Biblical marriage...repost

Biblical marriage

Bible study amazes me in that not only do we learn more and more of our Lord every time but that certain things catch our attention on any given day. Something that may not have earned so much as a pause in our reading yesterday may stick out above all else today. Christ telling people to sell everything to follow Him was one of those things that popped out at me just last month.

This month it’s something completely different. Last month I watched a movie on the book of Ruth. It held pretty close to Scripture and was enjoyable to watch. But something in it stood out to me. I don’t remember exactly what was said it but it was something to the effect of God preparing Ruth for Boaz. That got me thinking but it wasn’t until I switched from the New Testament to the Old that I really started seeing the verses, the stories, about marriage. I wasn’t looking for them but there they were.

From the very beginning we see God’s hand and plan in marriage.

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.  So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.  And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.  Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called Woman,

because she was taken out of Man.”

Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Genesis 2:18-24

There isn’t much said about their marriage. We’re left with only our own thoughts and speculations on what life was like for them. Adam was created not in the Garden of Eden but out of it and placed inside it later. At some point after that God put him to sleep and used his body to create Eve.

This wasn’t just any woman. This was a woman made from his body and created just for him. She was designed by God to belong to Adam. When Adam awoke and was presented with his new wife. Adams response… “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. He didn’t look at her and say ‘hmm, there’s a woman’ or ‘that one will do’ or ‘why God? I’d have rather lain around and not have to put up with her.’ No. He said ‘at last.’ The implication there is that he waited for her. He wanted a wife. A helper. A partner.

Now instead of being alone he had a wife. They were two people joined in marriage so that they were one flesh. This is a joining of mind, body, and soul. And they were dependent on each other. Where he was weak she was strong. Where she was weak he was strong. They were two and yet…one.

There they were in what amounted to paradise. They had everything and yet by our standards today…they had nothing but each other. They had no house, no car, no instant entertainment. They didn’t even have clothes. How much would they have bonded and clung to each other when they had nothing else? Can you imagine being the only two people in the world? How attached and dependent would you be on that other person?

Adam and Eve had each other and they had God. Not just in thought and Spirit but walking and talking with them. He was there to give them instruction, to show them what He expected from them but when He left them alone…they had each other.

That was the first marriage God created. And He did create it. He didn’t just bring them together. He made them for each other.

That is the first marriage He made. It is the example we should look to.

Scripture brings us many more marriages. Genesis alone shows us Abraham and Sarah, Noah and his wife, Noah’s sons and their wives, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael. We don’t get very much insight into what their marriages were like. We know that Sarah called Abraham Lord and that they were still close enough to conceive a child in their old age. We know the world was repopulated from the eight people, four married couples, that were on the ark during the flood.  We know Isaac was willing to work for fourteen years to claim the woman he loved as his wife.

These are only a handful of marriages scattered throughout Scripture. There are so many more. The very fact that there are so many marriages in Scripture should tell us the Lord puts importance on it.

Over and over in Scripture marriage is mentioned. Couples are referenced.  An internet search turns up the fact that marriage is mentioned 19 times in the Bible. A search on the word wife shows that it appears either 396 times or 407 times. I couldn’t find a number count for the word husband. Even allowing for errors in counting, different translations and anything else that might affect the word counts the number of times wife is mentioned is pretty impressive.

But what were these marriages like? Our minds tend to see them as we see marriage today. Some good, some bad, some awful. And I’m sure they were. People were people no matter when they lived. Sin takes hold of all of us no matter how hard we try not to let it. We’re human. We fail. We say things we shouldn’t. Do things we shouldn’t. Hurt those we love. That wasn’t any different just because the times were different.

But what did those marriages look like?

Have you ever noticed that marriages lasted for centuries in ways they don’t today? Part of that is the social stigma of being divorced. Even well into the 1900’s saying you were divorced carried a burden of shame with it. But there was another side to it. The simple fact was there was a time when men needed women and women needed men.

In times past a woman had no way of supporting herself or providing for her children if she wasn’t married. There were few opportunities for employment available to women, and when they were…if she had children what was she supposed to do with them if she worked outside the home? Who would care for them?

Men had few if any domestic skills and less time for doing things like cooking and cleaning even if they had the ability to do them. If they had children, especially small children, they were ill equipped to care for them. It was hard to work a field, or tend animals with a baby in their arms.

Life was separated into men’s work and women’s work. Husbands had a role, wives had a role. And marriages happened as often out of sheer need as they did out of love. Life was just harder alone than it was when you were married.

Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Genesis 2:18

Our modern society has taken the need for marriage away. Women can and do support themselves and their children. Men can cook and clean or they can throw something in the microwave. A single parent of either sex can drop their children off at daycare and not need to worry about them while they work. The need that held husbands and wives together has disappeared.

We can’t know what Biblical marriages looked like but we can know that the Lord had a plan for it in the beginning and He has a plan for it today. We know He gave certain roles to women and certain roles to men. He is the provider. She the caretaker. He is the protector. She the nurturer.

What if we simply stayed in the roles the Lord created us for? What if we realized that the Biblical model of marriage is good and tried to follow it? What if when we started questioning whether marriage was good we turned to Scripture? What if we looked at examples like Adam and Eve and saw that they stuck together through everything? What if we looked at marriages like Hosea and saw that they stuck it out when most would have walked away?

What if we looked at our husband and asked ‘what if God created me for him? What if I’m made ‘bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh’?

There is a secular movie that I saw years ago. It centers around a married couple as they work (and fight) together. A scene at the end of the movie shows a tornado heading their way. They take refuge in the only place that seems safe and is close enough to get to: a well house. With the tornado headed their way they lash themselves to the piping and hang on to it and each other. The tornado rips everything away and leaves them in the midst of a swirling mass that is churning angrily around them. As they’re bombarded with wind and debris swirls around them, you can see the churning tornado that is trying to suck them into it. But the pipes they’re anchored to hold fast and they’re swept into the air, hanging from their anchor, alone in a swirling storm that is surrounding them with trouble.

The Lord was kind enough to give me a Christian husband. Not just one that professes to know Christ but one that truly believes and follows the Lord, a man that denies himself for Christ, who puts others first, who is kind and humble. A man that I can see lives out Scripture every day. A man that is my safe place. Since our marriage we have been hit with many trials both big and small but with every one of them I have noticed that they’re easier to bear because we have each other. It’s easier to find a solution when we look for it together. It’s easier to bear the trials when we don’t have to bear them alone.

I haven’t watched that movie in years but the more trials that come our way the more I see my husband and I in the center of that tornado. We are the couple being blown and tossed about, Christ is the pipes that keep us anchored, that give us hope and strength to hang on, life is the tornado that swirls around us. But there in the middle of the tornado, my husband and I are anchored to the pipes, we have a firm foundation that keeps us rooted. We may be battered by the storms (trials) while the tornado of life surrounds us but we have each other in the midst of it.

And we have Christ.

Could that be what God had in mind when he created the first marriage?

Stripping God of His power

Damnation.

The very word should make us shake in our skin. It should invoke the most desolate of thoughts and feelings. It should leave us RUNNING to Scripture and to prayer and BEGGING the Lord to save us from such a fate.

A couple of years ago my husband found himself in the midst of people that casually and cavalierly dropped the term 'God damn' as if it meant nothing at all. I know the term is seen as a mundane swear word in our society and that most think nothing of saying such a thing.

But they should.

They should think hard about just what they are asking God to do each time they utter such profane statements.

I saw a quote on social media recently saying we need more preachers to preach about hell. Now, I happen to agree that we could do with a whole lot more hell is what awaits the unrepentant nonbeliever, or superficial believer. I think it would do every 'church' good if someone got in the pulpit and taught that 'God loves you' is a lie and that 'God hates sinners with a burning anger' is Truth. BUT I also believe, firmly and unquestionably, that 'God loves you' is keeping many a reprobate in check and that the Lord is using the Arminian 'free will' 'come as you are' faith to restrain great evil in this world.

What I don't understand is how people that claim to know the Truth of Scripture, that claim to be of the elect, that claim to be true Christians, can sit and declare that those that believe in free will will 'free will' themselves straight into hell. I cannot understand why there are those that are so determined to declare free will believers to be enemies damned to an eternity of hell because they believe in free will.

Is God not...God?

Is He not the one that gives grace at His discretion? Does He not save the most savage wretch? If He can do all that...if He can speak the world into being...if He can...be God, then why in the world does he lack the power to save a soul from the belief of free will?

Yet there are those that claim to know the Truth of Scripture that would deny God His power just as much, maybe more so, than any free willer ever did. They deny Him His power by believing that He is incapable of saving souls from a belief in free will.

They are so sure that believing in free will is a damnable sentence and that those souls will perish because of that belief. They question why others that do not believe in free will can look so lightly on the free will belief.

I cannot recall a single verse where we are told to concern ourselves with those that believe in free will. What I do recall is instructions that we are to spread the Gospel. And just what does Scripture say the Gospel is?

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.Matthew 3:1 ESV

That is the Gospel John the Baptist gave.

Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. 15And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mark 16: 14-18 ESV

That is the very instructions that Christ gave to his disciples. There wasn't a word spoken about free will. In fact the disciples wouldn't have even had the entire Scriptures. They knew only what they had seen so far which was essentially the spreading of the fact that Christ is the Son of God and that He is the Savior. 

Yet we have those of the 'elect' today that are so focused on refuting 'free will' that they would declare free will to have more power than God does and they strip Him of His sovereignty by saying people that believe in free will are damned because they hold that belief. 

Scripture does not tell us that we are to refute free will but unbelief. We are told to give the Gospel...to repent and believe. Why then are there those that claim to be true Christians, that believe themselves to be of the elect, so concerned about free will? There are those that are busy going around meddling in what others believe, declaring salvation and damnation based on their own standards and ripping apart those that do not share their style of belief.

And they do it while stripping God of His power.

The Christian Civil War

I have a long time friend who I share many of my Christian beliefs with but we differ on a few very important points, mainly that of free will. I love this woman dearly, she is the sister of my heart. I would do anything for her. I share a friendship with her that reaches deeper than normal friendship and borders on family.

Family is, after all, nothing more than love and bonds, relationships built on memories and trust. I share many memories and experiences with this dear friend of mine. She and I have faced trials and troubles together and come through them better than we went into them.

But there is one trial that continues to vex us. It is that of free will in a Christian's life. She believes in it. I do not. It is a dividing line between the two of us. It is a line that keeps us restrained in how much Scripture we can share, a line that hinders us more times than either of us would like to count.

We often do Scripture studies together but we both are aware that there is a point we cannot cross. We will share our beliefs but those beliefs must be tempered through consideration for the other, knowing Truth as we each see it must be shared, but also knowing the other does not see Truth quite the same way.

Some might say that we should not be friends or that we should not do Scripture studies together. There are those on both sides of that dividing line that would label either or both of us heretics. I am aware of that and believe it or not, my friend and I have gone down that road ourselves. We have both accused the other of being a heretic. We have 'battled' for our beliefs and the opening of the others eyes.

In the end our love for one another won out and now we respectfully share our beliefs with each other, trying to point out each others error in faith and doctrine, while loving friendship and sisterly bonds bind us to each other more deeply than any division in doctrine can divide.

Any believer in Christ that holds more than the most superficial belief will quickly find themselves mired deeply in this fallen, sin filled world. We must navigate enemies seen and unseen. We must fight for a faith that is hated. We must walk as pure as we can while weaving the path of righteousness, as we understand it, through this world.

I often think of how easy it would have been had God created this world and filled it with only His elect, had He never allowed sin to enter it. He is, after all, God. He created the world and everything in it. Why not just make it pure to begin with and keep it that way? Why not make His elect as He wants them rather than refining them through trials and fire?

But I am not the Lord and it is His world to do with as He pleases. And do with it He did. As a result His elect must make their way in a fallen world, doing their best to navigate life and our very Christianity.

I think of those that would declare my friend and I enemies because we fall on two different sides of a line that cannot be compromised. Free will is either a true thing or it is not. There is no compromise. One of us is right. One of us is wrong. And there are those that would say we should part ways because we do not fall on the same side of that dividing line. I would guess that there are those that would say our friendship is sin because we are 'flirting with the enemy' so to speak.

But who gets to define right and wrong in these matters? Who is the one that determines whether we can walk in friendship and love with someone on the opposite side of that dividing line? I happen to be on the side of the line that does not believe in free will.

I cannot stand all the man-made terms used to describe believers of differing sorts. Gone are the days when we had Christians and non-Christians. Gone are the days when believing in Christ was black and white...if those days ever existed. Now we have Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists...Calvinists...Arminians.

Calvinist.

Arminian.

Two terms that pit people that hold a belief in Christ on two different sides of a belief. Two terms that create a Christian civil war. We implode ourselves from the inside out...or from inside Scripture out.

And the war rages on.

Strife. Contention. Division. The Arminians are often the lucky ones because many of them live their lives unaware that they are considered the enemy, even the enemy in the extreme, by other people that profess a faith in Christ. Many that call themselves the 'elect' of God rip others to shreds because of their faith.

How are we to know whether a person that believes in free will is of the elect or not? Yes, I realize Scripture is clear in what it teaches but...

Scripture is clear in what it teaches.

I recently did some very indepth studying on the Apostles and Christianity as the Scriptures portray it and you know what? Paul embraced them all, treating them as baby Christians and mature believers based on their professions and their fruit.

We should never compromise Scripture. We should stand firm on our faith and on the Truth of God's word. Many people who believe themselves to be Christians...to be God's elect...will find themselves with a bitter reality when their days on earth are over. Who are we...O man...to determine who will be on which side?

Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy^a that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

15“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.20Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

21“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ Matthew 7:13-24 ESV

I have encountered those on the side of the dividing line that believe themselves to be of the elect so strongly that they fail to take heed to the above verses. They are assured, by what measuring stick, I do not know, that they are God's elect and have made themselves out to be judge and jury on all who profess a belief in Christ. 

If anyone on the 'elect' side of Christendom shows compassion for Arminians, if they dare to say that we must embrace them as believers, then those on the 'elect' side are labeled all manner of names and denounced as brother or sister in Christ. 

Are the Arminians wrong?

Someone has to be right. And someone has to be wrong.

Those declaring themselves to be the elect with a holier-than-thou attitude, so certain they are right and that that gives them the right to be judge and jury on the Arminians would say that they are the ones in the right. 

I do happen to fall on the side of the line that says free will is nothing more than an illusion. But I also happen to fall into the thought process that the Lord saves multitudes out of the free will camp...I am living proof of the fact that He pulls people out of that belief system...and that if someone professes a belief in Christ then we should look beyond the dividing line to see what fruit they have. It's possible that we are looking at one of the elect without knowing it. It's possible that they have not been pulled into the light yet or that they are simply deluded, possibly searching for something that they feel but do not yet understand. 

Now let me brace myself for the onslaught, the very attack that will be thrown at me by those that believe themselves to be 'elect' but attack others for showing compassion to fellow believers. Honestly, I am not bracing myself for anything because I could truthfully care less about the attacks the 'elect' might throw my direction. I am not on this earth to please man but to please Christ and His word says we are to love others.

And so the Christian Civil War rages on, not because of verses like Ephesians 6:12...

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

...but because of people that choose to make war over their own idea of what constitutes the elect and how those that fall on the 'right' side of the dividing line should treat those on the 'wrong' side.

A while back I wrote on how people pass judgement on the dead, ushering them into heaven because it suits their purpose to do so. The flip side of that coin is that many that fall into the non-free will belief pass just as much judgement, declaring themselves judge and jury, 'discerning' the 'enemy' simply because their own standards label someone as such.

Now here I sit, having met only one person, in real life or online, that would fall in the 'non-free will' catagory that does not hold to holier than thou mentality. If I were faced with a literal Christian civil war where Arminians were on one side and everyone that could possibly be put under the term 'Calvinist' were on the other...if I were standing there looking at both sides, standing on opposite sides of a gap, I would sooner join the Arminian side than the Calvinist side.

I could easily see myself walking into their midst because I sure couldn't join the holier-than-thou 'non-free willers'. 

I have heard the 'elect' say that Arminians get nasty when pressed on their beliefs and told they are wrong. Maybe they do. I have seen it happen with a few but I can attest to the fact that I have never seen an Arminian get as nasty as the 'elect' do. 

And so the Christian Civil War rages on.

And on...

And on...

Saved from the storm

Thunder boomed with deafening force. Lightning split the sky, coming in quick flashes that blinded the human eye in the darkest of blackness encompassing the land.

Night had fallen and with it came a terrible darkness the likes of which the lighthouse operator had never seen. He climbed the stairs to the top of the lighthouse, his lantern barely piercing the blackness of this evil night.

Rain battered the lighthouse while howling wind tore at the sides. Had the building not been made of rock it would have tore apart under the onslaught. Thunder came so quickly that it never really let up. The very ground shook with the fierceness of it. Through the darkness the angry sea could be heard lashing the rocks it crashed upon.

Nothing existed in this fierce night save for the storm and the roaring sea.

The lighthouse keeper reached the top of the tower and looked and the blinding light. It was there, a beacon to all, calling out to all, crying 'here I am', come to me, do not be dashed upon the rocks.

But the storm was strong. The pull of the sea and the dark of night tugging hard on the boats tossed upon the waves.

The lighthouse keeper sighed. He could just make out the hazy shadows of the ships, see them tossing too and fro in the distance. Somewhere out there, lost in the sea of the evil storm, were many ships.

The lure of the sea and the darkness was too much for the ships, they could not pull themselves from the deepest darkness, enticed as they were by the waves and the sea. The lighthouse keeper beckoned to them but they would not come in. He blew a horn and still they would not come.

With a shake of his head the lighthouse keeper trudged back down the stairs and out into the storm. Hoisting his small lantern he made his way to the dock, nearly swallowed by the angry waves, and stepped into his great ship.

There was nothing to be done but to go out and rescue the boats at sea and their wayward ships captains. Each boat was small, a one man vessel.

His boat heaving on the great sea, the lighthouse keeper braved the evil night and motored out into the storm. In the distance he could see three boats, all of them within reach, none of them coming in on their own.

He let his ship bob in the storm, tossing too and fro, while he studied those ships. They were all there, all within reach. Ships that he had sent out signals too, giving them light to follow, beckoning to them, and they had not come. He could save all the ships, going to them, taking them by the bow lines and leading them to safety. If he did that though everyone would simply say that no one need ever heed the calling of the lighthouse keeper for he would come and save you.

No.

He mustn't save them all. He must show the ships and all the people in all the lands that the lighthouse keeper was not to be trifled with. His kindness would not be always extended. He must show them that his kindness comes from his own hand and not from their foolishness.

He must show his great power over their foolishness. If he didn't they would never heed his call. Why should they? If he always saved them from the storm, from the evil of the darkness, sucking them in and blinding them to their need to be saved, then they would never appreciate his saving any of them.

The boat closest to him cracked, a board broke loose and flew through the air, carried into the darkness by the great wind heaving the waves liken angry hands.

He saw the boats distress but also saw the ships captain waving him away, laughing at the beacon of light coming from the lighthouse.

He considered saving that boat but motored on. The ships captain did not want him. The next boat was the same. This captain danced on the deck, laughing and having a grand time, glorying in the storms fury. A glance to the side showed the lighthouse keeper the third boat, that captain napping on deck.

There was no begging for help from any of the vessels on the sea. No crying out of the ships captains. They were happy in their situations. Loving the sea and the storm. There was no threat here, not for them, no need to be saved. Their boats were breaking apart beneath them but they could not see it, their ears did not hear the groans and cracks of the distressed ships they were happily resting upon.

The lighthouse keeper scanned the raging sea. The waves that crashed upon the vessels tossing to and fro on its surface were not the welcoming hands of love and happiness the captains imagined them to be. The dark of night was not a calm, peaceful, welcoming darkness they thought it was. What the poor ships captains could not see were the angry, killing, hands of the waves beating on their ships, battering and grasping at the boards, ripping and tearing at the nails until the boats were coming apart. The dark of night was evil, using the storms fury to gobble up any unsuspecting person in it's path.

The welcoming light of the lighthouse was clearly visible. The sound of the beckoning horn could still be heard.

Safety was at hand but the ships captains did not want the safety, lulled as they were in their dangerous situations.

The lighthouse keeper scanned the sea, three boats close at hand, countless others further out. He motored to the boat where the ships captain was dancing on the deck. Without so much as a hello, the lighthouse keeper grabbed the rope dangling in the sea and towed the boat to the docks.

He anchored both boats and climbed aboard the rescued vessel. The ships captain had not even noticed him, so intent was he at his glorying in the storm and the sea. With a sigh the lighthouse keeper grabbed the captain, tossing him over his shoulder and carrying him through the dark night, the pounding rain, the very fury of the storm.

The captain screamed obscenities at him, pounding him on the back in anger all while his body danced in the storms fury. The captain cursed the lighthouse keeper, unaware that the very man he was laughing at and defying was at the very moment saving him from himself. The captain was angry at the lighthouse keepers interference but he was not going to let that ruin his good time.

The lighthouse keeper carefully carried him into the lighthouse, changed him into soft, dry, comforting clothes, set him in a cushioned chair near the fire and tucked a mug of warm cocoa in his hand. He propped the still dancing feet on a cushion and left a worn but enjoyable book by the captains elbow.

The captain looked a bit dazed, slowly taking in his surroundings.

The lighthouse keeper left him there. The captain had not yet realized that he had been rescued, had not yet even realized he would have perished had it not been for the intervention of the lighthouse keeper. But he would.

He would.

Morning would dawn and with it would come the news of the boats not rescued this night. The fate they were even now experiencing, being dashed upon the jagged rocks, their wood crumbling in the angry hands of the sea, the ships captains lives snuffed out while they gloried in the great storm, would make the news. Their demise would be proclaimed and the ships captain, now nestled safely in the lighthouse, would realize he had been rescued from the same fate even though he had not wanted rescue. In face he had laughed at the rescue offered to him and had it not been for the kindness of the lighthouse keeper he would have suffered the same fate as all the other ships this night.

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Stories are not the best way to depict the saving grace of our wonderful Lord. The greatest love story ever told is that of Christ and His saving of His people. We should not need imaginary stories to depict that event or our unwanted but much appreciated receiving of grace and mercy.

I did not set out to write a storybook depiction of salvation today. It came to me as I read an article written by another called out believer. Something that person said sparked my mind to think of those of us saved from hell. It just popped into my head that we are like the vessels in the evilness of the storm, glorifying in the great waves and the raindrops of sin.

We do now know what we are doing, nor do we realize our great need for saving until after the saving has taken place.

We are like those boats manned by ships captains that are either dancing in sin or sleeping in it. We live and breathe in sin, not looking for an escape until we are literally dragged out of it by the Lord.

If we are lucky enough to be saved from our own sinfulness we do not even realize it is happening until it is finished. We keep on in our sins until the moment that we awake, our minds changed, our hearts renewed and then we look about in a fog not understanding what happened to us.

Thankfully the Lord does not need or want our cooperation. He saves us despite ourselves.

Innocence lost...hello agenda

It has not been my habit of speaking against homosexuality in the past. At least I haven't spoken of it much on this blog.

Homosexuality is a deep spring of sin that is constantly fed by the unregenerate human heart. It is such a sin that the Lord calls it an abomination and Scripture defines it as a 'giving over' by God.

We see in Scripture that homosexuality dates back to who knows how far. In the old testament we read of men wanting to do unnatural things with male angels. In the New Testament Paul speaks of it happening in Corinth.

I have my own feelings on the matter, personal and Scripturally based.

Today, though, I find myself disgusted, not so much at the sin of homosexuality, but at the way it is pushed at the entire world. I realize it's an agenda and I also realize that there are many that truly believe they are just trying to accept people as they are.

Twice today, while being online, I was confronted with the twisted mindset, the sinfilled support and encouragement of the promotion of this sin. The first time was when I saw a baby diaper...a BABY diaper...covered in rainbows and unicorns. I realize that rainbows and unicorns have always been something of an innocent part of childhood fairy tales but that isn't the case anymore and the company that made this diaper sells numerous items, newly marketed, with rainbows on them. I find it hard to believe it is all done in the name of childhood innocence considering this same company isn't promoting teddy bears and fluffy bunnies which are also both symbols of childhood innocence.

The second encounter I had was much more blatant in their promotion of sin. It was on the main news site for my email account and next to a row of rainbow symbols was the words 'Be proud of who you are'. There is simply no mistaking that message, no reasoning it away, no giving them the benefit of the doubt.

While my mind considered the idea that I need to find a new email provider, my stomach all but churned with sickness.

This is what we have come to.

This is what we are 'proud' of.

This...

Is unspeakable atrocity. It's beyond logic. Beyond description.

The other day I saw an advertisement for little girls dresses. They were girly and filled with frills. The description said something like twirly dresses for children. 'Children' not girls. Who markets dresses to 'children' rather than to little girls?

Not only do we have the promotion of gender confusion to the most vulnerable of populations but we also have the stealing of what should belong to girls.

I have often thought how sad it is that time as removed the ability, even encouragement, for women to be feminine. I look at dresses of old, of the ruffles and bows, the lace and frills, and see how much women have lost in the clothing now marketed to us.

Bows and ruffles are for the littlest of girls. Lace is still used for women but often in a provocative way. And frills...well, they're almost gone too.

I realize that styles change with the times, boys once wore dresses and lace has graced boys clothing almost as much as it has girls. Pink was once the color for boys while blue was for girls. Times change, styles change. What was acceptable goes out of acceptance and new things come into acceptance. Such is the condition of the human heart.

I once read that the Mennonites have set patterns for their clothing and only certain prints are allowed. The reason for that is because if they give so much as an inch on one thing than their members will take a mile. If Betty is allowed to raise her skirt so she doesn't trip over it, than Rachael will need hers knee length and before long Eva and Sarah will need theirs at their thighs. They same goes for necklines, sleeve length and everything else.

It makes sense in that regard. Hard and fast rules keep their clothing in line. It stops the changes and fads that come and go in most clothing options.

It's not Scriptural and it's not going to gain them salvation but from a strictly clothing perspective, it makes sense.

I had a conversation with an older lady just a few days ago. It had to do with aprons and pinafores. Oh, the things we lost when aprons and pinafores fell by the wayside.

I can't remember my mother or grandmother wearing aprons. I recall food splattered clothing and chemicals to remove the stains. How I wish I could remember the days when aprons shooed chickens, carried laundry and berries, wiped children's noses and acted as a security blanket for them.

If I could figure out how to logically work aprons into my wardrobe I would do so in a heartbeat. I love the old timey look of them, the simplicity, the...dare I say ladyness of them. Aprons are a symbol of days gone by. They served such wonderous purposes.

Now we don't need them anymore.

It would appear we also no longer need to be women. Men no longer need to be men. And the children...

Oh, the poor children. They don't get to be boys or girls anymore. Now they get to choose to be whatever they want to be.

Since starting this post a few days ago I have had still more encounters with the attack of homosexuality and gender nothingness. I was looking at deodorant and was blasted with a statement to the effect of 'whatever gender you identify as our products are for you', complete with a picture of a very feminine looking man. Needless to say I decided I could not support that company.

I have also seen the headline for an article about whether or not you should raise your child gender neutral. I suppose people really read that stuff but...do people really read that stuff?

I can't really say I have a point to writing this post except the sharing of my experiences and my thoughts on it. Our society has degraded to the point that there is nothing regarded as boy or girl anymore, no man or woman. It's just...people.

A woman I sort of know recently encountered a man in the women's locker room at a workout facility. She questioned the man about his purpose in being in their and he did not answer her. She reported it to the staff only to be told that this very obvious man identifies as a woman. There was more involved with this encounter, including this woman and her husband waiting for the man to leave so the woman could use the women's facilities. The long story short is this woman's membership in the workout facility was cancelled, she was accused of being a homophobe and kicked out of the business. She is now suing this company.

I had a conversation with my husband just the other day about taking little boys in the women's bathrooms. I told him that boys aren't safe in men's rooms unless they have a dad or teenage brother to accompany them and I will be taking any boys with me into women's rooms until said boys are well into their teens and big enough to fight off anyone with ill intentions.

My husband pointed out that boys should be in the boys room but there is just no denying the lack of safety these days. It's not right to teach young boys to use the women's bathrooms but it's unsafe to send them into men's rooms. What's left. It's now illegal to allow them to use the bathroom in parking lots and behind trees.

The onslaught is everywhere and there is no escape. Boys can't be taught the full scale of being a boy because their safety is at stake. Girls are no longer the target consumer for dresses. Pink graces the boys clothing section with near as much variety as it does the girls.

No one bats an eye at girls in masculine clothing...I think often of how some of my very own clothes could be worn by my husband with them being no more out of place on him than they are on me.

And now there is the subtle and the not so subtle attack by businesses and their products that turn what should be innocent symbols into advertisements for sin. Gone are the days when rainbows were simple joyfilled signs representing God's promise to the world. Now rainbows can't be enjoyed without more sinister thoughts being connected to them.

I have a very religious friend who would never in a million years promote homosexuality. Her young daughters favorite color is rainbow. As in literally a rainbow of colors. The innocence of the child is probably laughed at by those that are happily moving an agenda further and further into the point of cramming it down everyone's throats.

I remember when my grandmother and other older people used to say they were glad they weren't raising kids in 'these' days, whatever days those happened to be. I now look around and wonder how anyone can safely raise kids in 'these' days and not have their minds corrupted by all the subtle signs being shoved at us from every side.

Fundraising

I was recently asked the following question:

"Should churches have yard sale fundraisers? Whether its to fund a youth mission trip or raise money for a church family member in need?

I can't help but think of Jesus cleansing the temple. I know the money changers were ripping people off, but also they were not using the temple for worship and prayer only.
I don't believe that we should use churches in this way.

What say you? Am I to legalistic?"

This person then gave the verses about Christ overturning the tables of the money changers to support their thought process. 

Where does one even begin? 

I wasn't the only person in this conversation so I sort of sat back and listened for a while, waiting to see what others would say. I heard the following statements, among others:

One person went into an explanation of what the temple was and how it was set up. I'm not sure what that was supposed to mean. Maybe their justification was that it's okay to sell things in certain parts of the 'church' and not in others. I don't know. I never did quite understand their meaning.

Someone else said something to the effect of 'what message are we giving others when we go out begging for money? Shouldn't the church be able to provide for their own and aren't we saying we don't trust God to supply our needs if we hold fundraisers?'

Someone else said that 'God looks at the heart' and so long as they are fundraising with their heart in the right place there is no harm.

Eventually I did what I almost invariably do...I stuck my toe in the muddy water and gave a response that went something to this effect:

I see what you're getting at but I think there's a couple of main points being missed here. First of all this 'church' sounds as though it's a typical American 'church', meaning it's the worship building seen on just about every street corner, more than likely Arminian in soteriology and are probably more interested in keeping their numbers up than giving the real gospel.

To which I was told it is a 'Southern Baptist Church' and that the kids that went on the mission trip that prompted the question went somewhere where they played with kids for a half day then visited Buddhist temples and other holy places for other religions.

Now I really wanted to know where one starts. This person was asking questions that were of no consequence. Who cares if they have fundraisers when they are encouraging the youth they are responsible for to dabble in other religions, even if only through visiting their 'holy' places?

I did what I shouldn't do...I wiggled my toe a little in that muddy water then stuck my entire foot in. Here's the gist of what I said, 

They are Arminians. They put their stock in a prayer that does nothing but gives a false sense of security. They take on the appearance of the 'church' but are really nothing of the sort. In that case, yes, let them have their yard sales and their bake sales. There's nothing they do that's really going to hinder anything because they probably fail to give the true Gospel.

 I can guess that's what this worship building is because of what you said the youth did on their mission trip. Why do you take offense at them holding fundraisers and not at what the kids did while on their trip? That to me is a much bigger issue.

 This 'church' does not sound like anything that is associated with the true Christ of Scripture so why worry over their fundraisers? Second, do you oppose them taking up tithes? That is no less an unbiblical practice. Whether they have fund raisers, which they at least work for the money they get, or take up tithes, no working involved, they are begging money off others. Our society is already conditioned to see 'churches', which are not the 'church', (an unbiblical word, the true description is Ekklessia, or the called out ones), as money seeking people. Fundraisers are held, but worse, offerings are taken, sometimes insistently so, at nearly all 'churches'. I have even seen 'church' members standing on the street corners approaching vehicles with buckets outstretched like common beggars. 

Most of these 'churches' and their members believe salvation comes through a prayer and/or water baptism. They are the same people that gain Christians the reputation for being hypocrites and worse. What harm do their fundraisers do? The buildings they hold them in are not temples, they are not houses of God, they are not holy ground. They are elaborate buildings designed to entertain. And they do that well. They have 'sermons' on Sunday that may or may not be Scriptural, they have potluck suppers, movie nights, kids camps, even singles meetings. Their music often is more concert and less holy.

 I see what you're getting at about the fundraisers but the issue is not the same thing. In Scripture Christ overturned the tables because holy things were being desecrated. These 'church' buildings are not holy. They are just gathering places, often no more truly Scriptural than the movie theater down the street. It's not an issue of the heart, it's not an issue of doing business in holy places, if that were the case, all 'churches' should be closed immediately because they are all doing business. They are in the business of selling their brand of religion at the cost of a minimum of 10% of the income from everyone that steps through their doors, plus whatever extra they can get from them. They count the numbers in 'offerings', that expected money placed in the plates that are passed as silent pressure to be seen 'giving to God', and in the number of people they 'saved' this week. If we are going to take offense at something the 'churches' do, let's not start with what kids do to support their trips, lets go to the top with the preacher, that often gives a false gospel and passes it off as 'working', accepting an income from those very offerings the members are pressured into giving, and to the 'deacons' and whatever other higher ups in these 'churches' that perpetuate the problems.

Let's just say I got little response to that. There was a bit of mumbled reply but not much. The person asking the original question went on to explain how they were questioning things because this is a 'church' their future son in law is a member of and how their daughter has insisted that the soon to be son in law leave that 'church' when they marry because the 'church' teaches wrong things, and...  The general statements went right back around to how wrong it is to hold fundraisers in the 'church'.

I quietly bowed out of the conversation.

Did I mention this person claimed to understand true Scripture? 

I'm going to leave this post at that. I do not wish to go any deeper into this than I already have. I simply wanted to share this conversation here so that I can look back on it if need be and so my husband has something new to read today.

A Letter of Love...part two

I sure hope my relative doesn't mind me sharing bits of the letters that flowed between the two of us. I did not ask permission to share this. I'm pretty sure...but not positive...they won't mind. Most of what I am sharing is what I wrote so I figure I should be in the clear. If not I will beg forgiveness later.

In the same letter that my relative wrote of the 'tablet' of the heart, they also asked if I might could pick out a random verse from Luke. Do they have any idea what they asked? That's like asking someone to go to the beach and pick just a single grain of sand. Or to pick just one leaf off a tree. I could have just picked a verse, any verse, I suppose but that's not what I did. I told my husband I was going to have to read the whole book of Luke to figure out what I wanted to share. I didn't wind up doing that but I did do some reading in Luke. I also discovered it was impossible to give just one verse and although I narrowed it down to two of my choosing and one of my husbands I could not, in the end, give just one passage. I am sure if I had actually read Luke all the way through again I would have had many more passages to share.

The first one I shared was Luke 12:15-20:

 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’

I recommended my relative keep reading after that because 'That whole passage is good." I didn't elaborate much on it there although I did so later.

"I told my husband you wanted me to give you a passage from Luke. He suggested Luke 11:11-13."

What father among you, if his son asks for[a] a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

I think this must be one of my husbands favorite verses. He uses it as the support for the evilness of people. If Romans 9 falls into my favor for the explanation of how some are predestined to reprobation then this one falls into my husbands favor on showing that all of mankind is evil. 

This is where I began to elaborate in my letter. To explain. To point to the things that stand out to me. 

"In those verses note how Jesus says 'you being evil'. He is speaking of the condition of all mankind before God. We are evil in His sight. It's only through being born again (by God's choosing us and giving us His salvation-you have not chosen me but I have chosen you)That we lose our evil condition before God).

In the first set of verses I gave you, I like them because they are a reminder that our life here is short, fleeting. Here and gone in what seems like an instant. Life is but a vapor. A flower quickly fading. Scripture tells us that yesterday is gone and we are not promised tomorrow. Today is all we have. The day and hour of our death is already appointed. God has given us so many moments on earth and no more. As Grandmother used to tell me, "When it's your time to die, it's your time to die. You can't change it. If you would have died in a car accident but you stay home that day an airplane will fall out of the sky and land on you." I used to be afraid of airplanes falling on me...

I also like Luke 10:21-22:

 In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.[a] 22 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

 Ahh...so much said in only two short verses. The little children spoken of aren't kids but God's people-the called out ones. The 'you have not chosen me but I have chosen you' ones. And here we see that these things (Scripture, Christ, the story of God, His creation, His people, His plan) have been 'hidden' from 'the wise and understanding' or smart, educated people, and 'revealed' or shown to the 'little children'. Elsewhere Scripture talks of how earthly knowledge leads to death (hell) and Godly wisdom leads to Christ (heaven). 

And now I've given you much more than you asked for. You wanted a verse from Luke. I gave you three and study notes too."

There is nothing special in any of what I wrote and there is everything special in what I wrote. I am not sharing it here because of any great revelation or because I was learning as I wrote, I am only sharing it because I already wrote it and it sounded like it would make a good blog post.