When God steps in

There is a local nonprofit that regularly sits in front of a local shopping store. They set up their tables and cover them with handmade (I assume) wooden crosses and beg, for lack of a better description, money off passersby as they try to go into or out of the store. They do not usually ask you if you'd like to buy a cross, only if you would like to donate money to help them help drug addicts.

I have no idea if their program is a good one or not, no idea how much help they give. What I do know is that they are parked at the front of the store on a regular basis and it's always the same thing. Time and again I have encountered them as I tried to do my grocery shopping.

I will admit that I do not care for people setting up at the entrance to a store bombarding customers as they try to get their shopping done. I realize it's effective and I can see where occassionally it might be necessary, like in the aftermath of a natural disaster, or when a local family loses it's home to a fire, but those aren't usually the reasons people set up in front of the stores. It's rarely about individual people and generally is about nonprofit organizations.

But my own feelings on that really are irrelevant. It's not my opinion that has me writing this today but a conversation I had with my husband.

He's been meditating on certain things lately and today this was one of them. He knows of a couple of men that are 'Christians' whose 'testamonies' he has heard. These men's 'testamonies' are similiar, involving drinking/drugs, leaving their wives and children, and chasing women only to be 'saved' from that by God.

I don't doubt that they were saved by God, we are saved by Him daily no matter what we do or do not do. If we wake up in the morning it's because He wills it. If we live another day, any day, it's because He wills it.

I have a close relative that has recently made the discovery that God controls all and has said many times 'God did that' or 'God put that person there'. It's almost funny to hear the awe in the words but there's nothing funny about God doing anything. For me, it's always an 'of course God did it, God does everything' but for this relative it really is a brand new understanding.

And yet...

These men my husband knows of...they give credit to God for 'saving' them but to what end? The complete story always goes something like 'God saved me out of that so now I'm a Christian'. And they truly believe it.

When I was nine years old I met a girl that would become my best friend. Her dad was a penecostal preacher and his story was very similar to those of the men my husband knows of. He was a drug addict that was 'saved' out of drugs and 'turned his life around' so much that he became a preacher because 'God saved him'.

Don't get me wrong, the stories are remarkable in themselves. One only needs to know one drug addict or alcoholic to see what a destructive, downward spiral they are on. It only takes observation to be able to realize that something other than common sense, love, or...whatever, is controlling them. It's almost as though you can see the hands of Satan pulling their strings, controlling their actions.

They may start out careful enough, trying a bit of this or a sip of that, but if that drug/drink takes control of them, once they are addicted, it is the only thing they live for. They tumble deeper and deeper into a dark abyss that they not only cannot get out of but they do not want to get out of it, even if they sometimes claim they do.

They will trade body and soul for whatever it is that they are addicted to. They often give up friends and worse, family, walking away from spouses and children, tossing them aside as if they do not matter in the least. Their kids are neglected, abused, and if they are lucky abandoned to someone elses care.

And so goes the hand of what might appear to be Satan, tugging all their strings, destroying them and all connections that truly matter in their lives. Those that love them the most are the ones that are hurt the worst.

And for the lucky few that God chooses to save out of that destruction, for the few that He yanks out of Satan's hand, at least in that regard, and tosses back onto a 'normal' life...for those few, they often give credit to God saving them.

And God did save them.

Only they never seem to move beyond 'God saved me' to seeing whether or not the saving they experienced was true salvation or merely a plucking them out of the dark abyss of addiction and giving them back a 'normal' life.

They tell their stories, share their experiences, try to 'save' others from the same pit and through it all many of them believe they have achieved true salvation because 'God saved me'.

But did He?

Did he really?

Or did He merely redirect their lives so that they are now just as lost as they were before only now they are blinded to the darkness that they are lost in?

And so my husband has been meditating on this lately. He said he would like to walk up to those people selling the crosses and ask them who Christ is to them, ask them what they see in Scripture, ask them...anything that shows a difference in the 'you chose Christ so you're saved' mentality and tell them if that's all they have then they still have nothing.

My husband talks often of a man he knows from years back, this man is one of the men with one of these kinds of testamonies. This man is now big in the 'church' and often 'saves' people by helping them 'give their life to Christ'.

Sometimes my husband engages with this man but mostly he does not. There's really no point. This man is so lost in his belief that 'you chose Jesus' belief system that there is not showing him that it isn't Scriptural.

That is the case with so many though. Once they are tugged into the 'church' system mentality it is nearly impossible to show them that Scripture says we do not chose Christ but He chooses us. It's something they cannot see, something they do not want to see.

And so they give credit to God for things like saving them from addiction, from a bad marriage, from a car accident or natural disaster yet they cannot see that God may have merely saved them for a season in this life, preserved them on this earth, for a purpose that has nothing to do with them.

They fail to see whether or not their 'saving' has anything to do with eternal salvation and all they see is that they were 'saved' so therefore God 'saved' them. Their life is new again.

But were they born again?

They may come out of their addiction (or women chasing, or whatever sin they were in) to hate that particular thing but do they hate all sin? Do they love Christ? Do they love Scripture?

One can see the hand of God in this world if we but look for it. He is there in the blowing of the wind, in the beautiful butterfly flitting before us, in the spring flowers, and the winter snow. He is there in the birth of a new baby. In...every breath we take.

But can one see that when God's hand intervene's on their behalf it may only be to 'save' them in an earthly way? When they say God 'saved' them...do they test themselves to see if they are in the Spirit? Do they devour Scripture...straight from Scripture and not some man twisted idea of what Scripture is...and do they love it? Do they see all the truth's in it?

They can clearly see when God steps in to save them from what they believe is themselves and they are happy to give Him credit for saving them but can they see that God stepped in long before they were born?

They..

so many people fit the description of they...

They clearly see when they are saved from an addiction or from an accident of some sort and they happily attribute it to God but can they see that God has been stepping in all along and that their 'choosing' Him is nothing more than an illusion because unless He steps in than they will never attain salvation?

Animals are people too...repost

Animals Are People Too

Let me start this by saying I'm venturing into waters probably best left unstirred. I hesitate to write this even as the words and the need to put them to 'paper' tugs at me. 

This morning I came across an article that I did not read. The article was about New York City requiring people transporting dogs on the subway to put their pets in a bag and it showed a man with a pit bull riding in a bag slung across his shoulder. I did not read the article but for some reason I did look at the comments. 

It was no surprise that 99% of the comments were an outcry of how wrong it was to have to put your dog in a bag to take it with you because 'dogs are people too'. About another 9% of the comments were aimed at the 'my dog would never fit in a bag' and 'we should do this with Fido' thought process. About a half a percent of them were people trying to draw someone else's attention to the comment. That left about a half of one percent of the comments to try to be the voice of reason, speaking of animals not belonging in public places, people being allergic to animals, people being afraid of them, and generally just not wanting to be exposed to someone else's ill behaved dog because that person wants the freedom to take their pet, 'because dogs are people too', everywhere they go. 

I firmly fall into the 'leave your mutt at home' catagory. I cannot stand the site of a dog in the grocery store, unless it's wearing a service vest and meets the behavior requirements of a service dog (and yes, I well know what those are because I trained one). I also can't stand to see a dog wearing a vest with a patch on it proclaiming the dog to be an emotional support animal, contrary to popular belief, emotional support animals are not service dogs and do not get the same protection by law as service animals do. Therapy dogs are not, by law, given the same protection either but I don't mind seeing them in the grocery store or other public place. Therapy dogs have gone through intense training and they are generally well behaved and not just a pet being passed off as something they are not. 

To be perfectly honest I am not a pet person. I don't mind, for the most part, having them about. We have a cat, and chickens, and... but our pets are just that, pets. They bring joy in seeing them in the yard. They are fun to pet or watch. They are not family members. When we had to flee our home from a natural disaster heading right toward it, we left the animals at home in our rush to save us. Did we think of the animals? Yes. Did we put ourselves at risk to try to save them? No. They are animals and they need to fall into the proper category. We saved ourselves and those in our care and we did not spare the time to save the animals.

Now, that said, our home was fine and the animals are all still here, well fed and cared for. 

But we kept them in their proper perspective. We put them behind people in their importance. If given the chance I would save the animals over the houseplants and before the furniture, simply because they are alive and by getting them as pets we did take on certain responsibilities to them. They are part of the Lord's creation and they have been entrusted to us so we should be good stewards of them. But I will not endanger myself or my loved ones to save them. I would not run back into a burning building for an animal and I would not give up precious seconds in what could be a life and death situation to grab the animals. 

That obviously is not the case for many of the people commenting on that article. 'Pets are people too' seems to be the overall consensus among the majority. And it's a consensus agreed on by a good majority of America. 

I remember when dogs were dogs, when pets were just that...pets. They weren't called babies or children. They weren't referred to as family members. They were pets. Now, 'pets are people too', dogs are 'my children', 'my babies', even 'my grandbabies'. 

I have to ask...

WHAT is wrong with people's minds? 

How can anyone see an animal on par with a person? How can you look at a human baby, ever, at any time in your life, and see a dog as 'my baby'. How can you think of an animal as your child? Does not the very nature of parenthood remove all thought of seeing an animal as your child? 

And yet, the majority of the people commenting on that article fell into that category. Where are their minds? Where is their common sense?

I will return to those questions in just a minute. Let me first say, I don't much care if people in NYC take dogs on the subway. I don't mind if people in...pick a place...carry their dogs around in backpacks, and eat at the dinner table with them. I've never been to NYC and don't have any plans to go there, and honestly, if I ever do go there, navigating a city of that size will be a much bigger issue for me than where dogs are. And dog bites probably fall lower on the scale of worry than the crime rate would. 

I can also say that if I ever did live in NYC, I'd probably want a dog. A BIG one. The biggest dog I could find. And it would be my constant companion. Because...well, because crime is real and dogs do deter crime, to a point anyway. 

But back to the above questions, where are their minds? Where is there common sense? 

Gone.

It flew the coop about a few thousand sins ago. Some of these same people said they'd rather go to San Francisco than to go to NYC where they'd have to restrain their dog. And why do they prefer SF? Because in SF dogs are allowed everywhere. In SF you can get a companion certificate for your dog and legally take it everywhere. 

I did not double check the validity of that. I am going only on the comments on that article. I have no reason to believe them but to be honest, I do. I suspect those statements were made in total truth. 

As I read that I found myself thinking of Romans 1:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 

19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 

 

20For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 

 

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 

 

22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 

 

23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 

 

25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator,who is blessed forever! Amen. 

 

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 

 

27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 

 

28And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 

 

29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 

 

30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 

31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 

 

32 Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Nowhere in those comments did I see anything about Scripture. Nowhere in them did anyone mention the proper order of things...God first, man second, the world and it's creatures third. Nowhere in there did anyone say 'you're claiming wisdom but are fools'. Nowhere in there did anyone point out the futility in their thoughts and reasoning or the fact that they have, as shown by their statements, elevated animals, the creation, into gods that they are worshipping, putting them above God and even above their fellow human's. 

The few people that tried using common sense, pointing out that some people are allergic, that others are afraid, etc, were shot down instantly. Told to stay home, stay off the subway, take a cab, get a car, etc, if they did not want to travel with dogs. 

Really?

Where is the sense in any of that. We are going to deny people the right to transportation made for people simply because someone wants to travel with their animal? These animals are granted the 'right' to travel when we would suppress the same right for people for no other reason than 'pets are people too'. 

As I read those comments, when I came across the ones speaking of the freedoms given to animals in San Francisco, I couldn't help making the leap from SF is the homosexual capital of America to it's the dog friendly capital of America. And I thought, 'God gave them up'. 

Whether it's homosexuality or animal idolatry, God gave them up. He turned them loose to wallow in their own sins. They rejected Him and he threw his hands up and turned them over. 

Logically, I know that's not really how it happened. The majority of them are probably reprobates, vessels of wrath destined for destruction (Romans 9) and yet, God gave them up. 

Before the foundation of the world God made a choice. Somehow, in his all knowing, all powerful, all controlling, all...God...way, he looked at all of eternity, at all the people that would ever live, and he played eeny meeny miney mo. He chose this one and not that one. He granted salvation to some and destruction to others. 

And somehow in all that choosing, many poor souls were denied the pardon granted to others through God's mercy. 

Only the Lord knows the eternal condition of the animal idolaters and the homosexuals, as well as every other soul through all of eternity. I'm not about to speculate on the condition of any of their souls so far as their eternity is concerned. But I will say that as a whole, the people promoting 'pets are people too' are lost, given over to their own debased minds, just as much as those lost in homosexuality, murder, or whatever other sin consumes them, are. 

Our souls are a funny thing and I don't begin to fully understand them. What I do know is that our souls long for the Lord and for those that don't have the Lord, there is an empty spot within their souls that cry out, that beg, for the Lord but are never filled with His presence so they attempt to fill that void with whatever is at hand. No matter what they fill that void with, be it good or evil, it all becomes sin because it is an idol in their life. 

And for some, animals are that idol. It seems that animals are becoming a bigger and bigger idol these days. So many people have lost their objectivity where animals are concerned. Instead of seeing an...animal...they look at their fur covered critters and see babies. They see their roles as keeper, or caretaker, good stewards, as that of a parent. They see natural animal tendencies to be total adoration and unconditional love. They see loyalty as complete acceptance of them without 'judgement' as one of those comments said. 

In other words they are somehow fulfilled through their animals. Not because their dog guards their home or keeps their chickens safe from predators...no, in fact their dog must be protected from the evils of predators...but because that furry face somehow looks like the essence of...life. Of importance. Of everything that matters in the world. 

I have had a family member leave my home in a hurry because I refused let their dog stay in my house. I've had friends talk to me of their 'fur babies'. I've seen dog pee in the floor at the grocery store. Why? Because people have lost their objectivity. Their minds have crossed over. They no longer live in the world of sane, rational thought where animals are concerned. 

People plan vacations around their pets. They give up things they would like to do to keep their pet happy. I have no doubt that there are many families where kids and spouses take second, or lower, place to their dogs. 

I've met people that say their dogs sleep in bed with them, between a husband and a wife. I kind of had to wonder if that sleeping spot didn't actually signify the role that dog played in that marriage...coming between husband and wife. 

The Lord uses all for His purposes and He makes things work according to His plans. This idolization of animals is not news to Him. It's not going against His plans. It's all a part of it. Romans 9 talks of our Lord suffering vessels of destruction for His glory. I admit my human mind both understands and struggles with this concept. I easily understand that the Lord suffers to put up with, so to speak, some people. So do I. But at the same time the Lord placed them in their life, assigned them to that life, and somehow works things like animal idolatry into their lives then Romans 1 tells us that "He gave them over" because "For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened."

Somewhere in all that is the Lord's plan and animal idolatry works into it. Still, our Lord basically throws His hands up at a certain point and turns people over to their sins. He leaves them to the lusts of their hearts and lets them worship the creature rather than the Creator. 

I have no doubt, reading some of those comments, that many of those people literally do worship animals. They may not put them on a pedestal but they sure do hold them to high standards. They think of animals and their imagined 'rights' more than they do their neighbors. They get outraged at the very idea of supressing an animal while caring nothing for the fears or medical problems of other people. 

One comment on that article even went so far as to accuse people of breed discrimination and breed profiling. Really? Is there even such a thing? Aren't people allowed to favor one type of animal over another for nothing more than their personal preferences? And when did discrimination in regards to animals even become a thought? 

My husband has a friend that wrote something on social media the other day. I sure wish I had a copy of it because what he wrote so clearly summed up the animal problem in America today. And America does have an animal problem. They try to convince us that we have an over population of dogs and cats, maybe we do, and that too many pets are abused and neglected but those aren't the real problems with animals. The real problem is with the idolizing of them. They are animals. Here for a purpose that meets the needs of Earth's human inhabitants. They are for service to us, even if that service includes companionship, but they should NEVER be placed before people. 

But the very real problem is so much larger. Because people do worship these creatures, giving them the status that should be reserved for people, they get outraged at the very idea of an animal, particularly a dog, being slighted in any way, while overlooking the murder of unborn babies, the mistreatment of children and the elderly, even of people lacking basic necessities. 

There is a television commercial that portrays dog after dog, each one looking more pathetic than the next. These dogs are dirty, most of them skinny, some are in the rain or snow, all have big eyes. The video footage of these dogs is set to music designed to tug at the emotions of anyone with the least compassion for animals. To put it bluntly it's a scam designed to part the animal lover from their money. And I'm sure it works. 

People probably call that organization offering up bank account and credit card info, offering to give so much money every month so they can help save dogs while the child down the street goes to bed hungry every night and lives in a home with little or no heat. They donate their money to a 'good cause' that saves those 'poor babies' while women in their town kill unborn babies because they feel ill equipped to provide for one. They foot the bill for surgery on a dog when a child in their town goes without glasses or other medical needs because they have no health insurance. 

Most of these people, if questioned, would say there are organizations to help those kids, organizations to pay bills for those families, government programs to provide food assistance and medical insurance for kids. They are right. There are organizations and programs in effect for low income families. Some of them pay bills, others provide groceries, some cover medical costs but many of those kids fall through the cracks of those programs. Their families make too much to qualify for government assistance or they get assistance but it's not enough to put food on the table all month long. Many medical necessities are no longer covered under government medical programs and doctors can be hard to find for kids (or adults) with government provided medical coverage. Or the child may have aged out of the program, reaching legal adulthood and losing their coverage, but having no other insurance to step in so they go without much needed medical care because there is no money to cover it while millions of dollars is given to 'save' dogs.

Do they not see a problem with this mentality?

I have seen television shows where they rescue dogs, or other animals, and do costly surgeries on them, giving them months of medical care because the dog 'needed' it to live. What of the people that need medical care? What of the ones that need food? What of the unborn babies that never even reach the point of medical care because they are murdered in the womb? 

I know all of this and so much more are in the Lord's control. I know there's no sense in wondering why it all happens because the answer is that it happens because the Lord willed it to be so.

But in His willing it to happen we have multitudes of people loving the creature in the form of animal idolatry. They get offended at the least suggestion that their beloved dog cannot go where people go and now, it appears we have animal profiling and breed discrimination. 

And one needs look no further than the apparent freedom of dogs in San Francisco to see that the Lord has 'given them over' to their sins, to worship the creation rather than the creator, and to wallow in their sins. 

Because 'animals are people too.'

Where common sense reigns

I know I've written on the topic of books before, multiple times if I remember correctly, but sometimes something just ''bears repeating'' as my Grandmother used to say.

Over the last couple of days my husband and I have managed to find ourselves in the midst of a couple of conversations, privately and with others, that wound up with my thoughts once again going to my experiences with books over the last couple of years.

Let me just say that once upon a time I literally devoured books. I read them every chance I got. I once favored contemporary romance which eventually gave way to 'Christian' romance when I came to the painful (at the time) conclusion that contemporary romance was sin. A few years later I set aside pretty much all book reading and now read Scripture almost exclusively when I read. I can just no longer stomach most books. Even the ones that go by the title of 'Christian' or more specific, as reformed Christian, usually either push man made beliefs or else they wind up not being reformed in doctrine.

And those are the good ones.

The last time I was in a library I was there to use the copy machine. I did not browse the books nor did I check anything out but I did observe the many books surrounding me and I found myself saddened by what I saw. I looked only at books in the children's section and only looked at those because I was in a part of the library where I could see them from where I was.

There were probably around ten or so books set up on top of a shelf, displayed so as to catch the attention of those that walked by. Every last book pertained to some kind of magic or fantasy. I guess I should be grateful that that was all it was.

From there I could also see several shelves of books but could only read titles on one of the shelves. There was nothing better on that wall. Fantasy and magic filled the titles of book after book. I recognized none of the books on the shelf. It was like looking at an unending row of the same thing, just packaged differently. Blue covers, gold covers, green and red covers...all more of the same thing.

In a way I can understand. We live in a world where everything is now topsy turvy. For those of us that are old enough to remember when life was 'normal', when people had common sense, when laws and rules held importance and where right and wrong were not left to the whims of each and every individual...for those of us lucky, or blessed, to be able to remember those things, life as it is now is something to shake our heads at and to see clearly the downward spiral all around us.

For those too young to remember 'the good ole days' of common sense and rules, of men being men and women being women...for those too young to know anything but this mixed up, jumbled up, today...

Oh, those poor souls.

Today's children are exposed to all manner of evil in the form of books and television. They hear it on the radio. Songs that flaunt sex, homosexuality, and...I don't even know what else. Even 'Christian' songs promote 'don't judge me' these days. And the countries poor children don't stand a chance of knowing anything else.

My husband and I know several people that claim to be 'Christians', they are no better than those that deny Christ completely. Most of them are out for themselves, 'Christianity' is a look they wear, like their in style expensive clothes or their high dollar vehicles.

Last October I was saddened to see that the very depth of evil seemed to seep out from everywhere. Halloween has always had a basis in evil but at least there was a time when it was more of a kid friendly kind of holiday now it seems like there is no concern for the inocence of childhood anymore...or is there any inocense left in childhood these days? Tiny babies were flaunted in all manner of costumes depicting evil and that was just the youngest of the batch. There seemed to be no restraint on what was pushed at the masses and what was embraced and enjoyed by them. That was one single holiday, a span of a month or so beforehand when the decorations and costumes made their appearance, when television stations aired specials...when it appeared that what little restraint on evil in America was lifted from every person and the evil was allowed free reign to flow out and be celebrated.

But it's not just Halloween, the evil of the human heart is hardly contained in America anymore. My husband and I have talked quite a few times of how the Lord's restraining hand is barely visible anymore. Where once America at least held to Christian principles and even those that did not believe in Christ in any way were still constrained by society's belief in right and wrong which was often based off Scripture, now...now... there is little constraint and I guess the gruesomeness of Halloween is probably the least of the evil running rampant.

And in all that rampant evil children are being raised in homes where such evil is embraced and celebrated. I believe it is Illinois that has at least one billboard advertising something to the effect of 'welcome to Illinois where you can get a safe legal abortion'. It's flaunted on a huge sign for all who pass by to read. How many young kids see that every day? How many of them read it without any discussion on how abortion is murder?

I can't count the number of toys now filling the store shelves and children's toy boxes that are anything but friendly and innocent. Stuffed animals that when squeezed turn into fanged monster creatures. Zombies. Creatures more in line with nightmares than anything a child should ever see.

And kids are playing with them like they are the most normal of childhood toys.

Because parents are buying them for them like there is nothing to it.

And the books I wrote of...they're just another example of the good things, if they really were good things, being discontinued to bring in the bad.

There is little to nothing these days that don't seem to promote the new 'normal' of anything goes. There are kids books about homosexuality, kids books about murder, kids books about...I don't even know what all.

It still amazes me to this day, no matter how much Scripture I read, or how often I read it, that life in general can clearly be seen within it's pages. Reading Scripture truly is reading the foretelling of life throughout time.

And more and more I feel as though Scripture is the only 'normal' thing in this topsy turvy world. It's almost as though it's the last place where Truth is left as Truth and common sense still reigns.

Marriage by the book...repost

A few months after my husband and I were married we were given a devotional book for couples. It was a thoughtful gift and was made even more so because of the person that gave it to us.

I’ve never been a big reader of devotionals. They just aren’t something I get a lot out of. But out of curiosity…I’d never had a devotion for couples before and was curious as to what it contained and taught…and because I wanted to at least be able to say we had used it if the person that gave it to us ever asked…I began reading it out loud to my husband.

It was interesting…for a while…but it wasn’t the kind of thing either one of us found would be very helpful to our marriage.

For me it was kind of like reading parenting books that tell you exactly how to raise your child…they just don’t work. Not for me. When my older children were little there was a very popular parenting book that taught care for newborns and young babies. This particular book taught exactly how to get your child onto a schedule and to sleep through the night. And people that used it claimed it worked very well.

I happened to babysit for a couple that had just had their first child. They were raising this baby ‘by the book’ and I was not to deviate from what they told me. The baby was to be gotten up at a certain time, fed at a certain time, put to bed at certain times throughout the day. And if the baby cried when she was put to bed I was to leave her there no matter how long she cried because she would eventually go to sleep.

That went against everything I believed in about raising babies. But I did it because that wasn’t my baby and it was what the parents required. I think it was as hard on me as it was on the baby.

During that time I met another woman that was raising her baby by the same book. We were both waiting in the waiting room of the doctor’s office and began talking. This woman carried her sleeping newborn up to the counter to ask how much longer it would be before they were called into the back because she needed to get her baby home so it could take a nap. She went on for quite a while about how it was the baby’s nap time and the baby was missing it’s nap…while holding a soundly sleeping baby.

My experiences babysitting that baby and seeing that woman in the waiting room were vivid reminders of what I’d always thought. Those parenting books that tell you how to raise your baby (or child) and claim they will work for all parents and all children if the parents will only apply what they’re taught in the book don’t take into consideration the desires of the parents or the needs of individual children.

All babies don’t learn to walk by their first birthday. All children can’t read when they’re six. And all parents can’t raise children based off the methods of someone else.

I found this couples devotional book to be the same way. The methods that worked for the author’s marriage…didn’t necessarily fit my marriage. The things the author said we should do my husband and I found useless.

And we discovered as I read that the author did not share our beliefs in the Lord or Scripture. The book was labeled as Christian, written by someone that said he was a Christian, but he wasn’t the kind of Christian we are. They weren’t bad teachings and the things the author suggested the couple do together weren’t bad things, they probably would draw a couple closer together if they did them because they were about sharing your thoughts and feelings with each other, but they were things that my husband and I just didn’t see as particularly helpful for us.

For one thing…we were already doing most of what the author said you should do. We were already talking about most of those things, sharing our deepest feelings with each other. We didn’t need a book to tell us to do those things and give us exercises to do to accomplish that.

But beyond that…

The book started with the couple and touched on Christ. I’ll admit that I haven’t read the entire book but nowhere in any of what I read did it start with Christ and bring the couple into it. It didn’t teach the husband to put Christ first in His life so that he could be the kind of husband the Lord designed. It didn’t teach the wife to put Christ first so that she could love her husband as she should.

Christ didn’t come first in any of the devotions I read.

They were about the couple first and Christ second, if at all. In the same way that parenting book taught that all parents can raise their babies in the manner the author taught if the parent just followed the rules set out by the author. That book put the author’s ideas first, then the parent. The baby was the least important of all. Throughout the book it taught that the baby would learn to do what the parents wanted…and what the parents wanted was what the author believed was the right way to raise a baby.

The author of this devotional book presented his ideas through each devotion, then applied them to the couple. Christ held little place among the discussions of how these things apply to a ‘Christians’ life.

Christ’s place in those devotions was the same place He has in most professing ‘Christians’ life. Somewhere far down in the ranking, coming in below the authors ideas, the couple, the Bible, ‘Christians’, and whatever else took priority.

It didn’t start with Christ then move to the couple.

I never read that if the couple put Christ first and lived by His teachings, if they were truly regenerate and sought Christ with everything in them, then marriage would become easier. I never read anything on putting Christ first then your spouse.

And as I read through those devotions I was left wondering where was Christ in any of it? Eventually my husband and I grew tired of reading those devotions; we had enough of what the author was teaching. It wasn’t that we didn’t want to be taught or that we had a problem with working through any of the things covered in that book…the problem was that the author left Christ out of what he was teaching.

Much the way professing ‘Christians’ leave Him out of their lives.

And as I closed the book…I was left wondering…

Where was Christ in any of that? Where was Christ in the author’s marriage? Where is Christ in the marriages of the many people that read that book?

And as I set the book aside I knew the answer. The author was written by a ‘Christian’ and it was written for ‘Christians’. It was written in the same manner many Sunday sermons, Bible studies, and ‘Christian’ books are written. It is written for the professing ‘Christian’ whose life revolves around self-first, everything else next, and somewhere down the list comes the God they believe in, the Jesus that fits their life.

And so the need for ‘Christian’ books on marriage come in. So they can have a marriage by the book.

I have set through many a sermon by a preacher that often preaches on marriage. About every other sermon he preaches touches on marriage in some way. That would be fine, marriage is a big part of most people’s lives. The only statistic on the percent of heterosexuals that marry said that 90% of people marry by the time they’re 50. So a preacher speaking about marriage isn’t a bad thing. However, this preacher often speaks about marriage in reference to his own marriage, which again could be okay, but a good part of the time he’s talking about he and his wife had ‘world war 3’ in their living room. He talks about how angry he got with her or how he yelled at her.

Preachers are just people, fallen people in a fallen world, but…if the preacher is truly a child of Christ would he continuously yell at his wife? Would he continuously engage in ‘world war 3’ with her? Forgetting everything else…would his role as a ‘Christian’ man allow him to continue to act in that manner? Or would the Lord change his heart so much that it wouldn’t take more than once or twice before he was so grieved by those actions that he wouldn’t act that way anymore?

My grandmother has been a ‘Christian’ all my life but she and my grandpa regularly held their own version of world war 3. We used to have neighbors that regularly attended services at a ‘church’ building. They screamed and yelled at each other on a regular basis.

 These are supposedly ‘Christian’ couples. They supposedly have ‘Christian’ marriages.

My husband and I were driving past a Baptist ‘church’ the other day. He told me that the preacher there regularly preaches on marriage.

I don’t for a minute question that Christian marriages have stress and troubles. I don’t doubt that they have their moments of upset between the couple. Anytime you take two people, no matter their beliefs, and put them in as close a proximity as a married couple should be in, there are bound to come times when one or the other of them gets upset with the other one. The difference is in how it’s handled, what they do, and how they act.

I recently did something that my husband saw as disrespect to him. It happened by accident and wasn’t intentional on my part but it still happened. We talked about it days after it happened. He must have been unhappy with me at the time that it happened but if he was I never knew it. He did not for even a second act as if he was upset with me. If he hadn’t said something I would never have known it happened. He could have instigated world war 3, could have yelled at me, could have started an argument, could have refused to speak to me or done any number of other things but he did none of those things.

Married Christians are still fallen people in a fallen world. We do things, say things, that may hurt those closest to us. How we handle those times is often a reflection on our beliefs.

I don’t for even a minute claim to be any kind of an expert on marriage. Quite honestly I am about as far from an expert as you can get. But I can see the difference. I can feel it in my own marriage. I have 100% trust in my husband in all things. I know when he says or does something that upsets me it’s not done intentionally, not done out of spite or anger toward me.

When I think of the type of marriage that preacher must have to regularly engage in world war 3 with his wife, when I remember my grandparents marriage, my neighbors marriage I can see, from just the small part of those couples marriages that I witnessed, where the ‘Christian’ books on marriage have their place. They aren’t going to turn a professing ‘Christian’ into a regenerate Christian. They aren’t going to teach them to put Christ first and then their spouse. But maybe those ‘Christian’ books on marriage, written by those ‘Christian’ authors, will help those ‘Christian’ couples to interact in a way that they can find a way not to engage in world war 3.

So for ‘Christian’ couples…maybe they need sermons on marriage. Maybe they need marriage workshops and marriage retreats. Maybe they need some counselor, preacher, or teacher to walk them through things like not expecting too much from each other, calling or texting each other just to say I love you, talking about their hurts… Maybe they need a book that tells them day by day how to do those things. For some ‘Christian’ marriages a marriage by the book, even one written by a professing ‘Christian’, may well be better than what they have.

My husband and I aren’t perfect. Our marriage isn’t perfect, although I’ll admit that most of the times it feels that way. But my husband and I didn’t need that devotional book for couples because the only book we base our marriage on is the Bible. And if we both follow the rules set out for marriage in the Bible then we both benefit. But more than that if we fail to follow the rules set out in the Bible we hurt not only each other, and ourselves, but we hurt our Lord. So we pattern our marriage after the Book. We build it on the words of Truth. We live with each other; interact with each other, on God’s word. Our marriage is a marriage by the Book.

Which book do you base your marriage on?

Because I am human

My husband asked me today what I've been meditating on Scripturally and the question kind of took me back for a moment. It's not a new question or an unexpected one. No, what took me aback was the fact that I had no answer.

It's not that I haven't been meditating on things lately, not that I haven't thought of Scripture, not that I haven't read it, lately, it's just that here lately life has had my thoughts going in other directions.

There are times in life where the Lord makes our minds focus more on the earthly and less on the deeper things of Him or Scripture, at least He does that to me sometimes. He kind of tosses things before me that take up much time or much thought and therefore I am left with only bits and pieces of time for Scripture study or for meditating on His ways.

I am in one of those times right now.

Life has become such, at the Lord's hand, that many of my thoughts are turned to family and my meditating on Christ or Scripture takes place in bits and pieces and really doesn't add up to anything worth speaking of.

I realized just a couple of days ago that I haven't really been writing much for this blog lately. I also realized I haven't been doing much Bible study with my husband. I realized it but it failed to sink in until just today how choppy my Scripture studies have been lately.

Just the other day I found myself looking at my Bible, wanting to pick it up and read deeply from it. I wanted to feel my familiar friend in my hands and connect with an even greater Friend. And then life intervened and time did not allow me to do so. Instead I read a bit of Scripture in digital form and did not pick up my Bible.

I wonder, even as I write this, if I should write it. I write for my husband and it's for him that I am writing this, to explain why my answer was all but nonexistant today. Why I couldn't really tell him what I've been meditating on because the things I've meditated on have been fleeting thoughts and not deep ones. Because they come and go in the midst of life instead of sinking into me and overshadowing life. And I hesitate to write this because I know that if others besides my husband reads this than they will read that I have not been as deeply involved with Scripture lately as I should have been.

But...

I am only human. I fail daily and right now it looks like I haven't been giving the attention to Scripture that I should have been. It's understandable. I realize that. I know the other things going on in my life and I realize that I am in the midst of something that the Lord has caused to overrule my thoughts and emotions at the moment. I realize it is normal.

But I have still not dug as deeply, drank as deeply, of my Lord lately as I should have. I realize that too. And in realizing it I wonder if it's something I should write of, to put out there for anyone that happens along to read.

And I know I'm going to post this anyway. I'm going to share it with my husband and I'm going to put it out there so that anyone that does come along and reads it can see that my thoughts aren't always centered as deeply in Scripture as they should be, sometimes Scripture is drank in like a cool drink on a hot day, sometimes it is absorbed through my thoughts, and sometimes it passes fleetingly like a butterfly, fluttering here and gone, here and gone.

Because I am human and because I must traverse this world the Lord has placed me in.

Male and Female He Created Them

I was recently shopping for birthday presents for young relatives and due to one of the child's interest in a brand of popular blocks I found myself looking at those. I'm not new to these blocks, I had them when I was a kid and have bought them from time to time over the years. What I am new to is the new way they are packaged, each 'set' geared toward a certain thing and all with a look that is slightly less than what I would expect for blocks once they are put together.

So there I was searching through sets of these overpriced toys and finding myself not entirely happy with the options. I finally settled on one set for the first child's birthday knowing I had two more weeks before I needed to pick something for the second child. I also knew these blocks were optional for the second child as this child is the younger sibling of the other one and not as into these blocks as the older one is. I also wanted this child to have a set of these blocks of their very own though so I was leaning heavily toward getting the second child their own set.

One thing led to another and I found myself looking at reviews for the different sets of blocks and even comparing one kind of block to another, trying to figure out what would be the best kind for a younger child. Somehow in all that I found myself reading an article on the educational value of blocks.

I have no idea how I wound up reading that article. It just sort of happened. The thing is it was a pretty interesting article, talking of how kids that play with blocks have higher math skills and other things. But then...

Came the nearly inevitable boys over girls spin to the article. It seems like that crops up more and more in our society today. This one talked of how 'stem' toys, whatever those are, are usually supplied to boys more than girls while girls are often given baby dolls and fashion dolls. They said this most likely explains why more men than women go into careers in science and math related fields.

That was also the point where I stopped reading the article. Why is it that society as a whole seems to absorb the belief that little girls are repressed through being...little girls...and therefore they are held back from becoming what they could have, or should have, been? The blame for girls or women not favoring science and math based jobs is because they supposedly aren't provided the science and math based toys as kids.

I suppose it seems feasible enough if one disregards the fact that boys and girls are fundamentally different, that they favor different toys even as little babies. Girl babies more often naturally gravitate toward people and doll type toys while boy babies naturally favor cars and shapes. That is a scientifically proven fact. And this favoring of certain things shows up when babies are only a few weeks old. They have monitored babies reactions based on what objects their eyes follow and their facial and body language. Girls just look at faces more and favor dolls whereas boys look at shapes and favor cars and similar things.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27 ESV


Male and female he created them... Genesis 5:2 ESV

Boys and girls were created different in the very beginning. Could it be that the difference between males and females explains why fewer women go into the math and science related jobs and not what kind of toys they had as children?

I had blocks when I was a kid. I also had dolls. And fashion dolls. My sisters were given even more blocks when they were kids than I was. And you know what? It wouldn't have mattered how many blocks I had as a kid...I simply did not favor them. I wanted baby dolls from infancy. I cried and cried for them at a year old. Fashion dolls never were something I liked. I played with them only when I had fashion doll loving friends over.

One of my sisters loved those little plastic blocks. She would build with them for hours and hours and hours. Even now, as an adult, she likes them. Guess what else she likes...er, LOVES? Electronics. They just fascinate her. 

My other sister, on the other hand, played with blocks probably more than I did but did not love them like our sister did. This one favored dolls and fashion dolls over all other toys. And today? That sister is a stay at home wife and mother.

An interesting side note...my sister that loved fashion dolls grew up to be a teenager that loved clothes and now a woman that loves clothes. I never liked the fashion dolls and have always simply favored comfortable clothing. 

But...all the so-called experts want to tell us that females don't go into math and science jobs because their parents don't buy them blocks and other toys that promote math and science. I am sure there are some girls out there that would love those kinds of toys, that do love them. One of my sisters was just such a girl. She would have loved any sciency type toy. Those toys would have sat unplayed with, buried in my closet, had I had them. 

That's three little girls, all raised by the same parents, all with the same grandparents and extended family, all given, for the most part, the same kinds of toys. Three little girls that had different preferences for toys, and three little girls that grew up to be women that you can see the results of what we favored as kids in what we became as adults.

How then is it that parents are failing their kids by not buying them the kinds of toys that promote math and science? 

Science and so -called experts don't hold the answer. Scripture does. 

Male and female He created them. 

Casting stones...sin in 'good taste'

My husband was telling me about an encounter he had today with a man that recently went to a concert. I'm not real clear on whether it was supposed to be a country concert or a 'Christian' concert. I didn't recognize the man's name as it's been years and years and years since I listened to whatever the popular music is. I'm more than just out of the loop, I'm so far from it that I wouldn't recognize it if I stumbled into it. 

Whatever type of music this concert was, the singer performed at least one song that my husband was told was 'Christian'. The person telling him of this concert proceeded to play this song for my husband, who in turn proceeded to tell me as much of the words to the song as he could remember. I must admit that based solely on my husband's memory I was not impressed with the song. I did, however, pull it up online later and actually listened to the whole thing, complete with lyrics written on the screen. 

I must admit that the tune of the music wasn't as bad as I was expecting. It did have a bit of a country flare to it, at least that was something. At least it was to me, someone that used to favor country music very much and can't stand the tune of other types of music. I could at least stomach this tune. 

But the words...

Well, that was a different story. The tune was the best part of this song. Before my husband finished sharing what he remembered of the song with me I told him he needed to write about this song. To which he replied that I needed to listen to it so I could write about it. To say I'm the writer of the two of us would be an understatement. 

So here I am, with that song freshly in my mind and a copy of the lyrics before me. My husband did a good job of sharing his thoughts with the man that had him listen to the song, now I'm going to do my best to share my thoughts after having listened to it. I find myself unsure of just how to do that, though, without copying down the lyrics here in my blog. Something I am not willing to do. So I'm going to try to find a way to share just enough without telling word for word what the song says. I am however going to go ahead and give the name of the song and the singers name because I can't find a way to speak of this song without all but naming names and giving lyrics. The song is called, 'I cast no stones' by a man named Cody Jinks.

I want to say here that I know NOTHING about this man, nothing about his music. I am not in any way trying to point to anything he has done or has not done. Until today I have never even heard of him. I am only sharing my thoughts on what the words in the song say.

Let me start by saying this song is an excellent...EXCELLENT...example of 'come as you are', love everyone, accept everyone, modern American "Christianity'. I think it could probably be the poster song for every American "Christian'. If it's not at the top of the charts it probably soon will be or it really should be. It's that perfect for 'Christianity' today.

And so the song opens, speaking about not casting stones, a reference, I assume, to John 8:7 where Christ says 'he who is without sin among you let him cast the first stone'. I am going to go ahead and say that this is in defiance of Matthew 7 which says one should FIRST remove the log...or sin...from their own eye before removing it from 'your brother's eye'. I will go further into this in just a minute though.

There's a reference, I assume, to Scripture but that reference isn't real clear if that's the intended meaning or not. It could just as easily be a reference to trying to live a certain way. Either way, the line after that one refers to resorting to sin and staying in it for a time before coming back to what I assume is supposed to be the straight and narrow way.

Anyone besides me seeing a problem yet? If not wait just a couple more lines and it should become clear. But in just those first few lines I'm left to make assumptions that the singer is even referencing Scripture. I find that to be a common thing with modern professing 'christians' today. One must often look real hard and make many assumptions to even know for sure if they are living a 'christian' life. From there the singer once again claims to not cast stones and then questions what gives anyone the right to tell him what to do. He all but says, mind your own business.

Is that a Christian response to anyone rebuking a professing 'Christian'?

But isn't it the standard response of most, if not all, professing 'christians' today? Don't they want to show up to 'church' on Sunday, dressed in their Sunday best, all 'dressed up for Jesus', and put in their time, doing their christian duty...one might even say, paying their pennance or serving their time...before they head back out into the world. I don't normally quote preachers but I once heard a preacher give a whole sermon on how people come to 'church' every week to get recharged just as we charge our phones. It's the best example I know of. 'Church' is now orchastrated to be an emotional high. It's like the strongest drug. It must hit on senses and emotions and draw a person in, charging them up, reassuring them that they are good 'christians' and giving them just enough of a push to feel like they have something to strive for over the next week until it's time to come back to 'church' and get charged up again.

I suppose we could call them churchaholics.

And these churchaholics get so charged up, so pandered to...so encouraged in their lives that no one dares to tell them that they are living in a way that if someone really looked at their life they would be hard pressed to tell most of them from every other non'christian' in the world. One is left to make great assumptions to come to the conclusion that they are 'christian' by any stretch of the word. But back to the song...

And then...what may well be the worst part of the 'Christian' song...the singer uses God's name in vain. As far as I can tell he takes a name that should be reserved for reverence and uses it as all but a curse word.

Which is really pretty common among many that profess a faith in Christ. I have stood in 'churches' before and heard people do the very same thing. 

If that last line isn't the worst then the next one definitely is. He tells whoever he's speaking to, presumably everyone that ever listens to his song, to put up their Bible or ''let me get mine''.  

What does he mean by that???

Is it a reference to the fact that he uses something other than God's holy Word? Is it... I can't even think of an alternative to what else that could mean. If I tell someone to put up their Bible or let me get mine, it would mean...what? First, again, I assume, he is saying he doesn't want to be corrected through Scripture. Second, again, I assume, he is saying if we are going to look at a Bible then I want it to be mine not yours. 

Why?

What difference would it mean unless he, or anyone, doesn't believe that the Bible being used is an accurate version, or they don't like what an accurate version says and they want a perverted version that can be used to support their way of life? 

The only other explanation I can think of that one could get from that statement, ""put up your Bible or let me get mine'' is that maybe he is saying either let's both have our Bible's and do Bible study or put your's away and let's not speak of it. Trouble with that assumption is that it does not fit with the rest of what that song seems to speak about.

From there the singer goes on to say he's not taking other's to hell and anyone correcting him is wasting their time. I've heard my uncle say the exact same thing so many times in my life that hearing that line was like taking a walk back through my life. At least my uncle had one thing right, he used to say he didn't need to go to a 'church' if he wanted to pray or read a Bible. He always said he could do that at home or under his shade tree. I've seen 'church' loving family members tear into him for that statement. Most 'christians' don't even seem to understand that, although most of them are well versed on the 'I'm not harming anyone else so leave me alone' thought process.

Then comes the part where the singer claims not to pray or read his bible like he should but he hopes others find their way. That pretty much sums up the song. But there's that little part about not praying or reading his Bible. No, of course He doesn't. If he did it might tell him something he doesn't want to hear. Prayers are probably offered in a 'bless me', 'give me', kind of way until something goes wrong in their life and then all of a sudden it's a 'make it better' kind of prayer. They don't pray to Jesus or read their Bible very often because those things are far from their hearts and minds. I do realize there are exceptions to that statement. I know some professing 'Christians' that spend a great deal of time in Bible study and prayer. But the majority...do not.

I've been in large 'churches' that hold to the 'come as you are', nondenominational nonsense of American 'Christianity' today. I've held the perverted Bibles in my hands and read bits and pieces of them. I've listened to professing 'Christians' all but say exactly what this song says. As I mentioned earlier this song should be the poster song for every professing 'Christian' in America today. 

I recently wrote several articles about sin in good taste, something that seems to be the accepted norm nowadays. So long as my sin doesn't infringe upon your sin...so long as I don't dare to 'judge' you for your sin...so long as I accept you and your sin and keep my opinions, and more importantly my Bible verses, to myself, than sin is okay. Not only that but it's the accepted thing so long as it looks good before others. Don't let your sin show it's base roots in front of others, don't portray the darker side, and if it's in 'good taste' then it should be accepted and loved by all. 

That is the summary of several recent blog posts and I'm going to go ahead and tack this post on to those. This song seems to be the very example of sin in 'good taste'. Just so long as "I" cast no stones and don't take other's to hell then "I" should be left alone...don't judge "me"...don't dare to tell me what to do or not to do...Just...mind your own business. 

That's what this song is all about. That's the mindset of just about every professing 'christian' in America. And it's the point behind what seems to be just about every sin being flaunted before others today.  It's all about not casting stones, not judging, never mind that Scripture says one can and should judge others based off SCRIPTURE. We should hold everyone that professes to be a Christian to what Scripture says a Christian should be. But never mind all that...after all, professing 'christians' don't want to hear that. They want you to put up your Bible, not rebuke them from Scripture or anywhere else. Just leave them alone, accept them and their sin as they are. 

It's just another case of sin being in good taste.