When I was pregnant in 1980, I thought it was just me reacting to morning sickness, but looking back, I know now that it wasn't.
It started when I noticed people breaking the speed limit wherever I went. No one was concerned about getting a ticket or hurting anyone else.
I would be seething because I knew something was wrong, but couldn't quite pinpoint what it was. Why did I have to obey the speed limit, yet everyone else seemed to get away with breaking it?
As one friend pointed out, today there are not consequences for wrong doing. Very few cops are actually out there giving tickets. Plus, the speeders have radar detectors in their cars, even though they are illegal to use in many places.
I have recently been perplexed by the way people live. When I was a teenager, people slept together, but they knew it was wrong, and they did it in secret. Not many were doing that, but a few did. But today, this is just a way of life for people. What happened that makes it easy for people to do this today? What happened to the human conscience?
There are a couple of reasons. I figured out what one of them is, recently. I graduated high school in 1974, and right around that time, prayer was taken out of the school system. The 10 Commandments were not allowed up in school systems anymore, and a new concept of 'separation of church and state' came about.
Separation of church and state came about when the Pilgrims came over to America in the early 1600s. In the church of England, the king made the decisions in the church. There were many restrictions that the Pilgrims did not want to cooperate with, so, they came to America with the hopes of having a church which was run by a pastor, or pastors instead of a king. This would be a valid reason for leaving a country and going to a new land. Yet, as time went on, there was always a fear that the government would once again be in control of the church. Could you imagine Obama making the decisions which govern your church?
There was concern from a group of Baptist people who lived in Danbury, CT. They were corresponding with Thomas Jefferson on this issue, and in a letter back to these people, Thomas Jefferson assured them that they would be protected from ever having the government interfere with the life of their church and the decisions the church would be making. Here is an excerpt from his letter:
Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties
The government was not to make the decisions for the church, and there was a lot of fear that that would happen again.
How does this tie in with today? First of all, it has been established that the government will not interfere with the church, especially in the area of running the church and making decisions. That's not what the government is for, yet in England, that is what was happening, and why people escaped to be in a land where they could do church the way they knew God wanted it to be done.
But today, people want to take that out of text and reverse it. Instead of the government running the church, the idea has been twisted to mean that nothing of religious value is allowed to be in or part of the government, or of any governmental body or establishment. So, for a school system, that would be twisted to mean that nothing that has religious connotation can be in a school system, since the school system is supported by the government.
Madeline Murray O'Hair made a case, took it to court, and won. She made a case that ended up taking prayer out of school. It went further than that though. Now principals are telling the teachers that they can't wear a pin saying 'I love Jesus'. The 10 Commandments were taken out of the schools and aren't allowed to be put up because they have to do with 'religion' and religion cannot mix with government. How far do you think this is going to go?
It will go as far as we allow. The ball is in our court. We are either ignoring the ball, or not seeing the seriousness of the danger. We are more wrapped up in going to Disney or the beach than we are to see that our rights (as in the Bill of Rights) are protected. Some of us say that God is in control, and we give up our responsibility as stewards of what God gives us. That would be like letting our kids do anything they want, but believing that God will protect them and nothing harmful will happen to them.
Here is the connection: The 10 Commandments disappeared from our school walls. Today, a lot of people do not even know that it is wrong for men and women to sleep together outside of a marriage relationship. They are surprised when they find out. How could they know? We have kept the 10 Commandments out of view, because we have fallen for the silly lies that entered into our government about 40 years ago.
In the mid 1900s, most everyone had a Bible in their homes. Just about everyone knew what the 10 Commandments were. Almost everyone had either been a church member, or attended a church or synagogue in their lifetime. And almost everyone was familiar with John 3:16. There was a notable difference between right and wrong. But that is not so, today.
There are even 'Christian' groups who question the validity of Scripture. Some would say that when there is a conflict between Scripture and the culture, the Scriptures must bow to the culture. Some believe the Bible is outdated, or, that God wasn't aware of what problems that people in America would be facing in the 21st century. What does this say about God?
Is it any wonder people don't fear God anymore? If God isn't powerful enough or knowledgable about what we would be going through, then He isn't to be trusted. But the God of the Bible is all-knowing, all-powerful, everywhere at all times, uncreated, Creator, sovereign, and a host of other things that people don't know, and churches don't teach today.
So, this is a good reason to 'pray for the church, and pray for the country'. Praying begins with us, and we must take responsibility for educating people on the truth of who God is and what His word says to us. We pray and follow God, and He produces the results.
Monday, June 30, 2014
Graceful Actions We Can Take To Bring Back Food That is Safe To Eat
I am writing this today because I see so many of us just sitting back complaining because of the way things are, and we are either just apathetic or defeated, and I don't know which one it is (maybe both).
Or, it could be a wrong belief system, which says that God is sovereign and whatever will be will be. This happens in the political realm often during elections where people won't vote because they assume the circumstances mean that Jesus is coming back tomorrow, so it won't matter anyway.
In spite of the reasons why we don't do anything to improve society in the spiritual realm specifically, people have spoken up and their voices are being heard.
There is an interesting dynamic when it comes to living a natural life, the way God originally intended, but has been distorted by technology combined with our desire for convenience. Some liberal groups as well as Biblical Christians are both fighting for protection for genuine food, and are opposed to the unnatural processes that are available to make our food stretch to feed many while losing nutritional value, such as GMO processing and industrialized farming (Big Ag).
Somebody is speaking up, for food companies are now pursuing ways that food can be produced naturally, without having to be genetically modified, and are seeking ways for food to be in its most natural form without having additives put into their products.
We are all greedy people, and left to ourselves, we could be controlled by greed. What we earn from our work will not be enough, and we will find ways to get more money from what we do for a living. The food companies, for the past several years, have not had a 'checks and balances' system in place, or if they did, the standard was not one that would serve people well. Those outside of the food industry had no idea of what was going on, and we were eating food that was bad for us, without having any idea of what we were eating. But people began to question why Americans are so sick today. Could there be a connection between what we eat and our health?
I think the answer is obvious, and many have taken steps to fight against food that is unsafe or unfit for us to eat, but is promoted by the FDA and other authorities as acceptable.
Here are some of the things which have been done to food, to make it unhealthful; genetic modification, irradiation, preservatives, growth hormones & antibiotics which are added to meat and affect milk and milk products as well, meat and milk that is fed with grain instead of grass, and food that has been sprayed with pesticides, such as produce.
Our current president appoints people who do harm, into our government, such as Michael Taylor being appointed to the FDA as head. Michael Taylor has also been the lawyer for Monsanto, in case you didn't know. Monsanto is the company which came up with creating the process of genetic modification, and has been known to sue those whom they would accuse of stealing their patent (a farmer went to jail because of his soybean crop which Monsanto accused him of using their patented soybean without having a license to do so). If Monsanto has their way, the local farmers will go out of business, and anyone who does farming will have to use their patented seeds.
There is a lot of talk about GMO products and people are stepping up to the plate, letting authorities know that they do not want to buy GMO products. Of course, the government is trying to keep people from knowing if the product in question is genetically modified, by not mentioning it. Also, the government is making statements that aren't true about the benefits of genetically modified food. 'Authorities' are writing articles and getting on talk shows defending Monsanto and genetic modification. Many of these 'authorities' are the same ones in the governments 'checks and balances' system.
But now the public are protesting and making their voices known that they want food to be labeled genetically modified, if it is, but the government is opposing that. People spoke up and now products sold in Hawaii must be labeled genetically modified if they are.
What will happen if food is labeled genetically modified and what will it mean for companies like Monsanto? Companies like Monsanto will lose money. The love of money is the bottom line for the products they sell, and we are the losers if we just sit back and say, 'whatever will be, will be'. People are speaking up and it is making a difference.
One well-known company is going to stop using food that has preservatives and artificial ingredients by the year 2016. This company is Panera Bread. I believe they are responding to the many voices who are proclaiming their reluctance to eat food that is not pure. I have seen a few other companies take steps to go in the right direction.
Here are some steps to take action with:
* Ask your butcher if he knows if the beef has been grass-fed, and if the cows were treated with antibiotics and growth hormones.
* Ask the produce clerk if the corn is genetically modified.
* Write to senators and representatives about your concern for unsafe food.
* Support restaurants and stores which intentionally do not carry GMO products.
* Grow your own food using heirloom or organic seeds
* 'Like' pages on Facebook that have to do with fighting against GMOs or Monsanto.
* Share articles on Facebook with others to inform them of the harm that is done to genetically modified food, preservatives, additives, antibiotics, growth hormones, pesticides, herbicides, and food that has been irradiated.
* While at restaurants, request food that has not been genetically modified.
At first, these suggestions will seem radical. Store clerks will look at you as if you were talking in Greek. Don't give up. If enough people ask a clerk in the produce section if the corn is genetically modified, they will bring it up to the managers. After all, they don't want to lose money due to informed customers.
Of course, all this should be done with prayer. The devil wants us sick, and when we let our voices be make known, we are exposing the works of darkness. The devil would love nothing more than to destroy the whole human race. He hates us because we are created in God's image, and he hates God. If he can lie to us and feed our idols, he has us in his grip. But God wants us healthy, so we can serve Him and make His name known in truth. We can't do that very well when we are sick, although God can redeem our sicknesses and use them for His glory. God wants us to take care of our bodies so that we can have strength to serve Him with.
This is one thing we can pray for concerning the church and the country. Without prayer, nothing good is going to happen.
Or, it could be a wrong belief system, which says that God is sovereign and whatever will be will be. This happens in the political realm often during elections where people won't vote because they assume the circumstances mean that Jesus is coming back tomorrow, so it won't matter anyway.
In spite of the reasons why we don't do anything to improve society in the spiritual realm specifically, people have spoken up and their voices are being heard.
There is an interesting dynamic when it comes to living a natural life, the way God originally intended, but has been distorted by technology combined with our desire for convenience. Some liberal groups as well as Biblical Christians are both fighting for protection for genuine food, and are opposed to the unnatural processes that are available to make our food stretch to feed many while losing nutritional value, such as GMO processing and industrialized farming (Big Ag).
Somebody is speaking up, for food companies are now pursuing ways that food can be produced naturally, without having to be genetically modified, and are seeking ways for food to be in its most natural form without having additives put into their products.
We are all greedy people, and left to ourselves, we could be controlled by greed. What we earn from our work will not be enough, and we will find ways to get more money from what we do for a living. The food companies, for the past several years, have not had a 'checks and balances' system in place, or if they did, the standard was not one that would serve people well. Those outside of the food industry had no idea of what was going on, and we were eating food that was bad for us, without having any idea of what we were eating. But people began to question why Americans are so sick today. Could there be a connection between what we eat and our health?
I think the answer is obvious, and many have taken steps to fight against food that is unsafe or unfit for us to eat, but is promoted by the FDA and other authorities as acceptable.
Here are some of the things which have been done to food, to make it unhealthful; genetic modification, irradiation, preservatives, growth hormones & antibiotics which are added to meat and affect milk and milk products as well, meat and milk that is fed with grain instead of grass, and food that has been sprayed with pesticides, such as produce.
Our current president appoints people who do harm, into our government, such as Michael Taylor being appointed to the FDA as head. Michael Taylor has also been the lawyer for Monsanto, in case you didn't know. Monsanto is the company which came up with creating the process of genetic modification, and has been known to sue those whom they would accuse of stealing their patent (a farmer went to jail because of his soybean crop which Monsanto accused him of using their patented soybean without having a license to do so). If Monsanto has their way, the local farmers will go out of business, and anyone who does farming will have to use their patented seeds.
There is a lot of talk about GMO products and people are stepping up to the plate, letting authorities know that they do not want to buy GMO products. Of course, the government is trying to keep people from knowing if the product in question is genetically modified, by not mentioning it. Also, the government is making statements that aren't true about the benefits of genetically modified food. 'Authorities' are writing articles and getting on talk shows defending Monsanto and genetic modification. Many of these 'authorities' are the same ones in the governments 'checks and balances' system.
But now the public are protesting and making their voices known that they want food to be labeled genetically modified, if it is, but the government is opposing that. People spoke up and now products sold in Hawaii must be labeled genetically modified if they are.
What will happen if food is labeled genetically modified and what will it mean for companies like Monsanto? Companies like Monsanto will lose money. The love of money is the bottom line for the products they sell, and we are the losers if we just sit back and say, 'whatever will be, will be'. People are speaking up and it is making a difference.
One well-known company is going to stop using food that has preservatives and artificial ingredients by the year 2016. This company is Panera Bread. I believe they are responding to the many voices who are proclaiming their reluctance to eat food that is not pure. I have seen a few other companies take steps to go in the right direction.
Here are some steps to take action with:
* Ask your butcher if he knows if the beef has been grass-fed, and if the cows were treated with antibiotics and growth hormones.
* Ask the produce clerk if the corn is genetically modified.
* Write to senators and representatives about your concern for unsafe food.
* Support restaurants and stores which intentionally do not carry GMO products.
* Grow your own food using heirloom or organic seeds
* 'Like' pages on Facebook that have to do with fighting against GMOs or Monsanto.
* Share articles on Facebook with others to inform them of the harm that is done to genetically modified food, preservatives, additives, antibiotics, growth hormones, pesticides, herbicides, and food that has been irradiated.
* While at restaurants, request food that has not been genetically modified.
At first, these suggestions will seem radical. Store clerks will look at you as if you were talking in Greek. Don't give up. If enough people ask a clerk in the produce section if the corn is genetically modified, they will bring it up to the managers. After all, they don't want to lose money due to informed customers.
Of course, all this should be done with prayer. The devil wants us sick, and when we let our voices be make known, we are exposing the works of darkness. The devil would love nothing more than to destroy the whole human race. He hates us because we are created in God's image, and he hates God. If he can lie to us and feed our idols, he has us in his grip. But God wants us healthy, so we can serve Him and make His name known in truth. We can't do that very well when we are sick, although God can redeem our sicknesses and use them for His glory. God wants us to take care of our bodies so that we can have strength to serve Him with.
This is one thing we can pray for concerning the church and the country. Without prayer, nothing good is going to happen.
Monday, May 5, 2014
Modern Day Molechs
Back in the days of the Old Testament, many practiced idolatry. Idolatry was one of the oldest sins and is addressed in the 10 Commandments. Idolatry is basically loving, trusting, becoming attached to, or being captivated by something other than God. In the Old Testament, one of the false gods who was worshiped was Molech. Who was Molech anyway?
Molech was a statue with a grin on its face. There was a fire inside and people would give their babies or small children to this statue, and the child would be burned up in a torturous way. I can't imagine whatever it was that this god promised the people if they gave up their children in such a horrible way. Whatever it was, they were captivated by it. Perhaps they didn't want their children because children interfered with whatever they wanted to do. I don't know, but many people did this to their children back then.
People do something similar today, in America. People bring their unborn babies to an abortion clinic to have the child sliced up so he or she will die. It would seem like anyone in their right mind would have no intention of ever going into an abortion clinic to have their babies murdered. Why would they do such a thing? Maybe generations down the road will be asking the same question.
Women have abortions because it is convenient. First of all, they are so bold as to think they have a right to have sex with whoever they want. Then, if they get pregnant, they just have the baby killed. Since it's legal, it must be ok, at least that seems to be their reasoning.
God never gave us permission to have a sexual relationship outside of marriage. He certainly doesn't give us permission to murder our children. Why aren't moms protecting their babies?
There are two reasons, I can think of, that women would think having an abortion is good. One of the reasons is simply because she has stopped her conscience from working. She did that when she decided to sleep with a man whom she wasn't married to. Once we say it is ok for us to do something wrong, we silence our conscience. When we do that, we sin in many different ways, and don't even realize it. Many times, a woman does end up feeling bad for what she has done. Nobody told her the truth before she went into the clinic to have an abortion.
The other reason I think that women have an abortion, and not feel bad about it, is because she isn't told the truth about what takes place during an abortion. Even more serious than that, those who work at the abortion clinic tell the woman that Jesus is pleased with her having an abortion. If the woman doesn't know the Scriptures, she just might end up believing that, at least for a time.
We can read about parents bringing their children to Molech, and be horrified. It doesn't seem like we are horrified about women going in for an abortion though. Maybe we think the baby doesn't feel anything. Maybe we have believed the lie in which the abortionist says that the baby is only a piece of tissue. I like what Mark Driscoll says about that. He says that he is a piece of tissue. All of us are a piece of tissue.
There have been babies who are born halfway through the gestation period, and they survived. There have been babies who have died while inside the womb, and we have funerals for them. Why is the baby who gets aborted any different? The only difference is the heart of the parents. Their idol is convenience, and the baby is interfering with their idol.
If you are a pregnant women and are considering an abortion, think again. Your baby feels pain. Babies, even in the womb, can sense rejection or fear on the mother's part. You are not dealing with a detached piece of tissue, but instead, your baby is a living soul. If you go through with the abortion, your baby will suffer. You will suffer as well, because deep down inside, you know that an abortion is murder. You will have to live with that the rest of your life.
In our society, we have let go of God's standard, and replaced it with man's standard. We have to bring back God's standard of right and wrong, in the church. The church is responsible for being the light and salt in the community. When the church does not take responsibility, the fear of God will be lost. When people don't fear God, they will turn to idols and worship other 'gods' but will forsake the true and living God. This is why we need to be praying for the church and for the country.
Molech was a statue with a grin on its face. There was a fire inside and people would give their babies or small children to this statue, and the child would be burned up in a torturous way. I can't imagine whatever it was that this god promised the people if they gave up their children in such a horrible way. Whatever it was, they were captivated by it. Perhaps they didn't want their children because children interfered with whatever they wanted to do. I don't know, but many people did this to their children back then.
People do something similar today, in America. People bring their unborn babies to an abortion clinic to have the child sliced up so he or she will die. It would seem like anyone in their right mind would have no intention of ever going into an abortion clinic to have their babies murdered. Why would they do such a thing? Maybe generations down the road will be asking the same question.
Women have abortions because it is convenient. First of all, they are so bold as to think they have a right to have sex with whoever they want. Then, if they get pregnant, they just have the baby killed. Since it's legal, it must be ok, at least that seems to be their reasoning.
God never gave us permission to have a sexual relationship outside of marriage. He certainly doesn't give us permission to murder our children. Why aren't moms protecting their babies?
There are two reasons, I can think of, that women would think having an abortion is good. One of the reasons is simply because she has stopped her conscience from working. She did that when she decided to sleep with a man whom she wasn't married to. Once we say it is ok for us to do something wrong, we silence our conscience. When we do that, we sin in many different ways, and don't even realize it. Many times, a woman does end up feeling bad for what she has done. Nobody told her the truth before she went into the clinic to have an abortion.
The other reason I think that women have an abortion, and not feel bad about it, is because she isn't told the truth about what takes place during an abortion. Even more serious than that, those who work at the abortion clinic tell the woman that Jesus is pleased with her having an abortion. If the woman doesn't know the Scriptures, she just might end up believing that, at least for a time.
We can read about parents bringing their children to Molech, and be horrified. It doesn't seem like we are horrified about women going in for an abortion though. Maybe we think the baby doesn't feel anything. Maybe we have believed the lie in which the abortionist says that the baby is only a piece of tissue. I like what Mark Driscoll says about that. He says that he is a piece of tissue. All of us are a piece of tissue.
There have been babies who are born halfway through the gestation period, and they survived. There have been babies who have died while inside the womb, and we have funerals for them. Why is the baby who gets aborted any different? The only difference is the heart of the parents. Their idol is convenience, and the baby is interfering with their idol.
If you are a pregnant women and are considering an abortion, think again. Your baby feels pain. Babies, even in the womb, can sense rejection or fear on the mother's part. You are not dealing with a detached piece of tissue, but instead, your baby is a living soul. If you go through with the abortion, your baby will suffer. You will suffer as well, because deep down inside, you know that an abortion is murder. You will have to live with that the rest of your life.
In our society, we have let go of God's standard, and replaced it with man's standard. We have to bring back God's standard of right and wrong, in the church. The church is responsible for being the light and salt in the community. When the church does not take responsibility, the fear of God will be lost. When people don't fear God, they will turn to idols and worship other 'gods' but will forsake the true and living God. This is why we need to be praying for the church and for the country.
 |
| Children being brought to Molech by their parents, to be burned up and tortured.
Molech
(king). The fire-god Molech was the tutelary deity of the children of Ammon, and essentially identical with the Moabitish Chemosh. Fire-gods appear to have been common to all the Canaanite, Syrian and Arab tribes, who worshipped the destructive element under an outward symbol, with the most inhuman rites. According to Jewish tradition, the image of Molech was of brass, hollow within, and was situated without Jerusalem. "His face was (that) of a calf, and his hands stretched forth like a man who opens his hands to receive (something) of his neighbor. And they kindled it with fire, and the priests took the babe and put it into the hands of Molech, and the babe gave up the ghost." Many instances of human sacrifices are found in ancient writers, which may be compared with the description of the Old Testament of the manner in which Molech was worshipped. Molech was the lord and master of the Ammonites; their country was his possession, (Jeremiah 49:1) as Moab was the heritage of Chemosh; the princes of the land were the princes of Malcham. (Jeremiah 49:3; Amos 1:15) His priests were men of rank, (Jeremiah 49:3) taking precedence of the princes. The priests of Molech, like those of other idols, were called Chemarim. (2 Kings 23:5; Hosea 10:5; Zephaniah 1:4)
http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/smiths-bible-names-dictionary/Molech |
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Families Are Forever
I love to see pictures of families in Facebook. I went to one person's page, and saw a big family. This is very common though, at least when I go onto Facebook, but it is not so common in the real world.
Today, we have an added feature of blended families. Now, children not only go to Grandma and Grandpa's house for Christmas, but they go to Grandma and Step-Granda's house, or, Step-Grandma and Grandpa's house! Very interesting. This happened years ago too, but the reason was different. Many people were widowed, and then remarried. Although that still happens today, sadly, many homes are affected by divorce.
Divorce is one of those weird things that is hard to understand in a Biblical framework. It's not hard to understand in our modern culture though. All of us come to the marriage alter with sinful, self-centered hearts, some of which are being sanctified and are growing closer to God, and away from self, while others still continue to enjoy being selfish and will use marriage to try to fulfill selfish wishes.
If life is to work right, and ultimately serve us well, we can't be selfish. We must learn to do hard work and not be afraid of doing hard things. There is no where in God's word that tells us that God created us to be 'happy'. Many think that God is here to serve us, and that we should be 'happy' because God wants us happy. It's not that God wants us happy or unhappy. That misses the whole point of why God created us. It is a trick of the devil to mislead us to make us miss the point of why God created us in the first place, which is to bring glory to His name, to be reconciled to Him, and to be filled with the 'joy of the Lord'. Simply speaking, we were created to worship God, not other things, including ourselves. Everyone is a worshipper. It is just a question of what or who is the object of worship.
If we are looking to marriage to make us 'happy' we are going to be disappointed. The Cinderella story is a lie. People don't get married and live happily ever after. God wants to make us holy, and it will not always be easy. But God promises to give us the help we need, if we want it and ask for it.
The main point though, that I want to bring out is that today, in our society, and sadly, in many of our churches, there are those who would counsel people to get a divorce. Not only for reasons of a spouse committing adultery, either. I was reading about a Christian musical artist who divorced her husband while having an affair. While she was having counseling, the counselor actually told her that her marriage had failed. The counselor also indicated that God wants us happy and if a person is not happy in the marriage, they need to get out of it. Now I ask, where is that in the Bible? If you were to ask the counselor, he or she would probably say something to the affect of, 'we see what is happening in society. The Bible was written many, many years ago, and it doesn't really apply to us today.' There are also Christians who actually believe that when culture and the Bible are in conflict, that the Bible must submit to culture. Culture is more relevant than the Bible. Can you see a problem here?
I must have my head in the sand or something like that because I am so surprised when I hear things like this, yet, this kind of teaching is rampant throughout the church in America today. This is not only contributing to the breakdown of the family, but it is leading people to misunderstand the Gospel and become false converts. How many times have you talked with someone about the Gospel only to have them tell you (with strong affirmation) that 'God is all-loving', or, 'God is all-forgiving'. While it is true that God forgives those who repent and is love, these people mean that to say basically, 'I can do whatever I want, and God will forgive me'. I run into this all the time.
We need to pray for the church and our country. We need to seek to restore what has been lost. We need to teach what the Bible says about marriage, divorce, relationships, and the Gospel. We need to know the truth, and we need to be proclaiming it.
Today, we have an added feature of blended families. Now, children not only go to Grandma and Grandpa's house for Christmas, but they go to Grandma and Step-Granda's house, or, Step-Grandma and Grandpa's house! Very interesting. This happened years ago too, but the reason was different. Many people were widowed, and then remarried. Although that still happens today, sadly, many homes are affected by divorce.
Divorce is one of those weird things that is hard to understand in a Biblical framework. It's not hard to understand in our modern culture though. All of us come to the marriage alter with sinful, self-centered hearts, some of which are being sanctified and are growing closer to God, and away from self, while others still continue to enjoy being selfish and will use marriage to try to fulfill selfish wishes.
If life is to work right, and ultimately serve us well, we can't be selfish. We must learn to do hard work and not be afraid of doing hard things. There is no where in God's word that tells us that God created us to be 'happy'. Many think that God is here to serve us, and that we should be 'happy' because God wants us happy. It's not that God wants us happy or unhappy. That misses the whole point of why God created us. It is a trick of the devil to mislead us to make us miss the point of why God created us in the first place, which is to bring glory to His name, to be reconciled to Him, and to be filled with the 'joy of the Lord'. Simply speaking, we were created to worship God, not other things, including ourselves. Everyone is a worshipper. It is just a question of what or who is the object of worship.
If we are looking to marriage to make us 'happy' we are going to be disappointed. The Cinderella story is a lie. People don't get married and live happily ever after. God wants to make us holy, and it will not always be easy. But God promises to give us the help we need, if we want it and ask for it.
The main point though, that I want to bring out is that today, in our society, and sadly, in many of our churches, there are those who would counsel people to get a divorce. Not only for reasons of a spouse committing adultery, either. I was reading about a Christian musical artist who divorced her husband while having an affair. While she was having counseling, the counselor actually told her that her marriage had failed. The counselor also indicated that God wants us happy and if a person is not happy in the marriage, they need to get out of it. Now I ask, where is that in the Bible? If you were to ask the counselor, he or she would probably say something to the affect of, 'we see what is happening in society. The Bible was written many, many years ago, and it doesn't really apply to us today.' There are also Christians who actually believe that when culture and the Bible are in conflict, that the Bible must submit to culture. Culture is more relevant than the Bible. Can you see a problem here?
I must have my head in the sand or something like that because I am so surprised when I hear things like this, yet, this kind of teaching is rampant throughout the church in America today. This is not only contributing to the breakdown of the family, but it is leading people to misunderstand the Gospel and become false converts. How many times have you talked with someone about the Gospel only to have them tell you (with strong affirmation) that 'God is all-loving', or, 'God is all-forgiving'. While it is true that God forgives those who repent and is love, these people mean that to say basically, 'I can do whatever I want, and God will forgive me'. I run into this all the time.
We need to pray for the church and our country. We need to seek to restore what has been lost. We need to teach what the Bible says about marriage, divorce, relationships, and the Gospel. We need to know the truth, and we need to be proclaiming it.
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| Besides the physical family unit, there are two basic families; God's family and the devil's family. Every person is in one of these two families. |
Friday, March 21, 2014
How Agriculture Becomes Political - Why We Should Pray and What We Should Be Praying For
You might wonder how food and politics come together in a blog. In everything I write, I am always trying to 1. not go past established boundaries, 2. not speculate too much, and 3. separate the truth from the lies. I want to be gracious as well as wise. So, with that in mind, I will attempt to write what is on my heart today.
In the olden days, people grew their own food, and ate their own food. Early Americans bartered for food and other products. The bartering system worked well and some places actually still use this method today.
Science and technology have brought about unbelievable advances in medicine, agriculture, and other necessities. One of the advancements is in our agricultural system.
Several factors are involved in this. We have a growing population of people. We have desire to expand our businesses. We have people starving in third world countries. We have an economy based on the principle of convenience. The human nature is greedy. The lust for money can never be satisfied, for when we make enough money, we always want to make more. Also, this desire, if allowed to develop, will require us to stop our consciences from working as we will have to compromise and make some unethical decisions at some point.
Farming is becoming passe. Even farmers are being discouraged. You are not cool if you are a farmer today. But really, all of this depends upon your perspective. If you base truth on what most people think is right, then you will not want to be a farmer. But if you understand a little of how the human body works, and how nourishing food helps the body stay healthy, you would reconsider your attitude about farmers.
We have a lot of people to feed, so agricultural authorities who are pragmatic are coming up with shortcuts to produce a lot of food in localized places, using as little money as necessary to feed the animals and plants. If we go a little deeper, we realize that many of these agricultural agencies are sponsored by the government. Before you decide to exit this page, realize I am trying to be objective in what I see. I believe we can critique things without being critical (although it takes a skill to do this properly).
In days past, we had small and large farms, run by skilled farmers who sold their food (or bartered) to either a middleman or to a local store. The food is grown with a lot of care. The farm didn't have to be overly huge either, because there were several farms. These farms produced enough food for everyone in the area to eat and be sustained by. The soil wasn't depleted much, and the food that was produced was nourishing. The farmers took pride in what they had done. And society was sustained by what they had done, as well.
Today, we esteem science. We hold science and technology in high honor. But in doing that, we have less appreciation for the farmer. Agriculture has now turned to science to help grow bigger, prettier, more uniform food. Much of what is being done in agriculture today is really an artificial way of producing food.
Big companies like Monsanto use methods such as genetic engineering, or genetic modification, which is a fancy way of saying that seeds are altered genetically to produce vegetables to have certain characteristics. I actually saw a blue strawberry in a magazine. At first, I thought that it looked really cool. I looked a little further though, and found that the way it was designed to be a blue strawberry was done by genetical engineering. It was a GMO product.
You are probably thinking, 'So what? a blue strawberry? Come on. What's the big deal?' Genetic modification began probably around 50 some years ago, and started with the idea in mind to produce a plant that was resistant to herbicides, and one in particular called, 'Round Up'. Soy beans were genetically modified in order that they would be resistant to dying from being sprayed with 'Round Up'. Other plants were also being genetically modified so they would be resistant to dying from being sprayed with 'Round Up'. Ultimately, this would mean that those who use Monsanto's patented soy beans could spray the herbicide around their plants and the plants will still grow, and the weeds around the plants would die. They also claim that Round Up is safe to use around food. But there are more problems with this than we could have ever imagined.
If the theory goes like Monsanto would have it, those farmers who bought the patented seed would ultimately be safe in growing their plants. Round up could be sprayed on all plants and only those that are patented by Monsanto will live. That means if it is possible to spray Round Up from a plane, the pilot could go all over the city and spray Round Up, and all the Monsanto patented plants will be ok, but others won't. Local farms will be destroyed. This might sound absurd, but the potential is there for it to happen.
Because we are a pragmatic people, and are used to convenience, we gladly use fast food restaurants as if they were going out of style. They won't go out of style though, because at almost any given hour of the day, there are long lines at the drive throughs. But all this requires a special type of farming, that can't be done on local farms. You have to have meat that will be a certain texture, and that will have a specific, appealing taste that everyone who patronizes these fast food restaurants will enjoy. So, commercial agriculture must be employed. That means that there will be big farms, with a lot of animals which have no room to move around in, and are tied up in one place. These animals eat and go to the bathroom in the same place. They are not necessarily healthy and unhealthful meat is produced as a result. But wait one second. They do spray the meat with bleach water. Do you want your piece of meat sprayed with bleach water? Animals that live on commercial farms are given antibiotics to protect them from getting sick. If you can add 2+2, you will figure out that if you eat meat from animals which come from commercial agricultural farms, you will be getting antibiotics into your body as well. Could this be a problem though?
Antibiotics can be good and life saving, if used right. When I was six, I caught Scarlet Fever and was very sick. The doctor came to the house and gave me penicillin. I was able to recover from Scarlet Fever because of the antibiotic, but once I was well, I stopped taking it. People should not take antibiotics unless they are sick and need to recover, and if there is no other means to get well. If a person continues to take antibiotics, a couple of things happen. One is that the antibiotics not only kill off the bad germs, but also the good ones. In a normal, healthy body, we refer to the good germs as our resistance. We build good immunity to fight off sicknesses. Our good immunity will be gone though if we are taking antibiotics. So if you take antibiotics, you are interrupting nature's way of staying healthy. If you eat meat from an animal which was given antibiotics, you will be compromising your immunity system.
Another thing done on these farms is to give animals growth hormones. They are given these hormones to help them grow big and fat, and to help cows produce a lot of milk. Once again, if you are eating meat or poultry which was given growth hormones, guess what? You now have growth hormones in your body as well. Could this be a reason why today, girls are going through puberty earlier than their moms did?
The problem with this also is that these subjects have been brought up to those in charge of commercial agriculture and they are unwilling to acknowledge these facts, nor do they want to do anything to change what they are doing. If they do change what they are doing, they will go out of business (and they know that). The fact of the matter is, you can't mass produce food, no matter how good technology is, and how much science you know. It just won't work. Or maybe a better way of stating this is that, it will work, but the price everyone is going to pay will be really, really high.
Commercial agriculture is much supported by the government, but it is also supported by the people. We choose to go to McDonald's, for example, even though we have seen the hamburgers that were left out for months. We choose to laugh at farmers and relegate them as primitive. Could there be a correlation between the way we eat, and the amount of sicknesses we are experiencing as a people today?
Years ago, diabetes and cancer were almost unheard of. Both diabetes and cancer have sugar as a contributor to their causes. Do you realize that almost all processed food contains some form of sugar, and many times sugar is the first ingredient listed? The FDA is who we trust to give us good guidelines on what kinds of ingredients should go into our foods and what should not be allowed. Once again, the FDA also is very liberal in their guidelines. Sugar is in almost all processed foods, yet sugar is addicting. Enough sugar and you will be sick with something. But the FDA already has your problem solved. They are always coming up with new medications to make you feel better. The FDA backs the pharmaceutical companies as well as food production companies. They seem to work hand in hand, if you can see what I am trying to say.
I can go on and on and make this post many pages, but for now, I will just leave it at this. This blog is to encourage us to pray, and I am trying to inform us of how we can be praying for the church and the country. We have allowed many wrong people into our government and now they call the shots on what we can do and what we can't. There are actually laws in the making that are going to try to stop people from being able to garden. We are ignorant of what is going on, because we are not inside the government, but as people report different things happening, the Internet is good at exposing these things. This is all stuff we can be praying for. We can pray for our farmers. We can pray for good crops and rain. We can pray that Godly men and women will be appointed into governmental positions where they can call the shots and make decisions.
If we don't pray, we could see the end of farming and gardening as we know it. We will not have any choices of what we eat. We will have to eat processed foods, and we will hear lies from authorities who say that processed food with dangerous ingredients is fine for us to eat. We could go to jail if pollen from a plant patented by Monsanto comes to our plant and produces a seed which would be a product of Monsanto, even though weren't aware of our plant being pollinated this way. Thousands of undesirable ramifications can come about, and many will unless we turn this over to God. I hope you will consider what I have written here, and I hope this article will give deeper insight into the potential problems we might have in the future.
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| Do you want to eat food sprayed with this stuff? Workers who spray plants must wear special clothing/attire for protection. Yet we eat the food they spray. Does this make sense?
This is not written to be critical of any group or person. We need to know the facts in order to be informed or life will go by, and we will wonder 'what happened?' We need to pray for those in governmental places. We need to pray for Godly men and women to run our nation and to run businesses and farms, as well as a number of other things people can be doing.
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Saturday, March 15, 2014
"Thou Shalt Not Kill"
I think most of us who were part of a church at some time in our lives, have heard the 10 Commandments. 1. You shall have no other gods before me (God speaking to us), 2. You shall not make any graven images (God speaking to us about idolatry) 3. You shall not take God's name in vain (using His name as a cuss word or filler), 4. You are to keep the Sabbath Day holy (we are to keep one day for rest and spending time with God alone) 5. Honor your father and mother, 6. You shall not kill (murder), 7. You shall not commit adultery, 8. You shall not steal, 9. You shall not bear false witness (telling something untrue about something that is true), 10. You shall not covet.
Some are easy to understand, yet some need a little explanation. All the commandments spring from the 2 commandments which tell us to 'love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength', and, 'love our neighbor (those around us) as ourselves.' If we truly did those, we could keep the 10 Commandments. The problem is that we don't have the desire or power to do that within ourselves. We can only do them if we are born again, new creatures in Christ.
The commandment to not kill is explained further in the New Testament. Jesus said that when we are angry without cause, then we have committed murder of the heart. Proverbs has a lot to say about anger also. But there is a way that many murder today, that may not consider this as murder.
I am blessed to go to a church which stands up against the practice of abortion. But, I think I am sheltered from what goes on in the real world today. If a person is an Atheist or Skeptic, it would make sense that he or she would believe abortion is ok, but when professing Christians have abortions, something is wrong. I am amazed at how many who have an abortion are encouraged by the church they attend to have the abortion. How can any Bible believing church say that having an abortion is ok, or that it is the right thing to do? Abortion is murder. It is not ok, no matter how many pastors say that it is.
If you are a Christian (born again, new heart, new creation in Christ) and you are part of a church which says that abortions are ok or even recommended, could I ask you to consider leaving that kind of church? If the church doesn't get an issue like abortion right, what other issues are they missing?
Sometimes, I think people are ignorant when they promote or have abortions, but sometimes they aren't. If you have studied in biology, the different phases of the fetus as it grows and develops, you would be in wonder of such a wonderful creation of God. You would not want to destroy it. If you are a normal person who loves your family and children, if you knew what actually took place during an abortion (and the 'doctors' are not going to tell you), you would not have the abortion. Period. No one in their right mind would do such a thing to their child, even a child who is not developed physically yet.
I don't want to go into details of what happens in an abortion, but legally, the child has to be dead in the womb in order for a true abortion to take place. If the 'doctor' performs the abortion, and the child lives, after the birthing takes place, he/she cannot kill the baby then. So, you have to ask yourself this question: why is the baby considered non-human while in the womb, but human if outside the womb? How can location change a status. The real only difference is that a baby inside the womb is attached by an umbilical cord, but when the baby comes out, the cord is cut. A cord attached to the mother for life does not determine whether a baby is human or not. That would be similar to a person who gets injured and is on life support. If the life support is taken away, he will die. Does that make him non-human?
The Bible talks about God knowing us while we are in the womb. Even if we are only a couple of weeks pregnant and take a pill to kill the baby with, it is still murder. But when the baby is older or more developed, it is harder to kill him or her, so the 'doctor' will go into the mother's womb and slice the baby up with a knife. Do you really want that to happen to your child? Not only will you have to live with that the rest of your life, but when you stand before God, you will be charged with murder.
You might say, 'I don't have the means to take care of this baby. I already have 5 children to feed.'. I understand. Have you considered putting the baby up for adoption? Many who can't have children would love to adopt some. Not only will you be doing your baby a favor, but you will be helping out another family as well.
Have you also considered having sexual relationships in marriage only? The Bible has a lot to say about sexual relationships outside of marriage, and God will judge those kinds of relationships. God can help you to have good relationships with others, but you will need to come to know Him first. You will have to let go of your 'rights' to yourself and those things that would keep you from turning to and trusting in God. You will need to trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior from sin. Jesus died to pay for all of your sins, even having an abortion. You must repent though, and turn from all sin. For more information on this, please go to http://thegospelconversation.blogspot.com or http://thecolorfulstory.blogspot.com. You could also go to http://test4gp.wordpress.com for more help.
Some are easy to understand, yet some need a little explanation. All the commandments spring from the 2 commandments which tell us to 'love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength', and, 'love our neighbor (those around us) as ourselves.' If we truly did those, we could keep the 10 Commandments. The problem is that we don't have the desire or power to do that within ourselves. We can only do them if we are born again, new creatures in Christ.
The commandment to not kill is explained further in the New Testament. Jesus said that when we are angry without cause, then we have committed murder of the heart. Proverbs has a lot to say about anger also. But there is a way that many murder today, that may not consider this as murder.
I am blessed to go to a church which stands up against the practice of abortion. But, I think I am sheltered from what goes on in the real world today. If a person is an Atheist or Skeptic, it would make sense that he or she would believe abortion is ok, but when professing Christians have abortions, something is wrong. I am amazed at how many who have an abortion are encouraged by the church they attend to have the abortion. How can any Bible believing church say that having an abortion is ok, or that it is the right thing to do? Abortion is murder. It is not ok, no matter how many pastors say that it is.
If you are a Christian (born again, new heart, new creation in Christ) and you are part of a church which says that abortions are ok or even recommended, could I ask you to consider leaving that kind of church? If the church doesn't get an issue like abortion right, what other issues are they missing?
Sometimes, I think people are ignorant when they promote or have abortions, but sometimes they aren't. If you have studied in biology, the different phases of the fetus as it grows and develops, you would be in wonder of such a wonderful creation of God. You would not want to destroy it. If you are a normal person who loves your family and children, if you knew what actually took place during an abortion (and the 'doctors' are not going to tell you), you would not have the abortion. Period. No one in their right mind would do such a thing to their child, even a child who is not developed physically yet.
I don't want to go into details of what happens in an abortion, but legally, the child has to be dead in the womb in order for a true abortion to take place. If the 'doctor' performs the abortion, and the child lives, after the birthing takes place, he/she cannot kill the baby then. So, you have to ask yourself this question: why is the baby considered non-human while in the womb, but human if outside the womb? How can location change a status. The real only difference is that a baby inside the womb is attached by an umbilical cord, but when the baby comes out, the cord is cut. A cord attached to the mother for life does not determine whether a baby is human or not. That would be similar to a person who gets injured and is on life support. If the life support is taken away, he will die. Does that make him non-human?
The Bible talks about God knowing us while we are in the womb. Even if we are only a couple of weeks pregnant and take a pill to kill the baby with, it is still murder. But when the baby is older or more developed, it is harder to kill him or her, so the 'doctor' will go into the mother's womb and slice the baby up with a knife. Do you really want that to happen to your child? Not only will you have to live with that the rest of your life, but when you stand before God, you will be charged with murder.
You might say, 'I don't have the means to take care of this baby. I already have 5 children to feed.'. I understand. Have you considered putting the baby up for adoption? Many who can't have children would love to adopt some. Not only will you be doing your baby a favor, but you will be helping out another family as well.
Have you also considered having sexual relationships in marriage only? The Bible has a lot to say about sexual relationships outside of marriage, and God will judge those kinds of relationships. God can help you to have good relationships with others, but you will need to come to know Him first. You will have to let go of your 'rights' to yourself and those things that would keep you from turning to and trusting in God. You will need to trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior from sin. Jesus died to pay for all of your sins, even having an abortion. You must repent though, and turn from all sin. For more information on this, please go to http://thegospelconversation.blogspot.com or http://thecolorfulstory.blogspot.com. You could also go to http://test4gp.wordpress.com for more help.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
It's Now Illegal To Be Homeless - In South Carolina
I haven't read the article yet, but, from the title I want to point out a couple of things.
http://truthia.com/its-now-illegal-to-be-homeless/#
The issues go deeper than homelessness in America. There are different reasons why people end up homeless. Many are out of work and can't pay the bills. Others are handicapped or retarded and have no one to take them in. Still some are just displaced, meaning, they never were trained for anything during their childhood teenage years. This could be due to lack of parental direction or possibly rebellion on the part of the child. A large portion of the homeless are lazy and looking for another way to avoid going to work and will pay the price of being homeless to get their way. And then there are some who were abused as children, and as a result, they developed multiple personalities and at present are unable to work.
One of the things I want to point out in the article is simply the fact that it is not only illegal to be homeless, but the authorities will ship the homeless into camps. This sounds very much like what happened in Germany in the 1940s. As you may recall, if you are old enough, Hitler wanted to have a pure race of people so he began the process of this by eliminating a whole nationality of people, along with a few others. There are s few videos depicting the horrible scenes of men, women, and children forced onto trains to go to their 'camps'. They were then made ready to go to the gas chambers. Over six million people died this way. Not only were the Jewish people affected, but anyone handicapped or with any kind of flaw was also sent off to these camps. It was too late to boot Hitler out of office, for the people, prior to his leadership, wanted a man like him to rule their country.
Sadly, Hitler and the Holocaust are not taught in our schools today. Somebody does not want our children to learn about the horrors of the Holocaust. Why? Because if the students become aware of what happened, they would be able to detect the signs of a future Holocaust, should one come, and may take action against it wherever possible.
The other reason why this concerns me is that there is always the problem of the homeless. Where do they go? Who is responsible for them? How can we best help these people?
The church can step in and help. I have learned a lot from those who work at homeless shelters. We have a fantastic homeless shelter in our area which takes in homeless people and families, and trains people to work with jobs they are suited for. They work on helping those who are displaced. Also, the lazy ones get weeded out as they don't want to work. Most of all, they need the Gospel. They need to hear the Gospel and they need to receive ministry. There needs to be places available that can serve this way. They need to be involved in a local church.
Give a man a fish, and you have fed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish, and you will help him be sustained for a lifetime. We don't want to give 'fish' every day to the homeless. There are times when it is appropriate to feed them. But they need to learn to be independent workers and they need to be incorporated into society where they fit.
We need to pray for the freedom in our country to remain. We need for the government to decrease, and the power of the people to increase. We need for the church to step up and serve the homeless in whatever ways possible, and train them to have jobs and careers. We also need to provide places for those who are mentally ill, retarded, and handicapped. When this happens, society will benefit, and people will begin to thrive once again. This is why we need to 'Pray for the church and Pray for the country'.
http://truthia.com/its-now-illegal-to-be-homeless/#
The issues go deeper than homelessness in America. There are different reasons why people end up homeless. Many are out of work and can't pay the bills. Others are handicapped or retarded and have no one to take them in. Still some are just displaced, meaning, they never were trained for anything during their childhood teenage years. This could be due to lack of parental direction or possibly rebellion on the part of the child. A large portion of the homeless are lazy and looking for another way to avoid going to work and will pay the price of being homeless to get their way. And then there are some who were abused as children, and as a result, they developed multiple personalities and at present are unable to work.
One of the things I want to point out in the article is simply the fact that it is not only illegal to be homeless, but the authorities will ship the homeless into camps. This sounds very much like what happened in Germany in the 1940s. As you may recall, if you are old enough, Hitler wanted to have a pure race of people so he began the process of this by eliminating a whole nationality of people, along with a few others. There are s few videos depicting the horrible scenes of men, women, and children forced onto trains to go to their 'camps'. They were then made ready to go to the gas chambers. Over six million people died this way. Not only were the Jewish people affected, but anyone handicapped or with any kind of flaw was also sent off to these camps. It was too late to boot Hitler out of office, for the people, prior to his leadership, wanted a man like him to rule their country.
Sadly, Hitler and the Holocaust are not taught in our schools today. Somebody does not want our children to learn about the horrors of the Holocaust. Why? Because if the students become aware of what happened, they would be able to detect the signs of a future Holocaust, should one come, and may take action against it wherever possible.
The other reason why this concerns me is that there is always the problem of the homeless. Where do they go? Who is responsible for them? How can we best help these people?
The church can step in and help. I have learned a lot from those who work at homeless shelters. We have a fantastic homeless shelter in our area which takes in homeless people and families, and trains people to work with jobs they are suited for. They work on helping those who are displaced. Also, the lazy ones get weeded out as they don't want to work. Most of all, they need the Gospel. They need to hear the Gospel and they need to receive ministry. There needs to be places available that can serve this way. They need to be involved in a local church.
Give a man a fish, and you have fed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish, and you will help him be sustained for a lifetime. We don't want to give 'fish' every day to the homeless. There are times when it is appropriate to feed them. But they need to learn to be independent workers and they need to be incorporated into society where they fit.
We need to pray for the freedom in our country to remain. We need for the government to decrease, and the power of the people to increase. We need for the church to step up and serve the homeless in whatever ways possible, and train them to have jobs and careers. We also need to provide places for those who are mentally ill, retarded, and handicapped. When this happens, society will benefit, and people will begin to thrive once again. This is why we need to 'Pray for the church and Pray for the country'.
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| Courtesy of 2011 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum |
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