Truth is Truth and Sin is Sin

In all stances there are adversarial contexts and diversions. But truth is truth and it is the resolve no matter what.

There is no other book like The Bible. It is also the most misinterpreted book ever written. The only way anyone can really understand it is by having and cultivating an intimate and personal relationship with God.

Admitting some stories like the Fall of Jericho, Jonah getting thrown into a whale and talking donkeys could cause questionable thoughts, there is none more controversial than Jesus’s conception. However, believing in God truthfully will deliver anyone from the lies and deceptions written about them.

It is beyond my belief the Supreme Court would actually take our money, time and effort to discuss the basis for marriage definition. Read the Bible.

As this debate heats up professing, knowledgeable Christian’s twist the Bible’s definition that marriage is between one man and a woman.

So is the case of an article by Rebecca Todd Peters titled, “Biblical Marriage is not what you think.”

Her background and education should warrant that of one who gets it; she doesn’t.

Literally speaking she has taken the Biblical contexts of how people were living in adultery, committing vile acts with the same sex and portraying Sodom and Gomorrah as a definition of marriage.

Sure the Old Testament is full of adulterers, concubines, and polygamy; that doesn’t mean God approved. It also doesn’t mean those who sinned sexually didn’t suffer the consequences. They did. We are. Just look at the aftermath of Hagar having Ishmael. Centuries and millennia later the war is on between him and Isaac. It has never stopped. Yet Ms. Peters would have you think it was a willing notion of God to approve. It wasn’t. And he still doesn’t.

David took his best friend’s wife then killed him. Not only did their first born die as a baby, David suffered terribly afterwards for his sin.

Solomon took the cake when it came to wives and concubines. If for no other reason trying to keep so many women happy would be enough to be married to one.

I am not making light of this. My theory as to why God allowed the Bible to include such sin is to show the sin and reveal the consequences that followed.

Just because the prevalence of sexual sin is noted, does not mean God approved of it any more than he did of thievery, murder or lying. Sin is sin.

As far as the Supreme Court taking up this issue, the truth still remains they do not get to define marriage any other way than God’s way.

Any action has been taken by those who wish to live as they choose, suing others who disagree with that lifestyle and pushed the agenda down our throats.

Since sin is sin, why not have all the murderers push to change the laws by allowing people to murder without punishment?

Why not do the same with liars? Cheaters? Idol Worshippers? Rioters who destroy and injure others?

The list goes on and on. No matter the sin it is lawlessness. And with lawlessness comes death. And God is in the business of giving life.

Rebecca Todd Peters

Christian Social Ethicist, Feminist Theologian, and Professor of Religious Studies at Elon University

Ms. Peters got her article printed in the Huffington Post. She gives credence to evil as if it is a right just as the fight for marriage is being argued in the Supreme Court. Her credits and education must give her the notoriety to write such garbage. But it has nothing to do with her training. It is her political correctness opinion along with her own misinterpretation of the Bible.

As far as I am concerned the Supreme Court has no right to touch this issue much less vote on it. It has already been established by God.

And God doesn’t change his mind.

 

Answers

I was writing this a few weeks before  Nepal was hit with a 7.8 Earthquake as if God was telling me ahead of time it would happen. He wants to clarify himself for our sake.  My prayers are for those left behind and that they find survivors; that God will extend his hand of help but that mostly that he will show up.

Isaiah 54:16

Behold, I have created the smith that blows the coals in the fire, and that bring forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the devastator to destroy.

What does that mean?

That little line or verse right before the famous one triggered my quick thinking. Of course this happened about the time my laptop began to drain its charge so you can imagine how my quick thinking got lost.

In this process is the ongoing conversation I have with God. At times I can imagine his bothersome look as I dive into those worldly fleshly inquiries. I often think he thinks,

“Why can’t my people just believe in me?” Well yea, but then we wouldn’t be people.

Questions have arisen probably for centuries like, “Why do bad things happen to good people? Or “Why do Christians suffer?” What about “Why does God allow natural disasters?”

To start with is the question of all questions; if God is a good God then how did evil come from a good God?

If there is good then there is a counterpart of evil.

This fact is such a misconception people automatically blame God for everything that goes wrong when they should be running to Him for answers.

God gave us a free will. He knew before Adam and Eve ever sinned they would sin. In a rebound sort of way this brought about the awesome sovereignty of God. This may sound strange but God had to allow evil to counter his good; otherwise the world could never reach its full potential. 

Focusing more on the Nepal earthquake are a few reasons why these terrible tragedies happen.

We live in a fallen world; nature is part of the natural laws that God designed. Unfortunately some of those laws play a part into earthquakes, tsunamis and hurricanes.

Some might question the lack of prayer or followers of Christ in a region or area that is hit by a natural disaster. No matter the reason for it we as Christians are to help others in need.

Then there are the reasons that God may use natural disasters to draw attention to Him. He may also allow them for the greater good.

These answers may not be of comfort to many especially in the line of fire.

Typically the person who doesn’t know God or understand him will automatically deny his existence and label him as the perpetrator of evil. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Reverse your thinking and ask God, “how much evil have you spared us from?”

That is when we begin to thank God for his protection from that which we have no idea we even needed it.

Hooray!

I’M BACK! LAPTOP HAS A NEW BATTERY! 

Oh, Woe is me….

.

This will be my last post for a while.

My Dell laptop is sick. She has been through home testing with Dell agents and the decision was made she needs a hospital visit.

My hope was a new adapter would aid in the charge recovering to 100% but of course that didn’t happen. Now the doctor believes the motherboard is suffering and may need surgery.

As soon as I received this heartbreaking news, WITHDRAWAL SET IN LIKE MAXI POUNCING ON A MOUSE.

My beloved laptop is sitting on my lap as I type this post. The people at Dell have no idea what it will be like for us to be apart; and possibly a few weeks. Besides the many uses she offers I simply cannot write/blog on my phone or Mark’s ipad. At least they are substitutes to some degree until she returns.

I don’t believe in coincidences but after not feeling like writing this book I am supposing to be writing for the last year, I began to do so a week  or so ago. And then…..that was when I noticed it wasn’t charging completely. Hhhhhhhmmmmmmmm……….

However there may be a slight silver lining. God may be allowing us to be apart to break my addiction?

What is the saying, “you never know what you miss until you don’t have it?”

In that line of thinking I impose the great writer, the Apostle Paul.

I have had a picture in my mind of him sitting at an ancient desk in the middle of a prison writing the gospels. With his parchment paper, quill pen and ink jar he wrote some of the greatest books ever written.

He didn’t know what computers were. Nor pens and paper as we have today. Forget erasers or whiteout; he didn’t even have electricity for lighting. God supplied what he needed to pursue writing words that have survived centuries.

He probably didn’t miss what he never had. How can one miss what doesn’t exist?

Yet he managed to compose the Holy Spirit’s words in the simplest forms. I wonder if he had any idea of the magnitude of his prison sentence.

What appeared to be horrible conditions kept him in one place, under one roof without distractions to perform God’s will on earth. And without a Dell.

“I will be back.”

It’s not just any weekend…..

This time of year is like none other. For me personally Easter weekend many years ago played a major part in the basis for my journey.

Reading in My Utmost for His Highest the other day it said,

“It’s not what you do, but who you are.”

Isn’t that at the core of the crucifixion?

Isn’t that the result of the Resurrection?

It is who we are in Christ.

Jesus Christ; after the fact is life.

If you allow yourself to ponder, think and truly recognize all He did for us on the cross, all the other stuff is mute.

 

 

Do you have a dog?

 

If you do be prepared to have your home owners insurance revoked.

Also no back yard trampolines, pool diving boards or slides. Forget those swing sets your children love to swing on. Either they won’t write you a policy or cancel it after they have taken your money.

7 years in this house with a pool and never an issue with writing a homeowners policy, until now. Why? Money.

If you want a good laugh, spend some time shopping around to hear what insurance agents will ask you. From my experience, most companies are more concerned about that yappy or very large dog positioning themselves to guard your front yard than the brick front steps one could easily fall on breaking their neck. They don’t charge extra for dangerous steps, just dogs.

Yes, this is really happening folks.

Part of my job in this household is finances. My husband can account for my penny-pinching inherited trait that has paid off more times than I can count. So when we received a home-owners renewal policy in January that a rate hike had kicked in within one year I decided to look around.  In the last 12 months SC policies jumped 12%.

Sorry to say even the agent who tried so hard to find us a great policy has now been placed on a complaint list. He was excellent. We had a great, fun conversation and he wrote us a dream policy. Arrowhead Insurance had no problem taking my money on January 15^th; the entire premium in one transaction only to write me a rather nasty letter with an ultimatum.

No apology or “let’s talk about this.  “No chit chat.” (James Bond: Goldeneye)

After a strange inspector shows up a few weeks ago I receive a cancellation notice Tuesday due to our pool slide.  Never mind the locked fence around the pool; they want the scary slide gone.

The option given was we remove this 2000$ slide, send them a photo that it is removed and they would reinstate us. After speaking to “Mary” at Arrowhead I knew I didn’t want them to keep our money anyway.

Hours of phone conversations between the agents company and the provider, we are simply stuck in the middle. For the record the slide will remain.

An investigation into the conversation between me and the agent is in progress. If he asked about a slide I would have told him we have one. He wouldn’t have written a policy knowing Arrowhead was an arrowhead.  This particular agent had a good record of writing insurance. I was told he would now be reprimanded; they would work within to repair the damage. So much for helping me find another policy and/or the difference in price it may cost us.

Sorry, sorry, sorry were the words from the woman in the complaint department. Sorry, but that doesn’t pay for this debacle and the extra wasted time I am having to put forth to be an excellent customer.  I guess being excellent counts for nothing these days. (LOL)

It may come down to insurance companies revoking home owners for their disgraceful, mean spirited, biting cats. If they knew ours I’m sure they wouldn’t consider writing our policy.

The moral to this story is don’t get a dog.

Proverbs 13:11 “Wealth obtained by fraud dwindles, but the one who gathers by labor increases it.”

Are you playing offense?

 

Think about this.

You are dangling from a very high cliff. The ground below is pure rock. Falling would be your demise. Would you be thinking about the idiot who tried to run you off the road the day before?

You are lying in the hospital sick as a dog. The pain is so bad you can’t move. Would you be thinking about the hateful words your best friend spoke to you the week before?

Your fun day at the zoo was ruined by a bad fall. Not only did you break your leg, observers laughed at your clumsiness. Would you be thinking about how it hurt your feelings they made fun of you while you are laid up?

The moral here is we take offense at the least little thing these days. But when it gets down to the nitty-gritty and life’s hardships, those insulting provocations become trivial. It’s a matter of a wrong perspective along with an attitude of arrogance.

Our society has become a haven for “rights” or “causes.”

Ingrained is a sense of what belongs to “me” and no one else can touch it. Possession is 9/10^th’s of the law or so it says but when that possession becomes an obsession, harm prevails and someone is bound to get hurt.

Whatever happened to sharing? Many prefer fighting over ridiculous frivolity to get their picture on youtube or the local newspaper.  The heck with being nice, it doesn’t get you on national TV with your own show….That requires rioting, protesting and killing. Of course the media thrives on shocking the audience all in the name of ratings. And better ratings means more money……

The game of “offensiveness” has become daily rhetoric for the sake of getting attention or filing law suits. Court dockets are full of cases that should be thrown out or never have happened in the first place. Crooked lawyers are making money promoting such court antics.

No matter the reason, society is on the offense; in other words, “how dare anyone say or do anything to hurt me.” Even our leaders are self-centered cowards when it comes to getting their precious feelings hurt.

Well, get over it.

Ask the women and children in Iraq about pain.

Ask those who live without clean water everyday what they are thinking about?

Ask those who have lost loved ones in war what they deal with every day?

Ask Jesus how it felt when he died on the cross for you.

 

 Graphic by https://churchgraphics.wordpress.com/

Un-existence

 

The practicality of pursuing evil is simply unpractical. Besides the trouble it causes the evil doer it also affects many others.  In many cases unfortunately, it can lead to a very hot and miserable un-existence.

A point being is you would think after centuries of repeat performances by the Herod’s of the world, those who indulge such folly would wake up and walk out of the fire. Realizing it doesn’t work has been done over and over.  So why are so many still trying?

They believe they can out-do Herod, Hitler or Putin?

They don’t believe the Bible?

It couldn’t possibly be they are stubborn and prideful could it?

Or power-hungry and selfish?

Maybe they’re just…….

We know what happened to Herod and Hitler.  Putin……..….is a walking time bomb.

Refusing to read, much less believe God’s word is willful negligence and worthy of a life sentence without it.

Ill-gotten gain of anything is a gamble. It’s like telling the slot machine you’re going to play until you run out of money? Duh….

For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.” (Luke 8:17-18 ESV)

Years of my own ignorance to the truth prompted me to begin the search. At least I was practical enough to realize how often I was making a fool out of myself. Don’t get me wrong here I still have a longggggggggggggggggg way to go but I am not where I was.

Many don’t see the fool the enemy is making out of them. Evil does that. Beyond sinning against God you would think the incentive to stop looking stupid would be enough to want to change it. Considering the sinister events people are pursuing these days evidence proves many would prefer pride over righteousness. Well, we know where that leads.

The ultimate life by those who deem to be right over the truth is a sign of an earthly un-existence.

My father always said, “if you’re gonna play with fire, you will get burned.”

The earthly un-existence may end up in an extended one. Literally.
In other words wise-up!

Quote

My worth to God in public, is what I am in private.

His Utmost for His Highest

A Scrabbling Witness

 

If you read my posts at all you will discover I love words. Give me English and Spelling over Math and Science any day. You would be sorry if you ask me to add or subtract.

Words are powerful. Jesus is the word in the flesh. My admiration for the “written word” may have arisen out of my love for reading but also because words are descriptive in nature; beholding of meaning and can make or break nations.

God works brilliantly in our depths of despair. Maybe He was tired of my moaning and groaning unable to do anything for myself much less anyone else. He prompted me to look for a “Scrabble” game on my phone. This moment of enlightenment gave me the incentive to search. Hence, the games began.

You would think by now I would know of God’s elusive creativity better than I do. However he is always full of surprises if for no other reason but to send me off on a “Yellow Brick road” discovery.

Then God spoke.

“Even in your so-called useless state, I can still use you. Scrabble will become a witness to my Glory.”

And so it has.

Even as I have played this exciting, word game over and over I question myself,

“Is this a waste of my time?”

During the course of the last few months I have connected with other “word fanatics” from all over the world. India, Texas, the North east and Australia to name a few. Through this game God has opened communication between me and my opponents to share the gospel, encourage and one case give a prophetic word.

There are those who choose to use a “vile vocabulary.”

In those instances it gives me great joy to display words such as “God,” peace, love, sin, grace or joy! Immediately the tone of the game changes even without a dialogue. The game itself becomes the witness.

A farmer plants seeds to grow crops.

Scrabble has allowed me to plant seeds of words to create a harvest.

Go figure.

Acts 1:8

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”