If you've read more than three or four posts, you know you know that I'm all about the attitude. It's your attitude that will determine if your parenting works or not. It's your attitude that controls the levels of your marriage. It's your attitude that determines the success of your spiritual life.
I'm currently struggling with a difficult medical problem. Hopefully it will be resolved shortly - and in a good way. (I appreciate your prayers) My darling husband sent me the following story and gave my attitude a boost. Answers are always a matter of God's, His love and our own attitude. Hope you enjoy this as much as I did.
John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, 'If I were any better, I would be twins!' He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, 'I don't get it!' You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?'
He replied, 'Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or...you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood.' Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or...I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.
'Yeah, right, it's not that easy,' I protested.
'Yes, it is,' he said. 'Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life.'
I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.
After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back. I saw him about six months after the accident.
When I asked him how he was, he replied, 'If I were any better, I'd be twins...Wanna see my scars?'
I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.
'The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter,' he replied. 'Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or...I could choose to die. I chose to live.'
'Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?' I asked.
He continued, '...the paramedics were great.
They kept telling me they would take good care of me. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man'. I knew I needed to take action.'
'What did you do?' I asked.
'Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,' said John. 'She asked if I was allergic to anything 'Yes, I replied.' The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Gravity''
Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.' He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude....I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.
Attitude, after all, is everything.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.' Matthew 6:34.
Please pray that God will provide a good report so I can continue to work without interruption........
God loves you,
Debbie
Monday, January 31, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Why should anyone be a Christian?
I Googled, "How many religions are in the world?" According to World Christian Encyclopedia there are 34,000 separate Christian Groups. Then there are all kinds of other religions that contain many different Gods. In India for example, the Hindu faith claims to have 330 million faces of God. In our own country, native Indians have a God for almost everything that lives. There are wind gods and sun gods and plant gods and animal gods.
It's confusing. Especially if you haven't had what is called a Theophany. A theophany is where you have actually experienced a "manifestation of God or a Deity." So...if you haven't come face to face with God - how do you know that what I'm telling you is true? And furthermore....why would you want to live by my faith?
First let me assure you that if you don't believe in God - I won't attack you in any way. Just because we have different opinions doesn't mean I dislike you. And...just because I don't see any "logical" basis for other religions doesn't mean I think bad of those people either.
So...let's look at this problem from a purely logical standpoint.
I have a hard time finding a reason to even consider other religions. For example, I just don't understand why the Muslim faith is still around. Half of their participants are in slavery. As a Muslim wife you are demanded to have as many children as possible and....forget having the freedom to be who you want to be. The Muslim faith is awful to wives, children and anyone that goes against the wishes of the father or the "honor" of the family. And the biggest plus to the religion is that if you kill others in Allah's name, you get to experience virgins to your hearts content. While that may be enticing to some people - I want more of heaven than that. After a while anything loses it's pleasure. Being stuck in the sex mode for all of eternity isn't as appealing as having the freedom to enjoy everything God has been preparing for literally millions of years. If he created everything here on earth and has been waiting and creating for centuries - don't you think he could come up with something better than 70 virgins?? Sounds like of pathetic to me.
Buddhism is even harder for me. Their take on this religion thing is that life is sort of a punishment. You are supposed to learn something from every life but you have to keep reincarnating until you finally reach Nirvana - which is a state of nothingness. Talk about a hard life!
Since I was in college I've issued a challenge. Bring me any faith that offers more freedom, more creativity, more of a good life and more rewards in the after life - and I'll change. Yep! You heard it here. Show me that your religion is better than mine and I'll change. The problem is in the details. Some religions may sound good on the surface but in the end it disappoints.
I remember going to a youth group at a large church in Atlanta when I was in my early twenties. The speaker was a wealthy business man who lived most of his life as an atheist. His life was a mess! His business was failing and his family was falling apart. When his wife served him with divorce papers, he sought advice from a Christian friend. The friend said, "Look John, I know you can't bring yourself to be a Christian...but that doesn't negate the great advice in the Bible. Even if you never become a Christian, I promise that if you study the Bible and follow it's teachings your life will get better."
The businessman took his advice and spent the next few years studying and implementing Bible values. At the end of six months his business was growing. At the end of a year he was dating his wife and at the end of two years they were re-married. Now remember....he was not a Christian - he was only living like one. His only goal was to put the values of a Christian into practice in his own life.
Amazingly, at the end of four years he decided that God was real and that he wanted to give not only his heart - but his entire life to God. (Is that why atheist are so afraid of even the word "God"? Any connection to this Christianity thing is dangerous to their position.)
If the Bible is just a good way to live....what makes it so good? Why don't most people see the value?
There's been a lot of propaganda. Ask anyone if they think the Bible is made up of a lot of restrictions and they will probably agree with you. Even Christians are likely to say more about the "no no's" of the Bible than the actual purpose of why we follow this book.
The Bible is simply "God's word". But what does that mean? The Bible starts out with creation and then moves forward. With each book, Christianity begins to evolve. Until Jesus comes and begins to set the record straight about what he really meant us to be.
Let's pretend for a moment that we are like cars. We are assembled at the factory and then sent out into the world to do "our" thing. Some of us are made to race and some of us are made to carry groceries and kids. But....if something goes wrong in our engine - we aren't rolled up to the bakery for repairs. We go back to the people that made us.
That's what Christianity is! God made us and the Bible is His instruction book on how we work best.
But here's the creepy part that some people don't want to look at. They don't want to accept that there's some big dude in the sky that has even a small interest in what they are doing. They want complete and total control over their own lives. So....because they can't accept the big guy....they discredit and make fun of the Bible.
The Bible isn't all that weird. And...it is not a negative - "You can't do this" book. Go back to the car illustration. Suppose you bought a new $40,000 SUV. You decide that you can't pay for the car and the gas all at the same time. So...you brew up a concoction of rubbing alcohol and sugar. A little dash of this and that....a little corn liquor and voila! Gas! You decide you better call the dealership that sold you the car and tell them what you've done. "Great news! I've just invented a new gas. You'll probably want it for all your customers." The salesman screams into the phone..."No, please....don't do it. It will ruin the engine." You get mad. "You can't talk to me like that. I know what I'm doing. How dare you!"
The salesman quietly explains, "If you do this there's no way we will cover the cost to fix the engine."
You yell back. "You won't have to you jerk. I'm going to save the world money! You just wait and see, I'll be the one rolling in the dough. You don't know anything about me."
The thing is, you are convinced that you are right.....but you are gambling with a $40,000 car. You put your invention in the gas tank and start the engine. The car sputters and takes off. You are grinning from ear to ear. You did it. You showed those guys. You are rolling along on free gas. As the gas that was in the tank begins to mix with your untested solution, the car sputters. It slows and drags. It can hardly go. Finally smoke rolls out of the engine. It's clacking and clanging and the entire car trembles with the pain of it all. It dies a horrible death.
What happened? It was your car and you had the right to put anything in the tank you wanted. Why didn't it work. All of us know the answer to that question. It doesn't matter how much you believed in your invention, if the car wasn't "designed" to work with your solution - it's not going to happen.
Guess what? It doesn't really matter what you believe. If you don't do the stuff that's needed to make your life wonderful - it won't work! When your life falls apart because you are lying or cheating....it really doesn't matter what you believe. The results will be what they are. It's sad to me that most people wouldn't dare take the chance on ruining a $40,000 car but they have no problem gambling with their lives and all of eternity. As the old saying goes - "I'm a Christian. If you're right about the "no God" thing and I die and go into nothingness - I've still had a good life. If your wrong about the God thing and you die, you go to Hell." Hum.....
Let's go back to the Bible. I've studied it my entire life. I became a Christian when I was six years old. I participated in Bible drills, memorization and as a preacher's kid I've listened to thousands of sermons.
I realized early on that the Bible isn't about what you can't do.....the Bible is about living the "Good" life. It's an instruction manual on how to stay out of trouble.
Some people look at my life and say, "Man you sure have been blessed. You haven't had the troubles a lot of us have had." While I do thank God for making me who I am....it's the Bible that I credit with the reason I have a good life.
I came from a heritage of Christians. My parents were ministers, my grandmother was a minister, All grandparents and most of my extended family were Christians. My husbands family was the same way.
We have had good lives not just because they were Christians - but because their lives kept us away from the things that would "hurt" or cause problems in our lives. They passed on wise instructions that kept all of us from getting into stuff that would hurt our ability to have a great life.
For example - let's take the Ten commandments. The first four are about God. Since we are "logically" discussing this, let's leave him out of it.
#5 "Honor thy father and mother". What possible problem could that avoid? If I had a nickle for every time I heard someone say, "I hate to admit it but my parents were right" - I would be a rich person. If more children, teens and adults honored their parents they could learn from the wisdom they have. And even if you don't think your parents are wise (provided they also live by Biblical values) perhaps you can learn from their mistakes.
#6 Don't murder. Well hello! Who wants to spend the rest of their lives in jail? And even if we lived in a society where murder was okay - who wants to be the one murdered? Or who wants to be so dysfunctional that killing is the only way to solve a problem. Ick! Instead of living a life of yelling, screaming and getting so angry that you flip out and kill your spouse....you have a different mindset. Look at all the problems and issues that you've avoided just by one commandment.
#7 Don't commit adultery. It would take a 15 page post to list all the pain this one will save. Just the guilt and therapy you can avoid will be worth thousands of dollars.
#8 Don't lie. Again...what's not to like about this little gem? Do you know how much trouble could be avoided in this life if people couldn't lie. Remember the movie Liar, Liar with Jim Carrey? Remember all the trouble he was in because he told lies?
The point is....The Bible isn't about taking away from your life. The Bible is about giving you a plan so you can have the best life possible. While others around you are struggling to figure out how to get down the street with their cars of life - you will be racing around the neighborhood and learning how to use all the tools to help your car sprout wings and fly!
Being a Christian is all about God. It's about loving him and appreciating all he's done for us. But it's also much more than that. It's about using his teachings to have the greatest life you can. My hope for you is that when your life is over that you will stand before a smiling God and say, "Wow! What a fantastic ride!"
God loves you,
Debbie
Monday, January 24, 2011
Who says this isn't a Christian Nation!!!!
A good friend sent this to me.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. God bless this Marine!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0fQd858cRc&feature=player_embedded
God loves you - and God bless America!
Debbie
I hope you enjoy it as much as I have. God bless this Marine!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0fQd858cRc&feature=player_embedded
God loves you - and God bless America!
Debbie
The Donkey
Since the symbol of the democratic party is a donkey....I think it's okay to use an old euphemism I've heard many times.
"If the donkey kicks me once it's his fault.....if the donkey kicks me twice it's my fault."
What that means is that it's often easy to be surprised by the actions of others. It's understandable to be naive and fooled by a crook - once. It's understandable to be naive and fooled by a fast talking salesman - once. But....if you are smart and you continue to let people take advantage of you....then it's no longer the crooks fault - it's your fault.
Once we have the information we need to make an informed decision....it's smart to use that information and avoid being robbed, hit, hurt, taken advantage of.....you get the idea. We can use information we have learned in the past to prevent the disaster in the future. To ignore the information means we are on the fast track to being hurt - again.
Over the past few days the news has touted the possibility that Mr. Obama is moving to the center and will be a hard person to beat in the 2012 elections. I couldn't believe I heard anyone say that! Are Americans really that dumb? Surely not.
The man promised to be centrist before he was elected the first time. He lied! He couldn't wait to get into office and prove his radical left agenda. We've been suffering every since. He's lied to us about so many things and proved to be inept and on a radical left race to socialism.
Why would you believe him ever again? Why would some people look at a one time speech and believe that he is going to do anything better the second time?
But Debbie....aren't we supposed to be kind and compassionate? People can change you know? Shouldn't we give him a chance?
Sure....give the drug addict a chance to get clean - but don't ask him to be a guard at the local pharmacy.
Give the alcoholic a chance to change - but don't ask him to be a fill in bartender when yours is sick.
Give an abusing spouse the chance to change but don't live with them and subject your 10 year old to another beating. Wait until the change has been proven and documented and you know that it's for real!
Our country's future is too important to trust this man...again. I'm counting the days and hoping that our luck will last and God will show us mercy until we can get him out of office. If he's elected for a second term, there's no hope for this country. You will see another massive move to socialism that we may not be able to survive and surely won't recover from.
So....my suggestion....do your homework. Look at his pre-election speeches. Hear what he said and then look at what he actually did or didn't do. Make the connections. Things like the fact that gas is going up and instead of letting companies in the gulf with safe rigs begin drilling again - he is stalling. Why? Watch Glen Beck and try to put all the pieces together. Gather your information and don't let that donkey kick you again!
God loves you,
Debbie
What that means is that it's often easy to be surprised by the actions of others. It's understandable to be naive and fooled by a crook - once. It's understandable to be naive and fooled by a fast talking salesman - once. But....if you are smart and you continue to let people take advantage of you....then it's no longer the crooks fault - it's your fault.
Once we have the information we need to make an informed decision....it's smart to use that information and avoid being robbed, hit, hurt, taken advantage of.....you get the idea. We can use information we have learned in the past to prevent the disaster in the future. To ignore the information means we are on the fast track to being hurt - again.
Over the past few days the news has touted the possibility that Mr. Obama is moving to the center and will be a hard person to beat in the 2012 elections. I couldn't believe I heard anyone say that! Are Americans really that dumb? Surely not.
The man promised to be centrist before he was elected the first time. He lied! He couldn't wait to get into office and prove his radical left agenda. We've been suffering every since. He's lied to us about so many things and proved to be inept and on a radical left race to socialism.
Why would you believe him ever again? Why would some people look at a one time speech and believe that he is going to do anything better the second time?
But Debbie....aren't we supposed to be kind and compassionate? People can change you know? Shouldn't we give him a chance?
Sure....give the drug addict a chance to get clean - but don't ask him to be a guard at the local pharmacy.
Give the alcoholic a chance to change - but don't ask him to be a fill in bartender when yours is sick.
Give an abusing spouse the chance to change but don't live with them and subject your 10 year old to another beating. Wait until the change has been proven and documented and you know that it's for real!
Our country's future is too important to trust this man...again. I'm counting the days and hoping that our luck will last and God will show us mercy until we can get him out of office. If he's elected for a second term, there's no hope for this country. You will see another massive move to socialism that we may not be able to survive and surely won't recover from.
So....my suggestion....do your homework. Look at his pre-election speeches. Hear what he said and then look at what he actually did or didn't do. Make the connections. Things like the fact that gas is going up and instead of letting companies in the gulf with safe rigs begin drilling again - he is stalling. Why? Watch Glen Beck and try to put all the pieces together. Gather your information and don't let that donkey kick you again!
God loves you,
Debbie
Thursday, January 20, 2011
#1 Love me...Obey my commandments
A true Christian will know who Jesus is and will work to obey his commandments.
Jesus had gathered all his disciples together for the last supper. If there was ever a time to give them cliff notes, this was it. Read John Chapter 13 and 14 and you'll see that the disciples just didn't understand all that was going on. They acted like small children wanting to be near him, sensing there was a problem, not knowing what to do etc... And then Jesus did a great and noble thing. He washed their feet. He talked quietly and slowly. He was not angry or ill at ease. These were the men he had chosen to carry on his work and now it was time to simply be friends. He knew that Judas had already betrayed him and yet...he was kind with him as well.
Chapter 14 starts out with a wonderful command.
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God ; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."
Now that we know the whole story it's easy to read that passage and know that Jesus is talking about Heaven. But listen to his last statement. Verse 4 "You know the way to the place where I am going."
Here's comes the children.....Even though they had listened and followed for three years....In the next verse Thomas says..."Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
Jesus probably wanted to give a big sigh at this point and say, "What? What do you mean you don't know the way? Haven't you been listening!"
Instead in verse 6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
Please pull out your Bible and read these two chapters, they are wonderful sweet urgings of Jesus. For today and our point today however, let's concentrate on the following verses. Consider this a cliff note straight from Jesus.
In John 14:15 Jesus said:
"If you love me, you will obey what I command.
How can you do that if you haven't studied enough to know what his command is? And notice he didn't say, "Do what the priests have told you." NO, he said do what I command. In other words, get it for yourself!
In John 14: 21-24 Jesus went on to say:
Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?"
Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
Okay Friends....now you have it from the horses mouth. We can all close up shop and go home. That's your salvation in a nut shell.
If you say that you love God (Jesus) you will obey his command. If you don't obey then you don't love and you can't call yourself a Christian.
Period. End of statement. Everybody out of the pool!
Do you conveniently avoid certain scriptures? - You are not a Christian.
Do you twist the scriptures you don't like? - You are not a Christian.
Do you avoid church and learning about Jesus? Maybe it's just too boring. Sorry, You are not a Christian.
Do you work and study and cross reference - hoping, pushing and looking for a way to make the scriptures support the wrong you want to do? - You are not a Christian.
We must take the Bible as a whole, understand the writers, the life of Christ, the overall meaning, the cross references, the implied and the unimplied.
We must be doubly and 500% sure that we know who Jesus was and is - what his commandments are and that we are doing everything possible to obey those commandments.
A true Christian will love the study of the Bible because he "wants" and craves knowing who Jesus is and what His commandments are. A true Christian will not care if he's missing out on some fun or something he wants to do. All he will care about is that he loves Jesus and that he is obeying his commands.
Can you say that you know and obey the commandments of Jesus?
God loves you,
Debbie
Jesus had gathered all his disciples together for the last supper. If there was ever a time to give them cliff notes, this was it. Read John Chapter 13 and 14 and you'll see that the disciples just didn't understand all that was going on. They acted like small children wanting to be near him, sensing there was a problem, not knowing what to do etc... And then Jesus did a great and noble thing. He washed their feet. He talked quietly and slowly. He was not angry or ill at ease. These were the men he had chosen to carry on his work and now it was time to simply be friends. He knew that Judas had already betrayed him and yet...he was kind with him as well.
Chapter 14 starts out with a wonderful command.
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God ; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."
Now that we know the whole story it's easy to read that passage and know that Jesus is talking about Heaven. But listen to his last statement. Verse 4 "You know the way to the place where I am going."
Here's comes the children.....Even though they had listened and followed for three years....In the next verse Thomas says..."Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
Jesus probably wanted to give a big sigh at this point and say, "What? What do you mean you don't know the way? Haven't you been listening!"
Instead in verse 6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
Please pull out your Bible and read these two chapters, they are wonderful sweet urgings of Jesus. For today and our point today however, let's concentrate on the following verses. Consider this a cliff note straight from Jesus.
In John 14:15 Jesus said:
"If you love me, you will obey what I command.
How can you do that if you haven't studied enough to know what his command is? And notice he didn't say, "Do what the priests have told you." NO, he said do what I command. In other words, get it for yourself!
In John 14: 21-24 Jesus went on to say:
Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?"
Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
Okay Friends....now you have it from the horses mouth. We can all close up shop and go home. That's your salvation in a nut shell.
If you say that you love God (Jesus) you will obey his command. If you don't obey then you don't love and you can't call yourself a Christian.
Period. End of statement. Everybody out of the pool!
Do you conveniently avoid certain scriptures? - You are not a Christian.
Do you twist the scriptures you don't like? - You are not a Christian.
Do you avoid church and learning about Jesus? Maybe it's just too boring. Sorry, You are not a Christian.
Do you work and study and cross reference - hoping, pushing and looking for a way to make the scriptures support the wrong you want to do? - You are not a Christian.
We must take the Bible as a whole, understand the writers, the life of Christ, the overall meaning, the cross references, the implied and the unimplied.
We must be doubly and 500% sure that we know who Jesus was and is - what his commandments are and that we are doing everything possible to obey those commandments.
A true Christian will love the study of the Bible because he "wants" and craves knowing who Jesus is and what His commandments are. A true Christian will not care if he's missing out on some fun or something he wants to do. All he will care about is that he loves Jesus and that he is obeying his commands.
Can you say that you know and obey the commandments of Jesus?
God loves you,
Debbie
What should a Christian look like?
Over the next few months I'll be posting to a category called "The Christian".
This category isn't about the outward "looks" of a Christian. This category is about the whole man/woman. The thoughts, beliefs, actions, motives, desires, looks and reputation of the Christian.
The definition of the word Christian is....
1. A person professing belief in Jesus as the Christ, or in the religion based on the teaching of Jesus.
used as a adj. it means.....
1. of Jesus Christ or his teachings
2. of or professing the religion based on these teachings
3. having the qualities demonstrated and taught by Jesus Christ, as love, kindness, humility, etc..
4. of or representing Christians or Christianity
5. humane, decent, etc...
But....the word that most Christians use to define their label is...."Christ - like"
Have you ever met a person who claims to be a Christian and yet...hasn't studied enough about Christ to know what that would look like? A lot of churches have stopped having Sunday school. Now instead of a deeper walk through the Bible and a systematic way to teach our children about the Bible, we have discussion groups in homes. Most of the time the emphasis is on visiting and eating rather than on real Bible study. The result - people who claim to be Christians but have no idea what that really means.
I even had one immature person say...."Just give me a list and I'll do what's on it." While that type of reduction of the Christian faith won't produce a true Christian - perhaps it will lead all of us into a deeper discussion of what's currently missing in our faith.
I hope you will join me here for "short" discussions about the traits and values of "The Christian"
#1 Love me - Obey my commandments
God loves you,
Debbie
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The definition of the word Christian is....
1. A person professing belief in Jesus as the Christ, or in the religion based on the teaching of Jesus.
used as a adj. it means.....
1. of Jesus Christ or his teachings
2. of or professing the religion based on these teachings
3. having the qualities demonstrated and taught by Jesus Christ, as love, kindness, humility, etc..
4. of or representing Christians or Christianity
5. humane, decent, etc...
But....the word that most Christians use to define their label is...."Christ - like"
Have you ever met a person who claims to be a Christian and yet...hasn't studied enough about Christ to know what that would look like? A lot of churches have stopped having Sunday school. Now instead of a deeper walk through the Bible and a systematic way to teach our children about the Bible, we have discussion groups in homes. Most of the time the emphasis is on visiting and eating rather than on real Bible study. The result - people who claim to be Christians but have no idea what that really means.
I even had one immature person say...."Just give me a list and I'll do what's on it." While that type of reduction of the Christian faith won't produce a true Christian - perhaps it will lead all of us into a deeper discussion of what's currently missing in our faith.
I hope you will join me here for "short" discussions about the traits and values of "The Christian"
#1 Love me - Obey my commandments
God loves you,
Debbie
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Bible in American History.....
It appears to me that some people just like to lie. They get a kick out of looking you square in the face and telling you something they know isn't true but try to use to "force" you to their way of thinking.
In the South we have several sayings about people who lie to prove a point.
"His tongue is long enough to cut his throat." "He can talk up a tow sack." (To fill a sack with foolish talk or nonsense.) "Crooked as a worm on a hook." "Like a Bug arguing with a chicken."
"He has a tongue for Tolling." (To lure, lead on, entice with lies.) "Rather tell a lie on credit than the truth for cash." (Prefers to lie.)
And my personal favorite....."Put grease in yer pan, yer fish is burning." (You are incorrect, lying, tell the truth!)
Lately....that's all I can think about as I post the columns from American Minute I started posting these because I thought they would be a wonderful topic of conversation around the evening supper table. Yet the more I post, the more I am aware that progressives have been viciously lying to us. I recently heard one leftist commentator say that it had been over 50 years since the government promoted Biblical study. Here's a few choice Southern sayings for that guy....
"His head is full of stump water." (Dumb) "He'd hold a fish under water to drown it." (Stupid, dumb)
I don't like calling people stupid or dumb....yet what else do you call someone that expects you to believe such a silly obvious lie??
I enjoyed the following post by American Minute. Amazing that I was busy living my life and never heard about this.
A Joint Resolution of the 97th U.S. Congress proclaimed "A Year of the Bible."
It was signed by Democrat Speaker of the House Tip O'Neil, Republican President of the Senate Strom Thurmond and President Ronald Reagan, who stated OCTOBER 4, 1982:
"Now, therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, in recognition of the contributions and influence of the Bible on our Republic and our people, do hereby proclaim 1983 the Year of the Bible in the United States.
I encourage all citizens, each in his or her own way, to reexamine and rediscover its priceless and timeless message."
Similarly, on January 25, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote the prologue of a special Gideons' edition of the New Testament & Book of Psalms distributed to millions of World War II soldiers:
"As Commander-in-Chief, I take pleasure in commending the reading of the Bible to all who serve in the armed forces of the United States. Throughout the centuries men of many faiths and diverse origins have found in the Sacred Book words of wisdom, counsel and inspiration."
FDR continued:
"It is a fountain of strength and now, as always, an aid in attaining the highest aspirations of the human soul."
All I have left to say is that anyone that believes this is no longer a Christian Nation --- "They are doing a heap of stirring but making no biscuits!" (A lot of talking with no results)
God loves you,
Debbie
In the South we have several sayings about people who lie to prove a point.
"His tongue is long enough to cut his throat." "He can talk up a tow sack." (To fill a sack with foolish talk or nonsense.) "Crooked as a worm on a hook." "Like a Bug arguing with a chicken."
"He has a tongue for Tolling." (To lure, lead on, entice with lies.) "Rather tell a lie on credit than the truth for cash." (Prefers to lie.)
And my personal favorite....."Put grease in yer pan, yer fish is burning." (You are incorrect, lying, tell the truth!)
"His head is full of stump water." (Dumb) "He'd hold a fish under water to drown it." (Stupid, dumb)
I don't like calling people stupid or dumb....yet what else do you call someone that expects you to believe such a silly obvious lie??
I enjoyed the following post by American Minute. Amazing that I was busy living my life and never heard about this.
A Joint Resolution of the 97th U.S. Congress proclaimed "A Year of the Bible."
It was signed by Democrat Speaker of the House Tip O'Neil, Republican President of the Senate Strom Thurmond and President Ronald Reagan, who stated OCTOBER 4, 1982:
"Now, therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, in recognition of the contributions and influence of the Bible on our Republic and our people, do hereby proclaim 1983 the Year of the Bible in the United States.
I encourage all citizens, each in his or her own way, to reexamine and rediscover its priceless and timeless message."
Similarly, on January 25, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote the prologue of a special Gideons' edition of the New Testament & Book of Psalms distributed to millions of World War II soldiers:
"As Commander-in-Chief, I take pleasure in commending the reading of the Bible to all who serve in the armed forces of the United States. Throughout the centuries men of many faiths and diverse origins have found in the Sacred Book words of wisdom, counsel and inspiration."
FDR continued:
"It is a fountain of strength and now, as always, an aid in attaining the highest aspirations of the human soul."
All I have left to say is that anyone that believes this is no longer a Christian Nation --- "They are doing a heap of stirring but making no biscuits!" (A lot of talking with no results)
God loves you,
Debbie
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