew and became fishers of men, too….
It is exciting when someone else comes to Jesus. There are lots of ways we can share our excitement of having Jesus in our life with other people. I think red is a good color to remind us of the excitement of sharing Jesus. Red also reminds us that Jesus shed his blood on the cross for us – and made salvation possible.
So, let’s review, When we first come into the world we are a baby. When we first ask Jesus to come into our heart, what do we become?
A BABY CHRISTIAN.
Hold up green bead. What is the first thing a baby Christian needs to grow?
Reading God’s Word.
Hold up white bead . What is the second thing we need to grow?
Prayer – all kinds of prayers!
Hold up blue bead. What is the third thing we need to grow?
Faithful Sunday School and church attendance in a Bible believing church; staying connected to Christians.
Hold up red bead. And what will be result?
We will grow – and as we grow we will want to share God’s truth with others.
GOD’S WORD IS FOR EVERYONE. Let’s go.
REVIEW FOR THE WEEK
Let’s review the wonderful stories from the Bible you’ve heard this week.
On Monday we heard from the servant girl, Rhoda. What did we say every time she said ‘That’s not true?’ GOD’S WORD IS TRUE. Let’s go. What happened in the story Rhoda told?
On Tuesday, we had a substitute Captain – Captain Mark take over for Captain Sam. When things in his story got scary, what did he teach us to say? GOD’S WORD IS COMFORTING. Let’s go. When the ship was about to crash, it was really good to know that GOD’S WORD IS COMFORTING. Let’s go.
On Wednesday, we had Pastor Peter come tell us the story of what happened to Paul after the shipwreck. Everyone made it to the island. That was surprising! GOD’S WORD IS SURPRISING. Let’s go. And that is what we learned. In spite of Paul getting bit by a snake, He was O K – and that was surprising. GOD’S WORD IS SURPRISING. Let’s go.
On Thursday, we learned that GOD’S WORD IS LIFE-CHANGING. Let’s go. God’s Word IS life changing. We have new life in Him, and just like he changed the life of the beggar at the gate, he changes us.
Today we learned that to be a Christian means we have asked Jesus to come live in our hearts and what we need to Grow from being baby Christians to more mature Christians. We learned that reading God’s Word, praying and being faithful in Christian community will help us grow. And we learned that GOD’S WORD IS FOR EVERYONE. Let’s go.
God’s Word is for Everyone! Let’s go share the Good News! Let’s be ‘fishers of men’. God’s Word is for Everyone! Let’s go!
Little details:
I ‘cut’ the nylon cord with a candle flame – sealing both ends in the process.
Instead of ‘going fishing’ every time – I decided to throw out the net only once and then just pick up one fish at a time to talk about. I really deliberated about doing the net or the fishing pole. They both work!
If I had heavier netting I’d only catch one item at a time – but I can’t gather it in and then have this one stretch back out well….
This is totally different than the VBS writer’s Day 5 – but I did tie it in so what they learn in other sessions will still blend. I just wanted them to have resources for living their faith – and Bible Reading, prayer and fellowship are the keys to doing that! - Lola
Our church is having Vacation Bible School next week - and they are going all out in their preparation. My job for the week is hosting one of the Story rooms with Anita - Bible Voyage - and each day we change the room to fit the story. I spent all day on that yesterday - - and Anita helped me for over 5 hours of that time - - and Al even got into the act, making us archaic looking crutches and a cross.... Then - a trip to Shipwreck Beads to find beads for reinforcing our final day object lesson.... There is still a bit more to do.
It is an excellent program - except that I didn't like what we were supposed to do for Friday - - and finally, this morning I got it re-written in an acceptable form. It feels wonderful to have that done. Now - off to find cellophane in fire colors for the day we find Paul shipwrecked - - when the snake bit him....
But I will leave you with my story for Friday - since I don't have time to write any more today!
Day 5: God’s Word is for Everyone
Props for Day 5:
____ Bible
____ big blue tarp as water
____ Bible times fishing net – net with rope woven into edge OR
Fishing pole and barrier for helper to hide behind to attach caught fish
____ large fish to ‘catch’ – in green, white, blue and red poster paper
____ 1. baby bottle – (or a picture of a baby bottle or baby with a bottle)
____ 2. picture of God’s Word, the Bible (on green fish)
____ 3. picture of children praying (on white fish)
____ 4. picture of church with a group of ‘friends’ out front (on blue fish)
____ 5. picture of a crowd of people (on red fish)
____ a ‘fish’ bead for each child (ours is a whale)
____ green, white, blue and red reminder beads
____ cord or yarn to put beads on to be a necklace (30” long; heat sealed if nylon)
____ small Ziploc sandwich bags to hold all the necklace parts – 1 per child
____ beach blankets for sitting on shore (optional)
All of the reminders for each day for review:
Day 1: Set of plastic handcuffs
Day 2: Cargo box & Ship’s wheel
Day 3: Rubber snake and ‘fire’
Day 4: Cross and bandaging strips
Day 5: Necklace & 4 colored fish….
Posters for the week.
Day 5: God’s Word is for Everyone
Memory Verse for today: “Your faithfulness extends to every generation, as enduring as the earth you created.” Psalm 119:90
Adapted Bible Passage for today:
Matthew 4:18-20 (New International Version)
Mark 1:16-18 (New International Version)
The Calling of the First Disciples
18As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." 20At once they left their nets and followed him.
BIBLE STORY: Gone fishing!
Lesson Objective: How to Grow
We are going fishing today! Some of the disciples were fishermen, and Jesus taught them that he was going to make them fishers of men. In fact, when Jesus first started his ministry on earth, he called 2 fishermen to be his first followers. Their names were Peter and Andrew.
In those days they fished with nets. They threw out their net, and then gathered it back in, and they caught how ever many fish were in it. Jesus used fishing as an example for them, because they could understand what he meant since they were fishermen. He taught them how to throw out a net of what God’s Word taught – and all who jumped into that net were saved.
The difference between fish and people, of course, was that people have a choice whether or not they jump into Jesus’ net of salvation. And – people can be any age when they accept Jesus as their personal Savior. Jesus is LORD over all the earth – but we have to choose whether or not we want him to be our Savior. But – God’s Word is for Everyone!
If we were going fishing we’d do it with a fishing pole – but I’m going to try a net. I watched them do it in Israel a few years ago! So – let’s do a little fishing and see what we catch.
1. BABY BOTTLE
Hmmm. I wasn’t expecting to catch baby bottles out here fishing….but it does remind me of something important.
When we are born into our human family, we all start out as babies. When we are born into God’s family, we start out as baby Christians. WE don’t become Christians by being born to parents who believe in God – we have to place our faith in him ourselves. That’s how we become a Christian – by asking Jesus to come live in our heart. It doesn’t matter if we are 6, 10, 15, 44 or any other age, when we ask Jesus to come live in our heart, we are a baby in Christ. So – you can’t look at a person and know how old they are in Jesus. Sometimes people are over 80 years old before they become a baby Christian – because becoming a Christian can happen at any age. Once we are old enough to understand Jesus’ love, and we feel him tugging at our hearts, that lets us know we are ready to invite him in.
And what do babies need to grow? Food. Do human babies start out with steak and hamburgers and French fries? No they start out with milk. That’s what this baby bottle reminds me of.
It is the same with growing in our walk with God. We start out as babies. We have to have the basics. First we learn that Jesus loves us . We learn about the message in John 3:16, which tells us that God loves us so much that he sent his one and only son to earth – and that anyone who believes in him can have eternal life.
When we believe that message, we ask Jesus to come live in our hearts – and bam! We are born again – born into the family of God. We should send out birth announcements! It’s the most amazing thing that will ever happen in your life!
But what do human babies do? Do they stay brand new? No, they grow! How do they do that? They eat and sleep and eat and sleep and before you know it – we have a toddler, then a kid, then a pre-teen – then a teenager…. And all that time they are growing.
Baby Christians also grow – they grow spiritually. They need food to do that. What is that food?
Let’s see what else we caught in our net Wow!
2. PICTURE OF A BIBLE
This is a picture of a Bible – God’s Word. God speaks to us through His Word. (Can also hold up your own Bible – but to be consistent with the fish and beads – there has to be a picture.)
Reading God’s Word – the Bible – is the most important thing we need for growing. The Bible tells us all about God – and it teaches us how to live, how to love, and how to honor God with our lives. It teaches us who Jesus is – who God is – and who we are in relation to him. It teaches us Truth. There are lots of things in the world that are not true, [God’s Word is true, Let’s go!] but God’s Word is true. It is what we need to live by. Reading the Bible is one of the most important ways to get our spiritual food. We have to read God’s Word if we want to grow.
What color do you think of when you think of plants growing? Green. Green is going to be our color to remind us we need to read God’s Word to grow.
Let’s see what else we caught.
3. PICTURE OF CHILDREN PRAYING
Prayer is also important for growing. We are never too young to pray. God hears our prayers. There are four main parts to prayer: The first is Praise. Praise is telling God how wonderful He is – just because He deserves to be told. He loves our praise.
Thanking God for the good things he has done for us is another part of prayer. We have a lot to be thankful for. Sometimes we forget to say thank you – but we need to do that. We need to find something good in every day to say thank you for – and then tell God thank you.
Another part of prayer is saying we are sorry for things we have done that wouldn’t make God happy. When we tell God we are sorry we are confessing our sins. That’s what we call it. He is our heavenly father. Sometimes we do things that make God sad or unhappy. We need to say we are sorry – and he promises us he will forgive us. Then we need to ask him for his help not to do that same sin again.
And finally, asking God for the things we need is part of prayer. Sometimes people forget to thank God or praise God, or confess their sins – they just start asking him for things they want. In fact sometimes people tell God exactly what they want – and just expect him to do what they say. God doesn’t work like that. As we grow out of the baby Christian phase, we learn that prayer helps us ask for the things God wants for us – and the thing he wants most is for us to become more and more like Jesus. So – when we read our Bibles we need to ask God to help us understand it and do what it says.
Let’s have white be our color for reminding us to pray. White reminds me of being clean – and prayer makes me feel clean.
Let’s see what else we caught:
4. PICTURE OF A CHURCH WITH A GROUP OF ‘FRIENDS’ IN FRONT
The next thing we need to grow is to be faithful to God, and that includes being part of a Christian community. We have to be faithful in being part of a Bible believing church. Just like God puts baby people in families so they have someone to care for them, God places us in spiritual families. No matter how cute the stories about Tarzan and Mowgli are, baby people do not survive alone. Baby Christians don’t either. We need to be in the family of God. We need to be in Sunday School and church – and we need Christian friends. FAL is not the only wonderful church – so if this is not your church – just be faithful where God has planted you – and grow.
Being faithful – making honoring God your top priority – is the most important goal you can have.
When I think of a color that reminds me of faithfulness, I think ‘true blue’ so let’s have blue be our color that reminds us of our faithfulness to God.
Ah! There is one more fish in our net today.
5. PICTURE OF A CROWD OF PEOPLE
Do you know what happens when you start growing as a Christian? You start wanting to share the truth with others! God’s Truth is for everyone. His Word is for everyone. Jesus loves everyone. We want to share the good news when we know him.
Do you remember those fishermen Jesus first called – Peter and Andrew? Well, they used to be just fishermen who caught fish – but then they became fishers of men -
and as they shared the Good News about Jesus, thousands of other people became baby Christians – who grew and became fishers of men, too….
It is exciting when someone else comes to Jesus. There are lots of ways we can share our excitement of having Jesus in our life with other people. I think red is a good color to remind us of the excitement of sharing Jesus. Red also reminds us that Jesus shed his blood on the cross for us – and made salvation possible.
So, let’s review, When we first come into the world we are a baby. When we first ask Jesus to come into our heart, what do we become?
A BABY CHRISTIAN.
Hold up green bead. What is the first thing a baby Christian needs to grow?
Reading God’s Word.
Hold up white bead . What is the second thing we need to grow?
Prayer – all kinds of prayers!
Hold up blue bead. What is the third thing we need to grow?
Faithful Sunday School and church attendance in a Bible believing church; staying connected to Christians.
Hold up red bead. And what will be result?
We will grow – and as we grow we will want to share God’s truth with others.
GOD’S WORD IS FOR EVERYONE. Let’s go.
REVIEW FOR THE WEEK
Let’s review the wonderful stories from the Bible you’ve heard this week.
On Monday we heard from the servant girl, Rhoda. What did we say every time she said ‘That’s not true?’ GOD’S WORD IS TRUE. Let’s go. What happened in the story Rhoda told?
On Tuesday, we had a substitute Captain – Captain Mark take over for Captain Sam. When things in his story got scary, what did he teach us to say? GOD’S WORD IS COMFORTING. Let’s go. When the ship was about to crash, it was really good to know that GOD’S WORD IS COMFORTING. Let’s go.
On Wednesday, we had Pastor Peter come tell us the story of what happened to Paul after the shipwreck. Everyone made it to the island. That was surprising! GOD’S WORD IS SURPRISING. Let’s go. And that is what we learned. In spite of Paul getting bit by a snake, He was O K – and that was surprising. GOD’S WORD IS SURPRISING. Let’s go.
On Thursday, we learned that GOD’S WORD IS LIFE-CHANGING. Let’s go. God’s Word IS life changing. We have new life in Him, and just like he changed the life of the beggar at the gate, he changes us.
Today we learned that to be a Christian means we have asked Jesus to come live in our hearts and what we need to Grow from being baby Christians to more mature Christians. We learned that reading God’s Word, praying and being faithful in Christian community will help us grow. And we learned that GOD’S WORD IS FOR EVERYONE. Let’s go.
God’s Word is for Everyone! Let’s go share the Good News! Let’s be ‘fishers of men’. God’s Word is for Everyone! Let’s go!
Little details:
I ‘cut’ the nylon cord with a candle flame – sealing both ends in the process.
Instead of ‘going fishing’ every time – I decided to throw out the net only once and then just pick up one fish at a time to talk about. I really deliberated about doing the net or the fishing pole. They both work!
If I had heavier netting I’d only catch one item at a time – but I can’t gather it in and then have this one stretch back out well….
This is totally different than the VBS writer’s Day 5 – but I did tie it in so what they learn in other sessions will still blend. I just wanted them to have resources for living their faith – and Bible Reading, prayer and fellowship are the keys to doing that! - Lola
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