Morning Glories : The Greatest of These

“And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:13

This is a well-known verse, I’m sure we all know it. In fact 1 Corinthians 13 is famous itself. I love how the Bible stresses our love for one another, for our neighbors and even enemies, and most importantly God. Love is important. It’s vital. Without love, what are we doing here, as Christians?

There is an exercise that I am sure many people know of, that we picked up while Carl was at preaching school. Take 1 Corinthians 13 verses 4-7, and where it says “charity” or “love”, plug your name in there and see how it reads.

Kristen is longsuffering, and is kind; Kristen envieth not; Kristen vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave herself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Does it fit? sometimes my name doesn’t fit in there right but I sure do try to make sure it does.

Today as you go on your way, try to make your name fit in that verse as well as you can.

Have a beautiful day!

Morning Glories : Children of God

“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us,
that we should be called the sons of God:” 1 John 3:1a

Besides my God and my husband, the next person who holds the most affection and adoration in my heart is my child. I am sure everyone who knows me knows this. Benjamin is very precious to me and I do what I can to ensure his safety and health, physically but most importantly spiritually. I rejoice when he rejoices and I feel my heart break when he is torn apart for whatever reason. I hate to discipline him although I know it’s necessary. I do it all because I love him dearly.

Think about all of this in light of the fact that the Father has called us His children. Don’t you think that all that applies for how God cares for us? He takes care of us physically and most importantly spiritually, feeding us by way of His word. Don’t you think He feels our joy and our sorrow? And His discipline, isn’t it difficult for Him, but necessary and out of love?

When you go about your day, do you think about how blessed you are to have a Father who bestows such love upon us and calls us His children? Doesn’t it make our life more meaningful?

It is my prayer that we all will go about our day, remembering that God is our Father and we are His children, and act accordingly. I know that as a kid I wouldn’t do certain things not only because I was taught a certain way by my wonderful parents, but because I didn’t want to bring shame to their name. I didn’t want to behave in a manner that would reflect badly upon them. That is how I believe I should act in light of the Heavenly Father claiming me as His child. I need to act in a manner that reflects positively on the claim that He has laid on my life from the moment I obeyed Him in baptism, rising anew a child of God.

I hope you all have a blessed day!

Morning Glories : Meditate!

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.” Psalm 1:1-2

Yesterday’s verse had to do with ‘oh how happy’ is the man, and so does today’s! I had a different verse picked out, one that was stuck in my head all day yesterday, but then I got to thinking about these two verses, mainly because of what verse two says about meditating on the law of the Lord. The reason this really stuck out to me was because yesterday I had a different Psalm stuck in my head and I found myself thinking about it all day and I did find that I was pretty much happy all day long.

These two verses say that the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the ungodly, who doesn’t stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of the scornful is a happy man – because his delight is in the law of the Lord and he meditates on it day and night. I found this to be true with me yesterday! As long as I had my thoughts on scripture, on godly thoughts, on things that really uplifted me… I was happy!

So I will share with you the verse that was ‘stuck’ in my head all day long, which I thought about as I went about my way:

“This is the day that the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:24

Keep that in your heart today and think about it every chance you get and see if you don’t feel happy. Doesn’t that verse, just reading it, bring a smile to your face? Each and every day that we wake up to is a blessing from God and we should rejoice and be glad in it! We may be dealing with many trials all at once, we may be sick or have sick loved ones, or maybe we just don’t feel like we got enough sleep… maybe we are dealing with money issues or find ourselves without a job, but just think… God has blessed you with another day on this earth. 

Why not make the best of it while you can? Rejoice. Be glad in it. You are able to choose the mood that you are in, why not choose to be thankful to God? See if you don’t feel blessed if you do.

I hope you all face the new day with a mind to meditate on God’s word! Have a blessed day!

All My Mistakes

We may not all have a whole lot in common with each other, as in interests and things like that. But there is at least one thing that we all inevitably have in common with one another and that is that we are all human, and we all as humans make mistakes. Even those of us {meaning, myself included} who hate to admit that we make mistakes … I am saying right now that we, I, do. I know you are thinking, duh. We all know that. There is probably not one person who honestly believes that they are never, ever at fault for anything, ever. The Bible even says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” {1 John 1:8}

I’m thinking about me here. You’ll have to excuse me for a moment. But I mean … I have made a lot of mistakes. I mean a lot. I am not proud of any of them, and I have hopefully learned from them {although sometimes the lesson needs to be heard more than once … but like I said, I’m human}. And what … I don’t know  if this is the right word, but what baffles me is how patient God is with me. With me. I’m a mother of a nearly 3-year-old {don’t go gettin' teary-eyed on me, now, Kristen!} and I have a new puppy who pushes my buttons and things get ‘hairy’ around here {especially lately with my brand-new Achilles tendinitis, YAY D:} … and I admit that patience is not always my strong point … okay, hardly ever. But God… God is so patient with me, even when I make the same mistakes over and over and over. Do you know what some of my favorite verses are?

“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” - Romans 5:6-8

While WE {you, me, everyone!} were yet sinners, Christ DIED {not only died, but faced the most excruciatingly painful death known to man!!} for US {the UNGODLY!}. Why? Because He LOVES us.

I feel like you could knock me down with a feather every time I read that passage.

I am soooo not perfect, but because of verses like these, I want to try my hardest. It’s only right, right?

Thank God for second chances!! And third, and fourth, and fifth…

But with that we also have to remember that some day there may not be another chance… “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” Hebrews 9:27; “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” James 4:14

 

I was reminded about this tonight as we watched two very dear friends get remarried – to each other. And I was thinking how powerful forgiveness is, and love, and the desire to reconcile with each other even when the most unthinkable have come between two people. But think about it. Doesn’t God do that every time we sin and then come back to Him in repentance? Amazing.

It just … wow. Amazing.

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And I just wanted, while I have your attention {that is, if} to say that I was featured over at Marli’s blog and I am so humbled by being featured over there! You should definitely check out her blog – she is such a sweet young woman! We don’t know each other very well but I love her dearly and her sweet sister Memory too.

Morning Glories: The Winning Team

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
Matthew 16:33

Life is difficult sometimes. It is heartbreaking to see the state that the world is in, with the perversions that exist. Sometimes it is overwhelming because we Christians have been commissioned to fight that. We’re to go out and spread the good news in a world of bad news and sometimes it is just so overwhelming, especially when the good news is not the popular thing to be spreading in this day and age.

But Christ has given us this gem of hope. “I have overcome the world.” Because of this, we can be of good cheer and we can have peace. Christ has already won the victory, that much is certain. He has vanquished the final enemy: death.

Christ has already told us that He is always with us (Matthew 28:20). God is on our side!

“What shall we then say to these things?
If God be for us, who can be against us?”
Romans 8:31

We can fight! God is with us, Christ is with us, and we know then that we are on the winning team. We have hope, while the enemy has none. We can have peace, while the enemy can have none. Be of good cheer.

I hope you all have a beautiful day and think of ways to be courageous! Remember that God is with you!

None of Self and All of Thee

I know that most everyone here knows about the monster tornadoes that ripped through the South Wednesday evening. I know that a lot of you have probably suffered damages, or you know personally people who have. There is a congregation in Tuscaloosa that has lost their building to the monster tornado that ripped through there. The Central church of Christ was completely ravaged and we decided, almost spur of the moment {as I am sure many things have been lately… you can’t really plan extensively for things like this}, that we would try to get a group together to take supplies up to Tuscaloosa and help the Central church of Christ as much as we possibly could.

Yesterday was a busy day for many of us as the congregation here, as many as we could get in touch with, worked hard to gather supplies and basic necessities to distribute to those in need in Tuscaloosa. Our kitchen area was filled to bursting with clothes, food, toiletries, candles, diapers, and so much more.

You have to understand… we had about 8 hours to collect all this stuff. This is also around the time when people were getting off work or for some still working. We weren’t able to call everyone up but those whom we did call… boy did they deliver! We are SO proud to be associated with this giving, selfless congregation. What a blessing!

Anyway, so we went to bed after midnight and we were up at 6:45 rushing to get ready. This included getting ourselves ready and making sure we had everything ready for Benjamin to go to the babysitter’s house. We were so blessed by Mrs. Amelia who agreed promptly to keep him all day for us on such short notice. I am serious she was here around like 9PM last night and we asked her then and she was so happy to oblige. This meant that we could both go with the folks to Tuscaloosa to help and not have to worry about Benjamin getting in the way. We toyed with the idea for a while of bringing his stroller so he could sit in it and everything but once we got there… it would not have been possible or safe for him to be there.

We set off around 7:40 for Tuscaloosa. It’s about an hour’s drive for us and we made good timing I’d say. Once we got into the city you could start seeing the destruction but it was really getting heavier the closer we got to the church building. As we were driving I could feel my heart drop to the pit of my stomach as I saw the houses and buildings that were just leveled to the ground, and the trees and electric poles that had been felled. Members of the National Guard were blocking off some roads {hummers, heavy-duty guns, the works} that were impassable to the public. We finally got to the building and I was … speechless. There are no adequate words to describe what we saw. A picture speaks a thousand words, so here are a few thousand for you:

{one of the soldiers hung his jacket on an up-turned desk outside to better help out}

{The church van crushed by the steel beams}

{church bus also crushed}

{can you believe it?}

{mattress hanging on a tree}

{I read that there were tons of old, old trees all over this neighborhood – gone.}

{can you tell that the wall is leaning? there is a sign that warns you that the wall could very well fall at any given moment}

{there is glass EVERYWHERE.}

{there is another chandelier tangled up against the wall too}

{looking at the neighborhood}

{National Guard at the end of the street}

{this was upstairs in a classroom that as you can tell was blown pretty much away. Carl took this and he says that it was just totally undisturbed. Isn’t that crazy?}

{another shot from upstairs looking out at the houses surrounding}

Absolutely incredible… considering there were six college-aged members in the building at the time of the tornado, and they reportedly said that it lasted about 15-20 seconds… and that is all it took for this tornado to rip this beautiful building apart.

I’m going to be completely honest with you, though. It wasn’t the total destruction of this building that touched my heart, nor the rubble that used to be houses littering the streets. What touched my heart more than anything else was the fact that this congregation of the Lord’s people were not concerned with their building. Yes, there were people bringing out things as they could to salvage, but most people were not concerned with the building. Instead, they were feeding fellow tornado victims. I watched as they had an assembly line of people packing lunches of hotdogs and hamburgers into grocery bags, including a slip of paper that personally invited the people who would receive these to worship with the church of Christ in their area. These lunches were passed out to people everywhere in the area. And not only that but they had tables and tables of clothes and toiletries and diapers and food and other things for people to come and get what they needed.

I couldn’t help but to think that this congregation was being that light on the hill, shining through this dark time in so many people’s lives. This is what Christians should do in the face of such destruction. Use it as an opportunity to reach out to others and show them the love of God.

Like many others in Alabama I am sure, I left there changed, and for the better.

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Would you like to help? Your prayers are valued more than anything, but if you would like to help in monetary efforts, here are a few links to check out:

http://www.servealabama.gov/2010/2011%20Tornadoes/Response.aspx – The Governor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/04/alabama_tornadoes_how_you_can.html – A list of places you can donate to in Alabama
http://www.alredcross.org/index.asp?IDCapitulo=DRGYJ0Q5XZ – The American Red Cross
{Call: 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767) and you will be prompted to a menu that includes financial donations
Text: "Red Cross" to 90999.}
http://www.everribbon.com/ribbon/view/442 - To specifically donate to the church for their rebuilding.

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Higher than the highest heaven,
Deeper than the deepest sea,
Lord, Thy love at last has conquered:
“None of self, and all of Thee.”
None of self, and all of Thee,
None of self, and all of Thee,
Lord, Thy love at last has conquered:
“None of self, and all of Thee.”

Rest Assured: You Can!

There are some people who are turned off of Christianity because all they hear about are things that they can’t do. A lot of the time, Christians mostly focus on the things that you shouldn’t do – and I am guilty of this as well. A lot of the time I may see something that someone has written, an article or blog post, and repost it because I believe it is something that needs to be read by many people. Ignorance is never an excuse and I never want to be held accountable for something because I didn’t pass the word along to someone when I knew that I could have.

However, I want to take the time right now not to focus on things that you can’t do in your Christian life, but things that you can do.

Maybe you never realized this but Christianity is more about what you can do over what you can’t do, although the two go hand in hand most of the time. The blood of Christ frees us from the bondage of sin and gives us freedom under the law of Christ! Christianity is not supposed to be a burden on us and the law of Christ is not supposed to be grievous {Matthew 11:30; 1 John 5:3}. It’s not so much about what you can’t or shouldn’t do, but what you can and should do.

So what can you do?

Well, for starters, you can cast all your cares upon Christ. As Christians, you have the privilege to carry all of your burdens to Christ and letting Him take care of it for you. 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Casting all your care upon Him; for He cares for you.” The way I read that doesn’t just mean that Christ cares about you, but that when you cast your care upon Him, He takes care of it for you. He cares for you so that you don’t have to do it.

By doing so, you can have peace of mind! Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Be careful for nothing could be translated as, “Don’t worry!” – achieved by casting all our cares upon Christ! And then? We can have peace! The peace of God, which surpasses all that we can ever understand will keep our minds and hearts! We can be at peace with whatever we are going through because God grants us this peace when we hand things over to Him. Sometimes it feels like everyone around us has too many worries to count, and wouldn’t it just be nice to be able to not worry? To have a peace of mind for once? Well in Christ, you can!

Also, you can have hope in eternity! Isn’t that what drives us, as Christians? Knowing that in the end, when this life is over and we have won the victory, we still have hope in heaven and in heaven we will be with Christ Jesus our Lord! Those who do not obey God and who do not know His love do not have this hope {Ephesians 2:12}, but as Christians, you do have this hope and it makes all the difference in this life. What makes our trials and temptations bearable? Knowing that “this world is not my home”. We are sojourners in this life, merely here on earth for a time and later we will go home to be with God the Father in eternity, in heaven where Christ is preparing a place for us! “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” {John 14:2-3}

{How can you? I was in the midst of writing this when Amanda posted this wonderful blog post that fits right in with this point. Take the time and go over to her blog to check out what she has to say on the matter!}

What you can do as a Christian is much more important that what you can’t do, though it does not negate the need to obey God’s commandments concerning all things. You can’t do any of the above if you don’t obey, but when you do obey, you can rest assured that you can be blessed.

Christianity is not a religion, it’s a relationship, and when you are in the right relationship with God and with Christ, then you can enjoy the bountiful blessings that can only be found within Christ Jesus our Lord {Ephesians 1:3}.

Morning Glories: Glorifying God

“Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works,
and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
Matthew 5:16

One of my daily goals should always be to glorify God. I will be the first to admit to you that I am not perfect and that I do not always have my head in the right place. I need verses like this one to remind me that my purpose should be to glorify God in my daily life, and how exactly to do it.

Let your light so shine. We know that Christians are often described as being lights in a dark world. Am I living up to this? I like to think that I am living up to this description with my daily life. The way I dress, the way I talk, the way I handle certain situations. There have been times in my life even recently where I knew that I was struggling to shine my light for others to see and in those situations what do you do? For me, I had to eliminate those situations from my life.

Prioritizing can be so hard sometimes because we are all the time finding new things to do or new places to be. Our schedules are filled to the brim and it’s hard to ‘make time’ for the things that really matter: Bible study, prayer, teaching others, doing good deeds for others.

It is said that it takes 32 days to develop a good habit. Maybe if we do our best to prioritize better for 32 days it will just come naturally for us!

This is just a little reminder to me, and to you, what the goal of a Christian should be. Glorifying the Father with our good works by letting our light shine in this dark world. You can’t be seen if you hide out in your house or if you do everything in secrecy. Let your light shine today and every day and make it your mission to glorify God in everything you do!

I hope your day is filled with blessings! If you have tips or ideas on how to prioritize and keep on track, please do share in the comments!

Morning Glories: Crucified With Christ

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20

This is a verse that was brought up Sunday at the Young Adult devo and it has always been one that I have always enjoyed. As a young kid it was probably one of the first that I learned by heart that stuck with me because of the song we would sing at Bible Camp. I can’t read this verse without singing the song in my head.

This is a verse that is filled with hope. We have been crucified with Christ when we become Christians. And yet we rise again a new creature from the watery grave of baptism, and we live. But we’re not the ones living anymore. We don’t live for ourselves. We should be mere vessels for Christian living.

I just love this verse because it puts to word what a Christian really is. We’ve been buried with Christ and risen again, and now we live a life for him, or at least that is what we should always strive for. We live our lives by faith in Christ, who died for our sins because He loved us so immensely, even as sinners!

I will never be able to repay the price that Christ paid for my sins, but I can live my life for Him since He gave His for me.

I hope that I live each day of my life in a worthy manner reflecting my gratitude for this sacrifice, and I pray you try to do the same as well! Have a blessed day!

Morning Glories : The Greatest of These

“And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:13

This is a well-known verse, I’m sure we all know it. In fact 1 Corinthians 13 is famous itself. I love how the Bible stresses our love for one another, for our neighbors and even enemies, and most importantly God. Love is important. It’s vital. Without love, what are we doing here, as Christians?

There is an exercise that I am sure many people know of, that we picked up while Carl was at preaching school. Take 1 Corinthians 13 verses 4-7, and where it says “charity” or “love”, plug your name in there and see how it reads.

Kristen is longsuffering, and is kind; Kristen envieth not; Kristen vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave herself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Does it fit? sometimes my name doesn’t fit in there right but I sure do try to make sure it does.

Today as you go on your way, try to make your name fit in that verse as well as you can.

Have a beautiful day!

Morning Glories : Children of God

“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:”
1 John 3:1a

Besides my God and my husband, the next person who holds the most affection and adoration in my heart is my child. I am sure everyone who knows me knows this. Benjamin is very precious to me and I do what I can to ensure his safety and health, physically but most importantly spiritually. I rejoice when he rejoices and I feel my heart break when he is torn apart for whatever reason. I hate to discipline him although I know it’s necessary. I do it all because I love him dearly.

Think about all of this in light of the fact that the Father has called us His children. Don’t you think that all that applies for how God cares for us? He takes care of us physically and most importantly spiritually, feeding us by way of His word. Don’t you think He feels our joy and our sorrow? And His discipline, isn’t it difficult for Him, but necessary and out of love?

When you go about your day, do you think about how blessed you are to have a Father who bestows such love upon us and calls us His children? Doesn’t it make our life more meaningful?

It is my prayer that we all will go about our day, remembering that God is our Father and we are His children, and act accordingly. I know that as a kid I wouldn’t do certain things not only because I was taught a certain way by my wonderful parents, but because I didn’t want to bring shame to their name. I didn’t want to behave in a manner that would reflect badly upon them. That is how I believe I should act in light of the Heavenly Father claiming me as His child. I need to act in a manner that reflects positively on the claim that He has laid on my life from the moment I obeyed Him in baptism, rising anew a child of God.

I hope you all have a blessed day and don’t forget to pray! :}

Pressing On …

There have been times, even recently, where people have thanked me for my example of a Christian woman, wife, and mother. I am humbled by such a statement and truly do not find myself worthy of that sort of gratitude. I do strive to live my life in front of others to be an example of purity. I suppose I know my faults and my flaws better than anyone else, and this is why I have such a hard time thinking myself a good example. To those who have said such to me recently, I want you to know that you have touched my heart. I am far from perfect in my actions and words and thoughts, but I am striving. I discussed this with my husband not too long ago and he told me that I’m not perfect, but I am faithful, and that’s what matters. It’s hard dealing with imperfections. But I am ever so thankful for Christ’s blood which covers  me and continuously cleanses me. Each and every day I am more and more thankful for my decision on September 15, 2003 to become baptized into Christ, to wash my sins away and free me from the bondage of sin.

After spending nearly a week at the Memphis School of Preaching lectureship, learning about the Behavior of Faith, I have been really looking inward. I have been reflecting on myself and I see what I need to change – not a want, a need – and I am learning how. I never knew that this life would be such a journey, filled with the twists and turns and bumps and dips. I try to think  back and see how I got to where I am now, who it was that helped me along the way so much… I can name a few people, and I just attempted to but deleted because I did not want to leave anyone out and feel bad for it later.

I owe it most of all to God, because HE is the One who has blessed me with all the other people who have helped me along the way. God is so good. It saddens me to know that there are people out there who live without Him in their lives and are perfectly fine with it. I feel so sorry for those who will never know the blessings found only in Christ Jesus.

A sincere thank you to all my friends who have helped me along the way, even in the smallest ways. I hope that you will continue to help me. I’ve decided that now is the time to transform my life, renew my spirit and zeal and love for Christ. I’m going to blog about it when I get the chance. I hope you don’t mind. :)

I’m pressing on the upward way,
New heights I’m gaining every day;
Still praying as I’m onward bound,
“Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”

Lord, lift me up and let me stand,
By faith, on Heaven’s tableland,
A higher plane than I have found;
Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

My heart has no desire to stay
Where doubts arise and fears dismay;
Though some may dwell where those abound,
My prayer, my aim, is higher ground.

I want to live above the world,
Though Satan’s darts at me are hurled;
For faith has caught the joyful sound,
The song of saints on higher ground.

I want to scale the utmost height
And catch a gleam of glory bright;
But still I’ll pray till heav’n I’ve found,
“Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”

What is WRONG with us?!

I am so appalled.

We don’t have cable TV or anything so I don’t know much at all about new movies that are coming out or different shows that are on TV. I just know about ones that I might be interested in. But I do find out about movies via Facebook sometimes, if someone has gone to see or is going to see a new movie that is out, and I can sometimes go look it up to see what it’s all about, out of curiosity’s sake.

There are some movies out there that I really don’t have to look up, though, especially ones with curse words in the title or other titles with sinful connotations.

And okay, I have given up on being surprised with the nasty garbage that Hollywood puts out. It’s to be expected. {That doesn’t mean I don’t think it is wrong, because I do, I’ve just stopped being surprised by it all}

But what has me so appalled and what makes my stomach churn is when I see members of the Lord’s body posting on Facebook that “_____________ is my favorite movie of all time!!!” or “I’m going to see ________________!!!” or “I just saw ________________ and it was [insert positive adjective here]!!!”

What is wrong with us?! Why is it okay for Christians to go see these types of sinful movies?! And we can’t blame it on “well I didn’t know it was going to be like that” because the great thing about having information right at our fingertips is that we can look up things like this on the internet if we have any question. And let’s face it. If it’s got bad stuff in it, even the mild stuff is going to be in the advertisements because that is how Hollywood draws the WORLD in.

Are we the WORLD? NO! We are separate from the world!! Or, we are supposed to be anyway! And yet I see all the time about Christians going to see movies like the Hangover {Hello, HANGOVER? yes, that sounds like a GREAT, wholesome movie there…}!! Really?? Really??

There is this great website called Kids In Mind that gives movie reviews and ratings so that families can see if they are appropriate to take their kids to {or let their kids go to – a side note, if your kid is not an adult and lives at home with you: YOU HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY TO SAY NO!}. I went to it today when I saw that a Christian young lady was going to see the Hangover and right there on the front page:

And let me also say that I COULD NOT stomach the reasons why they had such high ratings {because you can click on the movie and see what content was rated}. It was DISGUSTING.

WHY is a Christian going to see this movie, and what’s more, WHY ARE HER PARENTS ALLOWING THIS?!

I am just so, so appalled by this.

Parents NEED to take responsibility and Christians need to stop giving place to the devil!

And now I’ll get off of my little soap box here… ugh, I need to go scrub my eyeballs!

Jesus, the Great Physician

Every time I start to get sick, I can just imagine what my mom will tell me. If it has to do with a cold or any of those symptoms, whatever she has to say has something to do with Vitamin C. I'm no doctor, but I figure there's something to that Vitamin C. Usually if I am coming down with a cold, I can get rid of the symptoms pretty quick if I boost my Vitamin C intake, whether it be by supplements, or orange juice, that sort of thing. It is taking a lot more to get rid of the sickness we're getting over now, but a little more Vitamin C makes a bigger difference, to me at least.



We live in a Sin-Sick world. You can't deny it. This world is full of depraved people, perverse minds, and people who just don't care a thing about what God expects of them in their lives. It's sad. It is so, so sad. The devil has so many followers. He has infected this world, and the disease of sin is spreading like wildfire. We can't turn blind eyes against this. If you don't see the fire, you're in danger of being burned as well. This world is sick. And all of the Vitamin C in the world can't help it.



But there is One who can help. Jesus Christ, the Great Physician.

"When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." Mark 2:17

Christians have the responsibility to bring the Great Physician into their home. Parents usually do not hesitate to take care of their children when they are physically ill. Usually Hubby and I will watch Benjamin and if he doesn't get any better with our home care, we call the doctor and set up an appointment. However, when one is Sin-Sick, there should be no waiting. If there is Sin in the home, the Great Physician must be brought in right away. We all know how serious Sin is, left unattended.

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23

Christian parents have a huge responsibility to keep their children Spiritually Well. While there does come a time when the child is able to make adult decisions, when the child is under your roof, they are your responsibility. The Father/Husband should be the highest earthly authority, and Christ, the Great Physician, is always to be the Highest Authority.

I don't have teenagers. It wasn't too long ago that I was a teenager. I'm only 21. I can remember very well the feeling that sometimes came over me of just wanting to do my own thing, or doing what my friends were doing. A verse that always brought me down to earth was this one:

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." 1 John 2:15

We can't be a part of the world, and be a part of God's family as well. It is the parents' responsibility to keep our children separated from the world.

Now. The entertainment industry is thriving, and honestly it seems all young folks, or perhaps just everyone in general, revolve around the latest movies, music, shows, and sometimes books. We don't have cable in our house so usually we don't know what new movie is playing.

But I do know of one movie that I won't even list on my blog because even the title of this movie has a curse word in it. And it broke my heart completely when I saw that a Christian young man that is even a member of my family was going to see this movie. And even more than that, his brother was going with him... and who was taking them? Their dad.

Their dad was taking them to see a movie which had the title of profane language.

What is wrong with this picture? Well, everything. You know, what would happen if we got to Heaven and there was a log of every single movie we had ever seen right there in God's hands. And His finger would run down the page and point out every movie that you really shouldn't have seen and then He'd ask you, "Why?"

Or maybe He'd ask the parent, "Why did you let My child fill their head with this filth?"

I don't want to be the parent who is responsible for that sin. I never want to be that parent.

Christian parents have the medicine for any sin that infects our children. We have the Bible. We have God's word, which sanctifies us.

"Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." John 17:17

We can't let our consciences become seared {1 Timothy 4:2}. We can't become like the world, and we certainly can't let our children become Sin-Sick either.



We need to take this Sin-Sick world to the Great Physician, starting with our own families, if there is a need.

Perfection.

I wouldn't say that I am a perfectionist in many ways. I've already shared my thoughts on why my house is not clean, and many other things just aren't at the top of my priority for being perfect. There are a few things that I will put extra effort into because I feel like it should be perfect, and more often than not it's just me having standards much too high to be realistic. In fact, so many times it seems that whatever it is I am stressing over perfection about, it happens to be something that I have no control over, or perhaps only partial control. Relationships - I want them all to be perfect, but nobody is perfect.

Well, except God. God is perfect. The Divine Trinity. Father, Son, Holy Ghost. All perfect. And everything they do is perfect. I am so very thankful to have that knowledge. To know that whatever God does, it is always perfect. He has perfect wisdom and perfect power. Everything He has done, and everything He will ever do.

God's Word? Perfect.

His scheme of redemption? Perfect.

His requirements for repentance? Perfect.

And while we sometimes try to 'fix' these to our own liking, try to force other requirements into the equation or take some away, God's standards do not change. I take a lot of comfort in the fact that God does not change. There's no reason for Him to change: He is perfect, and all He has done... well, you get the picture.

I am so thankful that we don't have to submit to man's requirements in order to gain Salvation. I am so thankful that we don't have to submit to man's requirements in order to gain forgiveness.

But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
(Galatians 1:8-9)

God's way is the perfect way, God's standards perfect, God's judgement perfect. While I am not perfect, I take great comfort in knowing that God is. While those surrounding us are not perfect

God IS.

And I am thankful.

TTYVDKFQTJTV

Pet Peeve.

I have a few pet peeves. I can't stand it when people enter through the doors marked "Exit", and exit through the doors marked "Enter". It drives me crazy when people drive in the rain with their lights off, or fail to use their blinkers while turning. I could name a few others, but none of them come close to annoying me quite as much as my #1 pet peeve: Unhappy Christians.

I can't begin to describe how irritated I feel when I see or hear a Christian going on and on about how terrible their life is. I'm not saying we can't get angry or we can't have bad days or even that we can't vent (this is a sort of vent really). But there is something very wrong when a Christian claims to hate their life. Maybe we need to reevaluate what truly makes us happy in life. Perhaps we should remember that Christians have been washed by the blood of Jesus Christ, and have hope of heaven. Shouldn't that daily make us happy? No matter what happens, we aren't living for this life, but the next - and knowing that we have this hope... shouldn't that make everything else minor? This life is SO temporary. We don't need to forget that as Christians, we have been blessed with all the spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3).

Christians should be happy. I suggest any unhappy Christians listen to the sermon "I'm Blessed, Are You?" by Eric Owens. Study your bible, pray when you have troubles, and thank God daily for everything He has blessed you with.