Dire Straits

Reading the news makes me want to throw up. Watching the mass lies, mudslinging and vile hate spewed at Christians brings me to my knees.

Folks, we are in dire straits in America.

The blame game, false advertising and accusations run rampant.

Slander is prominent and people disappearing. When will it stop?

Strong gay marriage support now exceeds strong opposition

Author says GOP broke Washington

State may vote on licenses for illegal immigrants

SC Gov Haley using piñata video to raise money

Dad says son beaten at bus stop as others watched

Secret Service boss: ‘I apologize’

$100 Billion Tax Question

Polls show US presidential battle tightening

Witnesses change stories in Trayvon case

I was hard pressed to find any good news. At least this one is;

Pro-Choice’ Americans At Record Low, Poll Finds

This is just America, not the world. The evidence is clear the media is more interested in promoting civil unrest, murder and anything disgusting.

The tone is negative rhetoric. Big talkers acting. Feuds are fought with demeaning gabfest. It is embarrassing.

What is worse is people fall for the lies….because they don’t know the truth. If they did the news would be opposite.

In the last 30 years I have witnessed this country decline in roller coaster fashion.

Issues we never discussed have become mainstream. Issues we never heard of are FrontPage news. Issues once thought to be ill-advised, hush-hush or deviant are accepted as normal by those who wish to promote such shameful aversions.

Explaining that to a 23-year-old is deafening. They can’t relate. Sadly, the younger generation has no idea what Ozzie and Harriet represented.

God is speaking and speaking loudly. Actually he is yelling. If you are blinded or don’t know the word, you won’t hear him. But this is what he is saying.

2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Who does this sound like? Weren’t the Israelites a difficult bunch?

Unfortunately the Israelites don’t have anything on America. We are the most grumbling, complaining, and selfish, backbiting people on earth.

But God put us here for a reason. America was founded on Godly principles. America is God’s alternative to freedom for others. He has used our people to give generously, back Israel and seek peace in other areas of the world. He built this nation on Capitalism; free market and enterprise and a constitution based on his word.

America is a blessed nation or was.

We have to get back on our knees. Now.

http://singularspectrum.wordpress.com/2012/05/23/spectrum-perspectives-social-media/

http://samuelatgilgal.wordpress.com/2012/05/23/elective-despotism/

http://thewayeverlasting.com/2012/05/23/quote-shudder/

http://butchdean.wordpress.com/2012/05/23/a-matter-of-perspective/

http://justmyfaithtalking.wordpress.com/2012/05/19/a-simple-request-go-and-sin-no-more/

churchgraphics.wordpress.com

Cavalier Days and the Champion Advocate

So you want to do this or that. What is that or this?

We wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t important….or would we?

Repenting of my useless, wasted energies, God assured me he uses everything.

Lavish fun, destructive music and movies, and squandering God’s money on the junk food of life are a total distraction. And to think in our youthfulness we knew it all…..yeah right.

Our cavalier and reckless days add up to empty hearts, no satisfaction and debt. The order may be reversed depending on how much you spent on life’s ill-fated pleasures or the extent you went to in revenge for Don Juan who broke your precious heart.

As you whine, “I will never date again!”  Or “You just wait you little eaves dropping adulterer, your days are numbered!”

Oh, give me a break.

How often do we tangle our own webs? How often do we muddle our gluttony by jumping into the fire ourselves? If we aren’t careful the enlistment will backfire.

The enemy uses whatever is available to distract us. And we are so easily allured into his devilish antics we forget or lose our way. He is a cunning, deranged creature who needs to be thrown under a few buses, but it won’t happen if we don’t push him. Or yank his so-called wickedness with real authority.

Wrong people and activities waste our time.

Yes, you know the fun people, all-about-me people or the hedonistic, miserly gourmets of popularity. These are the lost souls of propriety. Run away.

Destructive circumstances aren’t always lost in our foolish captivity. God is the source of freedom but only if asked.

Once you run away, seek God before the excess baggage of your blissful pleasures drop on your head. He is the beneficiary of our expensive and often painful negligence.

Psalm 50:20 “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”

No matter what we have done if we seek God he can take our egotistical, self-seeking greed and use it for his purposes.

How? By allowing us to reap what we sow until the veil is removed. Days of amusing revelry get old fast often resulting in dreadful circumstances.

Yep. All the misbehaving, rule breaking attitudes can be used as examples for the kingdom of God in the hopes others will wise up before gratifying their unholy aspirations.

The recommendation is to avoid at all costs the feasts of poisonous entertainment to start with. If you have joined in the foolery of many, turn it over to God and get out.

Allow God to turn the pampering of your sinful nature into a new creature in Christ. He uses evil for good showering us with a fresh start.

God wastes nothing. His clever techniques of deliverance far outweigh our mistakes.

He is a master vindicator working behind the scenes justifying the innocent.

The world is in enough disarray as it is without our own disregard for authority.

Use your God given common sense and guidance in how you spend your time.

After all, we are only passing through.

“Remind me that my days are numbered.” Psalm 39:4

http://birdmartin.wordpress.com/2012/05/19/birds-spiritual-learning-disability-god-grades-bird-on-a-curve/

http://longingsend.com/2012/05/19/saturday-psalm-psalm-18/

http://godspeaks-i-listen.com/2012/05/19/time-has-come-today/

http://jesuscarriesme.com/2012/05/19/my-struggle-with-the-story-of-the-canaanite-woman/

Copyright @ 2012 All Rights Reserved

CANCELLED!

TV is not a major part of my life; not anymore. Most shows are not worth my precious time. BUT WHEN THEY CANCEL SHOWS I LIKE I MAY AS WELL DUMP THE TV IN THE TRASH!

The few I have watched outside of NCIS have all been given the boot. And of course NCIS has a cliffhanger that could possibly force us to wait until the fall for the conclusion. NCIS is a date night for my husband and me as it is one of the few shows we both enjoy. The good news is “Person of Interest” has been renewed.

He loves “Swamp People, Antiques Roadshow, Survivor and what’s that show about the fishermen? Oh, yea, “Deadliest Catch.” Somehow swampy water and dead fish aren’t my idea of a good love story.

As of last night, the John Grisham show, “The Firm” has been cancelled. I love John Grisham. What is wrong with those people?

The truth? Our secular culture feeds on garbage. Yes. “Feed me trash, debris, filth, and the dregs of TV refuse.” No wonder the masses live on edge. No wonder the multitude of human beings are a wreck. You are what you watch!

Get your head out of the dirty mud and watch Hallmark Channel. You can cry, laugh, oooohhhhh and awwwww…..and feel squeaky clean while doing it.

Bad TV has a few good points.

Photo credit by
churchgraphics.wordpress.com

Time is released for me to be productive.

Time is given to beat my husband in rummy.

Time to blog more.

Especially; time freed up for God….

Apparently the days of “Andy and Barney” are too “positive” for the media today. Positive doesn’t sell in these days of rubbish. Ratings, Ratings and more ratings; again it is all about greed feeding pockets of many who already have more than most.

We live in an overloaded entertainment society. Only the entertainment has drizzled into a pot of mush over the years. And we were not born to be entertained. The devil made his grand entrance into the networks and spilled his corruption. Sad to say as in so many areas of our lives we fell for it, hook, line and sinker.

Movies and TV are temptations laid out to disengage us from God. So what is one more distraction? Add them to the daily news and we stuff our souls with lecherous carnality straight from Hell.

Sorry, but I can’t swallow any of today’s comedies. Give me Dick Van Dyke any day.

If you think for one minute the devil isn’t working overtime in the media industry of Hollywood, you need a “restart” button.

Maybe….bad TV isn’t so bad after all. Maybe it’s my way of defeating the enemy at his own game by boycotting his immoral and shameless influence.

Want to join me for some Hallmark?

http://media4lifeministries.com/2012/05/13/thank-you-jesus/

http://goldenbible.wordpress.com/2012/05/12/keeping-focus/

http://highlyfavored74.wordpress.com/2012/05/11/are-we-spiritually-growing/

http://lifeofafemalebiblewarrior.wordpress.com/2012/05/12/another-perfect-stranger/

Copyright @ 2012 All Rights Reserved

Kreativ Blogger Award

Kreativ Blogger award…

Posted on March 30, 2012 by

 

A heartfelt, humble thanks to http://longingsend.com for presenting me with a Kreativ Blogger award. LongingsEnd is an inspiration blog that has touched my heart. The blog is representative of love for God through words and photos. The evidence of the close relationship to God shows on each post. You will be blessed to read it and connect with them.

And the “rules” are:

• Thank the blogger who gave you the award and provide a link to their site.
• List 7 things about yourself that your readers might find interesting.
• Nominate 7 other bloggers, provide their links, and let them know.

Seven things about me you probably don’t know:

1. I do not like shellfish of any kind.
2. Finally being able to stay at home instead of working outside of the home is one of my greatest joys.
3. My favorite season is summer.
4. I am allergic to bees.
5. Yogurt and bananas are 2 of my favorite foods.
6. I am a Christian first but my Presbyterian heritage has been traced back to the 1700’s.
7. For 17 years I lived within a few miles of Dr. Billy Graham.  I am still a member of the church his family attends. I was privileged to hear Dr. Graham preach once in our little chapel in Montreat, NC before he became physically unable. I heard Franklin Graham preach twice and actually sat on the same pew as Ruth Graham twice.

Does Jesus have a Facebook Page nominates the following seven sites for the Kreativ Blogger award.  Please take a moment and check out their interesting and inspiring words and visuals…

        identitylovefaith.wordpress.com

        rebecaurora.wordpress.com

       justmyfaithtalking.wordpress.com

       churchgraphics.wordpress.com

       Christian Comfort & Conversation Cafe

       javaman56.wordpress.com

      jesusmyjoy.wordpress.com

Congrats to all of you!

I Gave my Sledgehammer Away

Do you know what doors are for? Really?

The door is open so the 78 degree weather can come inside today. It is February after all. OH. February is winter.

My back door opened is a reminder of the many doors that open in our lives. Or the ones that shut.

Doors go either way. How we respond to them is the key. Often doors are signs from God.  

Use to be when a door shut I would respond with an offensive attitude asking, “why? I want to go through that door!”

Age has taught me along with years of spending time alone with God and his word those doors he shut kept me from getting into more trouble than I was already in.  Now I thank him that he is God! His ways are not mine! (be really thankful for that)

When you ponder the idea of open and shut doors from God isn’t that a clever idea?

He made it so simple yet we search around for other doors only to walk into the one that ends up hitting us in the face.” Oh, I wondered where I got this bruise on my head.”

Going out on a limb here I finally wised up (no jokes please) and started praying for God to shut doors he didn’t want me to force open. Now I am small but have managed over the years to pry open doors shut so tight you couldn’t open them without a sledgehammer.

I have to ask myself now, “what was I thinking?” Pushing, pulling, beating, screaming until I squeezed through it. Once in, it wasn’t door #3 giving away a free car.

What happens when you beat your way through the wrong door? It knocks you down and lands on the broken nose you gave yourself trying to open it in the first place.

You know what happens next? (that is if you are smart) You cry out to God Almighty to remove the door.

What if God leaves you under the door for a while? It sure gets heavy. It hurts. It is painful.

I can’t blame God for this heavy, painful door smashing my face. I did force it open. He tried to stop me. BUT NO! I had to be rebellious or what is the saying? “Curiosity killed the cat?”

Finally after so many doors fell on me I decided maybe God was trying to tell me something!  Ok. I heard that!  You have no room to talk here!

He closes doors for my protection or stops me from getting into the wrong relationship. or the wrong project. or the wrong class.  or listening to the wrong words. or hanging out in the wrong places. or running my big mouth when it should be shut.

Mark 4:24, 25 ²⁴ “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. ²⁵ Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”

Closing doors from God’s perspective for us means he may be removing from our lives that which he doesn’t want there like books, movies, entertainment, or even people. Yes, people.

Anything that takes us away from God is removable by him. For our good. And believe me, once you find yourselves under so many of the wrong doors, God looks better than ever!

God isn’t behind door #1. or #2. or #3.  He’s behind the door that is open.

http://freedomborn.wordpress.com/2012/02/20/hillbilly-ten-commandment

http://larrywho.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/planning-preparation-survival-part-2/

http://thewayeverlasting.com/2012/02/17/quote-standard/

Copyright @ 2012 All Rights Reserved

Imagine….if Jesus walked in…

A wonderful fellow blogger wrote me a note the other day after my Super Bowl post. Evidently I am not the only one imagining Jesus showing up for halftime. Her words were: I have often arranged moments in my mind that I wished Jesus would appear – like at the State of the Union Address right after the President came in…or what about just coming into a classroom on Sunday morning?

Image via Wikipedia

Please enlighten yourself by visiting her blog at: http://anutsnotes.wordpress.com.

Thinking I would use what we both wrote as fun and creative and in a sense of reality, entrances for Jesus to arrive here are some extra’s I came up with:

YES, I can see it now. The yelling of the crowd only to be silenced by a huge white horse bursting through the side doors of the stadium. The horse, glistening, carrying the Savior on his back, runs like the wind leaving many a mouth wide opened in shock….

In the halls of Congress, all are gathered to hear his voice. His beginning words are shattered as the doors fly open. Everyone turns around and the gavel falls as Jesus steps into the room. And you are frozen; you can’t move wondering if he knows what you did last night…

The entourage arrives in Charlotte. Streets are shut down. Businesses have closed. Police and Secret Service Agents line the area like bees on a honeycomb. Inside, delegates, admirers and people of all walks of life jumping up and down in excitement. All of a sudden there is a loud boom! It breaks the sound barrier. His white horse appears on stage. It is not what anyone expected. And they all fall down in repentance….

Candidates, one by one enter through the side door. The in-fighting is over. Tampa Bay in Florida has never had so many visitors. Finally, a nominee steps out from behind the curtain but it is not Mitt Romney. The white horse rears back on his hind legs as the Rider’s sword shows forth his strength. And you could hear a pin drop….as the droves of onlookers slowly fall….

The Red Carpet lines the street. Camera flashes blind your eyes. Million dollar dresses, suits and jewels stroll inside to find seats splashed with their names on them. Host Ellen DeGeneres speaks and the crowd roars with laughter. Then, she is held speechless.  The light was so bright at the back door she couldn’t see. Humbly he shares a smile. Movie directors, TV stars, Bill Maher, Jon Stewart and Michael Moore are the first to fall.

Image via Wikipedia

The country of Ethiopia is one of the poorest nations in the world. 82 million inhabitants of this country are located in this area of the  Horn of Africa and is one of 3 of the world’s major Abrahamic religions.

In a small church with dirt floors,  the heat is unbearable. No windows or fans, the congregation ignores the sweat rolling down their rugged  faces as they sing and praise God. Their shoeless feet and torn clothing resemble the poverty they endure and yet they thank God for all they have. Waking each day to a world of hopelessness, their hearts are warmed by the embrace of God’s love.

Smiles and laughter fill the room while the Pastor stands behind a make-believe pulpit. There is no piano, organ or drums. Just a choir of angelic beings singing A cappella to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Frazzled Bibles are held as if holding a block of gold. The few in existence are ripped and lacking pages, but treated with nothing but respect. Educated congregants read to those who aren’t. Flowing words of wisdom and knowledge add to music revealing their connected souls.

Stopping to pray, the chapel is filled with the wind of the Holy Spirit, blowing as if bringing a much-needed visitor.

Quietly, and humbly, a man in a white cloak, sandals on his feet, long hair and beard, appears out of no where at the only door to the church.

He says nothing. But the followers immediately know his presence; they have felt it so many times before. Without looking back, they know he has arrived.

Before he even makes a move to the front, the congregation is on their knees thanking God he has finally sent the King. As he strolls by the broken pews, and run down chairs, he spreads his hands amongst the crowd and says, “It is finished.”

Copyright @ 2012 All Rights Reserved

Do you know a Secret Santa?

I just watched a movie titled “Secret Santa.” A story about a journalist who has been given an assignment to find the Secret Santa. A man who worked in a nursing home for years had been left with money from those who died. The first time he received a gift, he decided he couldn’t keep it for himself so he started making toys, gifts and bequeathing the money each year at Christmas to unsuspecting souls in need. No one knew who played this grand part except the local lawyer, until the journalist stumbles upon him in his backyard workshop. As she walked in she saw all kinds of toys, bicycles, and presents. She knew she had found him. She wrote her story without revealing this beloved man’s dream of fulfilling others dreams.

Would you be able to keep a secret like that? Would you be able to live with yourself for revealing such an anonymous gift?  Or would you want to get the credit by announcing to the world, “I know who Secret Santa is,” even if it meant it had to stop if you opened your big mouth?

When I found out the truth about Santa Claus I was devastated. My best friend told me and she couldn’t believe I didn’t already know. I ran in the house and confronted my mother who tried to calm me down. When she confessed the truth I started crying because I really didn’t want to know the truth. I wanted to believe in this fantasy as long as I could because if the fantasy wasn’t real it would change everything. And it did.

Isn’t this the way many people think about Christ? Some may think he is a fantasy or some man who walked on the earth for 33 years and did a lot of miracles but he wasn’t the Savior.

I have had conversations with  people who doubt because if they were to believe in Jesus Christ, they would have to change everything they believe in, think, or do. The thought of having to admit they have been wrong about their entire life is more exhausting and prideful than for them to change.

Image by busy.pochi via Flickr

Oh, if they only knew. Once you sin, repent and become saved you don’t have to change; you want to change. The change becomes a natural walk with God led by his guidance and peace. A change that is automatic because you choose to serve God with your whole heart that has been filled with his unconditional love. Once you make up your mind to accept it, the change becomes your way of life.

God, the Angels in Heaven and Jesus may be singing for joy that another one who was lost has been found, but we don’t announce it on the loud speakers here on earth. Or maybe we should.

America: A Mutual Admiration Society

Image by leoncillo sabino via Flickr

America has traded intelligence and purpose with greed and forbidden fruit all in the name of personal adoration. We have become a group of lost people delving into social edification leaning on the arrays of others who have no idea how to manage their own life much less anyone else.

Yet, those very ones who live to unyielding political correctness, unsavory lifestyles and walk the Red Carpet are polarized into positions of using their platforms for their own agendas. WE the general public have offered a throne of gold with a crown of jewels to promote the life outside of the “Garden of Eden” after Adam sinned. Who cares what Angelina Jolie wore to the Oscars or if it even fit?

Unfortunately I have to include the church in this respect. The church “skirts” around issues God wants to be taught in an effort not to offend anyone. Open the doors so anyone can show up. True, but not for the case of entertaining them into the kingdom.  My thoughts for some time have been “how has the church failed” instead of “how has the church succeeded?”

We live in fairy tale Mutual Admiration Society. Go live in a castle you can’t afford. Buy a luxury car and along with that every entertainment device advertised. Take a vacation with your Visa Card. We deserve the best the world has to offer. After all, this is America.

Wasteful Spending

Forget the hungry children in Africa, or the missionaries in tribal villages in lands unheard of or the enslaved to Human Trafficking. Why should we care or offer help to the children who live and eat in trash dumps in India or support the Christians in other countries who have put their lives on the line for their faith in Christ? (“Whatever you did for the least of these you did also for me.”Matthew 25:40)

Let them fend for themselves; they aren’t  Americans with Collective Bargaining and we have a reputation to uphold. 

Sadly we have sacrificed our moralistic values as Godly men and women to be  admired for our providential successes. The heck with integrity or honesty. We want to be noticed! After all this is America.

We provide the most obstinate, vulgar, arrogant, and downright ludicrous examples of how to live in this world. Our preposterous fashion labels, 72 day marriages, and political documents that have been rammed down our throats that we haven’t read yet get more attention than Mother Teresa did.

We are more interested in blinding ourselves with the ills of the land to make sure we live up to the expectations of those who have no interest in anyone else but themselves than to stand alone being different. After all this is America; land of the free to do whatever pleases you no matter if it is right or wrong as long as we are following the crowd of “Occupy Stupid.”

This monotony of failure is a result of the acceptance of evil over good; and we have no one to blame but ourselves. Yet, the general consensus is “how can God allow bad things to happen?” Read the Bible; pray, communicate with God everyday and when you do? He will  reveal he is only capable of doing good and help you get off of your self-applauding pedestal and find a life worth living.