Thursday, December 23, 2010

Christ is no longer a baby

This time of year can be a very hard time of year for some people. Our culture says the way to emotional fulfillment is to walk around in a “Christmas haze” & become absorbed in the mystical “spirit of the season.” The 'magic of Christmas' should overtake your life with wonder & joy. It often tends toward unrealistic expectations, depression, and frustration for those who are not in Christ, and sometimes even for those that are. It can breed dissatisfaction with normal life.
Like I said in the previous post, I was born again in this frame of mind 20 years ago this Christmas morning. It wasn't in a Christmas morning service either, I didn't go to church. My deficiencies of the wondrous joys of the season started plaguing me after Thanksgiving. My sister & her husband had just married, so they were giddy newlyweds. I was recently singled and very depressed about it. Their home wasn't the ideal place for me to live at that time, but it was where I wound up. I had a deep hole in my heart that I began to try to fill with a lot of things. I'll skip glorifying sin, & sum it up with the fact that my conscience was defiled, I was empty, and the world & it's delights were being realized for the fool's gold they were. I surprised myself at the level of depravity I'd 'attained' as of late. I ran into an old friend of my brother's who was a rough drug addict, but now was very different, gleaming with the joy of the Lord. There had been an obvious change in him. I tried to tell him my woes, he told me of the wonders of Jesus. I was happy for him and we parted ways. A couple weeks later on Christmas morning, about 4 am, I thought of him. God was 'irresistibly drawing' me. I was restless, 'no sleep for the wicked' for 2 days straight. I went to talk to him about God & he showed me the way. That morning my sins were washed away, a 1,000 lbs lifted off my back, and I had a peace I'd never had before. "Heaven came down and glory filled my soul.."
"The things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His Glory.."
That night I went to church for the first time in years, only to fall asleep. It was alright though, just a rough start to a new beginning. Christmas was now my new birthday, mine & Jesus's. Right?
Weeeelllll, maybe not....
A careful analysis of Scripture clearly indicates that December 25 is an unlikely date for Christ's birth. Here are two primary reasons: First, shepherds were in the fields watching their flocks at the time of Jesus' birth (Luke 2:7-8). Shepherds do not stay in the fields at night during December. Since December is cold and rainy in Judea, it is likely the shepherds would have sought shelter for their flocks at night. Second, Jesus' parents came to Bethlehem to register in a Roman census (Luke 2:1-4). Such censuses were not taken in winter, when temperatures often dropped below freezing and roads were in poor condition. Taking a census under such conditions would have been self-defeating.
So how did we arrive at celebrating Christ's birthday on this date? Christmas (Christ-Mass) as we know it today, most historians agree, began in Germany, though Catholics and Lutherans still disagree about which church celebrated it first. In 350, Pope Julius I declared that Christ’s birth would be celebrated on December 25. There is little doubt that he was trying to make it as painless as possible for pagan Romans (who remained a majority at that time) to convert to Christianity. In Rome, the Winter Solstice was celebrated many years before the birth of Christ. The Romans called their winter holiday Saturnalia, honoring Saturn, the God of Agriculture. In January, they observed the Kalends of January, which represented the triumph of life over death. This whole season was called Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun. The festival season was marked by much merrymaking. In northern Europe, many other traditions that we now consider part of Christian worship were begun long before the participants had ever heard of Christ. The pagans of northern Europe celebrated the their own winter solstice, known as Yule. Yule was symbolic of the pagan Sun God, Mithras, being born, and was observed on the shortest day of the year. As the Sun God grew and matured, the days became longer and warmer. It was customary to light a candle to encourage Mithras, and the sun, to reappear next year. In ancient Babylon, the feast of the Son of Isis Goddess of Nature) was celebrated on December 25. Raucous partying, gluttonous eating and drinking, and gift-giving were traditions of this feast.
It is popularized on the Christian radio the story that pagans have paganized a Christian holiday, even though the reality is the reverse.
The tree is the one symbol that unites almost all the northern European winter solstices. Live evergreen trees were often brought into homes during the harsh winters as a reminder to inhabitants that soon their crops would grow again. Evergreen boughs were sometimes carried as totems of good luck and were often present at weddings, representing fertility. The Druids used the tree as a religious symbol, holding their sacred ceremonies while surrounding and worshiping huge trees. The earliest record of an evergreen being decorated in a Christian celebration was in 1521 in the Alsace region of Germany. The Romans decked their halls with garlands of laurel and placed candles in live trees to decorate for the celebration of Saturnalia. In Scandinavia, they hung apples from evergreen trees at the winder solstice to remind themselves that spring and summer will come again. The evergreen tree was the special plant of their sun god, Baldor.
Jeremiah 10:1-4 "Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O House of Israel: Thus saith the LORD, learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain; for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold.
This verse is speaking of making idols.
One common reservation expressed about family Christmas observance is its tendency to promote worldliness or materialism in adults and children alike. This is certainly a legitimate concern. The manner in which a large percentage in our culture spend beyond their means and lavish their family members with frivolous gifts or unnecessary luxuries will certainly promote a selfishness, materialism, and greed that are contrary to the explicit teachings of Scripture. "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want," contradicts teaching our children to make a list of things they want for Christmas. 1 Timothy 6:8 "But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that." For a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions (Luke 12:15), and because riches make themselves wings and fly away (Prov. 23:5), we should not set our affections upon them (Matt. 6:19). Scripture, moreover, regularly forbids a covetous, greedy, and discontented spirit (Prov. 1:19; Jer. 6:13; 1 Cor. 5:10,11; 6:10; Eph. 5:5). Is the gift giving & receiving the way to show our love for Chirst? Surely, it has nothing to do with personal gratification. How does it keep the children's hearts & minds on Jesus's birthday, as if that makes any sense? Seems more like they are trained to use 'holy' things as a means to selfish ends. In view of criticism of the commercialization of Christmas, it is interesting to note that the holiday's secular, not its religious, aspect, has been most responsible for its popularity. Many Christians are uneasy about the crass commercialism and greed associated with with the day which they hold as 'holy'. The lure of profit has proven so strong that, since the 1870s, merchants have vigorously promoted Christmas. In the United States "retailers have come to count on yuletide sales for up to 50 percent of their annual profits. The shopping season now pumps an estimated $37 billion into the nation's economy. Without Christ's birthday, how will this holiday stand? Should it stand? Can we evangelize the heathen without this holiday? Did Christ himself ask us to celebrate His birth?
He left explicit instructions regarding how His followers are to commemorate His death (1 Corinthians 11:23-26), but nothing about His birth. Man himself sanctioned this 'holy day' and the keeping of it is a 'tradition of man,' one that seems to be to me,'conforming to the pattern of this world' & not beneficial, but 'legal' nonetheless.
When the Puritans came to power in England, Parliament, in June,1647, they passed legislation abolishing Christmas and other holidays. In this legislation, they wrote the following: “For as much as the feast of the nativity of Christ, Easter, and other festivals, commonly called holy days, have been here-to-fore superstitiously used and observed; be it ordained that the said feasts, and all other festivals, commonly called holy days, be no longer observed as festivals.”
Christmas was not a holiday in early America for the Pilgrims. From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was actually outlawed in Boston...
Congress was in session on December 25, 1789, the first Christmas under America's new constitution. Christmas wasn't declared a federal holiday until June 26, 1870.
Samuel Miller, a Puritan and professor of history and church government at Princeton Seminary, stated in 1896 in his book why Presbyterians reject the holy days of Christmas and Easter. He stated that “the Scriptures were the only infallible rule of faith and practice, and that no rite or ceremony ought to have a place in the public worship of Yahweh, which is not warranted in Scripture. Not only does the celebration of non-biblical holidays lack a scriptural foundation, but the scriptures positively discount it.”
Opposition to these church holidays remained in American Presbyterianism through the latter half of the 19th century. Historian Ernest Trice Thompson wrote the following:"There was no recognition of either Christmas or Easter in any of the Protestant churches, except the Episcopal and Lutheran. For a full generation after the Civil War, the religious journals of the South mentioned Christmas only to observe that there was no reason to believe that Jesus was actually born on December 25th; it was not recognized as a day of any religious significance in the Presbyterian Church.
Charles Spurgeon, stated in a sermon given on Christmas Eve, December 24th, 1871, the following:
“We have no superstitious regard for times and seasons. Certainly we do not believe in the present ecclesiastical arrangement called Christmas: first, because we do not believe in the mass at all, but abhor it, whether it be said or sung in Latin or English; and secondly, because we find no scriptural warrant whatever for observing any day as the birthday of the Savior; and, consequently, it’s observance is a superstition, because not of divine authority.” [C. H. Spurgeon, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, 1971, pg. 697
The holidays of Christmas and Easter were banned from the Church of Scotland.
David Calderwood [1511-1651], representing the Scottish ministries, asserted in reference to Christmas and Easter: “The Judaical days had once that honor, as to be appointed by Yahweh Himself; but the anniversary days appointed by men have not like honor. This opinion of Christ’s nativity on the 25th day of December was bred at Rome.”

I am afraid that very often the Church gives a very unbalanced view of the Christ-child during the Christmas season. We must not let the world forget that Jesus grew up. When he did, he drove the moneychangers from the temple, ridiculed the Pharisees for their wicked perversions of God’s law, and spoke of the need for faith and repentance. Can the world see past the baby to the reality behind the Christ child — that God had become incarnate through the Virgin in order to save his people from their sins and judge all enemies of his kingdom or is His Name & Image in this season used in vain, violating commandment #3?
John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Note: These are just my personal views, I know of no one else who believes this strongly on this subject. So take it or leave it, just my ramblings.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Does God like chocolate or vanilla?

I guess the best way to know what someone likes is to ask.. or maybe they've said what they liked at one time or another.

Thus begins the Christmas shopping season every year. Trying to find the perfect gift for everyone on your list. And does not the list get bigger every year or do you feel guilty because you have to trim it because of your budget? If someone new gives you something, do you feel bad you didn't give them anything back? Some people can get really stressed over these issues, I know I have. I am not a mind reader, so unless someone spells out what they want, I'm not going to know. Don't we encourage our children to make their list of whatever it is they want, whether it be one thing, three, or however many things we, the grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, or friends will get them? (Not adhering to "Be content if you have food, water, & shelter," much, is it?)
I was in my Salvation Army today when my friend who works there was bemoaning the angel tree woes. It seems some well meaning people, who maybe wanted to take the edge off the worldliness of Christmas by thinking of poor children whose parents may not have enough money to buy their children presents, took the names of poor children off their Angel Tree, only to not bring it or the gifts back. A lot of folks will return with the child's tag from the tree with the gifts that were on the list in the proper amount of time, but this year there were a disproportionate amount of names taken off that were not returned with the gifts. She was saying they had a lot of gifts to come up with because of some would-be giver's backing out. Now what good Christian has not picked a name off an Angel Tree? If you're like me, you skip the expensive ones that have listed the electronic gadgets such as Ipods, video games, or laptops simply because you can't even afford them for your own child, much less someone else's. I personally don't see these things as a necessity, so I wouldn't buy them that if I had the money. Some of the tags are real conversation pieces to those of us around the tree of just what all these poor kids want & about what tags probably won't get picked. The coveting/want meter can get shamelessly full tilt. The ones that get picked probably the mom, not the kid, filled out with a what was a legitimate need. Things such as a coat, shoes, socks, pants & a modest toy or two were always popular ones to be picked. So what happened to the people who reneged on their commitment to these underprivileged children? We should be gracious I suppose & say maybe they lost or forgot about their tag or tragically ran out of money trying to make sure they had 'enough'gifts to lace around under their Christmas tree for their own children, family, & friends. You have to admit, it can be hard on the budget these days, especially if you have a teen-ager or two. I take that back, they don't even have to be a teen anymore to want those big ticket technological gadgets. What happened to baby dolls for the 7 year old girls & a nerf gun for your 10 year old boy? Christmas can get darn right expensive a lot earlier with kids these days, & I don't know how grandparents do it. It can make a believer out of you that liberal lie that says it cost that shockingly exuberant amount of money ($$$$$$$$, I can't remember) to raise one child from birth to eighteen that is supposed to deter young couples from starting their family. And God said, "Be fruitful & multiply!"

You haven't even started buying for mom, dad, siblings, cousins, friends, & co-workers! Is it really giving to Jesus on His birthday when we are really just exchanging gifts with one another? Some folks just bite the bullet & whip out the credit card or take up that friendly timely bill board's ad from the loan sharks for extra 'dough' that has the cute Christmas gingerbread cookies on it. I'm sure those places are real busy this time of year, but I'll bet it isn't half as stressful as the folks who work in retail. Ron has a old friend from a past life on facebook who is in the middle of this headache. He has A LOT of unwinding to do after work, just another reason to drink away his stress. He caught four shop lifters in one day! (when normally it is just one a day in any give week this time of year. Jesus's birthday time of year is not fa la la for him (or the shoplifters who feel forced to steal, I suppose), sad to say or many others in these types of jobs. My niece has the 'awesome' job of helping kids get on Santa's lap at the mall. Yikes!

Is jail time & a criminal record really worth stealing for (so & so) to have some earrings or your child that (latest hip toy) for CHRISTmas? The DJ on the radio the other day was talking about getting caught in the holiday traffic around the mall & there wasn't a lot of the fruit of God's Spirit that day in celebration of His Son, I'll tell you. What a witness to the world this holiday creates.

That is what this season is all about, isn't it? For some folks, undoubtedly yes, but not Christian families, right? Just show up Sunday morning at church & ask the children in Sunday school what their Christmas was like. Is it, "we had breakfast, prayers, & advent stories, then we opened presents!" Not in the real world. It starts with, "I got....!!!!!, what did you get???" to boil it down to the bottom line. How can we win against materialism that the children so easily pick up on?

A new friend at church was talking the other day about how he wanted a catchy Christmas quote from a dear respected saint from the past to put on his facebook status, so he googled, Charles Spurgeon, Christmas." Whoa! What a shock he received! What was his problem? What was the Covenanter's problem with this sacred *Christian* holiday? The Puritans were throwing people in jail in early America for celebrating this holiday they outlawed? Why even Andrew Bonar was a 'Grench that stole Christmas'!!

Ok, I'm going to come out of the closet now & from what I've researched
I think the 'emperor's New Clothes' need to be called what they are. This holiday is a fiction made up by Pope Julius I to Christianize the pagans in his kingdom who celebrated the re-birth of the sun on this winter solstice day. Next year Christ mass (the Catholics invented this day) falls on the Lord's Sabbath Day. How many churches all across our nation & maybe even the world will negate God's fourth commandment to observe this 'tradition of man? Does God like that? Does He want us to do that? I think He has specifically stated against that.
As stated in my research on the matter.
Look at what we so ardently fight against this holiday being... what it is... a crass commercialism holiday we try to Christianize that is man invented & is pagan at it's bare root. It is like a growing Goliath to stand against in our society if you don't celebrate it & I wish someone would chop off it's head.
Let the Christian church arise & do it's duty to call out the emporer's nakedness & stop saying what beautiful clothes 'He' has on. Aren't we supposed to worship Him in spirit & in TRUTH?
What will His bride do next Christ mass on the God ordained & sanctioned Sabbath Day? Take His name in vain for the sake of a fallacy?

The weather in Bethlehem the other day was six degrees Celsius as it has always been around this time of year. The Caesar would be crazy if he wanted an accurate counting in his census in this cold & rainy season & heartless if he sent families to travel for days or even weeks back to their hometowns in this terrible weather. I'm a farmer, modern yes, but I know a few things about agriculture. The forecasters are calling for snow on Christ's mass Day in Bethlehem. No shepherds are out in their fields watching their flocks by night, grazing on what grass(?)that would be growing in this weather with what kind of shelter from the rainy season they're having right now in this cold.

They were in their homes & the animals in the barn eating hay they'd stored up during the summer. (remember the animals were in the barn in the nativity scene ;-)
IMHO, truthfully, I think he was born during the Feast of Tabernacles, when God came to dwell among men, under the sign of the stars in heaven of the Virgin in Sept. Some others think it was spring according to Zachariah's time in the temple & when Elizabeth got pregnant & Mary came to visit. I don't know.

So what about the children who didn't get their angel tree gifts when they awaken on Saturday looking for the spread of presents Santa was supposed to bring (or Jesus give if they are a religious home)? What about the children in Africa who got the shoe boxes from Franklin Graham years ago, are they still getting a shoebox full of gifts from Jesus for His birthday this year? Most rich American children, Christian & non alike have a bunch of gifts under their Christ mass tree. So are they still worshiping Him for what they did not get?
I just know this tradition of man is one that I have a hard time in my conscience honoring. So does God like chocolate or vanilla



...or strawberry hhhmmmm

Friday, December 3, 2010

Brandon Thanksgiving

This is how our Thanksgivings start, on Tuesdays, with the yummy centerpiece for other's tables. A few of you may have recently met the fellow who is 'processing' our birds. He is a dear old friend who has recently, miraculously, confessed Christ. Corey McClellan has been a delightful change at Zion Farms as our house guest.

Going in to gather another turkey.
Hannah is happy & grateful to have her dear cousin Jeremiah over to help us process. ;-)
Watch out, Mom, she has a knife!

Three down, one to go in this set.
May the Lord bless him & his wife with 10 more years of marriage, only now serving our wonderful Redeemer. I suppose we could have called him in the past, Slick the Slayer, but now hopefully, it is Corey the Christian.
On Thursday we go to the Rileys for a day of fun & fellowship

Friday, November 26, 2010

TV Is My Shepherd

This is a take off of Psalm 23. It can also apply to net surfing.


The TV set is my shepherd.
My spiritual growth shall want.
It maketh me to sit down and do nothing for his name’s sake.
Because it requireth all of my spare time.
It keepeth me from doing my duty as a Christian,
because it presenteth so many good shows that I must see.

It restoreth my knowledge of the things
of the world and keepeth me from the study of God’s Word.
It leadeth me in the paths of failing to attend the evening worship services
and doing nothing in the kingdom of God.
It anoints my head With materialism. My coveting runneth over.

Yea, though I live to be 100
I shall keep on viewing television as long as it will work,
for it is my closest companion.
Its sound and its picture,
they comfort me.

It presenteth entertainment before me
and keepeth me from doing important things with my family.
It fills my head with ideas which differ from those set forth in the word of God.

Surely, no good thing will come of my life,
because my television offereth me no good time to do the will of God;
thus I will dwell crownless in the house of the Lord forever.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

I had an abortion....

in my dream this morning. The father did not want the baby, so I went in for the procedure. When it was all over & I was walking out, they handed me a warm white bag with the contents of my 'product of conception.' It felt like they handed me a ton of bricks. The scales were taken off my eyes & I was like Eve who could now see I was standing in the raw nakedness of my grave sin...I had murdered my child. Grief & shame began to overwhelm me & I wanted to crawl into darkness & hide from the world. For some reason, my other older children knew I was pregnant & they were excited about the baby. How was I going to explain to them I had killed their sibling? All I wanted to do was shut out the world under the covers of my bed & hide there forever in grief, guilt, & shame. I awoke with that heavy, stabbing feeling in your heart of death. I thank God it was just a dream. Before I was converted, an abortion was totally my plan if I ever had an unplanned pregnancy. It was by the mercy of God only He didn't let me go through with this Pandora's box of pain.


Although I've never had an abortion in real life, a couple of dear people I know have. One dealt with her pain through confession & counciling. In the old testament, David, whom the Bible says was a man after God's own heart, hid his grievous sins of adultery & murder for a time. This is what He said about that time of wallowing in His sin.
How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,Whose sin is covered!2How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit! 3>When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long.4For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah. 5 I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"; and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah. 6Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him. 7You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah. 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;I will counsel you with My eye upon you.9Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding,Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check,Otherwise they will not come near to you.10Many are the sorrows of the wicked,But he who trusts in the LORD, lovingkindness shall surround him. 11Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones; And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart. Psalm 32
Such a recognition of the the innocence of a clean conscience in the first two verses. One can only feel this when one has known the dirtiness of sin in contrast to the clean slate. Then he goes into what it feels like to have a heavy conscience, what we all feel like before coming to the Lord or being chastised for wrong-doing as His child. His words to us are such a guide book for avoiding things that will hurt us & they can make us 'wise unto salvation.' He is a loving Father are what verses 6-8 are about. He watches over His own & saves them from trouble. If you are stubborn to go your own way then verse 10 is what you will reap. Verse 11 is the awesomeness His children have.
Sadly, the other person I know who had an abortion just swept it under the rug & pretended for decades it never happened. Oh, how it festers & grows in the dark of unconfession, like a spreading mildew or fungus. In Leviticus, houses were burned to the ground that had persistent mildew. It damages your health. Sin damages your soul. Prov.3:7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. 8 This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. I believe a lot of sickness today is due to just plain sin weighing heavy upon a person. To know the blessed forgiveness & cleaness of spirit & conscience. David talked about in this Psalm, as well as His most famous one for his sin, Psalm 51, is known only by those who are His.

In light of my dream as a warning , I do feel it necessary for pro-lifers to go to the slaughter houses/abortion clinics to warn women. One day this past summer, a group of us went to one. It was like the gates of hell, they had razor wire at the top of them! Looked more like a concentration camp!

People who are in a crisis life or death situation might be open for you to point them to Christ, only you have about 30 seconds to a minute to talk to girls & their moms or boyfriends as they walk from the parking lot into one of the biggest mistakes of their life. What horrific negative reverberations! What is the most effective is this minuscule amount of time to say? Tell them to seek God when they realize what a grievous sin they've done when all their bodily hormones react the next day in screaming at them for the horrendous sin they've committed against God, which didn't get them to stop, or talk about the health hazards, the wicked plot Margaret Sanger had to wipe out the black race by strategically placing the clinics in black neighborhoods, which some paused at?
It can seem overwhelming when the girls & women have their faces set like a flint to get rid of their 'problem.' It is so vivid a picture of the parable of the sower & the seeds. A handful of girls that day walked back out choosing not to kill, but that alone doesn't solve their heart problem that got them there. What kind of life would the baby have without Christ in her mother's life? Will she turn to Christ? Life IS hopeless without Him and very intimidating to handle on your own & on the behalf of a new soul you'd be bringing in. If she chooses not to have an abortion, does that make her pat herself on the back for being so 'good' she doesn't see a need for Christ?
I asked one of the butcher's helpers if she thought she was helping women. How can you justify working at a place like that? This one dear lady who was with us outside, Donna, had told it was their rationale to think they helped these poor girls fix their 'problem.' All she would answer, over & over, was "I feel sorry for you." I just couldn't grasp where in the world she was coming from & I truly wanted to understand. Did she feel sorry for me because I was obviously 8 months pregnant, that she didn't get to help me kill my problem of being 'oppressed' by a child? (Obama's mindset)
God says, "women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety."1 Timothy 2:15 If women are saved in childbearing, they are surely destroyed by this child killing. Physically, as well as emotionally.


Sunday, October 24, 2010

Life journey with THE Word

Have you ever read the classic, Pilgrim's Progress? It is a MUST for any Christian. It is even on audio for children. We've read through it a few times as a family, & really need to read through it again. There are so many characters & places portrayed in the book parallel to who we meet & situations we find ourselves in as a Christian in real life. Christian is the main guy & it starts with him in the City of Destruction. He knows he is there when he starts reading this book that tells him what 'side of the fence' all men are born on. We are children of wrath, sons of perdition, daughters of disobedience & all of us are born into sin. "There is no one righteous, no not ONE." We must be reconciled to God through a new birth, or being born again, to make ALL things NEW. We are either a part of the kingdom of God that we have been born again into by the Spirit of God or a part of the kingdom of Satan which we were born into at birth. When we are born again, we have a whole new life, all together centered around the Christ who has now become "altogether precious."
" The Word became flesh & dwelt among us." He, the Word, has walked with me for a little over 20 years now.When you are walking with the Lord, you are walking with the Word Incarnate. His words have been "a lamp unto my feet & a light unto my path." As a "newborn babe in Christ, I desired the pure milk of the word of God" for the first time in my life in 1989."

Colossians 3:16 says "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, " & Jesus Himself said, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine." Jn 8:31 In America, we have His precious word available to us like water & He tells us "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation." 1 Peter 2:2

I often can't remember where I put the hairbrush three minutes ago, but I do remember the 1st verse I ever memorized & it is still VERY special to me. I was a young, 18 year old factory worker with practically zero Christian friends, but had a new heavenly bridegroom I desperately wanted to please because I love Him so much & He is so precious to me.
Psalms 27:14
"Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart:
wait, I say, on the LORD."
He did, He does, He will)

Do you remember the first verse you ever memorized?

This was my second verse:
1 john 3: 20For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
I had no hope in my efforts, but had to look to Him.

Proverbs 4:16 For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. This was my third verse because I was wising up to the fact that....

1 Corinthians 15:33 "Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character."
Some old friends had to go.

Proverbs 11:22 Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.
I began to notice the ladies at my church were more modest in their dress than I was used to being. My pants got baggier.

Proverbs 3: 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

He was turning my world upside-down. Taking things away I didn't want to let go of, but He knew better. I cried, but trusted.

Ps. 4: 4 In your anger do not sin;
when you are on your beds,
search your (own) hearts and be silent.
Selah

I got married & had to learn how to forgive. I would repeat this over & over many nights.

I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me.Phil4:6

My first birth. Was the hardest thing I'd ever done, but this verse helped me know I could press on without the choice of pain killing drugs.

John 1427 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

I don't know if this has ever actually happened to you, but the Lord SPOKE this verse to my spirit one afternoon when I was in my prayer closet agonizing about a certain stressful situation. That verse He spoke to me turned out to be the verse for that day on my little daily calendar & I found out a day or two later. The date was July 1, 1997, a special someone's birthday. I saved that page in Ruth's baby book.

Ephesians 522"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord." I meditated on this very often
1 Peter 3 5For in this way in former times the holy women also,who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands;6just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.
We women can fear a lot, can't we?
Went off the straight & narrow path once to Doubting Castle (Pilgrim's Progress plug for those of you who haven't read the book..) & there was beaten up by Giant Dispair.
2 Timothy 2: 13if we are faithless,
he will remain faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.
Oh, how I was comforted He cannot disown Himself. I was His bride surely(?!)
He held me in His grip of grace during this time when I "fainted in a day of adversity."
I hoped He would be true to His word, " no one will snatch them out of My hand," as I despaired that I was even His. I wondered during this time was I a "seed sown among the thorns of this life that the worries & cares of this life choked out," that I was "salt made unsaltly, good for nothing but the manure pile." He was faithful, He held me tightly.
Then we started a new church & "He will not harbor his anger forever;" & He "restored unto me the joy of my salvation" and "led me beside still waters to lie down in green pastures."
That is my life in a nutshell. There are many other verses that I walked with, but those are some highlights.

In light of that, do you have a journey with Christ, your Savior, the Living Word, if in fact He is yours?
I hope you will meditate on those special words He has given you in His word while you're walking with The Living Word.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

The night owl vs. the morning lark


My little night owl. She is awed by the flash. This is 1 am entertainment for one tired momma.


We have a 'war' going on every evening around our house. No matter what, we try to wake Ivy around 5pm so she'll be ready to go to sleep at a decent hour in her crib. All my other babies have had a fussy time around 5 in the afternoon, but Ivy's seems to be around 10 -1 am. It's always been my goal to make it to bed around 9, but that usually doesn't work. I *used* to be in the bed by 10 or at the latest, 10:30. Sometimes when I was pregnant I fell out around 8:30pm.

You may ask who is winning the bedtime wars. Honestly, Ivy is. I think she sort of quit fighting around 1:30am this morning, but was back at it 20 minutes later when she started fussing about being on her back in the crib. I had mercy on Ron who had to be up at 4:30 am to go to the farmer's market in Hernando, so she won & I scooped her up into the bed with us.
The flash from photo booth on the computer keeps her entertained.
She has destroyed my routine of getting up early in the mornings for time in prayer & in the word. Normally this would wreak havoc on my peace, but I do have some word stored up in my heart & can commune with God in prayer during the day in between my trying to catch up with so many of the things I'm trying to do to keep my head above water. The children are on the computer all day & into the night doing home school, so they're not much help around the house. Just a season that will pass. It is good to have faith & trust in His righteousness & not my works. "Jesus, I am resting, resting" is a song on my heart for my emotional state, definitely not the physical state! ;-)

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Ivy Pictures from Hannah

Tragedy of all tragedies, the camera broke a week or two before Ivy was born. Ms. Penny brought her camera to the birth for those pictures, but the only pictures we can get of her (thankfully we can get some!) are in front of the computer. So Hannah did that one morning with Ivy. Scroll down a couple post for the pictures. My sweet butterball!!


http://adventurersinzion.blogspot.com/

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Ivy's birth

OK, this has nothing to do with Ivy's birth,



What a belly looks like that has an ELEVEN POUND, EIGHT OZ. baby!



August 23rd I woke up about 2 am with my water breaking. Just a few minutes later, my contractions went about 5 minutes apart, signalling this would be my quickest birth. It wasn't long until they turned into 3 minutes apart, which is active labor. My good friend Christy came about 5am & we waited on Ron to get up. He wanted all the rest he could get for what he thought would be a day or two of the hard work of being labor support.

The children got up early & did a few chores in anticipation of a day playing with friends.
This is Hallel with Autumn Mink.
Brinley is along for the ride with Macrae on the swing.
Abby Moeller is barely making the picture.
Neo & Qiao


My handsome husband, ObRon. ;-)
What a labor of love to be pampered with massage in labor!
Christy keeping up with the times of my contractions & Melissa was 'busy as a bee' helping.
Stopping for a contraction on the way to the bathroom.

Always imperative to have prayer warriors present! I don't see
how New Agers do home birth without beseeching our Heavenly
Father to be there/work on their behalf. I try to have an atmosphere
to have Him honored. A dear friend from church recorded her singing
some of our hymns I picked from our hymnal to worship our Father & remind me of His loving care to me during my labor. Mrs. Penny brought some of her favorite music, & I had some instrumental worship.
I know we were all praying at some point!

The hot water felt SO WONDERFUL during contractions. It was the best relief I had
during transition. I thought I would water birth, but the great thing about home birth is
that you can constantly move & I eventually moved out of the tub, but not
far. I had her where Ronnie is sitting there.
This was the only picture that turned out this way. I couldn't swear it was an angel, but it definitely reminds me of that. They were all around us that day, "ministering to those who inherit His salvation."Hebrews 1:14
We were very grateful too, because of the
next photo, which those of you with a queasy stomach may want to skip.












Love to see the eyes of my son! Proud big brother. They were all listening through the wall, waiting for Ivy to get here. Ruth was 'buzzing' & missed Ivy being born, but Hannah was present.
This is the crew that starts first thing in the morning,
"I want to hold her," "I've only held her twice,"
"It's my turn!" She is LOVED by all &
gets a million kisses a day.

"The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble,
and He knows those who take refuge in Him."
Nahum 1: 7


Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings
Psalm 17:8

Friday, August 6, 2010

Days of summer in Zion

First of all, if you've noticed, I've up dated my due date ticker. I've actually put it on the Dr./sonogram due date because I'm *hopeful* this time I might could actually go on time instead of the normal 2 weeks later (42 weeks) due date I have. Reason being, I'm taking THREE different last 7 week of get-ready-for-birth, dried herbs in gel capsules, last 6 week get-ready-for-birth, herb TINCTURE in glycerin (never had a liquid before, hoping this is more potent) & a last 5 week herb liquid tincture in alcohol.
I'm thinking maybe, just maybe, mix & matching all these will get my cervix & uterus rip-romping, ready to go ON TIME for once.
Hopefully..... ;-)
Ms. Lyndy Buchanan said she always went 2 weeks over when she always took the dried herb capsules. For one pregnancy she skipped the 6w pills & went THREE weeks over. Next pregnancy, she did the liquid tincture, 5w, & went only a week late (for once!) So we'll see. At least it's not 'the pits' (pitocin) that is sheer torture if you don't want your baby or you getting an epidural head ache.

So on to 'what's happenin.' (Que pasa?)

Boy, did I feel like a squirrel storing up my nuts this day.
I found 300 ears of silver queen vs. 300 ears of G90 is no where near the same. G90 is much larger, but at least I had the children doing half the work. They had it all shucked, cut off, & cobs scrapped while I stirred & cooked, cooled & packed FIFTEEN & A HALF GALLONS of corn. That is like, 62 quarts! It was a looong.... messy day. Since then, we only do a few dozen ears at a time. Ms. Jane Dye said she did a similar stint one time & she was picking corn out of every nook & cranny in her house for months afterward. I knew better with my brood & had them on the porch. It was a HUGE mess, but the chickens loved to help clean as the children worked & Hannah washed it down when it was over for them by dark. My last part was over with by 1 am or so .

Some of the corn cobs are in the chilled cooler under Hallel. Neo was silking,
but I don't know where he got off to in the pic.


First stages with corn ready to be put on the stove,
corn on two eyes being stirred & some ready to
be taken to the processing shed where all the freezers are
when the kids take a 'break.'

Oh, & this is the stove that the oven has quit
on. I LOVE this oven & have tried to get the nice repair man to
come fix it, but he says he'll show up & doesn't. He is totally too busy!
I really need to call the local 'Oscar the grouch' repair man in town
who might actually have the part we need
that isn't made anymore, but dread having to deal w/him.

Getting closer to ending up as the night wore on. You
learn something new to do (or not do) next year, every year.


Saw a nest of about 10 (?) or so baby bunny rabbits
at Aunt Deb's house (the Riley's) while picking
blueberries.


Maybe this is why she moved them the next time we came.
Luther, the genial Riley lab, found
the nest, but amazingly, didn't harm them one bit. Good dog, Luther!!


Thanksgiving turkeys came in the mail in July. Macrae
had lots of fun with them.

I LOVE THIS MOST ADORABLE BABY GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!! (She's tops, if you haven't met her ;-)
When she was home-birthed, they didn't have a name
for her for awhile. (Didn't have to..) Jacob Mink, the only boy
in the bunch, said well, HE was just going to call her
"Daisy Mae" 'til everyone else made up their mind what to
call her. And now, of course, the rest is history
for this precious 'flower' the Lord has added to us.

Been hanging with the Mink family a lot
here lately, about homesteading stuff, at their place & ours.
Sadly, the turkeys they picked up this day didn't make it. It is so
precarious trying to raise those critters, especially in the first week.
We lost a lot ourselves & really have learned to just buy extra,
planning for the unfortunate first week. At their place, we loaded them
up with cheese making supplies, because unlike us right now,
they have an abundance of milk. Big difference in supply from
one cow & one goat. (Big feed difference as well!!) They
are hoping to sell some extra milk, so if you want some RBGH hormone-free
milk, you now know the source.

Ruth & Kylee enjoying a game of clue.
Crow's Baby (a Banty hen) had babies herself!
You can tell by the colors, she isn't a racist.

More babies!! Piglets are SO FUNNY!! They are like kittens in their play, only
funner it seems because they have such a camaraderie amongst all their siblings.
They are so mischievous, playful, & utterly fun to watch, it almost makes them
worth having on the farm when they get older & more demandingly pushy
at dinner time.
Feeding the pigs is like the worst chore to do around
here IMHO, because they might just actually TOUCH
you & make you stink. It is a close kin chore to feeding
the buck goat at mating season come fall when he
gets his unique 'odor de' amour' that his ladies find oh so irresistible.
It takes several washings to get rid of that wretched smell.
Neither chore I can stomach while pregnant,
& Ron usually has mercy on me at any time & gives it to one of the children
who handle it w/o complaints.

This pic cannot capture their adorableness at this age....

And last, but not least, our summer chore
we hope one day will grow so much Ron will be able
to be a full-time farmer, spoiler warning *here;*
CHICKEN KILLING!

Hannah took this picture,
I don't like to go to this area or see this myself. I stick to my 'cleaner'
area of just gutting a slick, footless & headless chicken.
Wouldn't you know our next chicken killin' is the week after my 'due date,'
when I quite possibly might actually have the
baby or definitely be too big to do this exhausting day?
Anyone up for helping cut leg quarters & wings the 26th of Aug? (puppy look...)
My side of the building is MUCH less gruesome... I promise...

Lastly, we have *really* enjoyed our God-given,
volunteer watermelon patch this month.

photo

In fact, we're bringing watermelon/apple juice popsicles to church
again this Sunday for our turn on dessert. A nice cool treat in our
hot, unfinished sanctuary!

Friday, July 2, 2010

Happenings on the farm


Well, our broadband width may have settled down enough to be able to upload some pictures. Here are some photos of Trey Riley's 'shooting shower.' (Thanks Tyler for the pics)

Pastor John with his little pistol.
Mr. Phil & Kellan Buchannan shoot..
Ronnie, Trey McCoy, Mr. Phil, and Jeff Frederick check their accomplishments
while the Gilbert & Buchannan boys head back.

The guys sing some hymns before a devotion from
Well...not EVERYBODY..
Of course, Jamie & Luke Morris just listen in on that last one...
I don't know if Tyler offered his 2 cents worth either, since he's only been married a few months.
He may have just grinned & talked about how great it was. ;-)
Trey admires a book from Anthony

All the shooting noise must have caused a momma pig to go into
labor at the barn. The next morning Ron found 7 wiggly, adorable piglets.
Other than this, we've been neck deep in purple hull peas. Misty, the Synder children, Hannah, & I had the opportunity to pick butter beans from a very large garden down Matt & Meg's road. What a wonderfully cool morning the Lord blessed us with at SIXTY-ONE degrees at 6:30 am this morn! Misty started off wearing a jacket!


Sunday, June 20, 2010

Update

It has been hectic week, (see here )but I've mostly kept up, thanks to this black green liquid energy called "Chlorophyll." If you need energy, get this stuff! You can also buy it at the health food store, but it is much cheaper on the net, I've just found. I love feeling squirrelly, but when I get pregnant that often is compromised unless I have this stuff. I'm not able to get off the couch without it. I've been taking it like Ron's tobacco habit, so I've been feeling energetic. (If only my hips would co-operate.)
The heat has hit this past week & I've been able to get up earlier to beat the heat. I'm no longer out 'til after lunch because it is way too hot. Hoeing has slowed down because the plants are large enough on the rows to choke out the sunlight, so now it's just down to picking. This activity would be much more pleasant if I didn't have a PESTILENCE!! About 4 posts ago, I was bragging on this diligent little creature that has often been on my mind over the past several years as the Lord has sanctified me. My respect for it has bottomed out this summer. Those 'diligent' ants the sluggard is supposed to consider while laying up in bed all summer, not gathering in the winter food storage, is a moocher at my place. They think *I* planted *THEM* a garden and have been very territorial about it!! Never in all my almost 20 years of gardening have I had a problem with fire ants in my okra!?! They're almost on every stalk! They've found they love the blooms! Of course, they've always known they love the purple hull peas, but now also they think they've got it made in the shade of my butter bean plants as well!

I've declared WAR, just at a time when sevin dust has shot through the roof.
"Feeling Antsy?," the billboard asks? The Brandon momma & children are...

This picture is for a dear brother to see how you hoe with a Glaser Colinear Swiss Hoe. It makes hoeing addictive since there is zero back breaking work involved. (It's all in the biceps) Sorry Will, I had no idea how many Glaser Swiss Hoe products there were!


Saturday, June 12, 2010

Happenings around here

Spring is over by the temps we had last night! It usually doesn't get to 75 until 9 or 10am, but it didn't even come out of that temp all night! Goodbye, upper 60's!
We have gotten over 40 quarts of snap beans already, the okra has begun to be picked, the purple hull peas & the butter beans will be in next week! I usually spend about 4 hours in the morning in the garden, come home for the heat of the day to put up the fruit of our labor, try to catch up on a little housework, lay down with the 'babies' (one in, one out) for an hour's rest, and head back out in the afternoon to do some more maintenance hoeing.
I have the watermelon patch all nice & cleaned out like I want it, but I am needing some newspaper end rolls from the Daily Journal that would keep the grass out of this patch. I hardly ever leave home because I'm so busy here, (except for Wed. & Sun. church) so if there is anyone who happens to pass by there ever and goes to our church (or would like to visit our church to get it to me :-), I would appreciate someone grabbing me a couple rolls to help me out tremendously! I don't need it this weekend, but would like it soon before it starts growing up. We're also killing chickens two days this next Thursday & Friday if anyone would like to come out to learn this skill or lend a hand. Also, this Thursday is my 40th birthday! I'm glad to be older & 'wiser!'

I'd love not to have to hoe this again while everything else is coming in..


Neo hoeing in the butterbeans behind Macrae in part of the watermelon patch.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

A Tale of Two Cindys

Thanks to a dear brother for this article he posted on facebook whom I've seen have a radical change from decisional regeneration to Holy Spirit regeneration. (as explained below)

A Tale of Two Cindys
Author: Daryl Wingerd

A few years ago, two women began attending the same local church at roughly the same time. Although these women didn't know each other, they shared striking similarities. Both came from abusive backgrounds, both were substance abusers, both were unmarried but living in sexual immorality, and both were in trouble financially.They even shared the same first name (for the sake of privacy I'm calling them Cindy and Cindy, but these are not their real names).


A friend of mine is a pastor at this church. He and his wife sacrificially poured their lives into both Cindys, sharing the gospel faithfully and repeatedly and offering as much practical and financial assistance as they were able. In time, both women professed faith in Jesus Christ, became members, and immersed themselves in church life.

All seemed well until Cindy number 1 began to miss church on occasion, for reasons that were less than compelling. After a time her non-attendance became a habit that was broken only when she had an urgent need, usually for financial or practical assistance. After a while she became involved once again in sexual immorality, although she tried to keep this hidden from the church. Eventually she began living with a married man, and, though confronted by pastors, she refused to repent. Now she has fallen away completely.

Cindy number 2, on the other hand, began growing in Christ from the outset. She loved His Word and she loved His people. She gave up the bottle and embraced the cross instead. Hers was not a short-lived experience like Cindy number 1. She has gladly put away her immoral lifestyle in exchange for the joy of holiness, and has been walking in consistent purity. Everywhere she goes she tells people about Jesus—including the hospital room where she frequently sits with her unconverted father who is dying. People who knew her before her conversion cannot help but wonder if she is really the same person. She has a quiet peace about her and her face shines with the love of Christ.

Why is there such a great difference between these two women now when at first they seemed to have so much in common?

Was Cindy number 1 not properly discipled after her profession of faith? No, they both sat under the same teaching in the same church and were lovingly cared for and privately taught by the same Christian couple.

Was the church not as responsive to the needs of Cindy number 1 as Cindy number 2? If you were to ask my friend he would say no. If anything, he tells me, more time, energy, and loving care was poured into Cindy number 1.

Was Cindy number 1 not as sincere when she professed faith in Christ? No, both professions of faith seemed genuine and entirely credible at the time. Both women seemed determined to live for Christ.

Did Cindy number 1 lose her salvation? Was she justified by faith and then unjustified because she fell away into sin? No, God's Word assures us that all who are truly justified will also be glorified (cf. Rom. 8:30-39; John 10:27-28).

The sobering fact is, although both Cindys professed faith in Christ, only one of them was truly converted. That's not just my opinion, it's what we must say if we are to be honest with others and faithful to Scripture. Biblically, we have no basis for calling a person a Christian if he or she bears no characteristics of a Christian. At the present time, Cindy number 1 bears none of the marks of a true believer. Instead, she consistently exhibits many of the characteristics of the ungodly and unbelieving. And as John said,

By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother. (1 John 3:10)

Cindy number 2 is not perfect—no Christian ever will be in this life—but she is growing more and more Christ-like all the time. She is diligently pursuing holiness and she loves her brothers and sisters in the church so much that she longs to be with them regularly. This is the work of the Spirit of God in her, progressively completing what He has started. It is what He does in all who truly belong to Christ. Those who are truly God's children have been "predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son" (Rom. 8:29).

So what's the main point of this story? The point is, when God saves a person, He also changes that person, not superficially or at a merely emotional level that causes tears of sorrow and a sincere response to an invitation, but deeply and comprehensively, in every area of life—and not temporarily, but permanently.

Jesus spoke of "those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy" (Luke 8:13). Both Cindys looked like this at first. From our limited perspective they both looked like true believers. But Jesus goes on in the same verse to describe what happens next to people like Cindy number 1. He says, "and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away."

Cindy number 2, on the other hand, is described in Luke 8:15 when Jesus says, "these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance." True saving faith is transforming faith, and as Jesus said, "it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved" (Matt. 10:22).




Note from Heather: Thank you for reading thus far. In our Bible study we do on Mondays, I have recently learned of what seemed obvious my whole conversion, but was spelled out. Different denominations have different definitions of what it means to be born again.


The first & oldest is the Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican view of Baptismal Regeneration. This means if you get baptized, even as an infant, you are made a believer in Christ, going to heaven. God says many different things about what makes a Christian a Christian & this is not it. Lots of unholy, God haters are in prison with zero fruits of God's spirit who were baptized as infants. Revelations 21:7 says "He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone"


The second is Decisional Regeneration. This is what the Southern Baptists believe. If you put your trust in a 3 point prayer, believe, confess, receive,(which is not trusting in Christ in reality), then you have your golden ticket to heaven, regardless of no change in your life, habits, or heart. The change doesn't have to be as drastic as the one Cindy above, who lead a life of debauchery, but a good moral person can also change. I've seen so much of this in my church. Good moral people who never did anything terribly 'wrong' such as the Cindys, but had bitterness, pride, anger, greed, or any of the inward invisible sins, yet laid it aside to become an obvious lover of Christ, which leads me to my last & correct view.


Holy Spirit Regeneration This is the work that God does that really changes a person, first from the inside, working it's way to the outside behavior. "17Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." 2Corinthians 5:17, "He who endures to the end will be saved."Matthew 10:22, "for everyone born of God overcomes the world" 1 John 5:4 and so on & so on all the perseverance of the saints verses.


I'm thinking of one dear fellow at our church, Dr. Moeller, who was an excellent moral man before he came to Christ. He went to church faithfully, more out of a sense of duty, however, not really ENJOYING it as God's children do. He was a quiet introvert, who confessed freely after being truly born again, that he worried a lot. Now he is so different, his positive attitude, his outgoing mannerisms, his obvious LOVE for Christ, that old things have passed away & all things have become new. It really is to me more miraculous for a self-righteous, moral person to see their need for a Savior from their sins than the Cindy types mentioned above.


Anyway, I say all this, to ask, what would Jesus say about some of the professing Christians who are members of your church? Do you even go? Are they more like Cindy number 1, like the person described in Luke 8:13? Or are they more like Cindy number 2, like the person described in Luke 8:15? What about your own children who made early professions of faith but are now teenagers? Most importantly, what about you?