Muslim Demographics

Saw this yesterday and it literally sent chills up my spine!! What do you think?

Swine Flu

Swine Flu
West NileVirus
Avian Bird Flu
Sars
The Huanta Virus
Mad Cow Disease
Ebola
Monkey Pox
AIDS
MRSA
The Killer Flesh Eating Disease
Lyme Disease

But the biggest epidemic with the most victims is.....FEAR! The devil would love to paralyze us with FEAR. If it isn't the Swine Flu its the economy or tainted Peanut Butter.
Not minimizing the risk just saying (to myself #1 because I'm a worrier) that God is on His throne and in control. The media likes to hype it up and report on these types of sensational *pandemics*. Again I am not saying we shouldn't use prudence but our God knows about this flu and He told us to not be anxious for ANYTHING including the Mexican Swine Flu.

Isaiah 41:10 encourages us “'Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

Reviews

So yesterday I posted about how I tend to rely too heavily on Christan ministries and neglect the Minister Himself. Today I am going to post about some of the tools that have truly blessed me ...when used in moderation...of course.

Bro. Denny has put out this set of messages called THE GODLY HOME SERIES. Of all the ministries I have gleaned from, Bro Denny's is the most heart felt and heart changing. He speaks from the heart about gaining and molding our children's hearts. My husband and I have been so blessed by THE GODLY HOME SERIES. He gives it away if you cannot afford it. I highly recommend it.

Doug Phillips is the founder of Vision Forum Ministries. My husband and I saw him last year at a home school book fair. We have bought and been blessed by many of his resources. He is a little guy with a strong vision for families and particularly the generational momentum a Godly family can produce. He is also an awesome salesman. ;-)Good stuff. Worth a gander in my opinion.


Bill Gothard started his ministry way back in the 70s. He has never married and although he is in his older years still speaks around the country. My husband and a brother went and saw him in Dallas and his talk and resources changed my husbands life. My husband called from the conference choked up telling me about the wonderful vision that was being shared by Mr. Gothard. Good stuff but alot of *7 steps to Jesus* type stuff too so proceed with caution. Easy to get caught up in the methods and formulas he presents. He also has alot of rules and exclusive clubs that you can only be a member of if you pledge to follow the rules.



Micheal and Debi Pearl operate No Greater Joy Ministries. They have alot of practical child training resources. They are a bit self righteous and condescending but still put out alot of good helpful information. I think if you just follow the rigid side of this ministry without adding a hefty dose of grace and mercy you could be disappointed to discover your children are human. Debis book Created To Be His Helpmeet is a book every wife should read.

Above Rubies by Nancy Campbell is my favorite magazine and again it is free if you cannot afford a subscription. It comes out sporadically as they can afford to print. I love the adoption stories and appreciate the wholesomeness of this magazine.

So, have you used any of these resources? Were they helpful? Who has blessed your home?

Christianity For Dummies

Bill Gothard, Michael Pearl,Vision Forum,Denny Kenaston I have bookshelves full of these ministries books. I love books about the Lord, homeschooling, family, and marriage. I will be the first to admit that I have had to repent over my reliance on books instead of The Book. I'm lazy and would rather read a book than take time to pray and listen. Just tell me what to do. I can check off the boxes. Relationship takes time and effort, plus God may tell me something I don't want to hear.

Some of these men who put forth these resources are 95% right and that is very attractive to me. I like right. Some of these men are very rigid and structured with 1.2.3. steps to a Godlier home. This appeals to me also. I like a reliable system. Just tell me what to do. Just show me the plans. Cultivate relationship with Jesus? Who has time for that?

We are all humans with separate and distinct personalities....family dynamics vary greatly. Only God knows what His will may be for each individual home, each child within the home.We cant look for a Vision Forum book to dictate our home/children's destiny.

Perhaps God purposely didn't make a rigid method for our home lives specifically because He wants relationship. He wants us to ask Him what to do. He knows we are all different and your answer may not be mine. We are married to Him. Every marriage is different.

I really don't think any of the parenting philosophies put forth by the ministries I mentioned are wrong in themselves it is the execution sans faith....Cain and Abel both offered a sacrifice....only Abels was accepted because it was brought in faith. Its not that God didn't like Cains vegetables....Cain just didn't offer it in faith.We tend to focus on the parenting style as the reason it did or didn't work and forget that God is always much more concerned with our hearts than He is our techniques.Its easier on the flesh to read a book and follow 1.2.3. than it is to pray and seek Him.

Selfish Satan

"I will... I will... I will... I will... I will..." Isaiah 14:13 &14 KJV

Socialism

An economics professor at Texas Tech said he had never failed a single student before but had, once, failed an entire class. That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.The professor then said ok, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism.All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A. After the first test the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. But, as the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too; so they studied little. The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around the average was an F. The scores never increased as bickering, blame, name calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great; but when government takes all the reward away; no one will try or want to succeed.Could not be any simpler than that.............THIS IS WHY THE CURRENT ADMINS ECONOMIC PLAN WILL NEVER WORK!!!!

Extreme Christians

Jesus hated overly religious types. People that dressed a certain way but neglected relationship. I mean he really really hated them. In fact I can think of no other group of people that Jesus hated more than self righteous,inflexible,obstinate,religious conservatives.

Jesus called these guys hypocrites 5 times in one chapter. He also called them blind guides,blind fools and blind men. As if that wasn't enough, on top of that He called them children of hell and pronounced 7 woes upon them.

I could easily see my home falling into this trap of looking and living a certain way but neglecting relationship with Him. We homeschool, are faithful to church, carefully consider our giving, we dress a certain way, have daily family devotions, we are by most standards very very religious.

Like He told the Pharisees its not that we shouldn't carefully consider how we serve Him, its just that we should not leave the weightier matters undone...namely justice and mercy. Jesus using obvious sarcasm used the example of straining at a gnat and swallowing a camel.

I want to cultivate relationship with Him. God. Your love.Your mercy.Your Word.Your grace.Your Spirit.You You You.

Did you know that Jesus Christ talked about His Kingdom and about serving others (namely the poor) more than any other subject? Him/Others. Him/Others. Him/Others. Relationship. Relationship. Relationship. He wanted us to learn how to love and serve Him and others. This is the ongoing theme of the entire Bible. The greatest commandment is to love God and the second greatest is to love others.

Humans

I wouldn't dream of committing obvious sins like murder,adultery,getting drunk and robbing a bank.

I am a Christian, a serious, sold out, radical, separate type. I think the enemy knows this about me and many of those I fellowship with so he changes his tactics. He doesn't try to tempt me with blatant sin so he will try to get me to go overboard in other areas. Sometimes even good noble areas of Christian service and love.

Perhaps the enemy will get me so busy working with my home and family I forget about God. You know some people I know turn their child training into a religion. They are so serious about family and the convictions God has given them concerning the family they elevate their burden for a Godly family above God Himself.

Martha was so busy serving Jesus she missed out on...well...Jesus Himself.

Peter was so zealous and religious that Jesus called him Satan,rebuked him and withdrew His grace so that Peter would know that fleshly efforts don't work.

Eve was seeking knowledge about God when she sinned...seemed noble enough didn't it?

Paul said he considered all of his religious efforts and attainments to be dung.

Catholics worship the cross and Mary. They worship religion itself. I'm afraid Catholics are not the only ones worshipping a religion.

Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? (Galatians 3:3; ESV)

Me Church

Undecided on whether life begins at conception

President Obama on Abortion

Q: Do you personally believe that life begins at conception?

A: This is something that I have not come to a firm resolution on. I think it’s very hard to know what that means, when life begins. Is it when a cell separates? Is it when the soul stirs? So I don’t presume to know the answer to that question.

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you..."Jer1:5

Pain & Pregnancy

I’ve written a lot about how children are a blessing and a reward. About how there is enough generational momentum in just one child to change the world, but I don’t think I have written much about the fact that children are also a burden and a sacrifice.

God, I am trying to build your Kingdom. Careers are second. Physical appearances are second. My goals, my aspirations all of my own plans are second to your plan. My own health and finances are not as important as your creation. You, O Lord asked me to go forth, multiply and bring forth your kingdom. Nevertheless is a word that every content mom has to learn or in my case continue to learn...

Sometimes living out the will and plan of Christ is painful. Very painful. Lord, the pain you endured, the humiliation, that awful, wonderful cross was it worth all the children it produced? I can hear Him say... Yes, well worth it. In fact the cross and therefore subsequent children it bore were perhaps the most important things Jesus ever did.


I know this a dramatic post here. Can you all tell that I am dizzy, nauseous and trying to convince myself that pregnancy is a good idea?

In 1 Tim. 2:15, Paul says that women will be spiritually preserved (from Satan) by adhering to their God-ordained role related to family and the home. This is contrasted with Eve, who transgressed those boundaries and fell into temptation (v. 14).

Picking at the Word

I overheard a brand new Christian asking an older Christian how she should go about reading and studying her Bible. The older woman whom I really admire said "My husband and I start at Genesis and read straight through."

Soon after that my Pastor talked about how we have become connoisseurs of the Word. We pick and choose. PRN. Like a picky eater with a toothpick choosing the best hors devours. Hmmm, Id like a little faith and maybe some encouragement, or I sure am anxious so I'll Google *Anxiety/Bible*. For a long time my favorite resource was Naves Topical Bible so I could just look up any topic I needed help with.

I have been guilty of studying what I needed without much regard to what He needs.

About 4 months ago we decided as a family to read the Bible through. We started at Gen 1:1. There is something revealed about the nature and plan of God when we read His Word starting at the beginning.

The Words of God were not recorded just so we could be delivered from depression, God has a plan, a long term plan to bring about His kingdom, our depression notwithstanding. I think it is hard to see the character and plan of God with just tidy little snippets that we can apply to our current crisis.Perhaps God would like us to use his book to reveal to us His plan and purpose instead of like a self help manual.

Psalm 119:4You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. 5 O that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes!

Dont Waste Your Cancer

I appreciate John Pipers article about how we should allow our tests, trials and sufferings bring about the Kingdom. This is an excellent article written by Piper on the eve of his prostate surgery to remove cancer. We could easily take out the word *cancer* and insert the word suffering because these principals can certainly be applied to any suffering we are called to endure. The suffering of the cross is what brought about the will of God and when we endure our own *cross* we in a small way are hastening the coming of Christs kingdom. We cant have a resurrection without a death and burial.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Rom 8:18