Frogs and the wisdom of women......LOL

Just thought I'd leave ya with a couple smiles for the weekend....................

A point of view... Barbara Walters of Television's 20/20 did a story on gender roles in Kabul, Afghanistan, several years before the Afghan conflict.. She noted that women customarily walked 5 paces behind their husbands. She recently returned to Kabul and observed that women still walk behind their husbands. From Miss Walter's vantage point, despite the overthrow of the oppressive Taliban regime, the women now seem to walk even further back behind their husbands and are happy to maintain the old custom. Miss Walters approached one of the Afghani women and asked, "Why do you now seem happy with the old custom that you once tried so desperately to change?" The woman looked Miss Walters straight in the eyes, and without hesitation, said, "Land Mines." MORAL OF THE STORY: BEHIND EVERY MAN IS A SMART WOMAN.

Just some thoughts.....

Some thoughts to ponder.....have a blessed weekend!

"Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?"
-Abraham Lincoln

"Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught."
-J. C. Watts

"Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be."
-Thomas a Kempis

"When the passions become masters, they are vices."
-Blaise Pascal

"Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way. And don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines."
-Satchel Paige

"In the struggle against evil, there is no shame in defeat -- only in not fighting."
-Steven Hart

"Anything that is given can be at once taken away. We have to learn never to expect anything, and when it comes it's no more than a gift on loan."
-John McGahern

"To wisdom belongs the intellectual apprehension of things eternal; to knowledge, the rational apprehension of things temporal."
-Saint Augustine

"He who angers you conquers you."
-Elizabeth Kenny

"Joy shared is twice the joy. Sorrow shared is half the sorrow."
-unknown

"When the well's dry, we know the worth of water."
-Benjamin Franklin

"It is the property of fools, to be always judging."
-Thomas Fuller

Three days of cold+ FC =

Between the flu bug, and FC, all I can do right now is post goofy pictures.....and say, our battle is in the spiritual, not the flesh....I'm gonna Ephesians 6 myself a bit now!!!!

I'm such a goofball....

Don't ask me....I'm sure mine do this.......I'm blaming everything today on mass quanities of cold medicine.......

BLT Friday!

If only I could touch the garmet of Jesus, If only I could see His glorious face, If only I could touch the garment of Jesus, I would worhsip Him forever, in this place....

The Lord has been dealing with different things in my life lately, and has had the woman who touched his robe on my mind. She had issues....we all have issues, but I for one am going to give her huge hugs when I see her.....the stigma that went along with those issues must have been equally difficult. She was a cast out, people had formed their opinion, decided what was acceptable, and what wasn't and cast her out. I love that her Jesus was more important than man's opinion. I love that she was willing to fight the crowds.....and that she had the faith to touch His clothing, the heart to believe what He said. I love that He healed her without saying a word, so many times he healed with a word, this time He chose to heal without saying anything. I went to sleep last night asking Him why? I woke up this morning with John 1:1 on my mind......
Be blessed today!

Makin' me smile........

SO....my blogging buddy Ang tagged me for 25 things that make me smile.......so here we go.....

1. This picture

2. Burping either direction (sorry, it's true)

3. A quiet evening with my hubby....

4. Any night with my hubby.......

5. Going shopping with my boys.....(this is worthy of its own blog)

6. Electrical air before a good storm

7. Leaves blowing off the trees on a warm fall day

8. Landing a 30 pound Salmon.

9. An awesome worship service with no time limit....

10. Getting lost in God's pressence....

11. Writing a good worship song...

12. Leading people to the throne room of grace.....

13. Rafting the river

14. Huge holiday dinners

15. Young kids that smile and wave in the shopping carts ahead of me

16. My blogging buddies

17. Watching a friend go through the process of being healed from a dibilitating disease...

18. My hubby leaving me love notes

19. Getting a letter from our boy in the military

20. Taking a walk with my Daddy

21. DISNEYLAND!!!!

22. Holding a new born...

23. Seeing someone "get it" that never has before...

24. Little kids that come into my office and yell out "NEMO!!!!"

25. Rasberry, chocolate mocha.......ahhhhh

This may offend some, sorry in advance.......

Just curious that the general consensus is on Holiday extravaganza......Halloween is coming up and there is usually quite the controversy over Christianity and Halloween. My hubby and I have always chosen the "Harvest" celebration approach, but that doesn't mean we don't have fun. My husband, Jer, has quite the eye for chain saw carvings and such and can look at a picture and see it in reverse. He'll carve that image on the pumpkin which looks like nothing until you light it, then it becomes a picture....I know about all the evil spirit yadayada that goes on, but do you think it is possible to have fun and still honor God during this time? Just wanting some input here and different views......Blessings!!!

Ok, I am adding to my post for a couple of reasons.....the first being that I found a picture that truly expresses our views of Halloween, I debated but my nutty side won out, so here ya go!

Secondly I read on FC (AHEM!!!!) that Tam & B's daughter Kassidy is having some medical issues....please keep the family in prayer, especially Kass. Thanks guys!!!!

God can do what????

Ever been a witness to a “real” healing? My hubby and I have, and yes we believe. Thinking back on that, my attitude was I suppose you could say, not the best. It was a mixture of fear, and skepticism, but in these times it is common when it comes to the subject of God’s healing. I’ve been diving in lately for very personal reasons, to understand what the Bible says about healing. The more I find, the more I believe that we should expect God to heal miraculously today. Yes, He does use the medical profession to heal as well, but He is all you truly need.

In the Old Testament, there are promises from God to bring healing and health to His people through obedience. (Exodus 23:25-26, Deuteronomy 28, Psalm 41……) In Exodus 15:26, He says “I am the Lord who heals you”. There are also examples of miraculous healing, (1 Kings 13:6, 2 Kings 4:8-37, Isaiah 38)

There is a present aspect to the kingdom of God in the teaching and activity of Jesus. In Luke 17:20-21, Jesus told the Pharisees, “The kingdom of God is among you”. In Matthew 13:44-46, Jesus suggests that the kingdom is something which can be discovered and experienced in this age. In the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus read the prophecy from Isaiah 61:1-2 and said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” Luke 4:21. Then He went on to demonstrate this present reality of the kingdom by all that He did during His ministry, forgiveness of sin, suppression of evil and healing of the sick.

A quarter of the Gospels is concerned with healing. God commissioned the twelve disciples to do the same, first the twelve (Matthew 4:23), then looking at Luke 10:9, there was then a group of 72 which He told them to go and heal the sick, and tell them the kingdom of God is near you. (Luke 10:9) They returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name!!” (vs.17)

But it doesn’t stop there… Jesus told His disciples to go and make disciples of all nations….teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you (Matthew 28:18-20) He did NOT say “Everything except of course you know, the healing bit”.

It’s clear the early church understood Jesus’ instruction in Mark 16:15-20. Jesus says, these signs will accompany those who believe, I take that to say those who believe in Jesus Christ……us.

The same is in John 14:12. I can’t find anywhere in the Bible, where it says that healing was confined to any particular period of history. Healing is one of the signs of the kingdom which were set by Jesus and continue to this day. I expect God to continue to heal miraculously today, it is part of His Kingdom activity, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done.

I’m writing about all of this because my dear friend Tam needs healing. I believe in Him for this, not just because it’s something that has come into my mind, but something He has put in my heart. I want to ask for prayer from all of you, believing as well, so I have given you a little background on why I believe the way I do. I’m not one to sit and read God’s word and say, that was great for then….if He is truly the same yesterday, today and always, I believe in the modern miracle, and I’m claiming it in Jesus name, for Tam. I challenge you guys, to begin walking in the authority that God has given each of us to further His kingdom and glorify His name. Healings are just a small part. I‘d love to pray for any needs….I’ love you guys.

In speaking with my worship pastor, he really nailed what I believe and I am going to quote him on this.....I believe it is how the Lord works through us:

"Gifts of the Spirit are biblically not anything that we have or do. Gifts of the Spirit are things that God does through us. We are used by him to be...in a sense...Him manifesting Himself through our physical bodies. We can’t heal, but His Spirit through us can. We don’t have the power, ever, but God may choose to use us to release his power to others. This is one of those areas that people like Benny Hinn is criticized for. He claims to have been given the power of God. He doesn’t claim it is God’s power through him. This is key. Here is a great verse.1 Corinthians 12:10-11 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.Some translations say in verse 11 he gives to each one what he wants to give and when he wants to give. God is always in control over what we do with His Spirit. We cannot randomly heal or speak in tongues a part from the Spirit deciding we can. This is what keeps us connected to His glory and also keeps us humble in the use of our gifts."

Thanks, InWorship!!! Sorry this is so long, but again, it's sooooo important to understand who we are in Him in these times today....

Huh...

A PRE-SCHOOL TEST FOR YOU



Which way is the bus below traveling?

To the left or to the right?

Can't make up your mind?

Look carefully at the picture again. Still don't know?

Pre-schoolers all over the United States were shown this picture asked the same question.90% of the pre-schooler's gave this answer."The bus is traveling to the left." When asked, "Why do you think the bus is traveling to the left?" They answered: "Because you can't see the door to get on the bus."

How do you feel now ???I know, me too.

BLT DAY!!!!

Before I ask this weeks BLT, Nerdiah asked about my testimony so I'll give a little summation of how I came to know the Lord. I grew up "religious", Methodist actually, and was faithful to go to church every Sunday. I sat through the flannel board lessons and tried to"be good" and said empty prayers to a God that I felt was so far away, I just didn't get it. There were some abuses toward me while I was growing up, and my ways of thinking were not the most productive for a teenage girl. When I turned 18, I got my CMA license and worked as a Geriatric Medical Assistant. My charge nurse was a strong Christian woman and for the next 9 months or so gently witnessed Christ to me without hardly saying a word. She new I was hurting, and I was seeking. Right before my 19th birthday, I asked her how I could know her God, she seemed so dang happy all the time, nothing got to her. We sat on the side of the bed of one of my favorite Christians, Lois Pittman, and she prayed and cried with me that night. My life was not instantly changed by any means, but I felt Him, and His peace and found a non-denominational church and started to dig into His word. The more I sought Him out, the more He showed me, but I still resisted letting everything go to Him, in fact that didn't happen until I was 26. Which leads me to this weeks BLT. While some people when they give their lives to the Lord, are able to surrender it all at once, I do believe, mainly because I am one of them, that sometimes it takes awhile. How was it for you? Have you completely surrendered everything to Him yet, or do you still struggle with holding on to something that "you can handle"? What's He asking you to give to Him today? Blessings on your Spirit filled day!!!!

I LOVE KIDS!!!

First of all, I need to apologize to anyone who was offended for the recent posts and blog entries... Some of FC had carried over, and after alot of prayer and searching, I refuse to have God slandered on this blog. SO for those of you who love and honor Christ, I apologize as I haven't had the moderation on, it's on now.....there are atheists out there tho, like Hover, who can comment respectfully and I fully intend on continuing to post his questions and comments. Others, I won't. Anyway, I will be a fool for Christ any day, with that said, a friend emailed this to me....

It was written by an 8-year-old named Danny Dutton, who lives in Chula Vista,CA. He wrote it for his third grade homework assignment, to "explain God" I wonder if any of us could have done as well ? Enjoy!!!

[ .... and he had such an assignment, in California, and someone published it, I guess miracles do happen ! .. ]

EXPLANATION OF GOD:
"One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die, so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth. He doesn't make grownups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way he doesn't have to take up his valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers."

"God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times beside bedtime. God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this. Because he hears everything, there must be a terrible lot of noise in his ears, unless he has thought of a way to turn it off."

"God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn't go wasting his time by going over your mom and dad's head asking for something they said you couldn't have."

"Atheists are people who don't believe in God. I don't think there are any inChula Vista. At least there aren't any who come to our church."
"Jesus is God's Son. He used to do all the hard work, like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn't want to learn about God. They finally got tired of him preaching to them and they crucified him But he was good and kind, like his father, and he told his father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said O.K."

"His dad (God) appreciated everything that he had done and all his hard work on earth so he told him he didn't have to go out on the road anymore. He could stay in heaven. So he did. And now he helps his dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones he can take care of himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary, only more important."

"You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to help you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time."
"You should always go to church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God!

Don't skip church to do something you think will be more fun like going to
the beach. This is wrong. And besides the sun doesn't come out at the beach
until noon anyway."

"If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very
lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you, like to camp, but
God can. It is good to know He's around you when you're scared, in the dark
or when you can't swim and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids."

"But...you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for you. I figure
God put me here and he can take me back anytime he pleases.

And...that's why I believe in God."

Dark has zero power over light...

About believing in spite of the darkness…in my devotional time today, the Lord really spoke to me from Acts about how while there is darkness all around, it can never penetrate the light, His light....

Acts 7:59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep. (NIV)

Although Christ died, He came back on the third day and defeated the darkness of death. What joy is there when we believe on Him and the Hope He brings.......When Stephen asked God to forgive the sin of those who were stoning him to death, (ever felt that way???) Stephen called down the light into the darkness taking his life. To believe in spite of the darkness, no matter what kind of darkness we face, we must have a clear understanding of the power struggle between the light and the darkness. The darkness depends upon our being blind, and tries to exert power over us while we are in it. When Stephen died as a result of being stoned, one would think the darkness had won out over Stephen's life. However, in Christ, we know Christ won out over Stephen's life because Stephen died only in the body and not in the spirit. In every battle we face with the darkness, in all its forms and in all its ways of hurting us, we have to see the truth. The truth is Christ and His light are always victorious forever.

Just a thought......

Less Brain Pain, More remembering and Glory to God...

Some ask where was God at 9/11?

He was discouraging people from taking those four flights. Together they could accommodate more than 1,000 passengers, yet there were only 266 aboard. He was on those four flights giving the terrified passengers the ability to stay calm. Not one of the people who was called by a loved one on one of the hijacked planes mentioned that passengers were panicked, nor was there any screaming in the background. And on one of the flights, God gave strength to the passengers to overcome the hijackers.God was also busy creating obstacles to prevent people who worked in the WTC from getting to work on time. The work day had begun, more than 50,000 people worked in the two towers, yet only 20,000 were at their desks. On that beautiful morning, God created scores of unexpected traffic delays, subway delays, and commuter train delays. A PATH train packed with commuters was stopped at a signal just short of the WTC and was able to return to Jersey City. And far more meetings were scheduled elsewhere than was usual.God held up each of the two mighty towers for a half hour so that the people on the lower floors could get out. And when He finally let go, He caused the towers to fall inward rather than to topple over, which would have killed so many more people. The foundations of six surrounding buildings were demolished by the fall of the towers, but God held them up for many hours until all the occupants were safely evacuated.And when the WTC and Pentagon buildings went down, my God picked up almost 3,500 of His children and carried them to their home for all eternity. He also sat down and cried that 19 of His children could have so much hate in their hearts, that they did not choose him, but another god that doesn't exist, and now they are lost forever.He sent people trained in dealing with earthly disasters to save those that were injured. And he sent in thousands of others to help in any way they were needed. And He brought people together across the world in a way that moved thousands to tears and hundreds of thousands to prayer—and caused millions to turn to the one true living God.He still isn't finished. Every day He comforts those who lost loved ones. He is encouraging others to reach out to those who don't know Him or believe in Him. He is giving the leaders of our great nation the strength and conviction to do the right thing, to follow His will, not a popular poll.So if anyone ever asks, "Where was your God on 9/11?" you can say, "He was everywhere! And, in fact, he is everywhere today and every day." Without a doubt, this was the worst catastrophe most of us have ever seen. I can't imagine getting through such a difficult time without God at my side. Without God, life would be hopeless.

Why I don't believe in evolution...

After doing some digging, I found evidences to back up the reasons I don’t believe in evolution and also am giving the links that explain the reasoning…….After reading this document, I just gave all the more glory to God, He is SO amazing….here’s the proof…This is just one of many I have found and left everything in quotes because while it is everything I believe these are from an article and not written by me.......I'm not this brainy!!!! LOL

“There are no transitional links and intermediate forms in either the fossil record or the modern world. Therefore, there is no actual evidence that evolution has occurred either in the past or present.” http://emporium.turnpike.net/C/cs/evid1.htm

“Natural selection (the supposed evolution mechanism, along with mutations) is incapable of advancing an organism to a “higher order”. http://emporium.turnpike.net/C/cs/evid2.htm

“Although evolutionists state that life resulted from the non-life, matter resulted from nothing, and humans resulted from animals, each of these is an impossibility of science and the natural world.” http://emporium.turnpike.net/C/cs/evid3.htm

“The supposed hominids (creatures in-between ape and human that evolutionists believe used to exist) bones and skull record used by evolutionists often consists of ‘finds’ which are thoroughly unrevealing and inconsistent. They are neither clear nor conclusive even though evolutionists present them as if they were.” http://emporium.turnpike.net/C/cs/evid4.htm

“Nine of the twelve popularly supposed hominids are actually extinct apes/monkeys and not part human at all.” http://emporium.turnpike.net/C/cs/evid5.htm

“The final three supposed hominids put forth by evolutionists are actually modern human beings and not part monkey/ape at all. Therefore, all twelve of the supposed hominids can be explained as being either fully monkey/ape or fully modern human but not as something in between.” http://emporium.turnpike.net/C/cs/evid6.htm

“Natural selection can be seen to have insurmountable social and practical inconsistencies, as well as severe logical inconsistencies.” http://emporium.turnpike.net/C/cs/evid7.htm, http://emporium.turnpike.net/C/cs/evid8.htm

“The rock strata finds (layers of buried fossils) are better explained by a universal flood than evolution.” http://emporium.turnpike.net/C/cs/evid9.htm

Beyond these are many others, and tomorrow I will be posting about proof of Creation…
Give your family an extra hug tonight as we remember those who gave their lives 6 years ago. Remember to take the time and thank God for all that He’s done in spite of the evil and ignorant choices of man. The words of one of my favorite worship tunes speaks of my heart today:

I just want to sit at Your feet, drink from the cup in Your hands,
Lay back against You and breathe, feel Your heart beat,
This Love is so deep, it’s more than I can stand,
I melt in Your peace, You’re overwhelming me….

I don't believe it.....

They say, I don’t believe in God, I say, I don’t believe in the Atheist…..here’s why.

What if I were to say, there is no gold in Oregon. For me to prove that is true, I would need absolute and total knowledge. I would need to know that there is no gold in any rock, in any river, in the ground, no stores or rings….in all of Oregon. I would need absolute knowledge before I could make an absolute statement like that. For me to say, there is gold in Oregon, I wouldn’t need all knowledge, only one speck and my statement would be true.

To say there is no God is making an absolute statement. For the statement to be true, I must know for certain that there is no God in the entire universe. Since NO human being has all knowledge, none of us is able to truthfully make this assertion.

If they insist on disbelieving in God, what they have to say is “Having the limited knowledge I have right now, I believe that there is no God.” Having that lack of knowledge, they don’t know if God exists, so they can not be atheist. The only one that could actually qualify that statement is the One who has absolute knowledge, and He would not deny His own existence…..

I believe atheists to be agnostic…people who claim they don’t know if God exists. The Latin equivalent for the Greek word is “ignoramus.” The Bible tells us that this ignorance is “willful” (Psalm 10:4). It’s not that a person can not find God, it’s that he won’t. It has been rightly said that the “atheist” can’t find God for the same reason a thief can’t find a policeman. He knows that if he admits that there is a God he is admitting that he is ultimately responsible to Him. This doesn’t set well with some people.
I watched the history channel this weekend and a little clip on Mussolini. He stood up one time and cried, “God, if you are there, strike me dead!” When God didn’t immediately bow to his demand, he concluded there was no God. But, his prayer was answered eventually.....

BLT day!!!

Yes, folks....we're keepin the BLT's lite.....I'd like you guys to share when you get a minute the first time that God was real to you...not just because your mom and dad said so, but a time when that one on one relationship started and you knew He was there by your own accord.....

Love you guys and have a super charged weekend! Cyber smoochies....

Predestination vs. Free Will...

For those of you who don’t know, Hover is my favorite Atheist…..and I do say that respectfully. He has utmost respect for our beliefs and a knack of sharing his without making me feel defensive or slamming God, so this blog is in response to his answer yesterday. That being said, trying to explain the mind of God is impossible. I have read many commentaries on this topic in my own search for answers, and some things are just accepted by Christians because He says so…..similar to when a child wants to argue either for lack of understanding or because they don’t want to do something and we resort to “Because I said so”…..so for what it’s worth here are my opinions on predestination vs. free will….

First of all, I like a quote I found, although there was no name attached:

“The difference between predestination and free will is: “Predestination is the hand you were dealt; free will is what you do with that hand.”

I’ve seen debate on this being an either or situation, and can’t help but consider how it applied to Jesus Himself. His fate according to Isaiah 53:5 was predetermined, God knew what would happen and gave that information to the prophets, such as Isaiah, centuries in advance---still Jesus had the free will to sacrifice himself on the cross according to John 10:18.


I don’t agree that man can choose God. Since it is His will that none should perish, I believe that man can only choose to reject God. His heart is for all to come to know Him, so the predestination part is that He died (willingly) to pave the way for all to know Him.

This is what I know:

1) The work has already been done at the Cross
2) God left us His helper when He ascended, the Spirit
3) He is already among men, the choice is whether or not you are going to deny Him


God will not force man to repent and believe because man can resist and suppress the grace and salvation that has been offered.

That being said Hov, there are scripture that refer to Judas and the condition of his heart. Could it be possible that an all-knowing God knows that one will choose to not to choose Christ and give Him the liberty of using evil for His glory as well? I say yes.

Again, with Adam & Eve, I’m sure God knew their choice, therefore also paved the way to make a bridge between Him and humanity because His desire to save humanity is stronger than His grief over their poor choices. In perfect love there has to be free will…

As far as the 911 bombers are concerned, the god they chose to serve led them down that path. I don’t want to get off topic by going into how they would be able to choose Christ because of their geographical location…..another time, another blog……but I do believe every man hears the truth, every man is given the choice.

I’m going to end with a quote from Thomas Oden, who wrote The Living God:


“Human reasoning begins with a fundamental trust in it’s own power of reasoning. Although at times the senses may deceive, the only way we can grasp those deceptions is on the basis of the larger assumption of the intelligibility of things and the trustworthiness of the inquiring mind in seeing deception. Descartes rightly reasoned that the one thing he could not possibly doubt was that he had the capacity to doubt. If I can doubt my own thoughts, I must be able to think, to inquire, to examine, to criticize…..and these functions could not work without both an intelligible world and a perceiving intelligence.”

Rational people have the sense of right and wrong, which to me is an indication that the Holy Spirit is among them. Even when you look and barbarians and nomads you see signs of morality come into play when they leave previous uncivilized customs for more peaceful means…..When that happens, I believe the Holy Spirit is at work and has gained a victory over sin in His mission to draw all men to Himself.

FC Inspiration...

Sitting here in awe of FC once again, this is about how I feel. I was looking at the calendar, realizing that 9/11 is coming up….I’m going to warn in advance, this may be a little long, so pull up a chair. Most of the time when I answer on FC, I respond to what was said, and have little time to really think, so I wanted to answer a couple of thing on my blog that have been brought up there….more to think through things than anything.

9/11 reminds me, that we really do live in a tragic world. This is a result of living in a fallen world…no one is exempt from it, even the most Godly. Paul was one of the most effective and dedicated workers in history, yet his life was full of tragedies until it ended under the blade of a Roman executioner.

Paul suffered at least as many heartaches and hardships as any of us ever will, and yet their painful occurrence never shook his confidence in a good and loving God. Why not?

Paul didn’t see tragedy as evidence against the existence of a compassionate heavenly Father. In fact, he wrote, “for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10) He delighted in them not because he enjoyed pain, but when life overwhelmed him, he knew God would step into help. I delight in my weaknesses because it is in that weakness that God has the opportunity to display to the world His own strength, for that I am grateful!!!

Jesus himself told us to expect pain and difficulties in this life. John 16:33….I thank God tho that this isn’t where it ends for the believer.

God is in control even when it doesn’t feel like it. We don’t understand how this can be when we face tragedy, but our lack of understanding doesn’t destroy the truth, nor diminish it. Before we were born, God knew exactly how long we would live and how we would die. “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be,” the psalmist said to God in Psalm 139:16 – that will remain true for all time.

God has a purpose for what He allows even if we don’t know what it is. From our perspective, tragedies look meaningless and senseless and chaotic, but God knows how to take even tragedies and bring good out of them.. When we get home to heaven, we will finally see His purposes even in the tragedies of life. Sometimes it is a wakeup call… CS Lewis wrote once that “pain is God’s megaphone to a deaf world.” Sometimes that’s what it takes for spiritually dead people to wake up. Thank God that He would allow that, but what a shame it would take such a wake-up-call to open the eyes of some…

We can find hope in tragedy…..this world in not our home. We were created for eternity.

I worship You oh God....

At the cross I bow my knee, where Your blood was shed for me, there's no greater love than this, You have overcome the grave, Your glory fills the highest place, what can separate me now.....

There is just something that has been in my mind and heart for days now, I'm really asking for input. Why corporately do hold back when we worship? I am really reaching a point in my walk that if I am in church, and in the presence of God, I don't want to have to care what people are thinking if I want to kneel, clap, raise may hands etc. before the Lord. I really don't mean for that to sound harsh...but I've been looking up scripture lately, and here is what I'm finding.

Standing-They will stand in awe of the God of Israel...Isaiah 29:23

Singing - I will be glad and exalt in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High. Psalm 9:2

Shouting: My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to You; and my soul, which You have redeemed Psalm 71:23

Sitting - Then David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said, "Who am I, O Lord God... 2Samuel 7:18

Clapping - O clap your hands, all peoples; shout to God with the voice of joy Psalm 47:1

Bowing - Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship Exodus 34:8

Praying - In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch. Psalm 5:3

Laying Prostrate - And Jesus went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed... Matthew 26:39

Dancing - Let them praise His name with dancing...Psalm 149:3

The list goes on......I'm not blaming other people for feeling like.. if I lay before God right now someone may see me..I just hate the hesitancy in me that puts that before what I'm being prompted to do by the Spirit. I'm finding myself struggling with the fine line of completely open worship, and not being offensive to someone or making them standoffish. If it 's in the Word and His Word is our example...should that be our practice? I'm just searching.....again, this is something I struggle with internally, not because anyone has said...you need to change...

Miss Kate

A beautiful friend of ours was in town last night....if you have never heard of Kate White.....you need to go here. My husband and I are great fans of Celtic Music, Celtic worship is one of the most soul piercing and worshipful music there is to us. My hubby was part of a CD project for the last 6 months with his fiddle and Kate, and they did their launch off concert last night. There are really no words to describe what the Lord did last night, outside under the stars, with about 300 others. It was a powerful night of worship. We stood and prayed until the lights were turned off and it was just one of those sweet times in the Lord. If you really want to be blessed, go to her prayer room....make sure you have a little time..and a box of Kleenex.....you will be blessed. Love you guys!