Despise/Judge

Pastor pointed out an interesting little observation a couple weeks ago while preaching out of Romans... People who are conservative often look at liberals and judge them. People that are liberal often look at the conservatives and despise them. JUDGE/DESPISE I have found this to be true, as I have been on both sides of the coin and felt precisely those 2 emotions.

Unfortunately, I think there is way too much of this going on within the church. If the church across town tends toward liberalism we judge them so very harshly while they look at us conservatives and despise our strict standards. The Bible clearly tells us not to do this because God Himself has welcomed both..... Are we holier than God?

Romans 14:3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him...

One more quick observation, the one that is *liberal* is actually considered the stronger of the two, while the *conservative* is considered the weaker brother who lacks faith. These scriptures can really strip away alot of pride cant they?

10 Reasons I Teach My Children At Home

1. Luke 6:40 A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.
2. Socialization, sorry just going to be be frank here. I don't want my children to socialize with other children, outside of controlled,orchestrated times of fellowship with like minded families.
3. I'm greedy. I love my children and don't want to miss one second with them.
4. I want my children to have a Biblical worldview.
5. Um....they are my children, my responsibility. They are not wards of the state. Easy enough?
6. We learn about values,morals,Christ,character,serving others,volunteering...(Learning about many of these things are illegal in PS. )
7. I want my children to learn how to guide a home/family, this is best done at home with the family.
8. Public School teachers are some of the most underpaid/overworked/most likely candidates for burnout on the planet.
9. This right here.
10. This is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics ...Teachers play a vital role in the development of children. What children learn and experience during their early years can shape their views of themselves and the world and can affect their later success or failure in school, work, and their personal lives.Teachers play an important role in fostering the intellectual and social development of children during their formative years. The education that teachers impart plays a key role in determining the future prospects of their students. Whether in preschools or high schools or in private or public schools, teachers provide the tools and the environment for their students to develop into responsible adults. I agree with this description of the role a teacher plays and that is why I think the teacher should be me!

Worship

Would Jesus have a worship team? Hmmm….David arranged and choreographed some fantastic music…..but he also engaged the Spirit of God just by sitting on the side of a hill singing to God in the midst of smelly sheep.



What kind of worship does God appreciate?

Odd

Honestly it bothers me that my family's identity is so closely tied to the way we look and the choices we make in living a separated life. I don't want modesty, homeshooling and conservative values to be what people notice about my family. If people see my conservative life and are attracted to that then they are attracted to the WRONG thing. Jesus saves, not a lifestyle. I would like people to see Jesus. I know this sounds corny but I would like to exude the Love of Christ. I would like to extend grace,mercy,comfort and love to those I meet, but I'm afraid people walk away thinking we are just strangely peculiar.

I think people, including professing *Christians* are either threatened,offended or confused by a family who is radically separate. I hate that, I wish people would see past the uniform. When we meet new people I feel like I have to spend half my time trying to make them feel comfortable...you know, "please believe me, *I'm human*" that type of thing!! These difficulties in relationships are not worth compromising God given convictions though....just a frustrating part of being a Christian I guess.

Peer Pressure

I am the only person in my family who doesn't have a college degree. In my immediate family there are 2 Lawyers and 2 Doctors, so I wrestle with feeling like I have an audience of skeptical spectators in my homeschooling and homemaking efforts. I suppose they are skeptical because I take literal the scripture that says young women are to .....marry,bear children and guide the house...1Timothy 5:14

God help me to remember that homeschooling is not a circus, and help me to resist the urge to try to impress my relatives and outsiders with academic achievements. My kids are not monkeys and they don't do tricks. My goal is not that they would excel in math and money, rather I am praying my children learn to love and serve. I want to teach with patience like Jesus taught, always remembering that I am training for eternity and I am looking to mold hearts not just minds.

Do you wrestle with feeling like your family is a freak show?

How Did Jesus Teach?

He kept everything very simple, simple for those that were listening and believing that is. Jesus' teaching appealed to the heart not the ego. He wasn't teaching His followers so that they could make alot of money, in fact He told several of His followers to give up those worldly ambitions. He wanted to convert hearts not just *puff up minds*.

He used lots of picture stories that all ages could understand. Jesus taught using parables, they always conveyed a moral lesson. Rich in symbolism and full of wisdom. Jesus used parables alot.

Jesus taught as He went form town to town. He taught by the seashore, under trees, as He was walking down the road.One time He even dropped to His knees and wrote with His finger in the dirt.Jesus knew that opportunities to teach abound in daily life.

He used things that were at hand and commonly used at that time...salt,bread,sheep, coins, seeds. (He didnt spend a ton on curriculum).He was patient with His followers and very practical.

Jesus met His *pupils* right where they were at. He taught all ages at the same time. He was a great teacher but never mentioned that education itself was important, rather He was always focused on the heart. His teachings appealed to the heart. He taught principals that instill wisdom and character. He taught us to love and serve. He taught that justice and mercy were much more important than rules and outward appearances.

.....Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth. 1 Cor 8:1

A Made Up Mind?

Have you ever heard anyone say *You Have To Make Up Your Mind To Live For God?* I have, in fact a church I used to attend sang a song about having your mind made up.

Its not enough to have our minds made up.

His mind was made up therefore we can rest in His finished work. Our own determination is an insult to His grace and power. This *Mind Made Up* business is a humanistic philosophy that produces works of the flesh.

Peter made up his mind that he would go with Jesus to the end

.... (Peter said) I will lay down my life for thy sake. Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.

Jesus knew that Peters *made up mind* was a human effort so Christ allowed Peter to *backslide*. If you want to guarantee yourself a big ugly flop make up your mind to serve Him. Speaking from personal experience here.

It is supposed to no longer be us that lives but Him within us. How can we make up our minds when our minds are dead? Resting in Him is our only hope. We must "put on the mind of Christ", forsaking our own carnal minds.

Self determination, a made up mind=filthy rags. If self determination is enough then why did Jesus shed His blood? He was wounded,pierced,bruised and killed so we could rely on ourselves??

If having high Holiness Standards were enough to save us then why did Christ die?

Teens

Here's an excerpt of an article I read recently

A new survey shows that the average teenager spends more than 80 hours a year looking at pornography on the Internet. That translates to an hour and 40 minutes a week. Of course, watching dirty movies is not all the kids are doing on the Internet. They're also spending an hour-and-a-half on dieting Web sites and one hour researching cosmetic surgery.


Of course Internet filters and Internet rules are good and should be in every home but I am thinking the problem here is not the Internet, rather this is an indicator of serious heart problems amongst our teens.

Giving All

Ever heard anyone say something like *Well, God must of known you could handle it or He wouldn't of given you this trial*? I have, I have even thought this about myself, until I went through some times of fire where there was no possible way I could handle things. No possible way.

I am starting to think that God gives us times of testing because He knows we cant handle it and therefore must surrender and rest and wait and just basically die. In other words God is trying to save us by killing us. Sweet huh?

Psalm 32:4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up....
God had David right where He wanted him. Ever had your strength dry up? Perhaps this was what God was waiting to hear David say...Read Psalm 33 a beautiful Psalm of worship and praise,victory and joy, but had there not been a heavy hand upon David in Psalm 32 there may not of been a glorious Psalm 33.

Religion cant save us. Prayer cant save us. A made up mind is an insult to the Cross of Christ. We tend to elevate all these efforts into little mini-gods. God was not satisfied with anything less than total surrender from His Son Jesus. He wanted Jesus to give ALL on the Cross. He will settle for nothing less from us.

What do you think? Do you think self determination should be a part of our walk with God?

Psalm 33:16The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. 17 The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue.

The Real Jesus

The world is upside down. It promotes and pumps out the exact opposite of what the Lord is trying to teach us. One of the ongoing themes of the Bible is Death Burial Resurrection. This theme is contrary to everything we selfish humans are inclined to live. Die? Be buried? Now the Resurrection part....now that part I can do...the glorious miraculous part.....I can handle that! But without a death and burial there cant be a resurrection. We too often try to bypass the dead and buried part.

The Bible teaches us that if you want to live then you have to die. If you want to be exalted then you have to be abased. If you want to be first then you have to be last. If you want to receive then you have to give. If you want to be wealthy then you have to become poor. If you want great friends you have to chose the poor outcast as your friend. All of this sounds hard doesn't it? But think about it.....our Lord Jesus Christ lived this way. Born in a stable He came as one who served. Clothed in humility. Taking the fall when falsey accused, not even opening His mouth.

His whole life was one of entire renunciation of His royalty. He redeemed the entire world through a display of weakness. Despising the shame....He endured. He made himself of no reputation. He asked/begged to let the cup pass but nevertheless......He died. God. Our Saviour came into town riding on a borrowed donkey. Washing feet. Fully God He became a servant.

We too have the power to redeem others as it is no longer our selfishness that lives but Christ and His humility in us. We too can change and transform lives. It may not be through a powerful display of mighty anointing. Perhaps like Jesus we can take the blame when wrongly accused. By giving and serving with no appreciation or reward. Forgiving and loving in spite of being wronged. By taking in the sins of others we are perpetuating the redemptive power of Christ. Loving and saving the enemy while they are yet sinners and enemies.Generously serving a husband who has sinned against us.Extending mercy and grace to the guilty.Now that is Christs way. We actually have the power to *save* others. By death humility and suffering.

Anyone want to really be like Jesus?

1 Peter 3:14 But in fact, if you happen to suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed.

One Another

The second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor, all the Law and the Prophets hang on this commandment. Law and Prophets mean the Old Testament(I think)...The Bible...Loving God and neighbor are the most important commandments and sums up the entire Bible! Now that is a powerful, isnt it? The entire purpose of the Bible and life and everything we do should be guaged on loving and serving Him and others. I thought this list might be a good reminder of exactly how we are to love *One Another*...

Bible “One Anothers”

• Wash one another’s feet


• Love one another


• In honor preferring one another


• Don’t judge one another


• Receive one another


• Salute one another


• Greet one another


• Serve one another


• Don’t provoke one another or envy one another


• Bear one another’s burdens


• Forbear one another in love


• Forgive one another


• Teach and admonish one another with song


• Comfort one another


• Edify one another


• Exhort one another


• Consider one another to provoke unto love and good works.
  
  

Whos Tracking My Sons Pants?

My dear sweet patient husband took us all shopping last weekend. Tommy Hilfiger was having a great sale so we purchased several shirts and pants for the boys. One of my sons brought me his new shirt and a pair of scissors to cut out a tag....not just any tag but a very unusual one that clearly had metal in it. At first I thought it may be a security device but upon further inspection determined it is a RFID tag. That stands for Radio Frequency Identification.I cut it open and in it are some metal strips and a tiny receiver. These tags are being used every where for many reasons. I must admit it is a little spooky to think that Mr Hilfiger is tracking my sons pants, but indeed that is what these tags are for.

Wal-Mart is requiring all their vendors to start using these tracking devices. They are used on everything from Orange Juice cartons to underwear. They are also being tested on pets and humans. RFIDs can be highly miniaturised, which makes it easy to conceal or incorporate them into tiny items. For example, in 2009 researchers at Bristol University successfully glued RFIDs to live ants in order to study their behavior.This trend towards increasingly miniaturized RFIDs is likely to continue as technology advances.


There are many many uses for these little transmitters. Passports, timing races, transportation , animal tracking, inventory, identity theft...huh? Identity Theft? Yep...sounds practical enough, but how much information do we want to share with Sam Walton or the Government? Who decides when enough is enough?

Self

Pop psychology and political correctness have *hijacked* Christianity. Self esteem. Self acceptance. Self love. The whole world is on a crusade to convince us that we would all be happier and more content if we would just love ourselves more.

The Bible does indeed have alot to say about self......things like deny your self. Mortify the deeds of this body....(that means *Kill Yourself* in today's language). If you want to live you have to die. No man has ever hated his own flesh (self)....but he loves it and nourisheth it. We don't have low self esteem. No, we don't. We love ourselves. The Bible says we do. Ephesians 5:29 . We all love ourselves, and way too much.

The second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. Notice He didn't say love yourselves He knew we already do that and quite well thank you. Jesus told us to love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves because we love ourselves so much. He knew if we loved and served others like we do ourselves there would be no problems.

The world is upside down. The very thing that it seeks is the very thing God tells us to kill. Self seeking,self gratification,self esteem self importance all this selfishness is unBiblical. Very unBiblical. In fact the Bible says “let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves” (Phil. 2:3). If you want to be first you have to make yourself last. John the Baptist prayed that he would decrease so our Lord could increase, and finally ....Jesus Christ our perfect example knew exactly what to do with this flesh. He became a servant and allowed his *self* to be nailed to a cross

Money

Jesus talked about money more than He did Heaven and Hell combined.

Jesus talked about money more than anything else except the Kingdom of God.

11 of 39 parables talk about money.

1 of every 7 verses in the Gospel of Luke talk about money.

The entire book of James is about money and how to treat the poor.

I dont think God really cares about money, rather He cares about our hearts and He knows that every aspect of our lives is connected to money. Our view of money is a good indicator of how we love and serve others. God is not trying to gauge our checkbook but rather He knows that how we use our checkbook is directly connected to our hearts. Money is the thermometer God uses to take our hearts temperature.