COMPLAINERS BEWARE

I have been posting for quite a while now. And I was wondering; do most of my posts contain complaining? I have gone on about one subject or the other, but I would not like to be considered as a person who complains alot.

Blogs and other forms of internet media allow the everyday person to get his thoughts and opinions off of their chest. In a world of anonymity, we can feel free to say whatever we like without reprecussions. I never wanted to be one who would write one thing and then hide from it.

While pondering if I were a complainer; I began to think about the Jews Moses led out of slavery from Egypt. They complained when they were slaves and complained when they were free. Do I have the complaining spirit of those led out of bondage in the Book of Exodus? I don't want to be a complainer. Well the next question must be asked: What kind of blogger do I want to be?

Well I would like to be encouraging, thought provoking, and humorous. With little feedback I hope I have accomplished a little of what I set out to do. I hope I have not just used this platform to grumble and moan about everything that is wrong in the world (my world). I hope I have said something that made someone say: "That was something new and different."

Anyway, I know with all of my complaining there is thankfulness. I am happy for all of you who have stopped by and checked me out. I am happy to soon have two of my manuscripts published. I am happy that I am getting a grip on how to use all of this technology. I am just thankful for you all out there.

Let me share a favorite passage of mine from the Bible that keeps me in balance at times:

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time to war and a time for peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

So if I have been in a time of complaining I will definitely be in a time of cheering. Whatever your complaint is today----BEWARE---- you will also have a time of cheering.

The Devil Gets The Credit

I have a story for you.

After Hurricane Katrina many people who were not affected by the storm, claimed they were; getting boo-coo of food stamps. Going on food shopping sprees loading up their freezers and cabinets with all kinds of goodies. It was high times.

Fast forward a year and in the mail is a statement saying because of fraud all of the money would have to be paid back. A date for review of the case was set. Money or time in jail would be the outcome.

What does the person accused of foodstamp fraud do? Go to church and say the devil is busy - yall pray for me. After many prayer circles and prayer groups the person heard a message from God: "The devil will not be victorious. Everything is going to be alright."

Sure and satisfied God was with them, on the appointed day of the review, the person was shown leniency. Instead of paying back thousands of dollars, a mere $300 was the penalty. Rejoicing and praises to God were offered. And finally what has become a Christian idiom was said "What the devil meant for evil, God turned it to good."

During the whole ordeal I was dumbfounded. How did the devil become involved in this?
A person, a Christian person willfully chose to be deceptive and lie. Once caught the person ran to God to clean up a legal mess and to battle with the devil. Does anyone realize bad choices equal bad consequences?

Again, a person who goes to work and does the bare minimum their job requires, talks on the telephone all day, comes in late, and is not the most productive employee will declare the devil is busy if they are terminated.

Where is self reflection? Where is growth and change.

I told a cousin of mine how tired I was of hearing how busy the devil is. According to the Bible the devil does not have power or authority over Christians. Christians can speak to the devil, tell him to go, and he will flee. The devil it seems is not that occupied with people that already serve him, so where exactly and with whom is the devil busy with? She was appauled at my statement. "The devil IS busy! He is always up to something."

The devil is busy. But he is getting too much credit for our human busy-ness. We do alot of things without any nudging from the devil because it has become a part of our daily living. If he can be blamed for everything then we have no need to try to do what is right.

There are bad things that happen for no other apparent reason than it had to be from evil, but there are a lot of things we set in motion ourselves. Temptation is everywhere but choice comes from within.

As I looked at my cousin when she said she believed the devil was busy, I could see she honestly believed it. We have to have an enemy to blame our pains on or we would have to come to the realization that we are sometimes the enemy of ourselves. It is easier to get compassion from others if there is a common enemy. Would we actually admit to another that we are responsible for some of our bad situations? But that is exactly what God wants us to do. Reflect on our own behavior and strive to change it for the better.

The devil knows and is happy he gets blamed for everything because we will have no reason to change. Genesis stated he was the craftiest of all creatures. He has no problem taking the credit for bad as long as you continue with the bad instead of saying "GET THEE BEHIND ME SATAN."

Facebook Frienemies

I didn't want to, but I was forced to come into the 21st century four months ago and join the facebook world.

As an author constantly on the lookout for new topics and inspiration for my writing, I needed to expand my resources; so I joined facebook.

The first day of friending and reading I HATED FACEBOOK and could not understand why anyone would be a part of such a community.

There was a lot of cursing, praying, farm life news (the game I guess), and business sharing. I poked around and read some profiles and discovered people really enjoy describing themselves in the utmost positive light. There were several people who enjoyed various activities, open minded, and fun loving. These people seemed very interesting in their likes and dislikes. One would believe the world is full of beautiful people doing beautiful things at all times.

Of course the picture albums with the standard booty poses and thug love poses can't be beat. People are living it up on facebook. They eat, they drink, they are sad and sick, but most of all they like what others have to say.

I DID NOT LIKE FACEBOOK --- AT FIRST.

After about a week I became drawn into "what will they post next?" Was it going to be "I am so full," "I am blessed," "haterz hating today," or a wonderful new happy picture? I was on a high because I got to peruse over people's lives and loves. It became a secret addiction. I personally do not have anything I want to share that much, but I do comment here and there.

I feel a little happy for all of the people enjoying their lives and making connections with others. With life filled with so much stress you can unwind and enjoy someone elses good day. There is always someone with a word of wisdom or encouragement, or a partial sermon sprinkled in. It's like reality t.v. on asmaller scale.

I only have a few facebook friends. One of my daughters has over 500 friends, how and why I do not know. I have been sent a bouquet of flowers for Mother's Day and have taken a quiz or two.

Not too long ago I sent out requests for people to friend me. South Park did a spoof on a kid without any facebook friends and how sad he was. I did not know anything about facebook at the time so I was out of the loop on the joke. Now I am the kid without a lot of facebook firends. My kids say it is because I am too old. I can't believe I am at that time in my life when I can be considered too old for something. So there is age descrimination on facebook I guess. But I have no interest to friend those cursing kids with their secret language codes.But exactly how many friends are enough on facebook anyway?

But as with all love relationships, the thrill is waning. I don't get the rush like I did before. I do not like arguing social or political issues; also add religious issues. Some things are too private even for facebook. I have joined many wonderful writing groups, geneaology gruops and religious groups. But I do not rush to facebbok to read and look at the photo albums anymore.

I guess I am a fickle friend. Now my facebook activity is more related to my career endeavours. I mean if I could max out and have 5,000 friends I would have a large vein for resource and research.

So, am I a friend or enemy of Facebook? I guess we are FRIENEMIES.

Shirley Sherrod Should Sue!!!

I try to stay away from extreme controversial political issues. But I could not sleep last night after this woman was accused of racism.

Over and over again the edited tape was played fanning the flames of racism: BLACK WOMAN HATES WHITES.

Consequently she lost her job and everyone is blaming the other. I say SUE!!!! I've watched enough of Judge Judy to know she has a case of libel. This woman's reputation was harmed and she lost her job.

When I was young I trusted the news. When I became an adult, I became a little more cautious about what was reported but I knew it would not be an out and out lie. Now, it is one news organization beating up on another news organization and saying whatever the demographic wants to hear and they eat it up. Is there any wonder the Bible said the people will be fooled by a false messiah? The masses are fooled by everyone as long as they think and say what they want to hear.

I now listen to BBC and other countries to tell me about my own country and NO I don't trust them either, but I want to know how the rest of the world is viewing our stupidity.

Once a great nation now a pack of wolves devouring ourselves as other nations look on. We hate each other plain and simple. We will not survive long and everyone but America knows it.

America use to go to the rescue of other nations mistreating their countrymen. Now, several nations have signed on with Mexico against Arizona's immigration stance. We use to go on missionary trips to evangelize other countries. Now, other countries come to the U.S. in missionary efforts.

WAKE UP PEOPLE. I use to love Fox News, now I am sad for them and feel shame as they plug their political agenda for the day. Their dignity has been sold. It is a hate station now, not news. It has never been "news" that people dislike minorities and a new minority is bar-b-qued each day.

The liberal networks have to keep up with them by dismissing everything they report which is like high shcool kids fighting and gossiping. Where do real people go for what is actually happening in the U.S. with no political agenda.

GROW UP PEOPLE. You are creating a nation of angry, bitter people. It does take the eye off individual lives but this garbage that is suppose to be news is depressing. Does everyone get up in the morning wanting to fight?

SUE SUE SUE SUE SUE!!!!!

Stop the slander of people. Show that we can be a Christian nation again. Who is benefiting from all of this. There are some people getting rich and they are not the fired up listeners.

Sorry if you do not share my views and I know I spoke against the God Like Fox News. Remember, we are all humans wanting to live in some kind of peace. Turn away from all of this ugliness.

Christian Women and Depression

I live in a small rural community. On every corner there is a church. For every large family group there is a church that goes back from generation to generation. Everyone knows the family you belong to if not you personally. It is a die hard Christian community.

There is a secret though. Look into the eyes of the many God fearing women and you will noticed fixed dialated pupils. The majority of the women 30 and over are on antidepressants. After 29, it is pretty much standard proceedure to be prescribed something for depression.

With such a large Christian population it would seem there is no time for sadness for the saved. The women follow the Proverbs account of a Godly woman. Most teach the little ones in Sunday school and the rest reveling in being a great southern cook. Butttttttttt.

In small groups away from the Christian man, there are whispers of discontent mingled with the fear of missing heaven. Anger turned inward is depression. the inability to say what's on your mind builds. I was privy to a post of a woman who was a part of the quiverful movement and she said she was a closet alcoholic. Her inability or the overwhelming demand of being the perfect Christian wife, mother, and woman left her to find solace in being absent in life through drinking.

Can the demands of being a Godly Christian woman be leading to the large amount of antidepressants being prescribed for these women. In Utah, there is a high incidence of antidepressant use by those women of the Mormon faith. Is there a link? Statistics indicate that 11 percent of women and 5 percent of men who are taking antidepressants. I believe that total is low. Are Christian women trying to just get through their Christian lives?

Surveys of alcohol use among African Americans point to the positive relationship between religious participation and abstaining from alcohol, for both women and men (Caetano and Herd 1984; Herd 1988; Herd and Grube 1996). A strong commitment to religious values and church participation has been a significant component of family life for many African Americans. As the central pillar supporting the African American community, the black church provides spiritual, social, emotional, and economic resources (Lincoln and Mamiya 1990). Most African Americans are affiliated with Baptist denominations, which are characterized by a lack of tolerance for consuming alcohol (Herd 1996). In addition, African American women participate in religious activities to a higher degree than African American men (Taylor et al. 1999). Their high rate of abstention is consistent with the norms of their religious denominations. Thus, African American women’s level of religious participation may serve a protective function, buffering them from higher rates of alcohol use.

Well, alcohol is a no-no for Christians, but, antidepressants are more acceptable. PLEASE do not take from this post that those needing medical help for depression and other mental illnesses should not seek help. PLEASE always seek help for any emotional difficulties you may be going through. But many women within the Christian community may be using antidepressants just to make it through an existence that would cause any person to become depressed "being a superwoman."

Being able to talk about life as a Christian woman and all it entails should be a natural part of the Christian experience before it leads to alcoholism and other drug addictions.

Be a part of the solution and not a part of the problem.

I Timothy 2:9-15 The Answer is not Childbirth Part 3

Continuation of Part 2 (The Response)

A woman fearful of where she would spend eternity asked a pastor the following question:

"Having been raised in Churches of Christ, I am having a hard time breaking away from a works-based attitude into one more grace-based. I just can’t seem to break free of this constant fear for my salvation based on the fact that I am not following perfectly each and every verse in the New Testament. For example --- I am now an older woman. My husband and I never wanted our own children for many reasons. However, now, when I read the verse about women being saved through childbirth, my heart aches over the thought that this decision of mine may be one which keeps me out of Heaven. It was a willful choice on my part not to have children, and my heart actually hurts when I contemplate where my decision may be sending me when I die, and so I lie awake at night! …any insight or help you can offer me would be very much appreciated!"

The Answer:

“Does Paul literally mean a woman can be saved by childbirth?” The pastor answers the inquiring woman that if the statement in I Timothy 2:15, if followed literally, would be a work-based theology, that would discount the realities of God’s grace, and a woman’s faith.

For Biblical conformation let's look at Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.” The pastor consuls the woman not to be fearful of her salvation. The ultimate redemption of mankind is by faith in and acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I bring to this discussion the point that in the account of the fall, God prophesied at the time, the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent that deceived her. Therefore, through the birth of a child would come salvation, which we have come to know as Jesus Christ. Jesus would cover all sin even to that of the Garden of Eden. If Paul truly believed a woman could receive salvation through childbirth, why would he have urged the unmarried and widows to remain virgins or to remain single as he did in I Corinthians 7. It is then clear, in reference to this chapter, that a woman’s salvation was not conditioned upon her bearing of children.

What a biblical response to the woman who posed the question earlier to the pastor; that her salvation is in Jesus Christ. I have been in several classes during my religious academic experience where the question of whether to “have” or “not to have” children has been raised. In a Marriage and Family class, the identical question was posed to the class, “Can a woman be a Christian if she does not have any children?” The answer given by the instructor was a resounding "no" based on the Genesis instruction to “be fruitful and multiply.”

The instructor stated the Christian would be acting contrary to the will of God for the earth to be populated and subdued by man. Following this logic of thought, one of my classmates asked “How many children fill the criteria of being fruitful and multiplied?” The instructor began to spout the philosophy of man having been endowed with common sense and thus has the intelligence to know how many children that can be cared for by the couple. It would be lacking “wisdom” if a couple had more children than could be cared for. The class found this to be profound and acceptable answer.

When an outside entity can determine one’s salvation by whether one has children or not is a scary concept. When someone can tell an individual the number of children that is acceptable before one crosses over into negligence in the care of children is obscene. Who has become the judge in life, God or man? I could not let this topic slide without challenging the “be a wise Christian statement.” It seems one must have at least one child to be considered a Christian and less than a “brood” of children to be considered a wise Christian. How presumptuous!

In my humble and ever expanding knowledge of the creation of man and woman, after God had created each he said that it was “good.” We are a perfect creation; all God wanted us to be. We can breathe without having to think about it every second of our lives. Our heart beats without our having to wind it up daily. Our blood courses through our veins without any assistance from the individual. God made our body to function in autonomy to our conscious minds. He created a “perfect” creation. He gave the food laws found in the Old Testament to keep the body operating flawlessly. Even though we no longer follow the food laws, this doesn’t negate the fact the creator of the body gave maintenance instructions for the body. And when it came to reproduction, God in his infinite wisdom gave the male and female body individual start and stop times for reproduction.

The female body is on a different timeline for reproduction than the male’s body. For some reason, God decided a man would be able to procreate longer and later into his life than a woman is able to procreate in her lifetime. The female reproductive years begin with menses and ends with menopause; God’s own start and stop time. Are we wiser than God, knowing how long our fertility should last? Are we more so able to care for our family than God? What is the message we as Christians are sending the world about our faith in God when we say he is not able to provide for me and mine? Are we wise with our 2.5 children or are we out of the will of God? If we consider ourselves wise, limiting the number of children we choose to have, then isn’t the person who chooses to have “zero” children wiser?

The point of a woman being saved through childbirth was not a throw away statement. To fully understand why and what Paul meant by the statement takes the seeking Christitan to delve into the passage. There were serious goddess worship occuring at that time which elevated woman and her ability to reproduce to god-like status. Paul had to counter this culture and elevate man and thus Jesus to the highest posiotion. the role of childbirth had to be minimized if Paul were to be successful in his evangelistic efforts.

To learn more on this topic purchase my book When Will Eve Be Forgiven? release date by September 2010.

I have hermenuetically dissected 1 Timothy 2:9-15 in an effort to refute the ideology of woman being too treacherous to be over men in 3 parts. I hope I have demonstrated a biblical case to the reader which will encourage you to continue your study on the subject and to be able to present a well informed case for women in ministry.

Good Woman, Good Christian Woman

With the reality show starring the Duggards, the ordinary person gets a first hand view of the daily life of a couple living the Quiver Full life style. To say they portray a happy Christian couple is an understatement. They are absolutely joyful with their life style.

The house is brimming full of happy well, adjusted kids. The home seems to overflow with love. Whether mother's belly is extended with the next addittion to the family or not, she seems to live a life of contentment. Her contentment comes from being married to a Godly man and fulfilling her role as a woman.

What about the other unhappy, unfulfilled Christian women with their scant brood of one or two children. Are they missing out on the ultimate intimate relationship with God? With antidepressants being prescribed in record numbers, can the answer be fulfilling God's command to multiply? The Quiver Full Movement would have one believe that there is not only joy in replenishing the earth but a duty.

Quiverfull is a movement among conservative evangelical Christian couples chiefly in the United States, but with some adherents in Canada,Australia, New Zealand, England and elsewhere.It promotes procreation, and sees children as a blessing from God, eschewing all forms of birth control, including natural family planning and sterilization. Adherents are known as "quiver full", "full quiver", "quiverfull-minded", or simply "QF" Christians. Some refer to the Quiverfull position as Providentialism, while other sources have referred to it as a manifestation of natalism. Currently several thousand Christians worldwide identify with this movement. It began to receive significant attention in the U.S. national press in 2004.

Quiverfull authors and adherents express their core motivation as a desire to obey God's commands as stated in the Bible. Among these commands, "be fruitful and multiply" (Genesis 1:22; 9:7), "behold, children are a gift of the Lord" (Psalm 127:3), and passages showing God acting to open and close the womb (Genesis 20:18, 29:31, 30:22; 1 Samuel 1:5-6; Isaiah 66:9) are interpreted as giving basis for their view. Quiverfull adherents typically maintain that their philosophy is first about an open, accepting and obedient attitude toward the possibility of birthing children. Within the view, this attitude may result in many, few or even no children, because God Himself maintains sole provenance over conception and birth. The duty of the Quiverfull adherent is only to maintain an "open willingness" to joyfully receive and not thwart however many children God chooses to bestow. Contraception in all its forms is seen as inconsistent with this attitude and is thus entirely avoided, as is abortion.

Quiverfull's principal authors and its adherents also describe their motivation as a missionary effort to raise up many Christian children to affect the world for the cause of the Christian religion. Its distinguishing viewpoint is to eagerly receive children as blessings from God.

Quiverfull authors and adherents advocate for and seek to model a return to Biblical Patriarchy. Mary Pride recently distanced herself from the patriarchy movement in an article for Practical Homeschooling. In her article, she clearly stated her disapproval of the movement, and sets the record straight that she should not be considered a founder of it. Citation: http://www.home-school.com/Articles/phs89-marypride.html

Quiverfull authors typically organize family governance with the mother as a homemaker under the authority of her husband with the children under the authority of both. Parents seek to largely shelter their children from aspects of culture they as parents deem adversarial to their religious beliefs. Additionally, Quiverfull families strongly incline toward homeschooling and toward homesteading in a rural area. However, exceptions exist in substantial enough proportion that these latter two items are general and often idealized correlates to Quiverfull practices and not integral parts of them.

I believe there is nothing wrong with this choice and that God probably favors it. The problem on arises when a woman is demeaned for not being a person who is willing to have several children. The Bible speaks of not trying to avoid having children. The best way for Christianity to spread or be maintained is through the birth of more Christians. But, it should still be a choice. God commands us to do certain things as his children. But, throughout the Bible we see outstanding righteous people fall short in regards to following God's command. They repent and try to move forward and follow God, but the point is that they can fall short of perfection. It is God's love that enables them to get back on the right path.

Some women are harmed in rigid procreation attempts and get lost in the submission of men until their God created selves are lost. It is the danger of not being a functioning intity that is a cause for caution.

Quiver Full women are doing what they believe is right in regard to their religious beliefs and should not be harshly ridiculed, especially if they are happy and content. Likewise, women who do not choose to have several children should not be ostracized as sinful. God does give different ministries to different people as he sees fit. If a woman is not blessed with children she still can have a relationship with God not based on procreation.

Having several children or no children should not be the divide among Christian women.