On Shades of Gray

"You're So Judgemental!!"

2010-12-26T22:55:00.003-05:00

That is something my husband and I hear from time to time. Not a lot, but probably more than most of your average, run-of-the-mill, mega-church "Christians" who've (sadly) fallen for the "tolerance preaching" of our modern day churches. But is it wrong for me to judge that someone is living in sin, and (as long as I'm not being a hypocrite) warn them accordingly? Is it wrong for me to judge that someone may not be the best influence for my kids? Is it wrong for any believer, or person for that matter, to judge another person's behavior or lifestyle as destructive to themselves and/or others?

What follows was written by a pastor, teacher and friend:

Jesus commanded men to judge rightly and He told them to "judge not." Did the Lord contradict Himself? Or does the Bible say more about judging than the Christians generally realize?

Jesus repeatedly taught men to judge rightly, insisting they "judge with righteous judgment" (John 7:24) and He praised a man who "rightly judged" (Luke 7:43). Paul shamed the Corinthian Christians because no one among them was willing to "judge the smallest matters" (1 Cor. 6:2). As the Apostle wrote, "He who is spiritual judges all things" for "we have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor. 2:15-16).

Where did we get the notion that men should never judge? Should child-molesters escape condemnation? Should rapists be free from criticism? Should society refrain from judging those arrested for murder? And why would anyone judge others for judging?

Borrowing characters from C. S. Lewis, imagine this dialogue between a junior demon named Wormwood and his wicked uncle Screwtape. This fiendish exchange could have occurred a century ago:

Wormwood: Believers have so many weapons at their disposal. It is difficult to neutralize them. It takes a huge effort just to slow the work of a single Christian.

Screwtape: Your one-on-one approach is inefficient. This is the age of Madison Avenue and mass marketing. If you can undermine their whole group at once, then you've accomplished something.

Wormwood: Unfortunately, I'm not highly productive. In the time it takes me to frustrate one believer, I could tempt a dozen heathens.

Screwtape: Don't lose heart, Wormwood. We are implementing a plan to impair the whole Church with a single ploy.

Wormwood: I don't see how that will be possible. I see Christians dedicated to warning others about hell. It's all I can do just to get one of them distracted for a short time.

Screwtape: We are going to use their Leader's own words.

Wormwood: No! Please don't. Don't even joke about using His words. I can't take it.

Screwtape: If you're ever going to grow up to be an effective demon, you're going to have to learn to use the Enemy's words against Him.

Wormwood: It just seems so dangerous. Which words are you going to use?

Screwtape: "Judge not!"

Wormwood: I don't understand why He would tell them not to judge. That's confusing. He commanded His followers to rebuke, admonish, and judge hundreds of times in His Book. And that's what they're out there
doing. And I might add, it's causing me grief.

Screwtape: When their Leader said those words, He was speaking to hypocrites. "Judge not… you hypocrite," as He said later in the same paragraph.

Wormwood: Yeah, but how are we going to use "Judge not" to neutralize the whole Church?

Screwtape: We're going to get them to ignore the fact that He was talking to hypocrites. He said that hypocrites should not judge, at least not until they stop doing the wrong deed themselves. But we're going to make them think none of them should judge, ever.

Wormwood: That's brilliant… if you can pull it off, that is. I mean, if we can get them to stop judging, then they won't rebuke the wicked. And they won't be able to admonish those who are sexually immoral.

Screwtape: It is even more brilliant than you realize. If we can seduce Christians into following the instructions for hypocrites, we will turn them into hypocrites. It's like government workers who follow foolish rules so precisely they are transformed from human beings into bureaucrats; drones who mindlessly dispense red tape regardless of the misfortune they cause. The slave who willingly obeys his master, begins to conform to the master. If believers willingly submit to an instruction for hypocrites, they will conform to hypocrisy. Eventually, with a little evil luck, we might stop them from confronting unbelievers altogether because, as you know Wormwood, to confront requires judging. And if they don't judge unbelievers, they are hypocrites, professing the Gospel but denying its power.

Wormwood: Ha, ha. I'm excited. When do we start?

Screwtape: Everything is underway already. Just do your part.

Wormwood: And that is…?

Screwtape: Make sure your targets read as little of the Book as possible. Don't get too worried if they stick to their favorite twenty cliché verses. But make sure they remain ignorant of most of the Word.

Wormwood: Master, you are brilliant.

Screwtape: You can call me Master if you want, but don't let the boss hear you.

A lie paralyzed the Church. God warns against "hypocrisy" commanding men to "abhor what is evil" (Rom. 12:9). Yet to abhor evil, someone must first judge evil. Thus, unable to judge, large numbers of Christians become hypocrites by obeying the Hypocrites Golden Rule. Since the hypocrite doesn't want to be judged, he judges not, as Jesus said, "Judge not… you hypocrite" (Mat. 7:1, 5 KJV; Ezek. 16:52). For "judge not" (Mat. 7:1-5) is simply a hypocrites application of do unto others as you would have them do unto you (Mat. 7:12). "For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged" (Mat. 7:2). Judge others as you would have them do unto you inverted is Judge not if you do not want to be judged.

Christ kept repeating this theme in His ministry. "Hypocrites," Jesus said, "why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right?" (Luke 12:56-57). Still, His own followers have mostly ignored the Lord's harsh rebuke: "Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to [judge, i.e., to] remove the speck out of your brother's eye" (Mat. 7:5). "Judge Not" is the Hypocritical Oath.

"Judge Not" is hypocrite haven. He who lives in a glass house should not throw stones. Such Christians should relocate. They should move into "the temple of the great God… being built with heavy stones" (Ezra 5:8).

Christians live in the "building" for which Christ is "the chief corner stone" (Eph. 2:20). And if that Stone falls on someone it "will grind him to powder" (Mat. 21:44; Luke 20:18; cf. Ex. 32:20). Better to be judged by a Christian than crushed by Christ.

Hollywood, Hillary, and Homosexuals repeat the phrase like a mantra, judge not, judge not, judge not, until the masses are mesmerized. Jesus did not intend this.

Scripture deals with topics that range from simple to advanced truth. Milk is for babes in Christ; meat is for men of God. The question of whether or not Christians should judge is milk. It is preschool. The newest believer taught any of a hundred passages would immediately understand that he must judge. Judging others is fundamental. It is not a difficult concept and should in no way be controversial.

"Everyone who partakes only in milk is unskilled in the Word of righteousness, for he is a babe" (Heb. 5:13). The Church, today lactose intolerant, has trouble even with milk.

Extreme ignorance of the Bible has crippled the Church. And that paralysis slows every denomination by hurting local fellowships. What is the percentage of Christians who have succumbed to the "Judge not" deception? Is there even one percent of believers who have not fallen for that diversion? A quarter century of observation suggests to this author that probably 99 out of 100 believers misquote Jesus by repeating the "Judge not" mantra. Believers need to turn from this sin and ask God for wisdom to keep from being so easily deceived again.

Curse God and die! Is that good advice? Word for word, it is in the Bible. Job's wife counsels her husband to "Curse God and die" (Job 2:9). Many verses, if ripped out of context, can ruin lives. Judas "went and hanged himself" (Mat. 27:5) and as Jesus said "Go and do likewise" (Luke 10:37). The believer who lacks a hunger for God's word is susceptible to the most absurd dangers.

An October 1996 letter in the Rocky Mountain News expressed a typical judge-not sentiment. It advocated incarceration and not the execution of murderers, who are made "in the image of God" as it would be "wrong to put the image of God to death." However, the writer never addressed the incongruity of putting the image of God in jail.

"Judge not" is the prayer of those who want to hide light under a basket. The cliché describes salt, which has lost its flavor, which no longer seasons or preserves. This seductive lie takes its victims out of ministry. As spectators on the sidelines, they only watch the spiritual battle. But they are in a comfort zone. Apathy is the craving. "Judge not" is the shirking of responsibility.

To the Jews God said, "If you will walk in My ways, and if you will keep My command, then you shall also judge My house" (Zech. 3:7). Are members of the Body of Christ today less capable than Israel whom God commanded to "judge righteously" (Deut. 1:16-17; Lev. 19:15)? Moses appointed the head of one out of every ten households as a judge (Ex. 18:25; Deut. 1:15). Should Christians toss out the entire book of Judges? Should America eliminate all judges, or should just the Christian judges resign? Should believers ignore Paul's admonition:

"Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren?" (1 Cor. 6:2-5).

Notice that Christians "will judge the world!" (1 Cor. 6:2). For Paul said, "if the world will be judged by you…" God the Judge delegates judgment to His people. Even spirit beings will submit to believers: "Do you not know that we shall judge angels?" Then and now, believers should "judge... according to My judgments" (Ezek. 44:24) as God said. The Almighty commits judgment into the hands of His obedient servants (Rev. 20:4).

If God were the only judge, the sins of all men would be "clearly evident, preceding them to judgment" (1Tim. 5:24a). But because human beings will judge their fellow men on Judgment Day, therefore the sins "of some men follow later" (1Tim. 5:24b). The human judges will already have been aware of the sins of notorious men. But they will not learn of the sins of obscure men until they are revealed at Judgment Day. Also, these human judges will then become aware of the sins of leaders, celebrities, and even family members who had carefully concealed their wickedness.

Enoch, the seventh from Adam, may have known of this. For he said "the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints to execute judgment on all" (Jude 14-15). The Lord with His saints will judge the world!

Jesus too said, "The men of Nineveh will rise in the judgment with this generation and condemn it..." (Mat. 12:41). And as Solomon wrote, "jealously is a husband's fury; therefore, he will not spare [the adulterer who violated his wife] in the day of vengeance. He will accept no recompense nor will he be appeased" (Prov. 6:34-35). God gives the responsibility for vengeance, condemnation, and judgment to His servants for "every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord" (Isa. 54:17).

Today, many believers are effectively saying, "Lord, thanks but no thanks. I'll pass on that judgment duty." But Paul responds, Start judging now, because you will need the practice (1Cor. 6:2-5). Remember, "He who is spiritual judges all things. For... we have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor. 2:15-16). And God will reward those who judge, and do the hard work: "Those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, and a good blessing will come upon them." (Prov. 24:25).

Would slain Columbine high school student Danny Rohrbough be forgiving or judgmental toward his unrepentant murderers? A People Magazine photo in Nov. 1999 shows his family and friends answering that question. They quote Rev. 6:10 in which martyred Christians in heaven ask God to "avenge our blood." Judge-not Christians condemn the martyr's call for vengeance, but never the murderer.

Hopefully the Church will see Judge Not headed for retirement replaced with Judge Rightly. For as Jesus said, "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment" (John 7:24).

Born Alive

2010-08-28T18:44:00.001-04:00

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

This video is one of the most amazing I have seen for a while. Please send it to as many people as you can. It only takes a few seconds to copy and paste the URL into an e-mail, and those few seconds could save a life.

New & Improved GOD for Today's MODERN Christian

2010-08-23T16:16:00.005-04:00

*NEW* - GOD Version 6.0 - ATTENTION ALL CHRISTIANS!!!
For all you left-wing, liberal, queer-loving theologians out there who are struggling with trying to make God's Word fit your lifestyle, but you continue to be shot down by those radical, judgmental Christian fundamentalists who condemn your interpretation of the Truth - You're problems have been solved!!
Now there is a NEW & Improved version of the TRUTH formatted just for YOU!
"Softer, Gentler & Completely Compatible!"

Click Here for details -- Hurry, order the "gender neutral" version while supplies last!

Indiana Planned Parenthood Caught On Tape Giving Fabricated Medical Information

2010-07-21T12:30:00.000-04:00

Planned Parenthood KILLS BABIES for MONEY. Why would anyone be surprised that they LIE, too?! They ARE NOT about helping women. They ARE NOT about choice. They are about KILLING BABIES. PERIOD.

Read Full Release...

Helping People in Crisis

2010-05-06T16:03:00.007-04:00

The Bible tells us, "Bear one another's burdens" (Galations 6:2). And yet it seems many people are unable to live that out in the flesh. When someone is in a state of crisis, many people want to help, or at least say they do, and yet they do nothing. Four years ago, our family lived in a state of crisis for 14 months. And the aftermath of that crisis was also a state of helplessness. A couple years ago, I watched my best friend live through a horrible crisis. In living through our crisis, and supporting my friend in hers, I learned a lot about what a person/family needs in those times. Now my dear friend is facing yet another unimaginable tragedy, and I felt it was time I wrote something about how to support people in difficult times.

First, the ball's in YOUR court. A person/family dealing with a crisis is unable to think about anything else!! When you say, "Call me if you need anything", they know you mean well, but the truth is that they can barely think about getting out of bed and doing what they need to do to get through each day. Don't ask them to think for YOU, too. Tragic events drain every last bit of energy. Please, don't ask them to spend energy they don't have to pick up the phone and dial your number.

And, don't misunderstand!!--they NEED YOU. They NEED your encouragement. They NEED your help. They just don't have the energy or emotional fortitude to call and ask for it. They NEED to know you're there. CALL THEM. And if they don't answer, leave a message. And if they don't call back, CALL AGAIN. Don't misunderstand and get your feelings hurt!!

You know yourself - your abilities to help - better than they do. Think of something you can do, and do it. Like to cook? Cook a meal and bring it over. Leave it on the doorstep if they're not there. (in disposable containers, because they don't have time or energy to wash extra dishes and don't have the brain power to think about getting your container back to you). Like to bake? Drop off some cookies with a note saying you're praying for them. Like to do yard work? Come over and do what you see needs to be done. Like to grocery shop? Go buy some fresh fruit, or pantry items and drop them off. DO. Don't ask. DO. People in a state of crisis will not be offended if you come and do their yard work. They are in crisis and need help. You're not going to make them feel like you think they're slobs!! You're going to let them know you care, and they'll appreciate it. SO much!!

Not good at anything but just want to show you care? PLEASE do. PLEASE let them know you haven't forgotten their pain. PLEASE send a card. Even if it's 10 years from now, send a card. Write a simple email. Let them know you're praying for them, still. Pick up the phone and call. Don't wait for them to do it. YOU do it. It takes months, years, to recover from a true crisis - and oftentimes one never really "recovers", so there's always time for you to show you care. If you can't do anything now, but 5 months from now you can, DO. They will still need the help. They will still need to know that others have not forgotten their pain.

I'd also like to address what NOT to say. Please do NOT say the following things:

"It was God's will". Unless you are God Himself, please do not speak on His behalf.
"There's a reason" or "It's for the best" or "We'll know why someday" or any other superstitious gobble-dee-gook like that.
"Time heals all wounds".
"It's been (x amount of time), aren't you past this yet?"
"I know just how you feel".

That said, don't let me scare you into not calling or writing. Google for words of sympathy if you need to, but don't stay away because you "don't know what to say". You don't *have* to say anything. A hug, or loving hand on the arm is worth a thousand words. Just BE THERE - however you can be. They need to know you care.

"Never walk away from someone who deserves help; Your hand is God's hand for that person". Provers 3:27 (The Message)

Exceptions Calculator

2010-03-05T09:38:00.003-05:00

How does your favorite conservative politician stack up when it comes to standing against the dehumanization and murder of an entire class of American citizens? Now you can find out!

Most "pro-life" politicians insist they are pro-life with some "exceptions", such as rape, the life of the mother, etc. Have you ever wondered how many lives were snuffed out due to these exceptions? If you haven't, you should!!

Are you one of those Christians/Republicans that believes you are saving more by voting Republican? You're not - and you need to face the facts of what your vote is actually doing.

Republicans kill FAR MORE babies with their "exceptions" than many Democrats do with their staunchly pro-abortion views. Go to ExceptionsCalculator.com to find out.

Do Right And Risk the Consequences

2010-02-18T11:18:00.010-05:00

One of my favorite radio talk show hosts often ends his show by saying, "Encouraging you to do right, and risk the consequences". I love that line, and think about it often. I know many believers who've risked consequences in choosing to do the right thing. They've risked being made fun of - both by the "world" and by other "believers". They've risked challenging family relationships or friendships, or even losing certain relationships - sometimes for a short while, sometimes permanently. They've risked losing their jobs. They've risked facing innumerable other difficulties and hardships by choosing to do the right thing, rather than the wrong (and often easier) thing.

I also know many believers who will not do that. They would rather wink at sin, or look the other way pretending not to see it, or "sin just a little, for the greater good", or choose the "lesser of two evils" (which is still choosing evil), etc. They are not willing to do right and risk the consequences. They would rather do wrong, and risk those consequences. These believers risk other things, like their witness to unbelievers. They risk being selfish, in order to appear acceptable. They risk relationships, too - the relationships with the very people they "lovingly" refuse to rebuke will only bring more turmoil to both sides as the years go by. They risk their own moral integrity and purity of heart - searing their own consciences so that sin becomes more and more acceptable to them. They risk their children's hearts, minds and souls.

But the Bible tells us that we are to choose to do the right thing. And while we certainly should strive to live peaceably with those around us (Romans 12:18) , we should not sacrifice what is right in order to do so - God desires obedience rather than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22)! We should be encouraged to know that Jesus warned there would be division because of Him:

Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law. Luke 12:51-53

Again, not that we should try to cause division, but if and when it happens that people are angered because of a choice to do the right thing, or they forsake the relationship because of a choice to stand for morality rather than acceptance, we can be encouraged that Jesus knew it was an occupational hazard that comes with serving Him and choosing right.

So, please - Do RIGHT and RISK the consequences!

"Free!" Sermon on 01/23/2010

2010-01-24T19:26:00.000-05:00

I am excited to share the video of our pastor's latest sermon - it is one of the best I've heard yet. I am so very thankful for a pastor who is not afraid to preach the TRUTH!

"Free!" Sermon on 01/23/2010

"The Teacher"

2009-12-04T19:20:00.004-05:00

I got this via email. I thought it was interestingly funny...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Teacher Applicant

After being interviewed by the school administration, a teaching prospect said, "Let me see if I've got this right:

"You want me to go into that room with all those kids, correct their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse, monitor their dress habits, censor their T-shirt messages, and instill in them a love for learning.

"You want me to check their backpacks for weapons, wage war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, and raise their sense of self esteem and personal pride.

"You want me to teach them patriotism and good citizenship, sportsmanship and fair play, and how to register to vote, balance a checkbook, and apply for a job.

"You want me to check their heads for lice, recognize signs of antisocial behavior, and make sure that they all pass the state exams.

"You want me to provide them with an equal education regardless of their handicaps, and communicate regularly with their parents by letter, telephone newsletter, and report card.

"You want me to do all this with a piece of chalk, a blackboard, a bulletin board, a few books, a big smile, and a starting salary that qualifies me for food stamps.

"You want me to do all this and then you tell me...

"I CAN'T PRAY?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think a better response would be, "Why on earth would parents ever send their kids here instead of keeping them home??"

It should be the EXCEPTION, not the norm.
Prayer in schools would be a good thing, but it wouldn't come *close* to solving the problem. Ridding ourselves of government established schools would do it!

Keep them home --
That's where they belong.

Eight Seconds to Disprove Eight Atheist Clichés

2009-08-03T08:43:00.003-04:00

Atheist Cliché 1: There is no truth!
Theist Rebuttal: Is that true? [1 second]

Atheist Cliché 2: There are no absolutes!
Theist Rebuttal: Absolutely? [1 second]

Atheist Cliché 3: Only your five senses provide real knowledge!
Theist Rebuttal: Says which of the five? [2 seconds]

Atheist Cliché 4: Great suffering proves that a loving God cannot exist!
Theist Rebuttal: The unstated assumption is false, that suffering can have no value or purpose. [4.5 secs]

Atheist Cliché 5: Atheism is scientific, because science does not allow for a supernatural interpretation of an event!
Theist Rebuttal: Such circular reasoning forces science to assume that which atheists claim it supports. [5 seconds]

Atheist Cliché 6: Widespread evil proves that a righteous God cannot exist!
Theist Rebuttal: The two unstated assumptions are false: that love can be forced; and that some love is not worth enduring much hate. [6.5 seconds]

Atheist Cliché 7: If theists claim that the universe could not have always been here, then God couldn’t have always been here either.
Theist Rebuttal: The natural universe is subject to the physical laws, so it would run out of useable energy; a supernatural, spiritual God is not subject to physics. [7.9 seconds]

Atheist Cliché 8: You cannot know truth?
Theist Rebuttal: How do you know that? [2 seconds]

Source: www.kgov.com

Planned Parenthood Does Wickedness in the Light of Day - Will Christians Keep Turning Their Heads?

2009-04-15T11:33:00.005-04:00

Once a year Planned Parenthood rallies their troops, rolls out the red carpet and provides a night of pleasantries to invoke the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life in all those who wish to financially share in the operational overhead of ripping baby legs off of little girls who will never dance on daddy's toes, and pulling the arms off of little boys who will never sprint across the room to bear hug mommy. For the 6th year in a row Planned Infanticide will host their "Gathering of Goddesses and Gods" event to raise money for killing Jews. No, wait, I'm sorry. They will raise money to keep the Middle Passage running slaves from Africa to the Americas. Oh, I'm sorry, I keep confusing our recent holocausts. They are raising money to shed innocent blood and pave the way for thousands of collaborators to burn in hell.

Yesterday April 14 your good old United States of America legally murdered more people than were killed on our famous 9-11 tragedy. And guess how many supreme court justices believe that all of those murders were lawful? Every single solitary one of them. Did John McCain or Sarah Palin lament over the children killed yesterday? Did Michelle or Barry lament, did Bill O'Reiley, Shawn Hannity, Rick Warren or Joel Olsteen? More importantly, did I.

Did you? Did you forget that small cute little precious premies' had their skulls crushed by (for instance) Dr. Michael King of Noblesville, IN? Well, if you did, I'm not condemning you. I'm simply reminding you that you are (bear with me in my folly) a German Christian living in the 1940s. I'm reminding you that you are a Southern Baptist living in Alabama in 1835. Have you hid any Jews lately? Have you helped any Negros escape to the north to be a free human no more bound by the shackles of kidnapping? Were you rushing to your Levitical duties and decided that the man half dead in the ditch (Luke 10) wasn't worthy of your time because you had a prayer meeting to go to? Or was the church pitch in and camp fire singing too glorious to pass up?

If in the busyness of life you've forgotten that you are living in a holocaust, I will not condemn you my friend - I am just reminding you that you are. And I would like to formally remind you that you have the opportunity to join us in a public exposition of Planned Parenthood's racist murderous agenda of profiting through killing our unwanted innocent posterity.

IMPORTANT ACTION FOR ALL:

We have three days to put the heat on at least 3 key child killing supporters - and YOU can help through 5 minutes of your time. Seriously, five tiny minutes can make a huge difference.

Please call these two critical collaborators: HANK FM, and The Westin. These organizations are partaking in killing babies. You can call and tell them to NOT support child killing and URGE them to pull their support. The third organization you should consider calling is Cummins, as they are the top notch sponsor of the event. If any of you work for Cummins, please, talk to your internal contacts and express disdain that your company has baby blood on its hands.

Here are the numbers - feel free to do your own sleuthing and call more supporters, you can read about more of them (like Nuvo, wfyi, Minority Business Magazine, Endangered Species Chocolate, uh, animal worshippers always degrade humans):

* HANK FM: Tom Severino, Market Manager 317-684-8703, and/or David Edgar, Operations Director 317-684-8437, and/or Susan Wells, Promotions Director 317-684-4175.
* The Westin: 317-262-8100 (tell them you have a dire concern and wish to speak with someone in authority who can address your grievance)

There is a public protest planned for the night of the event, but for the sake of those who may sabbotage the efforts of the righteous, I will not post those here. If you would like to attend, I can send you the information directly.

(written by my friend R.G., used with permission)

“But we know the law is good, if a man use it lawfully…the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless…for murderers...for manslayers” – I Timothy 1:8,9

“By mercy and TRUTH iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.” – Proverbs 16:6

“For necessity is laid upon me, yea, woe is unto me, if I… open [not] my mouth and judge righteously and plead the cause of the poor and needy…or if I reprove [not] the evil works of darkness” I Cor 9, Prov 31, Eph 5.

“Open rebuke is better than secret love.” – Proverbs 27:5

What Do I Teach My Children About Atheism? - by Dani Kekoa

2009-03-04T10:59:00.010-05:00

The following post is from the blog of my friend and sister in the Lord, Dani. It was so to the point and full of Truth, that I couldn't have said it better myself. So, I won't try! (emphasis is original to author, and if you're not familiar with Dani's writings, italics are used when quoting Scripture).

------------------------------------------------------------

Being a fundamental Christian, homeschooling mom, often I am accused of indoctrinating my kids with religion (which is pretty much true), and the question sometimes arises:

"What are you teaching your children about atheism?"

I teach my children that atheism is the disbelief in God, or the denial of God’s existence. I also teach my children that in the Bible it says, “The fool says in his heart, there is no God.”

I teach my kids that atheists are liars. Self-deceived, sadly, but liars nonetheless because they reject Truth - Specifically, the Truth that is Jesus Christ. Deep down in their spirits, the knowledge of the Creator endures, but though much denial, atheists suppress this knowledge and exchange the Truth of God for a lie. Since the creation of the world God's invisible attributes are clearly seen, and atheists are without excuse for their willful ignorance! Atheists have became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts have been darkened.

I teach my children that they did NOT evolve from primordial slime, by a series of random chance events brought on by a “cosmic accident” billions of years ago, as the public schools will teach. Instead, I teach my children that they are fearfully & wonderfully made by the hands of God our Creator, created in His image and likeness, and their life has eternal purpose.

My kids will learn how irrational and illogical atheism is, and that it takes way more faith to be an atheist, than it does to believe in Christ. Our faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. By our faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

Atheists look at the majesty of Creation all around them and believe that it came into existence by an accidental, impersonal, amoral, unintelligent force which exists only in their imagination.

I am NOT going to raise my children to be "free-thinkers" and so open minded that their brains fall out, but I am teaching my children of God’s Holy Nature and His Absolute Moral Laws with conviction so that they will be solid in their faith. My kids know what is right and wrong, and that there are severe consequences for sinful behavior.

Our family has a tremendous reverence for God, and we are diligently indoctrinating the principals of God’s Holy Word to our children all throughout the day. We demonstrate our love and obedience towards God, and to each other by the way we conduct our everyday lives, by rebuking the wicked, warning the lost and uplifting fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

Once our children are fully grown and out of our home, they will have the freedom to become atheists and live in rebellion if they want. But, I am confident that my children will never embrace atheism because the Word of God is written on their hearts and they will be smart enough to know better!

When parents train up a child in the way he should go, when he is older, he will not depart from it! That is a spoken promise from God Almighty, and Mama ain't gonna raise no FOOLS!

Exciting PERSONHOOD News!!

2009-02-27T15:44:00.006-05:00

From PersonhoodUSA: (emphasis added)

Helena, Montana - 02/26/2009 - Montana's Senate passed constitutional Personhood Amendment, SB 406, in a 26-24 vote. The amendment, introduced by Senator Dan McGee, passed on its third reading on the Senate floor this morning. This is the first Personhood Amendment in U.S. history to pass a State Senate.

"Senator Dan McGee, writing the language of SB 406 himself, has shown what it truly means to be pro-life," stated Keith Mason, of Personhood USA. "Senator McGee's successful efforts on behalf of all human beings at all stages of human life are a giant step forward in historic efforts to ensure the rights and protection of every individual."

SB 406, which defines person for the purposes of application of inalienable rights, states, "All persons are born free and have certain inalienable rights...person means a human being at all stages of human development of life, including the state of fertilization or conception, regardless of age, health, level of functioning, or condition of dependency."

"Praise God! The honor of being the first State Senate in U.S. history to recognize the personhood of pre-born children goes to Montana," commented Cal Zastrow of Personhood USA. "Thanks to the leadership of Sen. Dan McGee, The Montana Personhood Amendment now moves forward to the State House of Representatives."

SB 406 must continue on to pass the Montana House of Representatives with a majority vote of 74. Once it passes, it is to immediately become a part of the state's constitution. The race is on between Montana and North Dakota for the first Personhood legislation in our nation's history, as Montana's Personhood Amendment continues on to its House of Representatives, and North Dakota's Personhood legislation continues on to its Senate.

Personhood USA is a grassroots Christian organization founded to establish personhood efforts across America to create protection for every child by love and by law. Personhood USA is committed to assisting and supporting Personhood Legislation and Constitutional Amendments and building local pro-life organizations through raising awareness of the personhood of the pre-born.

Environmentalists have it BACKWARDS!

2009-02-21T18:25:00.001-05:00

(Totally want to get this on a t-shirt!)

Reason # 2,898 Why NOT to Send Your Kids to Public School:

2009-02-06T22:04:00.004-05:00

They might get hit and killed by a SCHOOL BUS! But have no fear, parents, if it's a special needs child, as it was in this case, school will resume as usual. Your child won't miss any important activities, like standing in single file lines. They will considerately close the blinds of the school so the students don't have to see their fellow classmate lying, killed, in the parking lot in front of the school.

And in case you're worried your child might be upset at the thought of a classmate being hit by a school bus, don't be! Government trained counselors are standing by to take care of any need they might have! They are much better equipped than you, I mean what can you offer? Love? Knowledge of your own child? You're only the parent, you got nothin' on those government trained counselors -- they are the professionals!!

I gotta wonder, though, if it happened to have been one of the more popular kids in school, THEN would they have let the kids out for the day? Hmmm...

Pelosi: Children Are a Burdern

2009-01-28T21:23:00.003-05:00

My mom brought this video clip to my attention (thanks, mom!), and while it's no surprise, it is so blatant and comes with "no apologies", I thought it deserved some attention.

Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, stated out loud what many of us already knew - that the vast majority of liberals (and, unfortunately, a lot of conservatives, too) are socialists who believe children are burdens.

It's so clear liberals are anti-children. They kill them, via abortion. Here we see Pelosi talking about saving money by having fewer children. When someone is in rebellion against God, as most people in our country (world!) are, they tend to take it out on the innocent.

First of all, it's PEOPLE that provide the revenue for the government - hello? Where else does Ms. Pelosi think they get their tax money?? People are an asset to a nation. But socialists see people as burdens, liabilities - just something they have to feed. To be so bold as to suggest that the stimulus package should provide money for birth control, so we'll have fewer children, so the States will have more money!? Short-sighted, ignorant and WICKED!! And no apologies.

Here's a lesson in Economics: 101, Ms. Pelosi!

Fewer children now =
- fewer tax-payers later

- fewer people in the workforce

- fewer people spending money to keep the economy rolling

It's not rocket science! In Japan, corporations are sending their employees home early so they can reproduce, because their birth rate is so low (1.4), they're not even replacing their own population! They have a DYING NATION. That's what happens! America is committing national suicide with it's daily murder rate of 3,300 innocent unborn children.

Liberals are anti-child because we are created in God's image, and they are anti-God. They will protect a goose egg, but not an unborn human being.

Government Set to Bail Out the Abortion Industry

2009-01-18T11:28:00.007-05:00

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- On the first day of the new session of Congress, the leader of the Senate filed a bill that sends millions of dollars to the nation's largest abortion business. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is the lead sponsor of the pro-abortion Prevention First Act, S. 21, that will be strongly opposed by pro-life groups.

The bill would prohibit health insurance plans from excluding coverage for birth control drugs and devices.

It would also require the federal Health Department to provide information on the morning after pill to all health care providers. Hospitals that receive any federal funds would be forced to give out the drug, which can sometimes cause an abortion, to women who have been raped.
But it is the bailout of the abortion industry that most concerns Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council.

"Reid sent a very clear message about what pro-lifers can expect from the next two years by introducing [the bill]," Perkins told LifeNews.com. "The Prevention First Act would direct hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to the abortion industry, a business that already receives over $286 million each year from federal taxpayers."

Read more...

Here we go! The most pro-abortion President in our country's history has plenty of men and women on his side. Pro-lifers, it's time to wake up and arm for the battle for the unborn!
WAKE UP!!

Taking Comfort in the Warnings of Jesus

2009-01-04T22:34:00.002-05:00

With the new year of 2009 beginning, there is a fresh start. A new year brings with it many new things - new opportunities, new people in your life. But sometimes there are opportunities that are not new, but that can be responded to with new light.

Last year, and previous years, have brought quite a few moral mishaps to my attention concerning people close to me - both in proximity and in relationship. It is never easy to speak the Truth, but Jesus did it, and He commanded His followers to do likewise.

As I look to the year ahead, my hope and prayer - my hopeful prayer (knowing God IS mighty and FREE and ABLE to change peoples' hardened hearts) - is that I, and others who call them by His namesake, will be strong to follow Him and His word, and to love those around me enough to continue to speak the TRUTH.

It is, of course, never an intention to cause division. But we, as believers, can take comfort in Jesus' words - that where Truth is spoken, division is inevitible, because people do not LIKE to hear the TRUTH (unfortunatley, this is true of both believers and unbelievers, I can say from experience).

Jesus Christ promised his followers, "You will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. And then many will be offended." (Matt. 24:9-10)

Jesus further warned his disciples, "Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law" (Luke 12:51-53)

Rick Warren - Unfortunate Typical Christian Leader, Gives The Wicked a False Sense of Security

2008-12-28T21:25:00.009-05:00

This Reuters article begins, "President-elect Barack Obama has chosen a pastor who opposes gay marriage as a speaker at his inauguration, creating a commotion over what inclusiveness will mean for his administration."

But, you see, the commotion is unnecessary because Rick Warren is a "good Christian". He would never offend anyone! He is a man of tolerance, diversity, acceptance. Just like Jesus was, right?! NO!! NOT LIKE JESUS!!

Let's have a look at the slippery sloap, shall we??

Years Ago Christian Leaders:

- supported laws that legitimized sex only within marriage

- then they agreed with the decriminalization of pornography (as free speech)

- then they agreed with the decriminalization of fornication (shacking up, etc.)

- then they agreed with the decriminalization of adultery (with another man's wife)

- then they agreed with the decriminalization of homosexuality

- then they agreed with homosexual adoption of children

- then George Bush and the false conservatives advocated civil unions

- then John McCain (with Barack Obama) voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment

- and now as regards legislation, Christian leaders only oppose homosexual marriage. Period.

Now let's have a look at the Bible, shall we??

Recall the story of John the Baptist. He lost his life for one reason --> he was not afraid of any MAN, but had the GUTS to look at the head political leader of his day - in the eye - and tell him he was a sinner and what he was doing was not right in the eyes of God. Because he did that, he literally lost his head! John the Baptist loved Herod enough to tell him the Truth - he was not a man suffering from the common ailment of our day - apathy.

The fact is, if John the Baptist were alive today and rebuked our country's leaders for the killing of innocent children, and promotion of homosexuality, he'd be criticized by our Christian leaders for not being godly or Christlike!

Rick Warren ought to use this inauguration prayer as an opportunity, out of love for Barack Obama and our wicked nation, to pray that Obama will come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ; that this nation stop slaughtering babies; that this nation would honor God's holy institution of marriage; that we would corporately get back on our knees, repent and turn back to God! But we all know, those words will never come out of his mouth.

That's tragic, because that would be heroic, biblical, and godly.

The compromise of those who call themselves believers literally makes me sick to my stomach! And why is there so much of it these days? Because Christians are afraid of "offending" people!! And yet, when Jesus' disciples, in John 6 came to him saying many were offended by what he was preaching, Jesus basically said - there's more where that came from! Jesus was offensive - "Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me." - Matthew 11:6

This country needs Christians to be BOLD - not be ashamed, not intimidated, but take the Truth of God's word publicly! Will YOU?

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. - Romans 12:9

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Click here for another great post on Compromise!

Our First-ever Christmas Newsletter! - Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-25T02:21:00.000-05:00

Dear Family and Friends,

While we are not really the "newsletter type", we have so many inquiries as to how Nolan is doing that we wanted to be sure to include an update this Christmas. And, well, we can't really give an update on just Nolan, so the update grew to something more resembling a newsletter. *he-hem* So, without further ado – our newsletter:

Andrew is now in second grade! He has a passion for reading, still loves to build with K'Nex and Lego's, and has found a new hobby in building model airplanes. He loves his brothers and sisters and is very helpful with them. He is very engaging and interested in the world around him. He has a big heart and longs to help those in need. He is fond of his role as a protector, being the young man that he is. He and Nolan have fun dressing up as knights and protecting us from the dangers lurking in our closets!

Mia is in Kindergarten this year. She taught herself to read sometime last year while I wasn't looking, and she devours books like nothing else. She usually has three to four books going at once, and that's not including the ones she reads for our school day! She is a sweet and cheerful little girl, and ever-so-helpful around the house. She loves to cook, and makes lunch almost entirely by herself just about every day. She is a delight.

Riley is 4 ½ and quite a little character. She loves to take care of Gabriel and Nolan, though sometimes her "care" can be a little over-zealous. For the most part, though, they enjoy her mothering them. She is best friends with Mia and wants to be like her big sister in every way. She has a very lively spirit and is very humorous and quick to laugh. She loves to do any kind of art or craft, and is enjoying the early stages of learning to read.

Nolan is doing so very well! We are forever grateful to all who helped us get Nolan to National Jewish Hospital two years ago – it was life-changing for him and all of us. His skin is mostly healthy, with occasional upsets and is still incredibly contact-reactive. He suffers from multiple food allergies, but this year we were able to increase the foods in his diet to the point that he no longer needs a supplemental formula – which was a huge accomplishment! He also has asthma, which is quite scary at times with such a little guy, but he takes his treatments well when he needs them. He is a very cheerful, active three-year-old and we couldn't imagine life without him. We call him "the monkey", which, well - you just have to see him climb stuff to fully appreciate!

Gabriel is 15 months. He is often called "little bear", which is because he is so big and cuddly. He has a very sweet disposition and a huge, contagious smile. He loves to be outside, so these winter months will be long from his perspective! He is constantly babbling and into everything. He loves music and watching him dance is a hoot! His favorite *word* is "no thank you". This is communicated with an aggressive thrusting of the head from left to right in true Lester fashion.

Brian is doing well after a long year of trials in business, and an appendectomy on the side. I keep myself quite busy being his wife, managing our five kids, home-schooling, and blogging in my vast amounts of spare time. We celebrated our 10^th anniversary this year with an overnight trip to an amazing bed and breakfast in northern Indiana, and had anniversary pictures taken at the Indiana Dunes. It was refreshing and fun to reminisce over the last 10 years, and we are looking forward to many more together.

We wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Where the heck is global warming when you need it?!?

2008-12-22T23:50:00.001-05:00

I'm FREEZING!!

Mom to 4 U.S. citizens ordered to forced sterilization

2008-12-04T09:42:00.005-05:00

* China Would Imprison Xiu: "I am in an impossible situation," says Xiu. "If they deport me to China, I have to take my children, because I am their mother and must care for them. But I cannot take them to China, because they will lose their freedom, and endure forced abortion of my grandchildren. This is an impossible situation." Xiu Mei Wei, pronounced Shu May Way, flew to America legally on a temporary tourist visa. Upon her arrival her fiancé told her he had found another woman. She met a man who married her and they now have four children. But on a paperwork technicality, the federal 10th Circuit Court has ruled against Xiu. So she has taken her case to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.

*See Bob Unruh's story on Wei at WorldNetDaily.com, Mom to 4 U.S. citizens ordered to forced sterilization.

*Listen to her story as she told it on the radio yesterday, detailing what will happen to her and her children if they return to China.

**Please send a letter (you could use or modify the following example) to:

The Byron White U.S. Courthouse
Re: Case # 079537 Xiu Mei Wei
1823 Stout Street
Denver, CO 80257

To Whom It May Concern,

Regarding Case # 079537 and Xiu Mei Wei, please do not rule to deport Xiu to brutal China. Please realize that human rights take precedence over technicalities. America cannot save everyone in China, but Xiu is already here. If we deport her, as Xiu says, "I am in an impossible situation. If they deport me to China, I have to take my children, because I am their mother and must care for them. But I cannot take them to China, because they will lose their freedom, and endure forced abortion of my grandchildren. This is an impossible situation." No technicality justifies you denying Xiu political asylum and thereby sentencing her to a loss of freedom, a loss of religious freedom, and a loss of freedom of speech for her and her children; and you would thereby be sentencing Xiu to forced sterilization and fines because while in America she has violated China's anti-choice one-child policy and now has four lovely children, which boys would be shunned by China's government as illicit children; and finally, Xiu would likely be punished and probably jailed due to speaking publicly to expose China's systematic denial of freedom to its people. Please have mercy on Xiu Mei Wei.

Sincerely,

Name

Address

* See also KnowYourCourts: At KnowYourCourts.com, search the News section for the note on Nov. 7, 2008, on "mercy and compassion" about Xiu Mei Wei!

Giving the Gift of Abortion?!

2008-11-29T15:31:00.007-05:00

This article was brought to my attention by Dani and originally posted by Highboy. Everyone knows Planned Parenthood is evil. I mean, everyone who thinks for themselves knows that. They are the largest abortion provider in the WORLD. And yet, they've sunk to a new low-- selling gift certificates at CHRISTMAS-TIME. I can just imagine the gurus at Planned Parenthood of Indiana sitting around their boardroom table brainstorming another way they can mock our Lord. What better way than to hand out certificates for death - worse, MURDER - at the time of our Savior's birth?!? Unbelievable.

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Planned Parenthood Issues Christmas Gift Certificates: Give the Gift of Abortion
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 25, 2008

Indianapolis, IN (LifeNews.com) -- In what could easily become the most offensive Christmas offer ever a Planned Parenthood affiliate is offering Christmas gift certificates. Purchasers can use them to give the gift of abortion even though the group claims that's not its purpose or intent.

"Looking for an unusual, yet practical gift this holiday season? Planned Parenthood of Indiana (PPIN) is now offering gift certificates for services or the recipient's choice of birth control method," the abortion business says.

The gift certificates can be purchased in increments of $25 online at the group's web site or for any amount at some of PPIN's 35 statewide facilities.

While PPIN president and CEO Betty Cockrum says they can be redeemed for contraception, birth control and legitimate medical services like breast exams and Pap tests, they can also be used to pay for abortions.

Read more....

--------

Read Related Article from WorldNetDaily.

From Our Gobble-Heads to Yours!

2008-11-27T22:09:00.006-05:00

LOL. Sometimes you just gotta see the whole process!

Happy Turkey Day!

~Lindsay

Strongest Argument Against Abortion for Rape/Incest

2008-11-22T12:12:00.003-05:00

Listen to THIS: After being raped and pushed to have an abortion, Sherri Williams refused and gave birth to a beautiful girl, later adopted and named Bethany King. Christians make powerful arguments against killing a child conceived in rape, but there is no stronger human argument than Bethany herself. She IS the argument! You will be STUNNED! - Brought me to tears!!

---------------------------------------

Pro-life with exceptions?? Quit compromising and get with reality!!

Abortion for incest is cruel. The abortion clinic covers up the crime of incest, and typically sends the victim back home to her rapist. Even worse, they often send her home with her rapist, the criminal who brought her to the clinic.

Abortion for incest:
- emboldens a criminal to rape his young relative
- helps him escape being caught
- tempts him to repeat his crime and
- is not compassionate because it kills a baby and increases the woman's suffering.

Similar tragedies result from non-incestuous rape. Personhood for the unborn helps people understand there are no hard cases when deciding to protect a baby. You don't kill a baby because her father is a criminal. Personhood will reduce crimes against women and children!

Veterans Day

2008-11-11T09:24:00.002-05:00

I thank my grandpa Bud for his sacrifice. His service was a display of now-almost-obsolete character qualities of honor, courage, selflessness, sense of duty.

Other veterans in my family include both my brothers, and my other grandfather who passed away just over a year ago. (and I think one of my uncles, too...but I need to confirm that, my memory isn't helping me this morning!)

Remember to thank those you love who have served our country!

I voted for the good guy

2008-11-05T07:23:00.003-05:00

Last night after I came home from voting, my little 6 year-old asked me, "Mommy, did the good guy win??" (The good guy, btw is CHUCK BALDWIN...or ALAN KEYES...or anyone else that doesn't comprimise on MURDER. NOT john mccain.)

I had to chuckle a little at such a cute and innocent question. "No," I said, "Probably not. But I voted for him! And daddy did. And Uncle M voted for him, and Uncle D voted for him!"

-----

I haven't heard or looked yet, but I imagine all the "Christians" and conservatives are weeping over the outcome last night. Too bad they didn't do the right thing and vote for someone deserving of their vote, then at least they wouldn't have that guilt on their conscience as well. You know what's funny? Most of the "Christians" out there believe in the heresy of Calvinism and will have said God had already determined the outcome from eternity past. So why not vote with integrity, if it won't effect the already determined future anyway? Maybe some will re-think their theology now...probably not, but maybe.

I am responsible before God to do what is right. So is everyone else. I did my best to get the information to everyone I could. As a Christian, that is also my responsibility - to love my neighbor and warn them and encourage them toward righteousness. What others do with that information, if they choose to continue in willful ignorance, that is up to them. They will give account in the end.

I imagine that will go something like this:

God: You voted for John McCain, and in doing so you are an accomplice to murder.
"Christian": But-but...I didn't vote for Obama, and he's worse! He would have killed so many more babies!
God: I asked you to be faithful to Me. Be Holy, as I am Holy. You voted for John McCain, and in doing so you are an accomplice to murder.
"Christian": But, Lord! If I had voted for a third party (Christian still shudders at the thought), it would have been the same as voting for Obama. I would have helped him win.
God: You of little faith...why did you doubt? (Matthew 14:31) You have so little faith. (Matthew 17:20) I asked you to be faithful to Me. Be Holy, as I am Holy. You voted for John McCain, and in doing so you are an accomplice to murder.
"Christian": Speechless. (because there is no response, no excuse.)

Romans 1:29-3229 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

My Response to: Why do you believe McCain is EVIL?

2008-11-03T14:32:00.003-05:00

A friend asked me that, today. Here is my answer:

Here is a quick look at the main issues, from the Christian Voter's Guide. You will see that McCain is a baby-killer, just like Obama. He just lies about it, or says he believes abortion is a state's rights issue - see his voting record here. Murder is wrong, no matter who is deciding. If he said the rape of women was a state's rights issue, every one would be up in arms over it! He also is not for defending marriage as only between a man and a woman. That's just two. Bottom line, if you will compromise on murder, what won't you compromise on?

There is a fantastic debate on TOL (theology online), Is it Immoral to Vote for John McCain?

Chuck Baldwin is running on the Constitutional Party ticket, which is the third largest party.

Here's what he represents:

-Someone who is truly pro-life.

-Someone who would quickly secure our nation's borders, and end the invasion of our country by illegal aliens.

-Someone who would, on his first day in office, release Border Patrol agents Ramos and Compean and fire U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton.

-Someone who would immediately, upon assuming office, begin leading the charge to dismantle the Federal Reserve, overturn the 16th Amendment, expunge the IRS, and return America to sound money principles.

-Someone who would get the US out of the UN.

-Someone who would stop spending billions and trillions of dollars for foreign aid.

-Someone who would prosecute the Wall Street bankers who defrauded the American people out of billions of dollars.

-Someone who would work to repeal NAFTA, CAFTA, GATT, the WTO, and stop the NAFTA superhighway.

-Someone who would say a resounding "No" to the New World Order.

-Someone who would stop using our brave men and women in uniform as global cops for the United Nations.

-Someone who would stop America's global adventurism and interventionism.

-Someone who would steadfastly support and defend the right of the people to keep and bear arms.

{{BRAVO}} That's my kind of President!

~Lindsay

PS. Thanks to N, for encouraging me not to give up. <3

Front Lines of the Pro-Life Movement

2008-11-03T09:08:00.003-05:00

If you live in Colorado, or know anyone who lives in Colorado, please read the important information below. There is an ammendment on the ballot for tomorrow, which will be historical for the pro-life movement if it passes. Please, on behalf of the unborn who need your help, spread the word to anyone and everyone you know in Colorado - and tell them to VOTE YES on 48!!

Lindsay

--
Original Post on Dani's blog:

If you live in Colorado, vote YES on Amendment 48.

The question you'll vote on November 4, 2008 is just this simple:

Amendment Question #48:
"Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution
defining the term "person" to include any human being from
the moment of fertilization as "person" is used in those
provisions of the Colorado constitution relating to inalienable
rights, equality of justice, and due process of law?"

YES on 48!

The language proposed to be changed in the code is:

Be it Enacted by the People of the State of Colorado:

SECTION 1. Article II of the constitution of the state of Colorado is amended BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION to read:

Section 31. Person defined. As used in sections 3, 6, and 25 of Article II of the state constitution, the terms "person" or "persons" shall include any human being from the moment of fertilization.

The Simpsons - Actually Right for a Change

2008-10-30T22:34:00.005-04:00

This clip is so great; rather than mocking God as is their usual motif, the writers are exposing democracy for what it really is, and the ironic fallacy of a two-party system. It is hilarious to me to listen to people pining over choosing between the lesser of two evils -- when in all of history, let along just America, do we have to choose between just two of ANYTHING? Chocolate or vanilla? White or Wheat? Ketchup or Mustard? HELLO?? Can anyone think for themselves anymore?

Please look into the choices available to you before November 4th. There actually *are* candidates that aren't EVIL at all!! (as opposed to choosing "the lesser of two evils", which is STILL EVIL).

Abortion Survivor Makes Australia's Finest Uncomfortable

2008-10-30T17:08:00.000-04:00

Trick or Treat

2008-10-28T21:56:00.003-04:00

Happy Birthday To Me (...and my husband!)

2008-10-23T19:25:00.007-04:00

It's my birthday, so I'm sending myself some daisies. ;-) They are my favorite flower - such a cheerful, friendly flower!

It's also my hubby's birthday, what a (as we call it) co-ink-a-dink. When we met, I thought he tried to say he had the same birthday as a way to flirt with me! LOL I made him show me his driver's license, and, sure enough, he had the same birthday, exactly one year before mine!

I went home and told my parents - totally kidding at the time -

"Today, I met the man I'm going to marry! We have the same birthday; it's meant to be!!"

Little did I know! :-D

A Wasted Vote

2008-10-21T16:18:00.004-04:00

I'm **NOT** a Republicrat - I mean (eh-hem) - Republican. But I love this picture.

I have so many non-political, non-morality-based posts piling up. But with so many 'Christians' out there getting ready to *again* blindly vote with the crowd because they want to be on the winning team, those posts just have to wait. It might be after the election that I'll be able to get up those birthday posts, our anniversary pictures, and other fun things (like the red-tailed hawk that perched on the swing in our backyard yesterday). But, ya know, since 'Christians' today have an increasingly hard time discerning right from wrong (and, even worse, try to disguise it as "christian liberty"), I may just have to start another blog for the fun stuff! There is too much to address in this Bizzaro world - up is down, left is right, front is back. It is depressing, but people do come to their senses, repent and change. It just happened yesterday.

Back to the post at hand, please read part of this great article by Chuck Baldwin, who is a candidate for Presidency on the Constitution Party Ticket. To read it in it's entirety, click on the title.

~Lindsay

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From: A Wasted Vote
by Chuck Baldwin
October 10, 2008

As John Quincy Adams said, "Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost."

...To vote for John McCain is to vote for a man who cannot win. Yes, I am saying it here and now: John McCain cannot win this election. The handwriting is on the wall. The Fat Lady is singing. It is all over. Finished. John McCain cannot win.

With only three weeks before the election, Barack Obama is pulling away. McCain has already pulled his campaign out of Michigan. In other key battleground states, McCain is slipping fast. He was ahead in Missouri; now it is a toss-up or leaning to Obama. A couple of weeks ago, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Florida were all leaning towards McCain, or at least toss-up states. Now, they are all leaning to Obama. Even the longtime GOP bellwether state of Indiana is moving toward Obama. In addition, new voter registrations are at an all-time high, and few of them are registering as Republicans. In fact, the Republican Party now claims only around 25% of the electorate, and Independents are increasingly leaning toward Obama.

Ladies and gentlemen, Barack Obama is headed for an electoral landslide victory over John McCain. John McCain can no more beat Barack Obama than Bob Dole could beat Bill Clinton.

I ask, therefore, Are not conservatives and Christians who vote for John McCain guilty of the same thing that they accuse people who vote for third party candidates of doing? Are they not voting for someone who cannot win? Indeed, they are. In fact, conservatives and Christians who vote for John McCain are not only voting for a man who cannot win, they are voting for a man who does not share their own beliefs and principles. If this is not insanity, nothing is!

So, why not (for once in your life, perhaps) cast a vote purely for principle! Vote for someone who is truly pro-life. Someone who would quickly secure our nation's borders, and end the invasion of our country by illegal aliens. Someone who would, on his first day in office, release Border Patrol agents Ramos and Compean and fire U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton. Someone who would immediately, upon assuming office, begin leading the charge to dismantle the Federal Reserve, overturn the 16th Amendment, expunge the IRS, and return America to sound money principles. Someone who would get the US out of the UN. Someone who would stop spending billions and trillions of dollars for foreign aid. Someone who would prosecute the Wall Street bankers who defrauded the American people out of billions of dollars. Someone who would work to repeal NAFTA, CAFTA, GATT, the WTO, and stop the NAFTA superhighway. Someone who would say a resounding "No" to the New World Order. Someone who would stop using our brave men and women in uniform as global cops for the United Nations. Someone who would stop America's global adventurism and interventionism. Someone who would steadfastly support and defend the right of the people to keep and bear arms.

"Who is this person?" you ask. Go here to find out:

http://www.baldwin08.com/

Good vs. Evil ~NOT~ Lesser Evil vs. Evil

2008-10-20T10:53:00.003-04:00

The following is a portion of a letter from the husband of one of my dearest friends. It is dead-on!! Couldn't have said it better myself. To read it in its entirety, please click Here. (Emphasis is original to the author).

~Lindsay

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Dear Christians,

...Christians, we don't 'need to always choose between the two evils.' I choose good over evil which is what we're all commanded by God to do. What happens is that you fool yourself into believing that cliché (choosing between two evils) so that you actually choose evil over good which is a sin. It's an old trick employed by Satan to make people sin, and he's used it since the beginning of time upon generation after generation. Wouldn't you know that the Bible actually speaks about this very trick and says that we shouldn't do evil (sin) so that good may come of it (Romans 3:5-8)?

To even say that 'we should choose evil' is a sin. Thus, you are sinning, Christians, and you need to stop, repent and sin no more. It's in Scripture. Do you understand that? Choosing evil = SIN, no exceptions! Choosing evil means you don't choose what is good. Do you understand that, Christians?

Christ has already won! Christians, you shouldn't be concerned with who will win some lame election, because whoever wins an election cannot defeat God. And God doesn't care about this or any election - it's of no concern for Him, it's boring for Him, it's meaningless for Him. What concerns God most above all else is what you and I do - choose good or evil - because what you and I do shows God the amount of faith we have in Him. If we choose evil, we have little or no faith in God. If we choose good, we have faith in God. And faith in God is what saves us (Ephesians 2:8), not voting for McCain (a wolf in sheep's clothing) because we're scared of the boogie man Obama (a wolf without sheep's clothing). If we have no faith, we cannot be saved. Christians, this election is a test of your faith and God is watching. Will you be faithful to God in choosing good instead of evil? If you have faith in this little thing like some dumb election, then you'll have faith in the big things (Luke 19:17).

You've already told me that McCain and Obama are both evil, but Christians, voting for McCain says more about you than it does about anyone else: That you're willing to choose evil, that you have little or no faith in God. I know you're better and [you're] smarter than that, Christians. Do the right thing, choose good, and let God worry about these evil-circus-clown-boogie men named Obama and McCain. God never strapped you and me with the responsibility to worry about dealing with His enemies (Obama and McCain). That's God's responsibility. But God does expect us to choose good over evil.

Which will you choose, Christians: Good or Evil? Here are some good choices: Chuck Baldwin; Alan Keyes.

----------

Barack Obama vs John McCain - SAME DIFFERENCE

2008-10-19T05:04:00.005-04:00

View the stunning side-by-side comparison Here.

Human Life

Obama does not know when life begins and refuses to
support any legislation that gives rights to children from
conception.
John McCain believes life begins at conception and has
been asked to support a number of “personhood” bills
but has refused every time. McCain refused to co-sponsor
U.S. Senator Roger Wicker's life-saving S.3111 and refuses
to endorse Colorado's historic Personhood amendment
initiative which is on their statewide November ballot.

Embryonic Research

Obama advocates medical experimentation on
the tiniest babies because he doesn’t know when life begins.
McCain says life begins at conception but advocates
medical experimentation on these tiny babies.

Gay Marriage Ban

Both McCain and Obama are against banning
gay marriage in the Constitution. McCain came
out in opposition to Bushes support for such a ban in
2004.

Funds Abortions

Obama supports paying for abortions in some
circumstances.
The official Senate.gov
site documents McCain's Yea vote on the Health and
Human Services Appropriations Public Law
109-149 and the Government Printing Office documents
that McCain's vote authorized funding for surgical abortion.

"Make sure to vote your principles. Remember the world is watching how Christians represent our Lord." -Christian Voter's Guide

None of the Above

2008-10-17T10:08:00.007-04:00

We have been reading a new book this year, in preparation for this year's Presidential election. Brian and I both have found the information to be very eye opening. None of the Above is a serious book, detailing how America got into the political mess in which we find ourselves--with two major-party candidates that are completely inadequate to run our nation--and explains what we must do in this upcoming election if we are going to reverse the downhill trend of what once was the greatest nation in the world.

Anyone who loves this country ought to read None of the Above in the next few weeks before the 2008 election, and consider seriously what Joseph Farah, editor for WorldNetDaily.com, has to say. He thoroughly details the incredible flaws in both Barack Obama and John McCain; the flaws in both the Democratic and Republican parties. And gives some thought provoking solutions that are real and attainable, if only enough Americans would arm themselves with knowledge and cosideration, foresight and courage.

A few excerpts from None of the Above by Joseph Farah (bold emphasis added by me) :

"Citizens who consider themselves accountable to God first and who uphold the Constitution as the law of the land in America--must oppose any and all politicians who won't strictly adhere to that law. There can be no ifs, ands, or buts about this. You can't vote for the lesser of two evils because that is still voting for evil. It's better not to participate in evil at all.

"...Many Americans have grown convinced they have a sacred obligation to vote--even if it means pulling the lever for an unqualified, hyperambitious dolt who wouldn't know the Constitution if he wiped his feet on it.

"You will hear that failure to vote for one of the two major-party candidates in any election is tantamount to "throwing your vote away.". I say voting for an illegitimate and unworthy candidate--one who will not live under the rule of law and abide by the Constitution as a minimal standard--is throwing your vote away.

"If you don't have a choice you can truly respect, don't vote. Don't pretend you havea choice. Don't dignify a corrupt system with your participation in a charade. Don't add legitimacy to an illegitimate process.

"...Where are the politicians today promoting self-reliance, personal responsibility, and self-government? Where are the politicians committed in their hearts, souls, and minds to the constitutional principle of limited government and enumerated powers?

"There are none running for president this year--at least, not as the nominee of one of the two major parties. So don't vote for either one. It's just that simple. To vote for either John McCain or Barack Obama would be a betrayal--by you--of the Constitution. Say no. Say "none of the above". Vote third party. Write in your favorite candidate.

"I am not, by the way, advocating staying home from the polls this year. I am advocating using real discernment and judgment. I am telling you not to be one of the lemmings who charge off the cliff because everyone else is going in that direction."

Order your copy of None of the Above today! It is the best $15 you will spend this year.

Sarah Palin - Feminist in Sheep's Clothing

2008-10-08T03:50:00.006-04:00

Why do Christians like being lied to? Because they want to be on the winning team! Christians have been dooped by the Republican party. Dooped by those in the Republican Party's pocket - National Right to Life, Dr. James Dobson, and the like. We Christians have been told, all we have to do is WIN. Keep voting Republican, even though everything the Republican party stands for is corrupt, immoral, against God. Keep voting Republican, because the Democrats are worse.

Hmm...really? I'm not so sure. At least the democrats don't lie about their beliefs. They will tell you to your face they think unborn children should be killed before they ever see the light of day. But a republican will tell you, "Oh, I'm pro-life!...(unless you have been raped...or unless you're a teenager and your parents say its okay to kill their grandbaby...unless...exception after exception, ad nauseum)."

Along comes a pretty face to go with the lies and the Christians are ready to sign their souls over. It's unbelievable to me how many Christians are mesmerized by this feminist, Sarah Palin. A mother of many children, including one with Downs Syndrome, she is assuredly pro-life...at least before the child is born. But what is she once her children enter the world? A feminist to the very core.

Let me stop right here and make it clear - I believe women - mothers -are to be at home caring for their children and helping their husbands. That is their God-given duty - "to love their husbands and children, ...to be busy at home..." Titus 2:4-5. I also know that this is not always possible. Their are plenty of exceptions to the rule, but Sarah Palin? No, Sarah Palin is not an exception to the rule. She is a woman on a power trip. And she is teaching her children, especially her daughters, that they should do the same. That children are not as important as "the job", or as "status". But it should be the other way around! Now not only are her children at risk of her feminist ways, but the children of our country will see and glamorize yet another feminist in action.

Still don't think she's a feminist? Why, because she's pretty? Because she has lots of kids? Because she's witty? She's not ugly, or sinister like Hillary, I'll give you that, but she is just as dangerous, if not more so. Consider what she said in her speech giving credit to the very devil the Christians were so opposed to, "It was rightly noted in Denver this week that Hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America, but it turns out the women of America aren't finished yet and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all."

Palin has a teenager that is pregnant. True, the girl didn't abort the baby. True, we all make mistakes, and sometimes kids rebel even when parents do most things right. But that is not the case here. No, see, Sarah Palin's public career began, she says, when she didn't like what was going on in her children's schools. So she joined the PTA. What she should have done, if she truly had her children's interests at heart, was get her kids the heck out of the government schools! But, she decided she could have it all. She fell for the feminist philosophy, hook-line-and-sinker, and her children suffered as a result. She has been after that glass ceiling ever since, no looking back. Now her daughter is knocked up and the Republicans are going to put this family up in front of the world as representatives of the American family!

A mother needs to be a mother first. Sarah Palin has children younger than this pregnant teen, and she ought to learn from her mistakes and correct them. She ought to see that she was an absent mother who failed her daughter, and change her ways so that this doesn't happen again. But rather than put her family first, she is going after an even more time-consuming and demanding job that will take her away from her children even more. Her kids will be raised by substitute parents, and the Christians will go on championing her as their hero because, hey, at least we WON, right?

Are you Unashamedly a Christian?

2008-09-22T01:30:00.003-04:00

Gianna Jessen is! See her on Hannity and Colmes:

From BornAliveTruth.org:

You are invited to attend an emergency conference call this Tuesday evening, September 23, at 9:30 PM Eastern (6:30 PM Pacific) to hear abortion survivor Gianna Jessen and nurse Jill Stanek expose the shocking truth about how Barack Obama voted 4 times as an IL State Senator to deny lifesaving medical help to infants who were born alive after a failed abortion.
Jill is the nurse who discovered that these helpless babies were being left to die in the dirty utility room along with the trash, and testified before Barack Obama to tell her story.
Gianna is the amazing and beautiful woman who herself survived an abortion 31 years ago.
Barack Obama now has the audacity to deceptively deny his own voting record and is personally attacking Gianna and trying to smear her credibility!
Please register for this urgent conference call (that will also be simulcast on the web) to hear the truth directly from these two courageous women and to help Gianna defend herself from Obama's cowardly personal attacks. CLICK HERE and scroll to bottom of page TO REGISTER.
Spread the word and ask all of your friends to join this vital discussion as well. Gianna urgently needs your help, and people need to know the truth about Barack Obama.
Please join us Tuesday evening at 9:30 PM Eastern, 8:30 PM Central, 7:30 PM Mountain, 6:30 PM Pacific.

Take Care Down There

2008-09-05T01:27:00.002-04:00

AFTER POISONING OUR CULTURE FOR DECADES AT TAXPAYER EXPENSE, LEFTIST
LIBERALS ARE SHOCKED AT TEEN PREGNANCY?

Teen Sex? Please Do!
- Planned Parenthood
Matt Barber
Monday, September 01, 2008

Planned Parenthood, the billion dollar corporate abortion mill, has taken indecency to a whole new level and is using your taxpayer dollars to do so. The organization, which is responsible for the abortion deaths of tens of millions of people, was founded in 1916 by admitted white-supremacist Margret Sanger, with the lofty goal of, as Sanger put it, eliminating “the ever increasing, unceasingly spawning class of human beings who never should have been born at all.” Lest there be any doubt as to whom, exactly, Sanger was referring to, she also wrote: “We do not want the word to go out that we (Planned Parenthood) want to exterminate the Negro population.”

Sorry, Maggie. Word’s out.

Although Planned Parenthood’s primary mission is detestable beyond words and remains unchanged still today, its secondary goal, if left in a vacuum, is not so sinister. That is, of course, to make lots and lots of money.

But here’s what is sinister. In order to make lots and lots of money, Planned Parenthood, just like any other “service provider,” needs lots and lots of customers, and the best way to get those customers is to promote the very behaviors which create them. Specifically, to manipulate kids – under the guise of so-called “comprehensive sex education” – to engage in promiscuous, casual sex as soon and as often as possible. It’s simple supply and demand. Planned Parenthood encourages the behaviors which create the demand and then dutifully offers its deadly supply.

To that end, Planned Parenthood has created a new promotional Web site that targets youth. It’s called “Take Care Down There”. (WARNING: It features short, near pornographic “public service” video vignettes which, among other things, promote casual sex, immodesty, homosexuality and even group sex.

More...

~Lindsay

Relationships

2008-09-03T22:21:00.004-04:00

I am in the midst of creating a post for Gabriel's first birthday (coming soon to a blog near you).

But, I just got to thinkin...

His birthday this week began with me singing to him, while we were still in bed - I will never forget it. Just the stillness of that moment, and him not really understanding what I was singing to him, but knowing it was a special moment. He is such a sweet little boy. Big-little boy, I mean. LOL

As I was making breakfast for my houseful o' kids, I was chatting with my best friend via text-messaging. We were reminiscing when Gabriel was born. She wanted so badly to be there for the birth, but it didn't work out. But she was holding Gabriel when he was less than 24 hours old (and brought me some Twix, let's not forget!). She had just found out she was expecting her sweet James, who is now already with our Lord Jesus. It was such a happy day.

Fast forward back to his first birthday, and do you know, of oodles of family - grandparents, step-grandparents, uncles and aunts, and great-aunts and -uncles, how many recognized his special day? As the day came to a close, I realized not one single person had called or sent a card. Gabriel doesn't care, he's too little to even know it's his birthday, but we noticed. Sure we're having the party in a couple of weeks, but really - not one?

Today I was reading this article, and it just hammered it home. This life is supposed to be about *relationships*. That is why we were created, after all. Relationships. God is relational, and desired to have more relationships, and so He created this amazing world and humans with the ability to choose to love Him back. It was a good reminder, as I often am reminded, to be ever-so-focused on developing strong relationships. Especially with Brian and with our children. I look at each sweet face looking back at me and remind myself how much I need to know that little person. I *should* know them better than they know themselves, or at least I should try. Too many parents today, and for the last several generations, just go on. They have kids and go on with their lives as if the kids are just an extra commodity to work in. We are committed to changing that cycle; to passing on something lasting - a deep, loving relationship. I hope and pray we succeed - my kids, and their kids, and their kids...sure will be worth the extra time effort!

~Lindsay

Open Theism: An Email Discussion

2008-08-27T17:04:00.005-04:00

The following is an email discussion I had recently with someone regarding open theism. She wishes to remain anonymous, and so I will refer to her as "Jane". To avoid confusion, please note that the abreviation OT here stands for Open Theism.

----------

Lindsay: Are you already familiar with OT?

----------

Jane: I know a little about it. I have a friend who was majorly Calvinist and used to be kind of forceful with me about it several years ago, but then a few years later I found out that he had studied and embraced the concepts of open-theism. It kind of scared me at first even though hyper-Calvinism seemed yucky and not like God’s character to me. But as I let go of some of my pre-conceived ideas, OT seemed to make sense on most levels.

My understanding of it is that open-theists believe that God is all-powerful and will make his plans come to pass, but that He does not know what is unknowable, i.e., things that haven’t happened yet that He has not specifically planned.

There was a time when I really wrestled with the idea of God choosing people to go to hell, which some Calvinist friends were really pushing on me. I feel like a lot of Calvinists talk in circles and there is no way to really explore a concept with them ‘cause they say we can’t question God. It was so hard for me to think of God as choosing people’s eternity when so much in the Scripture talks about our choice.

A lot of the passages about 'chosen people' are misread, I think. Like, it seems a lot of the stuff in Galatians is referring to Israel, not to New Testament believers; and the Romans 9 stuff seems like it could be talking about people’s station in life and not necessarily their eternal destination; and in the Epistles, I think Paul focuses on believers being predestined to be conformed to Christ’s image, not predestined to believe in the first place…know what I mean?

But then there are other things that confuse me, like Psalm 139 about all the days of my life being written before there was even one day. That makes God sound like a micro-manager.

----------

Lindsay: I think your email makes a lot of sense, and you sound a lot like I did a few years ago. It's tough to rectify something that is so widely taught (Calvanism, in all it's variations) with so much of scripture that doesn't match up. In my experience, talking with other believers, they'd rather learn the scripted answers to the "problem texts", than actually search the scriptures for themselves to see if what they're being taught is actually correct - it was true of me, too, growing up. I trusted those who were teaching me, and gave very little thought or question to what they taught.

Your basic premise of OT is correct. I boil it down to this - God is free and able. He can write a new song, create a new thing, think a new thought. He is completely free. This is true of man, as well. I also agree with you, Christians, in the majority, do not rightly divide the word of truth (1 Tim. 2:15). They fail to recognize that there are passages that are to and about Israel, and passages that are to and about the Body of Christ; that salvation came first to the Jews, and was including the Law, and was rejected. Then God turned, cut off Israel and grafted in the Gentiles with a grace gospel.

As for Psalm 139, my understanding is that this psalm is about the formation and growth of the baby in the womb. Let's look at Psalm 139:16: But I would also like to look at verse 15: "My frame [bones] was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet informed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashoned for me, when as yet there was none of them." First, notice that verse 15 refers to the physical bones. King David, inspired by God, wrote of how he was "skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth [a Hebrew idiom for the womb]."

My understanding - King David is talking about fetology here or the study of the development of the fetus in the womb. This becomes even more clear with the discovery of DNA by James Watson and Francis Crick. DNA is information which instructs the cells to form a certain way. As I understand it, it's like a computer program of information which instructs machines to perform tasks. [This is a real dilemma for evolutionists, because information is not physical and can't come from the physical world. It would be like a Shakespereian play coming from a rock.]

What King David is saying here is that God, if He wants to, can look and see what sperm fertilized what egg and know many things. Since God wrote the DNA code, He could, by looking in the womb, know what King David would look like at age 10. He could know what David's hair color would be. He could know how tall he would be when full grown. He could know David's basic character. He could know all this because God is the author of the DNA code!

With the advances in the science of DNA, it is not unreal to believe that in the near future scientists will be able to "see the unformed body."

Did God know, while David was in his mother's womb, that David would commit adultery and murder her husband? No, no, a thousand times NO! This was not knowable unless God ordained him to murder and commit adultery. But Peter says that God is not the author of evil. When we say and believe this, we must sit back and consider what we are accusing God of. Again God could not ordain this and remain sinless. If God were to author this type of evil, sin would enter the Godhead, and God would come undone.

In all honesty, I am not sure if that explanation satisfies all of what the verses seem to say. But I wonder if "ordained" means something more like those things that God was determined to make come to pass --> that David would be in the Messianic lineage. God absolutely can intervene in the lives of men, without effecting our free will, if and when He wants to.

----------

Jane: I think what you said makes sense that the Psalm 139 passage could be talking about fetology and the possibility in DNA. And what you mentioned about God not ordaining David’s affair—that’s the kind of thing that I just can’t talk with Calvinists about. Their kind of thinking about God’s involvement in sin is so disturbing to me. It doesn’t make sense that God would cause someone to sin for His glory (which is always what I hear Calvinists say is the reason for it all). I know that He causes all things to work together for good…after it’s already happened. Like you said, God is free and able and He made us free to make things happen.

How did you come to your conclusions about open-theism? Did you read books, study on-line or talk with others with that frame of mind? Let me know of any books you think would be helpful for me to read. There are many people in my circle who are more toward the Calvinist side and some who are just freaked out by the idea of God not knowing the unknowable (which used to scare me, too!).

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Lindsay: I understand and agree that Calvinism is disturbing - you don't even have to be an extreme Calvinist. In my experience with those I've talked with, that's the direction they will go in discussion - even if they don't necessarily consider themselves Calvinist. I know someone who would believe that God orchestrates rape because if a pregnancy happened from that rape, and (this person believes) God planned every single life, then God must have known and/or planned that rape. As another example, someone in my circle struggles with serious health issues and firmly believes God planned it all from eternity past. Conditions get a little better - because a doctor discovered there was a needed adjustment in medication - and it's all God's doing. Things then get worse, and it's all Him, too. Makes God out to be awfully schizophrenic - in my opinion. Or I should say, instead of can't, He couldn't - since He did it all in eternity past, right?
Calvinism (with it's pagan roots traced back to Plato, Aristotle, and Augustine) is just so deeply-seated in Christian teaching today that most Christians don't recognize it, because they are taught to read their Bible with that presupposition.

I'm with you - at first the idea of God not knowing everything from eternity past to eternity future, was scary. But the more I thought and prayed about it, the more comforting it was. I know far too many Christians that are completely incapable of making decisions because they are so concerned they won't be "in God's will". It is ridiculous. When you realize, God's will is simply that you live as a holy witness in this world, decisions are much easier to make. No more reading the tea leaves. But I have had "seasoned" Christians say frankly, "I would not trust God, if He didn't know the future." That, to me, is incredibly sad. It is because of God's will - and by that I mean His will to be Holy and Righteous - that we can and should trust Him. One thing that sets our God apart is that He is a triune God; in this, there is accountability for God's goodness (they testify to one another - John 5:31-32). If I trust Him and know that He is utterly committed to righteousness, and He is *able* to make His intentions come to pass, it doesn't matter if He knows the entire future - He doesn't need to know it (it's unknowable, anyway), because He is FREE and ABLE. The CROSS shows us His commitment to good.

Well, how we got started was Brian went to a seminar a few years ago entitled 'Is The Future Open or Settled?' I think he always kind of had some thinking on this, he has always been a fan of Bob Enyart, who teaches OT. When we started looking for a new church in 2005, Andrew had a Sunday school lesson that taught him God was immutable. And that's when we really started talking about it. I think before that, I still was just numbly believing what I had been taught. I then went to the same seminar in January of 07, and it was just so simple to me. He showed the pagan roots of the settled view, and it was staggering.

I have also read some-but-not-all of the debate: Battle Royale X - Openness Theology: Does God Know Your Entire Future? - Bob Enyart vs. Dr. Samuel Lamerson. (a professor from D. James Kennedy's ministry). I know there are a couple authors, John Sanders and Greg Boyd, but I haven't read them. I also have a Predestination vs Free Will Bible study, which I think is really well done. I also would recommend The Plot to you, which is about rightly dividing the word of Truth --> dispensationalism. You touched on this a bit in your first email. I am almost finished reading it, and it is truly amazing.

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Jane: I have talked with a few people who’ve said similar things to what you've heard about God's role in rape, too. Their theology backs them into that corner. And while I think we can invite God into the details of our lives (and He can invite Himself, too), I don’t think He micromanages the universe. And when we do invite Him into those details, He does not cause or warrant evil. Still, He is big enough to allow things to be affected by our actions and still finds a way to weave his grand plan into it all. That spontaneity and creativity and intelligence and ability is even more amazing to me than thinking that He scripted every single moment of history. I think some people are comforted by fatalistic thinking, that their sickness or hardship was planned before time began. But the fact that God is able to heal/protect is comfort enough for me (usually!). I remember a passage where Paul said if he were killed and God still had a purpose for him, God could raise him up from the dead to complete his mission.

I know what you mean about people being concerned about God’s will as if it were a point on a map, where in reality it is just living in the power of His Spirit. I like how C.S. Lewis puts it in his Science Fiction book, Perelandra, “The going itself is the path.” So many people are paused waiting for specific instructions on where to go when God just wants us to be conformed to His image no matter where we go.

Thanks for the suggestions on authors/thinkers in this arena. I had no idea that Calvinism had pagan roots. About dispensationalism, have you heard of Clarence Larkin? I have a book of diagrams from a hundred years ago that he drew about the dispensations.

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And, that's all folks! I had more thoughts as I was putting this together, but I have decided to just leave this discussion as it was. Further discussion will happen, whether in comments or in future posts. Thank you, "Jane", for your thoughts and your time, and for allowing me to share this with the blogosphere. My hope and prayer is that it is beneficial in showing people who God really is.

~Lindsay

World's Largest Protest Sign at the DNC

2008-08-26T16:17:00.003-04:00

**See original post on Dani's blog here.
American Right To Life Unfurled World's Largest Protest Sign: DNC Sheets Of Shame

DENVER, Aug 26, 2008 /PRNewswire/--

An official Guinness Book of World Records attempt to display the largest ever protest sign has succeeded. The 530-foot tall and 666-foot wide message is being shouted from the mountaintops overlooking the Democratic National Convention with the leading 2008 protest message.
Depending on their location, thousands of DNC delegates and journalists can look out their hotel windows to the west to see the sign. Sponsored by American RTL Action, the message initially appeared with three enormous 160-foot tall, bright yellow letters, D-N-C, stacked on top of each other.

After those letters suddenly appeared on a mountain just west of Denver, the actual full message of the sign began to unfurl. Three lines of white text, built on the vertical yellow letters read, D-N-C:
-Destroys
uNborn
-Children

"The tiniest boys and girls should be loved and protected," said American RTL Action president Steve Curtis, "but as nominating Barack Obama emphasizes, the DNC even supports killing kids in the womb old enough to know their mother's voice, sleep and dream, suck their thumbs, and play with their toes."
Columbine dad Brian Rohrbough, whose son Daniel was murdered at that high school massacre, is the group's vice president. "When we tell kids that unborn children can be killed if their parents don't want them," said Rohrbough, "we rob them of the knowledge of the God-given right to life and we destroy their moral foundation. Abortion is wrong because it's a baby; it's always wrong to intentionally kill an innocent baby."
Guinness assigned American Right To Life an official world record attempt number: 228132. The protest sign weighs more than 2,700 pounds and was sewed together with more than four miles of seams connecting 2,400 sheets and backpacked onto location and unfurled by 44 letter carriers with spotters a mile away to ensure proper letter placement. ARTL commits to removing the DNC Sheets Of Shame and leaving the area cleaner than it had been.

ARTL is also a lead sponsor of the DNC Power in the Park protest event by national black leaders at Denver's Martin Luther King Jr. Park and of the Clinton Watch project at Denver area strip joints.

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Apparently this is creating quite a commotion, so follow Dani's blog for further updates, including local Colorado news affiliates.

Also follow updates courtesy of Jill Stanek at Pro-Life Pulse.

~Lindsay

Gabriel's first trip to the ER

2008-08-24T11:24:00.003-04:00

It all began Wednesday. I was folding clothes in the laundry room, Gabriel was happily crawling at my feet, under the counter, around the baskets. Suddenly he was gagging. I automatically got down and swept his mouth with my finger to pull out whatever it was he had gotten in there. I hadn't seen anything on the floor so I had no idea what he was choking on. He tried to fight me, of course, and I couldn't find anthing. As soon as I pulled my hand away, he leaned over and looked like he was crying, but no air was moving! Wow, talking about time standing still. I put my hands around his ribs to see if I was imagining things, but no, there was no air coming or going. My baby's airway was completely blocked.

I picked him up and put him tummy-down accross my legs, and began to whack his back as I had been taught in CPR so many times before. This time, though, it wasn't a dummy, it was my little Gabriel. I think I hit him 3 or 4 times when he finally began to cry again.

Nothing came out, so I knew whatever-it-was had been swallowed. He was upset, but I went to the rocking chair and nursed him and he laid down for a nap. The rest of that afternoon and evening, while he nursed fine, he didn't want to eat any solid food. I figured his throat was probably sore, and it would be okay soon enough.

Thursday morning, and lunch time, he still wouldn't take any solid food. He would spit it out, kind of gag, and cry. Thursday dinner time, he ate, probably because he was so hungry. I didn't feed him, Brian did, so I wasn't paying close attention, but I remember it seemed he was having a hard time swallowing.

Friday morning, he refused to eat again. A friend was over at lunch time, and when Gabriel again gagged and cried when I tried to feed him, I told her the story of what had happened Wednesday. I was beginning to realize if it was a sore throat, it should be improved by now, but he seemed to be getting worse. Also, there had been no foriegn objects in his diapers yet, so whatever-it-was was still in there. She confirmed what I was beginning to think - that I should call the doctor and see about finding out what's in there and where it is.

When I called the doctor, they told me to go get him x-rayed. I went to the ER at St. Vincent Children's Hospital. The x-ray revealed there was a coin in his stomach, but his symptoms of not swallowing food suggested something might also be in his esophagus that didn't show on the x-ray (plastic won't show), b/c they said babies usually are fine once the coin passes to the stomach. SO the ER doc called GI and they said they wanted to do a scope - a 15-20 minute procedure in which they would sedate him, then insert a camera through is mouth down the esophagus to check things out, see if any other foriegn objects where there, or something else was causing him a problem. Gabriel went into the OR like a little pro, he wasn't even scared by the nurse's blue clothes and blue hair net! He went right to her, no crying.

I wasn't allowed to observe the procedure, but afterward the surgeon talked with me and said there were indentations in his esophagus that indicated the penny had been stuck there in one spot for a good 10-12 hours -- which would definitely be causing alot of discomfort swallowing. And then there also was a small ulcer in his stomach from where the penny had been sitting in there for at least 6-8 hours. :( Poor little guy. I hadn't been allowed to nurse him yet, but they let me nurse him in recovery. He was SOOO hungry - he hadn't eaten anything since about 10:30 a.m. and it was 7:30 p.m. by the time I could feed him again. He sounded so hoarse from the procedure, and was fussy from the anesthesia. But he was so happy when we returned home around 9 pm.

I have the penny as a souvenier, in a little cup with his hospital label on it. They also let me keep his little hospital gown. Below is a video I took on my phone of him in the ER room, sporting his hospital gown (or dress, as Nolan calls it - When I brought Gabriel home in it, Nolan said, "Gabriel has a dress like daddy's??" LOL --> remembering when Brian was in hospital with appendicitis).

Gabriel is doing much better. He is on a medication to help heal his esophagus and ulcer, and he has increased to his normal diet without any problems.

~Lindsay

Happy 10th Anniversary - To US!

2008-08-17T21:22:00.006-04:00

Today is our 10th wedding anniversary! It is amazing to look back over the last 10 years - Brian and I have changed so much in so many ways. The biggest change - 5 kids! Wow. So far, I have been pregnant and/or nursing for 8.6 years of our marriage (yes I calculated it out!)

Anyway, we did celebrate in a big way. A couple months ago we received a postcard from the photographer that did our wedding 10 years ago, featuring special beach sessions at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. I thought, what a perfect way to commemorate 10 years! - we haven't had portraits done of just the two of us since our wedding!! My parents then offered to give us a nights stay at the bed and breakfast of our choosing, and it quickly became the perfect anniversary trip. We stayed at The Inn at Aberdeen in Valparaiso, Indiana. It was absolutely gorgeous, the staff was so sweet and the breakfast was phenomenal. Our pictures, I just saw yesterday, turned out amazing and I can't wait to have them in a few weeks (and publish one or two here). We were away from our kids for a whole 36 hours - the longest we've ever been away, and had wonderful help from my best friend Nichole, and my parents; they were tired, but they were all troopers and we so appreciated their gift of time and themselves for us to be able to have some much, much, *much* needed time away after especially the last couple years.

On another note, I can't help but remember what happened on our 8th anniversary - this same day just two years ago - with our spunky little Nolan. I still have a hard time dealing with that day. He was just 10 months old and we almost lost him. We had been suffering with him for so long already, and then the reality of his problems became larger than life. Very few seem to grasp the seriousness of what happened that day, and even now, people that *knew* will say "I had no idea he was so sensitive" when we mention something as simple as "please don't bring milk into our home". I want to ask these people, how do you simply forget that my son almost died?!? I remember that day like it was yesterday, and everyday with Nolan is a gift that can quickly end if we are not incredibly - to the point of insanity - diligent about his exposure.

While our experience with Nolan is certainly the most life-altering one we've had, there have been so many others that I don't have time to go into here. Our marriage has grown stronger with every passing year, and I love and admire Brian so much more today than I did 10 years ago - though back then I wouldn't have thought that was even possible. Being married to Brian has definitely made me a better person, I wouldn't be who I am today if it weren't for him. He is truly a Godly man, and I am blessed to be able to follow his lead.

~Lindsay

Kid Quotes - The "Why" Phase

2008-08-15T17:05:00.004-04:00

Me - "That book is too long for naptime. Please pick something shorter."

Nolan - "Why do we have to read a shorter book?"

Me - "Because Gabriel is tired and I need to nurse him, so we read shorter books at naptime."

Nolan - "Why do you need to nurse Gabriel?"

Me - "Because he's a baby."

Nolan - "Why is Gabriel a baby?"

Me - "Because he was born less than a year ago."

Nolan - "Why was he born a year ago?"

Me - "Because that's the way God made us."

Nolan - "Why did God make us?"

Me - "Because He wanted to have a relationship with us."

Nolan - "Why does God want a shu-shu-ship wiff us?"

Me - "Because He is loving."

Nolan - "Oh. That's good!"

*grin*
~Lindsay

Silly Boys by Michael Pearl

2008-08-14T09:25:00.005-04:00

I just *love* this article by Michael Pearl from No Greater Joy Ministries. Well worth posting it here on my blog. As I read it, I could remember certain boys from junior high and highschool, including one of my brothers. It makes sense that their silliness shows their lack of respect, even lack of interest in life and disregard for anything meaningful. Read, and learn!

~Lindsay

Silly Boys
By: Michael Pearl

Perpetually silly boys are an embarrassment to their fathers and a shame to their mothers; moreover, they are the public proof of a father’s neglect and a mother’s indulgence.

A silly boy is disgusting and repulsive, because he is the antithesis of all that is attractive in a male. There is no age at which silliness is normal. It is in all circumstances inappropriate. How many times have you heard people say it, “Don’t be silly”? All of my readers could mimic the tone at which it is always uttered—a hurried, dismissive, embarrassment, carrying a presumption that it is out of place and most unbecoming. Almost every boy will get silly from time to time. Mine did. Thankfully, it was passing, and not characteristic of them as a whole. But there are some boys who retreat behind a clown’s mask of silliness. They adopt it as the persona of their social self. The sillier they are, the more they are rejected, and with further rejection comes more silliness, a make-believe world where all is laughter and irresponsible indulgence. Their fool’s paradise is a retreat where no demand can be placed upon them and where they can take the stage as somebody else, hoping to get a laugh or at least create one for themselves. Silliness is a wall against transparency, a rejection of responsibility, and a denial of accountability. It is a drug, a high, a continuous party mentality, a thoughtless denial of tomorrow.

I was in grade school in the fifties and started high school in 1959. I don’t remember any really silly boys, not like today’s crowd of them. The average church in America has a parade of silly fools. Public schools must be giving the boys silly pills.
So, if your son is generally silly, what can you do to make a man of him? Start by killing his role models. Hollywood schools the kids into silliness with their goofy entertainment. I don’t know the names of some of the characters I have briefly seen, but as I sit here, I recall a ridiculous grinning fool, dressed in flowery clothes, showing overly large teeth and gums, with a slobbery way of talking, making contorted faces and dancing around giggling like he had just had his brain replaced with bubble gum. I have never viewed anything with him in it, but I have caught a glimpse of him on several occasions, and he is always accompanied by several big-busted babes who must have failed the second grade and decided not to pursue any higher education. These are the idols of our present generation. Commercials, movies, radio and TV programming represent men as blundering fools and women as wise and in control.
In my youth, Tarzan, Roy Rogers, and Gene Autry were the entertainment models of maleness. I watched them and went outside to swing on a vine, shoot a BB gun, throw a knife, and dare the bad guys to molest the fair maidens; they would have to answer to me. Today, after kids watch the media, whatever sort it may be, they go to the mall to play the fool. If you allow your boys to be exposed to “funny” fools—fools that you find entertaining—how can you expect them to be any different?
Parents don’t seem to know what the advertisers know—“monkey see, monkey do”. Companies pay millions of dollars to display a role model on the screen drinking their brand or wearing their shoes. If kids are not influenced by what they see on the screen, the advertisers are spending billions of dollars foolishly. Morals are continually being eroded, and the sacred is becoming profane on the digital screen. Hollywood injects their philosophy into the fiber optic catheter at their end, and you insert the digital needle into the veins of your children on your end every time you let them watch a perverse Hollywood flick, G-rated or not. Their hearts and minds are receiving daily infusions directly from the veins of queers, fornicators, atheists, evolutionists, and irreverent fools.
But media is not the only fountain of foolishness. Understand that it takes a certain context to be silly. When two friends encourage each other in stupidity, separate them until they mature. But you can’t save your child from being a fool just by preventing bad company. Put a boy in a man’s world and his foolishness will go the way of baby talk and wet diapers. Daddy and his friends will respond to foolishness like they would a cat licking its XXX. Try that nonsense in their presence and no one will be entertained. They will look at the kid like “What’s his problem?” and then return to their conversation. The cold critical looks of three men will do more to slap the sillies out of a kid than all the lectures in the world.
Silliness can only exist in a responsibility vacuum. A man (or boy) who is given responsibilities and is committed to performing his duty will never be silly. Where there is self-respect, there will be sobriety and dignity. When a kid knows he is valued for his participation in life’s duties, he will respect himself too much to play the fool. The boy who feels worthless is the one who seeks attention by opening his mouth wide like a toilet seat to display his chewed food. The kid who sits in church during communion and gets another kid’s attention by pretending to choke on the bread is one who has no real life of any consequence. He is disconnected from reality. To him, nothing is serious because nothing is real. He is not a real or active part of society. He is on the outside making faces through the window. One must contribute to be a member, and only members have responsibilities. An irresponsible child has been left out of life. He has been set aside like a bothersome child rather than made an apprentice to manhood.
A hungry child is never silly. A child in pain is sober. A child who just stacked a cord of fire wood is as serious as a veteran home from the war. A man and a boy walking out of the woods together carrying the game “they” bagged are a fellowship of men. A six-year-old boy who just tightened the screws on the doorknob again is grave and manly. He walks straight and would not demean himself by acting the fool. A boy who is talked to, but not talked down to, will maintain a social presence that earns him the right to adult conversation.
A child who respects other people will not play the court jester at inappropriate times. Our worldviews are mirrored in our demeanors. A silly kid is revealing his lack of regard for what other people think is worthy of sobriety. You will gain a child’s respect and thus create in him a reason to maintain his dignity in your presence by being interested in him as a person and sharing your life and work with him. Build camaraderie with him and you cause the kid to adopt your perspective, invalidating useless silliness which doesn’t get him the kind of attention he now values from the people whom he values. Silliness fills a vacuum in a boy’s soul. Don’t allow that vacuum to exist.
I began by saying that silly boys are public proof of a father’s neglect and of a mother’s indulgence. I have addressed the father’s responsibility. Now, please sit down, mothers. When a son is over-indulged by his mother, and criticized by his sisters, he will be silly. Pay attention. A boy, at any age, is an incomplete man, with all the ego of a man. God designed man for a purpose. If he is deprived of opportunity to fulfill his natural role, he will be self-loathing—which is self-love turned on itself. If mother keeps her son close to her bosom, not allowing him to be a man, perhaps expecting him to be more like the girls in temperament, he will not be fulfilled as a human being and will express his self-disgust by acting in many disgusting ways. It is often the case that a father is distant to his son, or the father is critical and rejects the boy. Perhaps he is disgusted with the silliness and girlishness of the kid. Mother sees her son’s hurt and draws him to her love, heaping positive affirmation on his wounds. He willingly comes for reassurance, but he will not be fulfilled as a man. His silliness will eventually turn to foolishness. Mother, release your son from your emotional guard. Let him walk or fall as may be. Give him responsibilities, and do not pity him. The frame of mind that you must adopt is that you are going to work yourself out of a job as soon as possible. Your job is to harden him up and make him tough, and then to release him back to the wild to fend for himself. By puberty, you must have transferred much of the command to your son. The man you get back will be far more satisfying to you as a mother than the boy you attempted to preserve.
Silliness can pass with maturity, but if it becomes chronic in the five- to ten-year-old boys, it turns to foolishness. A fool is one who lives without a consciousness of reality. He lacks understanding and imagines the world to be without rules or consequences. Nothing is sacred. He is unaware of danger. He doesn’t prepare for tomorrow, yet he won’t deny himself any pleasure. The fool will talk as if he is an authority on a subject of which he knows nothing. Fools make a mockery of sin and brush off warnings.
Here is a study you can do with your young children, boys and girls together. Get a Strong’s complete concordance and locate the 115 times that the word “fool” appears in the Bible—King James Version. Read all 115 passages with your children, allowing them to give their interpretation of each one. Do five every school day, and it will take you one month to go through them all. I guarantee you that you will see a difference in your children. The fool will be worked out of them through the word of God.
If you are a fatherless household, there are two things you can do. Find a worthy man who will allow your son to work with him, even one time a week. You will know he is a worthy man if his grown children rise up and call him blessed and they exemplify what you want your son to become. Secondly, provide contexts and circumstances for your son to succeed—at anything. Encourage him in different endeavors until several things stick. A kid that plays musical instruments should also take martial arts or archery. I have never seen a silly boy who was also good at throwing knives and hatchets, carpentry, mechanics, or lawn care. It is rare indeed to see a hardworking kid act silly.
Responsibility and fellowship are the two key words. If you see to it that your young men identify with serious people, they will be serious. If they develop a will to suffer the pain of work, they will never suffer from silliness. You can do it, mother. It won’t be any harder for you, a single mother, than it is for the lady whose husband is emotionally absent or is abusive to the children. If there is no man in the family, make one of your son by the time he is eight years old, and you will have a male presence and perspective in the home that both you and he can recognize.

Dobson Renige's Again

2008-08-06T17:14:00.003-04:00

* Famous Oath Now Negotiable: Dr. James Dobson is set to violate his oath taken before God, in which he famously pledged: "for the rest of my life, however long God lets me live on this earth, I will never cast one vote for any man or woman who would kill one innocent baby." After invoking God in that oath, Dobson now says he might endorse John McCain, a politician who advocates killing innocent babies.

Click Here to hear what Dr. James Dobson said about John McCain on his radio show.

Click Here to see that Dr. Dobson has a history of stumbling in right versus wrong, and he believes God changes his own mind on what is right and wrong as well.

Let me explain something to Dr. Dobson, and anyone else feeling they are in a dilemma about how to vote and be right in the eyes of the LORD. God does not ask us to predict the future!! He doesn't ask us to read the tea leaves. He asks us to be holy in everything we do (1 Peter 1:15-17). Paul said we don't do evil that good may come of it (Romans 3:8)!! You don't vote for McCain because, "well, he'll kill less babies than Obama". No!! If there isn't a candidate worthy of your vote because they all endorse the murder of the innocent, you write one in. You don't compromise on murder. Not ever.

If, instead of the unborn, we were talking about Jews, maybe more Christians would understand. If John McCain was running against Hitler, and Hitler wanted to kill 6 million Jews, and McCain said, "Hey, I think a million is more than enough. I am not an extremist - I just want to make sure: 1 - there's informed consent, 2 - you know what you're doing, 3 - you don't kill Jews who are under 12 years old,and 4 - you never kill them on the Sabbath... As long as we can have those regulations, I can, in good conscience, authorize the killing of a million Jews" (or blacks, or children, or sick people - it's all the same - human beings created in the image of God)... I know too many Christians who would say, yes I would have voted for McCain against Hitler, even if McCain said those things because in the end he would have caused less damage.

Let me repeat: You don't compromise on murder. Not ever.

For me, there is no dilemma.

~Lindsay

Wordless Wednesday

2008-08-06T17:02:00.001-04:00

~Lindsay

Situational Morality

2008-08-04T12:43:00.003-04:00

Prophets of Situational Morality

If your most favored Christian leader were put in a difficult circumstance of either endorsing a man who would assuredly murder the minister’s oldest child, or endorsing a man who would surely murder the minister’s spouse and youngest child, would you hope that your Christian champion would protest and not endorse either situation? Would you hope that the minister’s family would encourage him to stand righteously regardless of the consequences, like the Christian martyrs of old? Because supporting either evil would bring repercussions so close to home, most religious leaders would rebel at such a dilemma. However, would it surprise you to find out that when the stakes are further away from home, affecting someone that they have never met, most conservative religious leaders will choose to vote for one murderer over another in the name of love? If you think such is not taking place in fundamental, conservative, or evangelical circles, then think again.

In 1966, an Episcopal priest, Joseph Fletcher, battled against fixed laws made to be obeyed at all times (legalism) and also against the idea that one’s ethics are spontaneous, having no fixed moral principles (antinomianism). Thus, he proposed a method to navigate between the two opposing views. Rather than rules, Fletcher proposed a key principle with which to guide moral decision-making: the goal to act in the most loving way, or as contemporary ministers often propose, to act to bring about “the greatest good.”[1] To promote his new found love, Fletcher published Situation Ethics in which he stated, “The morality of an act is a function of the state of the system at the time it is performed.”[2] In other words, the rationale or situation that guided a person to willfully commit an act must always be considered before you can determine whether the deed was good or evil.

During the 1970’s and early 80’s, evangelical fundamentalists were known for strongly preaching against situational ethics, but they often confused situational ethics with moral relativism. Situational ethics does not say whether or not universal truths exists, but only that the state of the system at the time of the act must be considered when deciding if the action was morally justified. On the other hand, moral relativism states that there is no universal moral truth and that no perspective is more valid than another. Nevertheless, the same Christian leaders who decried situational ethics for fear that it would lead to moral relativism have taken it into a new direction. As a result, today’s conservative leaders have degenerated into situational moralists: rejecting pure situational ethics, they state that God set moral standards and universal truth, revealing them in the bible, but the constitution of those values is guided by the framework of the system in which they find themselves applied. Change the system and a new verdict on an action could possibly be rendered and excused by carefully chosen biblical texts. This new-fangled stance among conservative Christian leaders upon situational morality is very different from espousing absolute morality. Under absolute morality, fixed moral value flows from the eternally unchanging character of God, holding us accountable to that value regardless of the system or situation in which we live.

The double-jointed flexibility of situational morality can be seen among Christian pro-life leaders. Whereas absolute morality views the express purpose of murdering the innocent as being an evil that can never be justified, regardless of the system, situational morality adds the exception clause, “unless the system allows it” or “unless it is done for the greater good.” The “exception” to guide morality toward the so-called greater good was embraced not only by our contemporary religious leaders, but also by those mentioned in John 11:48-50. In an effort to keep Roman democrats from taking away their political seats in the nation, religious leaders endorsed a politician’s policy knowing that it would lead to the murder of an innocent person. For the Sadducees and Pharisees, the greater good meant saving their place in national politics, even at the expense of innocent blood.

When confronted with advocating politicians intent on shedding innocent blood, today’s religious leaders question whether or not their political situation has been fully considered, as if national boarders should impact one’s morality. When their appointee’s judicial verdicts are attacked for being pro-choice on abortion, Christian leaders question whether or not the entire case file was evaluated. Both responses are appeals to situational morality. In order to condemn the horrendous evil of rape, for example, one does not need to know the situation or thought processes involved that influenced a person to either commit rape or harbor a rapist from justice. Likewise, one does not need to know the situation or thought processes that influenced a person to commit murder or support the process sanctioning murder. Why not? Because absolute moral values do not bend to the situation or rationale of the prevailing political system. However, when moral judgment loses what only the conviction of unwavering values can bestow, it succumbs to pragmatism where right and wrong become questions of risk versus reward and morality is a matter of calculation.

James Dobson, Gary Bauer, Jerry Falwell, Larry Bates, Jay Sekulow, and countless other national and local religious leaders are converts to situational morality. Their strategy for living the Christian life treats moral judgments in every day situations as calculated risks. For example, they endorsed the confirmation of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, even though Alito had a ten-year history of issuing radical pro-choice rulings.[3] Ignoring the omnipotent, absolute moral sovereignty of God, their moral declaration regarding Samuel Alito was shaped by a political system. As such, they viewed Alito’s actions as morally just based upon the situation in which he found himself and the thought processes he utilized. Christian leaders choose this often-used position for the so-called greater good, not the absolute goodness of God. For James Dobson, taking this road meant abandoning his pledge to God to never cast a vote for anyone who supports abortion. In contrast, the Egyptian midwives of Exodus 1:15-17, under strict legal restrictions to carry out abortions, disobeyed the law of the land. Why? Because they feared God more than the law of the land or the political situation in which they found themselves. In spite of their difficult circumstance, had the midwives chosen the lesser of two evils to kill children instead of risking their own lives and clout with the government, it would have still been an evil decision in God’s sight. Sadly, because of situational morality, had our Christian leaders been on the scene and their political appointees in the place of Egyptian midwives, Moses and a host of Hebrew babies would never had taken their first breath.

In summary, on the right-end of the spectrum is Absolute Morality, which states that moral laws are based upon the unchanging moral character of God, independent of any other reality. To the left of that is Situational Morality, which is of the opinion that universal moral laws have been declared, but that the situation decides when or how those laws are applied. To the left of that is Situational Ethics, which does not give an opinion on whether or not fixed moral laws exist, but does emphasize the necessity of evaluating the situation to determine if an action was morally justified. Finally, on the extreme left-end of the spectrum is Moral Relativism, which states there are no fixed moral laws, regardless of the situation. Contrary to what many national ministries would have you believe, God does not lead Christian leaders in the direction of choosing the lesser of two evils, even if it is under the misnomer of choosing the greater good. The Apostle Paul reminded us that we should not do evil to attain something good (Romans 3:8), and James stated, “Let no man say when his tempted [to make a decision between two evils], I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust” (James 1:13-14).

Note: In 1997, I abandoned such organizations as the Christian Coalition, and even Focus on the Family. Although I've had my letter to the Christian Coalition posted since 1997, I refrained from speaking publicly against Focus on the Family, because Dr. Dobson has shown some possibility of repenting. However, in January, 2006, after being given a presentation explaining the moral errors in his ministry's tactics, Dr. Dobson and Focus on the Family made it explicitly clear that they would adhere to the principles of situational morality and reject biblical absolute morality as binding upon their ministry. If the law is the great teacher that brings people to understand their need for Christ, then situational morality helps to undermine its ministry.

[1] Ross Marshall, Focus on the Family, Letter dated January 9, 2006.
[2] Joseph Fletcher, Situation Ethics (Westminster, Philadelphia) 1966
[3] For example, in 1991, Alito refined the new concept of “undue burden” which restricts anti-abortion laws (Planned Parenthood v Casey); In 1995 Alito supported tax-funded abortions for alleged rapes, even when no crime is reported to police (Blackwell v Knoll); In 2000, Alito supported Partial Birth Abortion in NJ on the basis of the system (Planned Parenthood v NJ); In 2001 Alito ordered taxpayers to pay $522,992.84 to Planned Parenthood attorneys for their fight against a partial birth abortion ban (which he also upheld on appeal in 2002, PP v NJ Atty Gen).

Check out --> Embracing Grace

2008-07-28T19:31:00.005-04:00

I'd like to turn everyone's attention to the blog of my dear friend Betsy. She and her husband recently made the difficult decision to close the doors of their young church. She has changed the look and title of her blog that had been for the church - keeping the focus of the site on exposing the popular false teachings of our modern churches. Check it out!!

Embracing Grace...By Exposing the Bondage of Popular False Teaching

~Lindsay

Perky-O's

2008-07-27T11:10:00.003-04:00

We found a new cereal for Nolan this week. I was so excited when I found the box at Whole Foods, but he is THRILLED.

He was sitting at the table eating them and started singing (to the tune of spider-man):

"Perky O's, Perky O's, Oh I love my Perky O's."

Hahahahaha. HA. I love 2-year-olds, they are so funny!

~Lindsay

The Astronaut Bee-Keeper

2008-07-27T10:58:00.003-04:00

Andrew has recently found a fascination with bees. I'm not really sure what sparked it (aside from the gross amount of clover we have in our yard!). One day he just was watching them and commenting on how cool they are. The next day...he was catching them! YIKES.

Brian told him, "You're gonna get stung, just know that." Andrew matter-of-factly said, "I know." (And, yes, he has been stung before - so he does know how bad it hurts!)

I told him maybe he could be a bee-keeper when he grows up. "No, I want to be an astronaut." I said, "Maybe by the time you're a man, you'll be able to have a bee farm on the moon."

His eyes grew huge, jaw dropped - "REALLY?!?"

~Lindsay

On beginning a blog

2008-07-27T09:39:00.004-04:00

...I'm wondering how I should start this. I'm back? Where have I been? It's been a while? I've been busy?

None of it really matters. I have a quiet morning today, and so I have a little more time than I normally would. I'd like to say I'm going to be blogging more, but I really don't know. My life is so busy, and for the last 6 weeks I have really been focusing on being with my kids, and taking joy in being their mommy. That has required me to really limit my time at the computer - it has been well worth it!

Maybe I should begin with why I even have this blog in the first place. It began as something fun. A friend that I met online had one; I found it interesting and so I started one, too. I had a hard time in the beginning, feeling a little awkward and silly - what do you blog about? What is a blog, anyway? Who is supposed to read it? Why do I need a blog? Oh, yea, and I am completely a tech-idiot! But I quickly found it fun. I have always enjoyed writing. Then our journey with Nolan's health challenges (to put it mildly) began and my blog became many things to me - a health journal, an emotional release, a forum to communicate prayer requests for him. Perfect strangers were often more involved in communicating with me about him and our struggle as a family than many friends and family, as a result of that blog.

But, finally Nolan was doing better, and so I found myself blogging about things of spiritual, moral and theological nature. And I quickly found myself ostracized by that community. And I mean quickly! It is quite ironic that so many Christians say they won't isolate people - meaning, unbelievers or other Christians willfully living in sin - but they will isolate Christians who stand for what's right, or who believe something different from what they have been taught.
Anyway, I digress.

I moved to blogger, and set up camp here. My blog is mostly about my family, but I also use it as a platform to help spread the Truth of the Word, rightly divided, and help Christians re-learn morality - that there is right and wrong, and we as God's people have an obligation to stand for what is right.

So, here I am. It has been another incredible year of trials and tribulations. But we are thriving - often very TIRED - but thriving.

~Lindsay

Wordless ...Is it Thursday, Already?

2008-06-19T07:43:00.002-04:00

Happy Father's Day

2008-06-15T22:17:00.006-04:00

Walk a Little Slower Daddy

"Walk a Little slower, Daddy." said a little child so small.I'm following in your footsteps and I don't want to fall.
Sometimes your steps are very fast, sometimes they're hard to see;So walk a little slower Daddy, for you are leading me.
Someday when I'm all grown up, You're what I want to be.Then I will have a little child who'll want to follow me.
And I would want to lead just right, and know that I was true;So, walk a little slower, Daddy, for I must follow you!!

- Author Unknown

Good Ol' Appendicitis

2008-06-07T07:50:00.002-04:00

Thursday my husband sent me a text message around 2 or 3 in the afternoon, telling me he thought he had the stomach flu. I texted, why do you think that? He texted back a list of agonies he was feeling - pain, cramping, nausea, dizziness, shakiness... He said he was coming home, I was shocked. He NEVER comes home from work for sickness, so I knew he was feeling pretty lousy. I said, come home! - I will take the kids to mom and dads to give you a quiet house!

I didn't get back till around 10 pm. After carrying sleepy children to their beds I ended up falling asleep on the couch. Around 3 in the morning, Brian comes staggering down the stairs, and weakly states he thinks it might be appendicitis. Being a nurse, I knew how to check for that and had him lie down so that I could. However, his abdomen was so tense that I couldn't press deeply enough. He was burning up. I was 99.9% sure he was right, and if it wasn't appendicitis, it was something else that warranted a trip to the hospital anyway.

Well, then we briefly talked about how to get there. Nearest family is about 25 minutes away, so there was no waiting for someone to come get him, or stay here so that I could. We don't know our neighbors well enough to have anyone stay with the kids. I thought of waking one of them up to drive Brian, though, but he didn't want to. He was determined he could drive himself, and while I didn't like the idea, I didn't have a better option and his mind was made up. We are only 5 minutes from the hospital so I sent him off with a kiss and a prayer!

Yes, it was appendicitis. He went into surgery around 7, I think. I wasn't able to be there, which I had a really hard time with - there he was, going into surgery under general anesthesia all alone, but that's just the way things are. Brian's brother got here at 8, and I was out the door when the surgeon called. He was finished. He said he'd removed the appendix and it had not ruptured yet, but it looked terrible; it might have ruptured at any moment. The appendix normally is about an inch in diameter and a soft pinkish/red color. Brian's was 3 inches in diameter and all black and blue. (I have heard there are pictures, but I haven't seen them yet). He told me Brian needed to stay in the hospital until Sunday, and needed to be off work for at least 10 days.

It was a long day, running back and forth between the hospital and home. I wanted so much to just remain at his side, but alas I am not just a wife, but a mother too - to five kids under 7, one of whom requires a ton of care to maintain his skin and food allergies, one of whom is an exclusively breastfed baby, and a couple of whom are still too little to grasp what's going on and so they were scared. Andrew, however was such a helper. And ever so eager to get our lawn mowed! LOL He's such a little man already. He also said since Brian can't work for the next 10 days, He Will!! Too precious.

On top of caring for my family, I have been doing all I can to take care of my dear friend who suffered the loss of a son 2 1/2 weeks ago, and now I will not be going to see her and help for at least the next 10 days. Of course she is understanding - in fact she was so sweet to be the one person to offer to drive out yesterday (a 1/2 hour+ drive) so that I could be at the hospital during Brian's surgery!! - her of all people - but I wouldn't accept, she is still healing from her surgery, too. I know that as time goes on others will move on with their lives and forget that they are still mourning their loss. I haven't forgotten and want to pick up where others leave off. Which, I will. When all of this appendectomy stuff blows over and I am able once again.

So that's my last two days. Yesterday was also Brian's partner's last day at the company. Brian is a little concerned about things falling apart while he is away, and it's a valid concern. But he needs to rest and heal. I will have to set him up in our bed with his laptop and get my hands on a boat-load of DVD's to keep him occupied - any suggestions? Maybe he will begin his dream of writing a book!

~Lindsay

The Pill Kills! Protest June 7, 2008

2008-06-05T09:13:00.004-04:00

Planned Parenthood often promotes June 7 as a day of celebration because it can now sell birth control to young girls. On that day in 1965, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the Griswold v. Connecticut case, it set a legal precedent for claiming that the Constitution grants women the right to privacy in matters of sexual practice.

Everyone should know the deadly consequences of the pill and similar contraceptive products- they cause chemical abortions. Therefore, American Life League, along with Pro-Life Wisconsin and Pharmacists for Life International Associate groups, calls all pro-lifers across the country to speak out on Protest the Pill Day '08: The Pill Kills Babies, scheduled for the Griswold anniversary of Saturday, June 7. We encourage you to gather with your friends for peaceful protests in front of facilities that distribute birth control products.

Q: Why does Planned Parenthood say the pill does not cause an abortion?
A: Planned Parenthood and other organizations cover up the reality that the birth control pill can, in fact, kill a preborn baby. They have a vested interest in lying to young women because they exploit them. Planned Parenthood brainwashes young girls by telling them that the pill merely prevents pregnancy, when the fact is that the pill can act after fertilization, which is when pregnancy begins, and kill the preborn baby. Planned Parenthood says that pregnancy does not begin at fertilization, but this is their biggest lie. In 2006, Planned Parenthood received over $345 million in clinic income. One-third of its clinic income is from selling birth control. Obviously, they make big money by lying to women.

Please view the video below, and inform yourself as to the pill and its deadly consequences. Join the protest if you can!

~Lindsay

Web Link Wednesday - Remembering the tiniest lost lives

2008-06-04T07:48:00.004-04:00

I don't usually participate in Web Link Wednesday, but the experience of my closest friend losing her baby boy has brought some things to my attention that I want to share.

In nursing school...eh-hem, some 10+ years ago...I do vividly remember the Bereavement Services on the OB unit of the hospital where I did my practicum. I found it fascinating as they explained how taking pictures of the babies was an important part of the grieving process. They had these itty-bitty diapers to put on the tiniest babies that didn't make it into the world alive.

The Bereavement Service in the hospital where my friend was did a wonderful job, allowing her and her husband all the time they needed with their baby before they had to say good-bye. They really handled it so sweetly and with such dignity.

Anyway, here are a couple links, for anyone that has ever or will ever experience the loss of a baby:

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep - a nonprofit organization that has provided thousands of families of babies who are stillborn or are at risk of dying as newborns with free professional portraits with their baby.

Little Angels Online Store - offering beautiful keepsakes for pregnancy and infant loss. I love the Remembrance Bag, and I purchased a pregnancy and infant loss awareness pin to wear on my purse to remember those I know - my dear friend Nichole and my SIL Beth; also Krysta, and Cari; as well as those I don't know, who've experienced this tragedy.

~Lindsay

Vaccines

2008-05-29T22:35:00.003-04:00

Here is a brief list of resources on the topic of vaccination. We have not vaccinated any of our children. I've been known to say, it's an informed decision, and when each child is able to make that decision, he or she can do so (same for circumcision)!

Seriously, though, I began researching vaccinations while in nursing school 10 years ago. I wrote a paper on the topic and actually convinced my prof that there were more problems with mass vaccinations than she had previously thought. (which, if you know nurses or professors, or worse-yet -- a nursing professor, then you know that's quite an accomplishment, LOL).

Here's the short list:

Click here for an excellent resource on vaccine info, with additional links. Also great info and articles on healthy living in general. Written/designed by a well-known chiropractor.

Click here for a great site with tons of info and links, though it doesn't have my complete seal of approval because I haven't been through it all. Looks good so far, though.

Click here to see the federal government's Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System. Did you know there was such a thing? Oh yes, some of our tax dollars go to this fund, which pays money to families of those injured or harmed by vaccines. Hmmm...I can think of one easy way to cut taxes - get rid of mandatory vaccines!

Click here for information on the link between abortion and vaccines. Sickening.

Click here for a great book and author, not just about vaccines, but about how to avoid many other medical schemes while bringing up your children. Google the author's name to find other books and articles by him. I love this book!

Click here for a listing by state/county for info on exemptions/waivers. Don't be bullied by your doctor or school board (though hopefully you've read your Bible and are homeschooling!) EVERY parent has the right to waive any and all vaccines. Know your rights!

Click here and search for other great articles. This is not an endorsement of all this magazine stands for - it is quite liberal. But when speaking of medical/research issues, they're usually pretty dead-on.

Post comments or email me, if you have more questions.

~Lindsay

What a Month!

2008-05-28T16:22:00.006-04:00

...chirp......chirp-chirp.......

Excuse the bloggy-crickets, it's been so quiet here for a while, they've been making a home. :)

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This month has been absolutely insane!! How much more can happen in one month?!:

my husband found out his business partner was addicted to oxycontin AND stealing money from the company to pay for it
my mom had more vitreous hemorrhaging in her eye, and more surgery -- making it glaringly clear that going blind is becoming less of an 'if' question, and more of a 'when' question
my grandfather had a smack-down with another resident in his retirement home, which led to his placement in a psych unit for several days
my dearest friend lost her baby at 40+ weeks gestation
my grandfather developed pneumonia, a kidney infection, and was diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

Whew. Okay, I know, in reality a lot more can happen in a month's time, but that's enough. It's really been quite a whirlwind - much of it is still whirling, actually.

I hope to be on here more, I need to blog, it does my mind good and with all this going on, it would be really beneficial. But at least now you all know where I've been.

~Lindsay

2008-05-21T11:53:00.000-04:00

My best friend and little sister in the Lord, Nichole, lost her third child and only son today. She was 40 weeks and 4 days pregnant, and thought she was in labor today when her world came crashing down around her as she realized things were seriously wrong. By the time she got to the hospital, the baby was dead, and she would later find out he had been dead for a few hours before she knew anything was wrong.

She has a 2-year-old and a four-year-old, and in the morning I will be taking them to the hospital to see their little brother.

Your prayers are coveted during this time. There are not words to describe the pain and turmoil this family is facing right now.

Colorado Personhood Victory!

2008-05-13T22:49:00.005-04:00

*This post is orginally from Dani's blog, please go over there for updates on news coverage!!

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Colorado Personhood Victory!

In case you haven't heard, Colorado has been gathering signatures to get the Personhood Amendment on the ballot to see that the Colorado state constitution is amended to include pre-born from the moment of fertilization as having their 'personhood' clearly established, so that they may enjoy equal protection under the law.

Well today we declare victory as Colorado for Equal Rights submitted 131,245 signatures to the Colorado Secretary of State's Office - only 76,047 valid signatures were required, so we are ecstatic!!!

This ballot initiative reads, 'The term 'Person' or 'Persons' shall include any human from the time of fertilization,' and it is the first time in the history of the United States that any state has successfully completed a ballot initiative of this nature.

This is a historic effort that will protect unborn babies from the moment of fertilization, declaring that they, too, are people - thus exploiting the intentional hole left in Roe vs. Wade.

Join us in praising God for this amazing victory!

To My Readers and Friends.

2008-05-03T20:51:00.004-04:00

I am taking a break from blogging for a while. I'll be back...some time.

Till then,
Lindsay

Caring for the Elderly

2008-05-03T07:57:00.005-04:00

This week my grandfather was placed on a locked psychiatric unit.

It makes me sick to my stomach to consider the way the elderly are treated in our country!

My grandfather has been dealing with a hostile resident within his assisted living home for over a year, and this past week there were two physical incidents in which he was involved, started by the other resident. He doesn't have any bruises, but the other guy does.

So apparently that means my grandfather needs to be locked up where he won't be 'a danger' and where he can be 'treated' for his 'aggression'. *sigh* The truth is, he was defending himself, but our country does not 'appreciate' men acting like men. Our country/culture expects men who are picked on to run crying to their mommies (or the nursing staff) for help, rather than defend themselves. Thank you, Feminist Nazis, for ruining the men of our culture!

Is my grandfather perfect? Well, no, of course not. He does have some boundary issues, and a quick temper, but to go from zero-t0-sixty - meaning, from no intervention to mental lock-up - is just absurd and unfair. Can we try counseling? Moving him out of the environment where this other trouble-maker is? Anything? Before we lock him in a room with nothing but a bed?

In a time where the elderly are treated with such disrespect, even disdain, when they should be honored for their age and wisdom, I can't help feeling this treatment is unfair. And I fear his current situation will include doping him up, which could be a deadly affair!

Please, if you're reading this, and you pray, say a prayer for my grandfather, and for me to have the wisdom to know how to get him out of this situation.

~Lindsay

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UPDATE ==>

Thanks for the prayers!

My parents, and other aunt/uncle couples, are going to see him today and to talk with the director of his home. It turns out he is not just locked in a room all day, but going to group sessions several times a day, and my mom says he sounded happy after speaking with him on the phone the other day.

So the situation is not as dire as it was previously sounding to me, though I still think changes need to be made in his living situation. Please continue in prayer for wisdom for all involved!

Thanks again.

~Lindsay

Kid Quote

2008-05-01T08:49:00.002-04:00

Andrew - 7 - aspiring paleontologist:

"I was just thinking when I'm older, if it's okay with my wife, I want to
hang a dinosaur in the living room!"

LOL! ~Lindsay

A Joke

2008-04-29T22:59:00.003-04:00

Q: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John McCain are in a boat, and it's sinking. Who will be saved?

A: The United States of America!!

HA HA HA.

HA!

What is your worldview?

2008-04-22T22:11:00.005-04:00

This article from the American Family Association Journal, reported that, "63% of self-professed Christian teens do not believe that Jesus is the Son of the one true God, and 58% believe all faiths teach equally-valued truths." Personally, I am not surprised by that, sad as it may be, but I think many Christians would be shocked by that.

The Nehemiah Institute is a ministry that has designed a way to test people to determine their worldview. One's worldview is one's set of beliefs about the most important issues in life.

The Institute designed a test called PEERS as a way to determine someones worldview, and have been administering this test to Christian youth. For classification and data purposes, those youth are then divided according to their education, including Christian youth in public schools, Christian youth in traditional Christian schools, Christian youth in what are called 'worldview' schools, and home-schooled Christian youth. After testing about 100,000 young people, Nehemiah Institute founder Dan Smithwick has determined that increasingly, Christian teenagers hold liberal and even pagan views. Again, no surprise to me there!

The categories for worldviews are Biblical Theism, Moderate Christian, Secular Humanism, and Socialism. Which would you categorize as your worldview? Take a mini-version of the test and find out! It's $3!!

Read through the website, view the PowerPoint Presentation there. Even better, listen to Dan Smithwick explain the test and it's results on the radio. It's only a half hour, and well worth your time.

~Lindsay

Racing for the CURE? - Better know for sure!!

2008-04-19T11:04:00.008-04:00

I am proud to say I will *not* be participating in the 2008 Indianapolis Race for the Cure. Why? Because I care SO much about ENDING ABORTION that I do not want ANY of my money going to PLANNED PARENTHOOD. And I do not want to knowingly support a foundation that continues to stifle the truth of the link between abortion and breast cancer.

Since 1973's Roe v Wade ruling, breast cancer has increased in American women of child bearing age by forty percent! This trend appears in other countries also, related to their legalization of abortion.

It cannot be said that all women who have breast cancer have had abortions. Similarly, not all women who have had abortions will get breast cancer. Nevertheless, abortion is the most preventable risk factor for breast cancer.

Before you "race for the cure", better know that Susan G. Komen gives large amounts of money to Planned Parenthood. Major conflict of interest and incredible hypocrisy, IMHO.

~Lindsay

Please Meet MaryContrary

2008-04-17T11:35:00.004-04:00

Please take a moment of your time to go meet an amazing woman with a true testimony to God's amazing grace. Mary (aka MaryContrary), over at Rantazia, is quite the character and a believer in God and lover of TRUTH.

One of my favorite quotes from her Life by Fives is:

More than anything else the most favorite and amazing thing I learned is that
there isn’t a damned thing in this world that you can’t survive and grow
stronger from other than death itself. Every experience, no matter how good or
horrible, no matter how profound or insignificant, carries with it an inherent
opportunity to become a better person or a worse one. The awe inspiring core of
this simple truth being that it’s entirely up to you which direction you go each
and every time. Not only is it your choice, you can’t even honestly blame your
choice on anyone else, even those who might force the experience on you.

~Lindsay

What-Day-Is-It-Wednesday

2008-04-17T10:56:00.006-04:00

I am starting a new meme! (not really) My hubby's schedule shifted a little over a month ago, and I am still getting used to it. It has left me pining over not having much time for one of my few vices - blogging. I've missed the only two memes I participate in for two weeks now! AAHH.
So here is my Wordless Wednesday...on Thursday...and not at all wordless. But, I get an E for effort, don't I?

Pop Quiz - what do you get when you have one goofy uncle, 2 nephews, 2 nieces, and 5 beanbags?

Answer: An Uncle Sandwich!

Don't worry, he survived. :)

~Lindsay

Life begins at Fertilization

2008-04-13T02:30:00.003-04:00

In response to the idiocy out there (such as the latest comment here), I will say this S-l-o-w-l-y, so that it is easier to understand:

An egg is just an egg. A fertilized egg is LIFE.

And, pain or no pain, murder is always WRONG.

Please See the 60-Second Video: The Next Big Lie by LifeCommercials.com, the most dramatic and disturbing pro-life TV commercial ever produced, at MonringAfterPillInformation.com, to see the victims of early chemical abortion abandoned by the immoral strategy of National Right To Life, which refuses to fight to save the lives of the littlest children.

~Lindsay

Wordless Wednesday - Sittin' Up Fun

2008-04-09T11:38:00.005-04:00

I'm gettin' tired, Ma...

Hey, I got it!

Whoooaaaa!

Yea, that's right. It's cool.

Butterfly saving lives

2008-04-07T16:56:00.003-04:00

Visiting one of my favorite pro-life blogs today, I came across the song Butterfly by Bluefield. Take a listen. It's powerful!

~Lindsay

Oh, No, Oprah!!

2008-04-04T15:47:00.003-04:00

My friend Betsy showed me this video. Please take the time to watch it. I have known for years that Oprah was pushing New Age philosophy, but since we've been without television for over 2 years now, I haven't kept up on her. I am amazed at how much more outspoken she's become in just two years! No more subliminal messages, wow!

I have to say, what stood out to me most, is what tripped her up in her Christian faith. She talks about the experience - what made her want to seek for something else. "Omniscience, Omnipresence..." Those words aren't in the bible!! They're *not* Biblical attributes of God!! Augustine wrote them into Christianity!! Your everyday Christian, however, doesn't know this, and goes around spouting it off as if it *is* the written Word - all the while making it harder for Christians to make sense of things, let alone the lost. What a mess humans make of things.

~Lindsay

Kid Quote

2008-04-03T13:50:00.001-04:00

Andrew (7):

"When I get older, I want to take some evolution classes. So that I can tell them they're wrong!"

Happy Birthday to Riley!

2008-04-03T10:49:00.004-04:00

Last week our littlest girl turned 4! It is hard to believe in some ways. The time goes so quickly, and yet, it seems like forever-ago that she was just a little newborn in my arms.

Riley was my first (and unfortunately not my last!!) posterior birth. I went from two typical anterior labors, 12 hours, then 6 hours, to this little girl's 36 hours of labor (though, again unfortunately, that would not be my longest labor).

During her baby days, we kept hearing how different she looked from Andrew and Mia. She definitely had different facial features, and then there was the hair....

She is full of life, and humor. I don't know if that's what causes her to be a tad on the [eh-hem] clumsy side, but whatever it is, she is definitely the accident-prone child in the family. She has been in the ER even more than Nolan, which, considering his health challenges, is really saying something!

She loves food! All our kids love to eat, but Riley s-a-v-o-r-s every bite! As she started eating solids, we were amazed at how long it took her to eat. We thought it was just because she was learning, but she is still that way. It is just her, she loves make every bite count!

Oh, yea. And Pilate's, I can't forget Pilate's. She really likes to do that, though any exercise she sees me doing she will imitate. But she actually asks me to put the Pilate's DVD in for her!

She is very sweet, and wants nothing more than to be the best mommy in the world. She has always been fond of baby-dolls, and being three and able to express more last year, she was absolutely in love with Gabriel when he made his appearance into our lives. She still wants to help in every way with him (which can lead to disaster when you remember her knack for injury!), even though she knows the great risk of hair-pulling that she faces with him.

Happy 4th birthday to our little Ril-o!

~Lindsay

Can you be PRO LIFE and support the Death Penalty?

2008-03-30T21:44:00.003-04:00

It's really quite simple, support/protect the life of the innocent, condemn the guilty.
In composing my answer to this question, I came across an article/debate answering it so eloquently, I am posting excerpts from it here (with permission). To read it in it's entirety - and it will be well worth your time - please click here.

Biblical History of Execution
In the first crime in the Bible, Cain murdered his brother Abel. Cain intuitively believed that everyone would think themselves justified in executing a murderer.

"It will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me." Gen. 4:14

So God forbade capital punishment:

"Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." And the Lord set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him. Gen. 4:15

Without the death penalty, lawlessness reigned on earth:

So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them..." Gen. 6:12-13

Within ten verses of the account of Noah's departure from the ark, God instituted the death penalty. Interestingly, the first three commands given to man after the flood parallel the very first three commands given to man before the flood.

Before the Flood

1st Command: "Be fruitful and multiply... have dominion... over every living thing that moves on the earth." Gen. 1:28
2nd Command: "Of every tree... you may freely eat; but... of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat..." Gen. 1:29
3rd Command (Death penalty forbidden): "Whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." Gen. 4:15

After the Flood

1st Command: "Be fruitful and multiply... And the fear of you... shall be... on all that move on the earth..." Gen. 9:1-2
2nd Command" "Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you... But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is its blood." Gen. 9:3-4
3rd Command: (Death penalty commanded): "Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed... Gen. 9:6

These were the only three commands given to mankind before the flood, and the only three commands given to mankind after the flood and before Israel's covenant of circumcision.

Thou Shalt Not Kill
The rendering of the sixth commandment in the King James was very unfortunate. "Thou shalt not kill" in recent versions (like the NKJV, NIV, RSV, ASB, NASB, etc.) is accurately translated "You shall not murder" (Ex. 20:13). In Hebrew, as in English, the words for "murder" and "kill" can be used interchangeably, but their different meanings are easily understood from the context.

The Hebrew word for murder (ratsach, which appears in Ex. 20:13) is translated by the King James as murder/murderer 17 times, slayer/slain/slayeth 21 times, kill/killing 6 times, manslayer 2 times, and death once. The Hebrew word for kill (which appears in Ex. 13:15-harag) is translated by the King James as slay/slayer/slain 132 times, as kill 27 times, murder/murderer 3 times, destroyed once, out of hand once, and made/put/surely 3 times.

The Ten Commandments forbid murder, not killing

"He who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death." Ex. 21:15
"He who kidnaps a man... shall surely be put to death." Ex. 21:16
"He who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death." Ex. 21:17
"If an unborn baby is killed] you shall give life for life." Ex. 21:23

It is not plausible to suppose that God contradicted Himself just a few sentences after delivering the Ten Commandments to Moses. Clearly God prohibited murder but insisted upon execution of murderers and others. Some Christians, however, are so influenced by the world's philosophy that they are ashamed of the Lord's own words in Exodus 21. Others talk as though God was a bad God in the Old Testament but that now in the New, He is a much nicer God, as though He has gone through a rite of passage.

God forbid murder, and commanded the lawful execution of murderers.

Execution Not Optional
As punishment for murder, the death penalty was applicable to each and every murderer:

"Whoever kills any man shall surely be put to death.... You shall have the same law for the [foreigner] and for one from your own country; for I am the Lord your God." Lev. 24:17-22

The death penalty was not a maximum penalty, nor was it optional. As the Lord said:

'Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death... So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it.' Num. 35:31-33

Did God change this law in the New Testament? Consider that Jesus supports the death penalty in Matthew and Mark, and so does John in Revelation, and Paul in Acts and Romans, as does the book of Hebrews.

Jesus Supports Capital Punishment
Jesus affirmed the Mosaic Law even to the keeping of the "least of these commandments" (Mat. 5:17-19). He blasted the Pharisees for giving their own ideas precedence over God's commands:

"Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? For God commanded, saying... `He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.' But you say..." Mat. 15:3-4
"For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men..." [Jesus] said to them, "All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother; and 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.' But you say..." Mark 7:8-11

Jesus reaffirmed the capital statutes of God's law. Not only the murderer (Rev. 13:10; 1 Tim. 1:8-9; Rom. 13:4), but even the one who curses a parent must be put to death (Ex. 21:17 and Lev. 20:9) just as God commanded. God's commands to execute the one who strikes or curses a parent are the death penalty statutes that liberal Christians are the most embarrassed over. However, Christ was not at all embarrassed over His Fathers commands. Jesus repeated these commands without caveat or reservation.

Laying aside the commands of God has its consequences. In America, murder has become the number one cause of death among young black males, and suicide is the number three cause of death among all teenagers. There is a death penalty when children disrespect their parents. If Jesus' telling of God's command is ignored, countless children will die terrible deaths at the hands of other children and by their own hands. On the other hand, if God's command were enforced, rather than ridiculed, the shedding of innocent blood would virtually disappear in our land. God's wisdom would save thousands of children. man's wisdom destroys them.

While Jesus was on the cross the Romans inflicted the death penalty on the two criminals2 next to Him. Christ said nothing in their defense, or against their crucifixions. One of those two mocked Christ. In response, the other criminal (whom Jesus would immediately declare righteous, Luke 23:43) said of their punishments, "we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong" (Luke 23:41). What did this forgiven criminal, this newly justified man, say about the death penalty? Bottom line: the criminals were getting their just punishment. The dying criminal knew the truth, as he said, "we indeed" are "justly" punished.

Revelation Supports Capital Punishment
The angels in heaven also recognize the principle of just punishment.

And I heard the angel of the waters saying: "You are righteous, O Lord... because You have judged these things. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due." Rev. 16:5-6

God will equip the two witnesses of Revelation 11 to execute those trying to harm them.

And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. Rev. 11:5

The Apostle John also taught that you reap what you sow:

...he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. Rev. 13:10

Paul Supports Capital Punishment
The Apostle Paul did not object to the death penalty. He knew his rights as a Roman citizen and defended them. Yet while on trial, he volunteered the following endorsement of capital punishment to Porcius Festus, Governor in Caesarea:

"For if I am an offender, or have committed anything deserving of death, I do not object to dying; but if there is nothing in these things of which these men accuse me, no one can deliver me to them. I appeal to Caesar." Acts 25:11

Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, "You have appealed to Caesar? To Caesar you shall go!" Acts 25:12

Vengeance is inherently good. God said, "Vengeance is Mine." Individuals, however, are not to avenge themselves, but are to allow God to avenge in His way:

Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. Rom. 12:19 (see also Lev. 19:18)

While Paul instructs people not to seek their own revenge, but to "give place to wrath." Paul then explains that the proper channel for wrath is the "governing authorities." The government is the "place" for wrath and vengeance:

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities... For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Rom. 13:1, 3

Godly rulers are a terror to evil doers. Note that God's two witnesses in Revelation "tormented those who dwell on the earth" (Rev. 11:10).God through Paul specifically commands earthly governments to execute criminals with the sword:

For [the governing authority] is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Rom. 13:4

A sword is not used for scourging but for killing. Paul instructs believers to "not avenge" themselves, "but rather give place to wrath." Governments are the place for wrath for they are "God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath." Individuals have one role, governments have another. Individuals do not avenge themselves, the government does. Believers forgive3, governments execute. So, if the governing authorities are to obey God, they must not bear the sword in vain but execute wrath on the criminal, for they are God's minister to avenge and bring terror on him who practices evil. Thus God commanded execution in large part to meet out vengeance against capital criminals.

Hebrews Supports Capital Punishment
The author of the book of Hebrews also supports the death penalty. The certainty of punishment under the Mosaic law proves the certainty of punishment for rejecting Jesus Christ:

Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies (present tense) without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot... Heb. 10:28-29

Temporal punishment through the law teaches men of the certainty of God's eternal punishment. If the government neglects the death penalty, then the people will scoff at the second death (Rev. 2:11; Rev. 20:6, Rev. 20:12-14; Rev. 21:8).

Be afraid of the sword for yourselves; for wrath brings the punishment of the sword, that you may know there is a judgment. Job 19:29

The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance... So that men will say, "Surely there is a reward for the righteous; Surely He is God who judges in the earth." Ps. 58:10-11

Further, showing mercy to the wicked does not produce repentance. As Isaiah wrote:
Let grace be shown to the wicked, yet he will not learn righteousness... Isa. 26:10
And as the proverb states:

A man of great wrath will suffer punishment; for if you rescue him, you will have to do it again. Prov. 19:19

But Who Can Forgive Whom?
Some argue that we are to forgive murderers. These same people insist that we incarcerate murderers and make thieves pay restitution. They say "forgive," but actually demand punishment. These objectors do not sincerely believe in forgiveness, they only want to decide on the penalty themselves while rejecting the penalty God has commanded.You can forgive a debt owed to you, but not one owed to your neighbor. If your friend owes you $100 dollars, you can cancel that debt if you like; however, if your friend owes me $100, you have no such authority to cancel that debt. You can forgive a sin against you, but not a sin against your neighbor. Only God has authority to forgive a murderer and even He will not forgive the unrepentant murderer.A murderer has also assaulted the community, the law and God Himself. You can only forgive the wrong done against you, not that done against God or your community.When Jesus spoke of forgiveness, He did not confuse this simple truth. He taught clearly that you must forgive those who sinned against you, not those who sinned against your neighbor. For as He taught Israel to pray:

"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" Mat. 6:12

Jesus forgave sins and the scribes reasoned in their hearts, "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" (Mark 2:7). Thus Jesus realized that men would want evidence for His claim to be able to forgive sins:

"But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins" - He said to the man who was paralyzed, "I say to you, arise..." Luke 5:24; Mark 2:10-11

So parents of a murder victim should forgive to the extent that they have been hurt, which requires a tremendous amount of forgiveness to cover a tremendous amount of hurt. In America, sadly, their sorrow is agitated and increased by a government that mocks their grief through mercy to the murderer. How does a mother's broken heart heal when the wound is reopened each time her daughter's murderer is up for appeal, or sues the jail, or gets a photo in the newspaper.

Do Not Judge?
But does the New Testament teach believers to not judge? Jesus did say: "Judge not, that you be not judged" (Mat. 7:1)? Jesus gave that teaching to hypocrites (Mat. 7:5) however. For He specifically commands His followers to judge:

"Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment." John 7:24

"Judge not" is the Hypocrites Golden Rule. For "judge not" (Mat. 7:1-5) is simply a hypocrites application of do unto others as you would have them do unto you (Mat. 7:12). "For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged" (Mat. 7:2). Judge others as you would have them do unto you inverted is Judge not if you do not want to be judged. Therefore the hypocrite does not judge. As Jesus said, "Judge not... you hypocrite" (Mat. 7:1, 5 KJV; Ezek. 16:52).

Jesus warned against judging falsely or with hypocrisy. For immediately after saying "judge not," Jesus taught just how to judge correctly:

"And why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?... Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother's eye." Mat. 7:3, 5

Christ kept this theme throughout His ministry. "Hypocrites," Jesus said, "why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right?" (Luke 12:56-57). Still, His own followers have mostly ignored the Lord's harsh rebuke: "Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother's eye" (Mat. 7:5). "Judge Not" is the Hypocritical Oath and hypocrite haven. He who lives in a glass house should not throw stones. Such Christians, though, should relocate. Move into "the temple of the great God, which is being built with heavy stones" (Ezra 5:8).

Jesus paid a compliment to Simon [not Peter] when He said:

"You have rightly judged." Luke 7:43

Paul commands Christians to judge:

Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judge by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren? 1 Cor. 6:2-5

Paul elsewhere teaches:

...he who is spiritual judges all things... 1 Cor. 2:15

Moses and the law of God condemns and judges sinners, as Christ said:

"Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you 'Moses..." John 5:45

Paul teaches this also:

Whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world [is] guilty before God. Rom 3:19

God has always approved of giving warning to those who commit crimes:

...those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, and a good blessing will come upon them. Prov. 24:25

~Lindsay

T13 #7

2008-03-28T07:44:00.003-04:00

Thirteen cute things the kids said when G was born:
1. "I still think it's a girl baby" -R
(3 1/2 y.o. girl; while still at her grandparents, after we told her on the phone he was a boy).
2. "He doesn't have any itchies!" -A
(6 1/2 y.o.) [This one makes me want to cry!]
3. "I'm glad he's a boy, boys are my best play-mates" -M (5 y.o.)
4. "MY BABY!!!" -N (2 y.o.)
5. "I think he should stay forever" -R
6. "He's making his little kitten noises" -M
7. "His foot is as small as my thumb!' -A
8. 'Eye....Nose...Mowf...Hair...Ear..." -N
(while pointing at each...G's so easy going, he hardly notices!)
9. "What is he again?" -R
(It took me a while to figure this one out, but I finally realized she was asking what his name was - she couldn't remember. Too cute.)
10. "Cwying....ut's wong?" -N
(translation: Baby's crying, what's wrong?) LOL
11. "I like him" -R
(we're glad she approves!)
12. "Five....is enough" -A
(?? where'd he get that? It was funny the way he said it though!)
13. "CAN I HOLD THE NEW BABY?!?!" -All of them....several times a day.

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Wordless Wednesday - Successful Dieting 101

2008-03-25T21:56:00.002-04:00

E is for Easter....and Emotion

2008-03-23T06:30:00.006-04:00

Happy Easter!

It's been quite an emotional week for me. This is G's first Easter, and he is about the same age as N was for his first Easter. Really - this whole baby period has been bittersweet as I look at G and remember N at the same age. N was about 5 months old at the time, and wanting to crawl. G is trying to crawl now. When I change G's diaper, I can't help but think about when I used to change N's diaper and he would try to rub his hand on the textured wall. There was a blood stain there for a while. G started sucking his thumb yesterday. N used to suck his thumb; his tongue was scratched by the dry roughness as the eczema got worse. Eventually we had to start covering his hands with socks because he would rub them on anything and everything and at some point began biting them as well.

That was before it got bad.

N's first Easter, it was bad, and we had no clue how bad it was going to get. We didn't think it could get any worse.

So many things these past six months have brought back such vivid memories of a time that I want to forget. And yet I don't - want to forget, that is. What happened to him changed so much. It changed who he is, it changed who I am. It changed my husband, it changed our other kids. It changed our family dynamic, and brought us closer together in the end. It also changed my view of other people, Christians in particular. Unfortunately our time of suffering brought to light how incredibly selfish Christians are with their time. Oh, they'll forward an email prayer request, but sometimes I had to question if it was because they really cared or because of the attention they got from those horrid stories and pictures of my precious suffering baby. In the end, a lot of people came through for us financially by giving to enable us to get N to National Jewish in Denver to find the help we needed. That trip forever changed our lives! And we are forever grateful to those who helped us get there, both financially and through prayer. I don't mean to come across ungrateful, I'm absolutely not.

I am the kind of person that will do anything for others. Anything. I will give of whatever I can, myself and my time. I will rush to their aid - making meals, staying by their side, calling to check on them, sending notes of encouragement. It doesn't matter if I 'have time', doesn't matter how full my plate already is. That is just who I am, and it is what I believe the Bible says Christians should be. I say this not to brag, but to show where I am coming from. While I never expect to be "repaid", I also was (and still am) shocked at the utter lack of giving on the part of others - Christians - at a time of such turmoil for our family.

While we had not been attending for several months, we were still members of a church at the time. In the midst of everything we were going through, they sent us a postcard notifying us they were cancelling our membership due to our lack of attendance! And it's not as if they didn't know what we were going through - someone in my family works there. It's not even that we cared about not being members anymore (we had intended to cancel), it was the incredible timing. No one called asking what was going on, or why we hadn't been attending. No one sent a card or note of encouragement. Nothing. They did later give us money to help us avoid foreclosure. And a month later one of the staff members visited me and N in the hospital after he had an anaphylactic reaction. But other than that, they were non-existent.

So, there's the money again. And, again, it's not that I don't appreciate it, but it just amazes me that Christians will flippantly throw money at someone, but not really give. God said, "For I desire mercy, not sacrifice" (matt 12:7, hosea 6:6).

I remember some beautiful examples of sacrifice: My dear friends KE and NH (I love you guys!!), while they had young families of their own to care for, they were there for me as much as they possibly could be. Even if it was just calling to see how I was. One day NH even came over in the morning, after having worked a night shift, and took care of my kids for a few hours so that I could rest! I will never forget that display of sacrificial love. And my sister- and brother-in-law used to come and stay overnight every other week. My other sister-in-law also constantly was there for me over the phone and through email and one time flew out and stayed an entire week just to offer her help. One of my aunts sent me a few things she thought would help and often inquired how things were going. Once my uncle mowed the lawn for us. And finally, after we had been dealing our suffering son for a year, one kind lady from the church offered her service. She brought us a couple meals, her husband did some much needed yard work for us, and she spent an afternoon here folding laundry and reading to my kids. That was like a cup of cool water on a hot day. Refreshing.

The hard truth of the matter is, I almost abandoned my faith. Not because of God, but because of His people. It may sound horrible, but until you've been there, it may not be something you can understand. I did not lose faith in God, but began thinking, if this is what His people are like in a time of need, what does that say about Him, and do I really want to be part of that? I remember coming across a book title, hearing it or reading the title somewhere, something like 'Why a Christian can become an atheist'. I was greatly intrigued, because if I were writing that book my answer would be 'other Christians'! Reminding myself of the sacrificial love of those mentioned above helps me get through those times that I begin to think about the lack thereof in most.

Fortunately, shortly after we went to National Jewish, I was able to attend a seminar on Open Theism. The quenching of my soul was indescribable! To know the Bible for it's true word. To be assured that God did not plan for N to suffer. He does not delight in our suffering, which is a result of the fall. He does not plan it in some twisted way to 'teach' us something. He is not on both sides of good and evil!! Which, I suppose brings me to a good ending place for this post. Easter reveals exactly that - Jesus conquered death, and His resurrection brings the hope of Salvation to both the Jews and the rest of the nations (the Gentiles). If we would just humble ourselves and believe Him. I hope your celebration is a wondrous one.

~Lindsay

T13 #6

2008-03-20T17:51:00.002-04:00

Let me preface this by saying that I am an RN, and was a natural childbirth educator for several years. We have done our research. We have reasons for leaving all these out, basically it boils down to this - unnecessary in a low-risk, healthy pregnancy, and/or unnecessary/safe/effective for a newborn baby.
Thirteen Things we've NEVER done in any pregnancy, labor, delivery, postpartum:
1. Ultrasound.
2. Amniocentesis, Alpha-Fetoprotein, or other genetic screening of unborn baby.
3. Doppler during pregnancy. We prefer a fetal stethoscope. We do use the doppler during labor and delivery for convenience for the midwife and me.
4. Beta-Strep test of mother.
5. Artificial induction of labor, whether medicinal or artificial rupture of membranes, etc.
6. Artificial augmentation (speeding up) of labor, again whether medicinal, breaking bag of waters, etc.
7. Medicinal pain relief for labor or delivery.
8. Fetal monitors, external or internal.
9. Episiotomy.
10. Newborn Eye Treatment.
11. Vitamin K.
12. Circumcision.
13. Vaccines.

Kid Quotes

2008-03-19T23:54:00.003-04:00

R (almost 4) - "Mommy, do I have any milk yet??"

Me - "What do you mean, honey?" (really, I didn't know!)

R - "Well, I've been drinking lots of water!!"

(sidebar - then I got it. The older 3 kidlets help me keep track of the 5 20-ounce bottles of water I try to drink each day. I explained to them months ago that it's important that my body needs lots of water to make milk for G!)

~Lindsay

More Book Fun

2008-03-19T23:50:00.002-04:00

My friend Betsy over at The Homeschool Way is also giving away books! Horses, Horses, Horses. OOOHHH, my girls would just love the books being offered!!

~Lindsay

Pay It Forward Book Exchange

2008-03-19T23:40:00.005-04:00

Overwhelmed is hosting a book exchange.
Sounds so fun - like Paperbackswap, but with a bloggy spin! Love it. There are some great books up for exchange, go check it out (even if you're not a blogger!!)

~Lindsay

Wordless Wednesday - Jump till ya drop!

2008-03-19T20:16:00.001-04:00

Compromising for Politics

2008-03-17T07:58:00.004-04:00

When we are talking about politics, the general population of the Body of Christ has been fooled into thinking the Republican Party is on our side. We’ve been taught and trained by the majority of our Christian pro-life leaders that we have to compromise our morals and values, or else we have no say. We have to give a little here and there in order to get the ‘right’ people in office who will do what we want and then we’ll have victory.

DON’T BUY INTO IT ANYMORE!!

We can use all the tools at our disposal that are morally honoring to God, but it’s not okay to compromise on God’s enduring commands (the moral code of the Bible) in some kind of political strategy.

Think back to the Book of Daniel. Daniel was involved in politics - he was the governor over 40 provinces in all of Babylon - a huge empire. He was about to be appointed to be governor over the entire empire (120 provinces in all), but the king was manipulated into passing a wicked law...
Daniel was politically astute - he knew what good he could do if he were governor over everything. He knew he could comply with this one wicked law, this is just a small compromise. There was nothing in God’s laws requiring him to pray out loud; he didn’t have to pray visibly. He could have thought, "I’m not even doing anything immoral - I can just pray to God in my heart. Then I’ll still get to be governor over all the kingdom, and think of all the good I will do!" So he dishonored God in the smallest way, and what happened?...

OH, *Wait a minute*

That’s not how the story goes; that’s not how the Bible records that historical account. Daniel didn’t dishonor God - not even just a little bit. He wasn’t required by any command of God - he didn’t have to pray publicly, but he did. He was a governor, remember. Imagine that he lived in a mansion on the royal court. He opened his windows and audibly prayed to the God of Israel! Why??

Because we must obey God rather than men

(Acts 5:29).

Daniel openly violated the command of man. Did that mean he could lose the upcoming election, so to speak? It meant more than that - he could lose his life! In fact, that was what was about to happen, but did he? No, because God so loved Daniel. Because Daniel was willing to risk everything.

What does it mean to risk everything? In order to honor and obey God, we should be willing to risk political power, and willing to risk our reputation among men. Because men will think you are backward and a fool if you honor God instead of being politically sophisticated. Had that been today, Daniel would have been accused of not being politically sophisticated. But even though men dishonored him, God honored Daniel and eventually gave to Daniel the prophecy of the timing of the coming of the Messiah! And Daniel's place in God’s history among men is guaranteed for all eternity future. Because he honored God rather than men.

The Body of Christ is being trained by Christian leaders, through the pro-life movement, to dishonor God - obey man rather than God. To compromise and be ashamed of the gospel of Christ by never supporting candidates who will call for judges who fear God and will protect the innocent, but only candidates who will call for judges who ‘follow process’, and ‘original intent’; those who are ‘not judicial activist’, who are ‘strict constructionists’. The same kinds of judges who gave us the

Dred Scott Decision; who sentenced Dred Scott back into slavery because they were ‘upholding the constitution’. We as Americans look back on that moment in our history with shame, knowing it was wrong. But the philosophy that led to that ruling is exactly the same philosophy of far too many of our pro-life Christian leaders - Focus on the Family, National Right to Life, Americans United for Life, pastors, elders, friends and family - when they defend judges who make Godless, immoral, wicked decisions because they’re following process and precedent.

The first and foremost precedent to follow -

YOU SHALL NOT MURDER (Exodus 20:13...along with all the other enduring commands of God).

Lindsay

T13 #5

2008-03-14T00:29:00.002-04:00

Thirteen Great Gift Ideas for Kids

1. Magazines. But not just any magazines. Educational ones, rather than ones full of ads. Our favorites so far are Animal Baby, Your Big Backyard and Nature Friend.

2. Books. We *love* books!! Children's story books are great, but also longer books. I started reading the Little House Series to our kids when our oldest was only 4. They have developed good listening skills and longer attention spans. I'd love to fill our library with Lamplighter Books!

3. Puzzles. Any and every kind of puzzle. Our kids love puzzles!!

4. Games. Learning games are great, such as scrabble or chess. But games that are of less educational value are still fun, and still teach skills such as taking turns, paying attention to detail, and that it's still fun, even when you lose!

5. Clothes!! Clothes are always a great gift, as I have found, even if you save clothes from older children to pass down to younger ones. Often things still have to be thrown out because of wear, or stains.

6. Baby dolls, and accessories. We have a box with baby doll things, and a little play nursery where the little ones can pretend to be mommies (and daddies).

7. Older dolls, and accessories. While my understanding is that American Girl is no longer in direct support of Planned Parenthood, I had already purchased our first beautiful doll from Vision Forum before American Girl changed it's ways. And, truthfully, I'm so glad. Because these dolls are absolutely gorgeous!! We've made a tradition to give one to our daughters for their 4th birthday. (NO Barbies, thank you very much!!)

8. Craft items. These are always a great addition to any homeschooling family's environment. Because they're consumable, you can never have too much!

9. K'Nex. Never heard of them?! Oh, we love K'Nex. They are a building toy, and our oldest is absolutely fascinated by them, spending hours at a time constructing his next big model.

10. Coloring and activity books. Dot-to-dot, color by number, mazes, etc.

11. Other building toys - Lego's, Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, Zoobs, etc.

12. Audio books or story Cd's/tapes. My FIL and his wife gave us The Book of Virtues Audio Collection, and we all love listening to that together. We are also big fans of Your Story Hour, where you can get collections of old radio-style Bible stories or historical stories - those make great gifts!! (you also can listen to a few on the Internet here).

13. The wonderful world of Klutz!! These little books are fantastic, fun-packed little activities, and something to suit every budding hobby or maybe pique some little person's interest in something they hadn't tried before. Our favorites so far - Clothespin Cuties, Pom Pom Animals, and The Incredible Clay Book.

Wordless Wednesday - Tickles!!

2008-03-12T13:59:00.006-04:00

~Lindsay

UBP

2008-03-12T00:10:00.009-04:00

Hello friends...and welcome, strangers! I am coming to the party fashionably late, but hey I made it!

This is my little home on the web. Humble, plain-jane, but mine nonetheless. So...A little about me... Hmm...I think my 'about me' sums it up nicely, so how 'bout few little known facts.

I am hard of hearing in my right ear. Not many people know this, but it is true. Actually, my freshman year of high school, I was almost completely deaf in that ear, but somehow most of my hearing was recovered. I don't remember how or when...which leads me to my next little known fact -
I have very few memories of my childhood. Seriously! I remember it in flashes and I just don't remember much. I think it's kinda sad, especially when my kiddos ask me to tell them a story from when I was little. I mean, how many times can I re-tell the time that I went delirious from a high-fever when I was 8 or 9 and began yelling at the curtains?!?! Well, the answer to that question is - A LOT! They laugh every time. ;o)

If you came to my home unannounced, you'd most likely discover me wearing one of two pairs of sweat pants. *sigh* It's true; embarrassing, but true. Blue or brown. It's not because I'm in the mom-slump, though I am in the mom slump. It's not even because I don't have the cash to splurge on some more pants, and be certain, I don't. It is mostly because I spend so much of my time putting Vanicream on some little person that I don't want to bother getting more pants that are just going end up grease-stained anyway.

*BUT* You, my blog-party-friend, are coming announced. And so I will be wearing my trusty jeans! ;o)

We'll be listening to fun music. If the kids are awake, most likely it is Dora The Explorer. We have no TV, but we like the senorita's music, comprende? If they're not joining the festivities, then we'll throw in some funk, jazz, and then a little Nora Jones when it's time to chill.

We love games, too. Blokus is a favorite, Pictionary, Mad Gab, Apples to Apples and don't forget the cards!! - Euchre!!

((Now, seriously, if this was really a shin-dig in my own home, we wouldn't do much in the way of snacks. Or if we did, DH and I would be insanely telling you all to wash your hands...like every other minute. "or it is death to N", as DH has been known to say. LOL))

But, I may post some favorite old recipes soon anyway. Just for fun!

Thanks for stopping by!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Update:

Here are a couple of my favorite party recipes from our pre-food-allergy days (sometimes I really miss those days!)

~Dad's Ultimate Bean dip~

2 cans Brooks Chili Beans (mild or hot, your choice - we like it HOT) ;) Coursely chop in a food processor

1 lb browned ground beef

1 lb velveeta (mexican velveeta for even more kick!)

Mix together in a sauce pan or crock pot and heat till melted well blended.

Serve with your favorite dipping chips - We like Tostitos, Fritos Scoops, and Doritos!

~Easy Peanut Butter Fudge~

Boil 2 c. Sugar and 1/2 c. milk for 3 minutes

Add 1 1/3 c. peanut butter & 7 oz marshmallow creme

Smooth into greased pie plate

Allow to cool and Serve! Simple and DeLiCiouS!!

Throw in some pizza from Papa Murphy's (cheaper and IMHO Super Yummy), and a batch of Pilsbury Traditional Fudge Brownies (my personal fave), and food's on, baby!

Now for the prizes; I am supposed to list my favorites from this amazing list:

Top 3 are (drum roll, please....)

24 — Blog Design by Sweet and Simple Design
62 — Boca Beth Bilingual Beginner Set
137 — Go BPA Free Sippy Sampler Kit

My other super-fave's are (in numerical, and otherwise, no particular order): 7, 18, 23, 37, 45, 48, 54, 59, 67, 116, 123, 141, 145. (Can you tell I *desperately* want a blog makeover?!?!)

That's it for now, folks! Happy partying!

~Lindsay

Food allergy safe Easter baskets

2008-03-08T08:52:00.002-05:00

This article was in my Kids With Food Allergies e-newsletter this week. It is really good info, and worth posting for my food-allergic parent friends and readers. Also for those of you that don't deal with food allergies, but know someone who does - this will enhance your awareness.
Note - Stuffed animals are on the list as a gift idea, and while cute, they do pose a hazard for anyone with an allergy to dust mites. We don't have that allergy, necessarily, but I try to limit exposure because N is so reactive at this time his chances of developing any allergy are high. Stuffed animals are a no-no for our house! - not to mention the fact that they are almost impossible to keep clean (remember the velveteen rabbit?? LOL).

16 Peanut Free, Egg Free and Milk Free Items for Filling Easter Baskets

Instead of using milk chocolate, real eggs and other items that present allergy hazards, try filling an Easter basket with non-food items such as:

1. Wooden, plaster, plastic or Styrofoam® eggs

2. Easter themed stuffed animals

3. Jewelry

4. Stickers

5. "Bunny Money" redeemable for something of their choice

6. Bubbles

7. Sidewalk chalk

8. Balls

9. Pool toys

10. Pails and shovels

11. Coloring books

12. Markers

13. Books

14. Videos

15. A children's bible

16. Other Easter-themed goodies

Some candy companies make allergy-friendly Easter candies and Easter baskets including Vermont Nut Free, [www.vermontnutfree.com], Amanda's Own [www.amandasown.com] Divvies [www.divvies.com] and Whey Out Chocolate [www.wheyoutchocolate.com]. Verify allergen statements with each company to make sure any candy is safe for your child's unique allergy issues.

A Favorite Verse

2008-03-05T16:30:00.003-05:00

Last night at dinner, A piped up - "Hey, mommy, daddy! Know what my favorite Bible verse is?--'He laid down his life for us, and we should lay our lives down for the brother'."

Knowing we'd not read that verse any time recently, and knowing he is reading Genesis in his own quiet time, we asked where he'd heard that lately. Jonathon Park!! Just another reason to add to the list of why I love those adventure stories!

1 John 3:16
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

Enjoying the weather

2008-03-02T21:50:00.003-05:00

It was a beautiful sunny day here today. Mid 60's, not too windy, sunny, a few white clouds dotting the sky. Absolutely wonderful weather. So we went for our first family walk of 2008!

N's excited!!

I didn't know what G would think, and he was thrilled. He was puffing his chest out like he was proud of himself or something -- too cute. See those brown eyes?!?! It only took *five* kids to finally get one with my eyes. Who says brown is dominant? I beg to differ!!

Can you guess how many times people ask, are those all your children???

Even the geese are confused by the weather, though. I said it was beautiful, I didn't say it would last. Two weeks ago we were in the single digits for temps, and we'll be headed there again. Overhead, on our walk, three flocks of geese converged and just circled, honking at one another in confusion - "Is it Spring, is it winter? Do we land, do we fly on? Will that pond be frozen over in two days, or not??" Poor geese. We're in the same predicament - just when do we take down the weather-proofing plastic over our leaky windows? When do we go ahead and start on the garden? I'm not holding my breath just yet!

~Lindsay

FF #2

2008-02-29T23:35:00.000-05:00

1. I'm looking forward to more snow, hopefully!! next week. I know, I know. Everyone else wants spring, but I want more snow. I love it, and it still gets the kids out of the house for some outdoor play.
2. I don't handle when my husband is sick or emotional very well. or so he tells me.
3. Anything that is yummy is something I could eat every day. I'm a very repetitive person, and can eat or drink the same something'er'other for long periods of time before I will finally be ready for a change.
4. Warmth and sunlight make me smile, make me relaxed.
5. Kitchen, here I come! I can't believe how much time I spend in the kitchen. Cooking, cleaning up, that's where we do school, too. But most of the time it's cooking....and cleaning. Mostly cooking...but then, there's the cleaning.
6. I don't care about tattoo(s). Most of the time, it's the person, not the tattoo. Depends on the tattoo, though.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to going to bed early, tomorrow my plans include adding two kids with bronchitis to my usual long list of daily to-do's and Sunday, I want to go see a movie! whether I will or not...shall remain to be seen.

T13 #4

2008-02-28T21:32:00.004-05:00

Thirteen Things quotes and statistics I love from the fascinating documentary,

The Business of Being Born.

1. "...the rock and the hard place. Every single woman who has a natural birth feels like that at a certain point. The rock is - 'I'm not pushing because it hurts too much'. The hard place is -'Okay then, you're staying pregnant forever, and it's gonna hurt forever!' It's the most infuriating place to be." - The main midwife, her name escapes me...

2. "People in our country spend more time researching a car...a camera...(etc, etc)...than they do checking out what their choices for birth are!" - a midwife

3. Since 1996 the Cesarean section rate in the US has risen 46%.

4. In 2005 it was 1 in 3 births!!

5. "There's not a good history in obstetric practice of careful study of the long-term effects of all those interventions. This is why, if you really want a humanized birth, the best you can do is to get the hell out of the hospital!" - Marsden Wagener, M.D., Former Director of Women & Children's Health, World Health Organization

6. Midwives attend over 70% of births in Europe and Japan.

7. In the US, midwife attendance is less than 8%.

8. "The Netherlands loses fewer women than we do. The Netherlands loses fewer babies than we do. And one third of their births are planned home births!" - Marsden Wagener

9. The US has the second worst newborn death rate in the developed world.

10. The US has one of the highest maternal mortality rates among all industrialized countries (in the seven countries with at least 400,000 births, the US is seventh).

11. In 1900, 95% of births in the US took place at home. In 1938, it was 50%. In 1955, less than 1% of births in the US took place at home. It is still the same percentage today.

12. "We spend twice as much in this country per birth than any other country in the world. It is one of those very rare instances when cheaper [midwife attended non-hospital birth] is truly better." - Marsden Wagener

13. "The outcome we get versus the amount of money we spend - it sucks!" - an obstetrician

Wordless Wednesday - Raspberries from Gumpa

2008-02-27T21:31:00.001-05:00

Listen Well to Others

2008-02-27T16:58:00.006-05:00

My new Sonlight catalogue came yesterday. I was just glancing through it quickly - it wasn't at a time that I could sit down and search the things I've been thinking of adding to our home schooling. But I perused an article titled 'What kind of people do I want my children to be?' The title stood out to me, so I read the bold-print points, and # 6 was great - Teach students to listen well to others. They explained they use 2 means by which they teach students to listen. The first is listening to Mom and/or Dad read to them. The second, well, I'll give the direct quote:

We seek to convey different sides to an argument. Many people - both children and adults - are afraid of what "the opposition" may say. Our minds become so filled with worry about our possible inability to reply appropriately that we never hear what the other person has to say.
So most of us are far more comfortable to remain ignorant of other people's claims than to first become familiar with what they have to say, and then to find quality answers or, possibly, to admit they have a point we had never thought about
before.

While I readily admit that I have been at fault in this many times, I have honestly tried to become more aware of the fact that:

I don't know everything. Shocker.
Christian teaching - no matter who the source - isn't always 100% accurate, since it comes from a 100% fallen human being; only the Word of God is 100% TRUTH.
I can be wrong, even when I don't know it yet.
When I won't listen to (not just hear) what the other side has to say, I cannot accurately defend my position, and I may be missing out on something really profound.

But I have come to find that I love TRUTH much more than I love comfort. As an open-theist, I often come across this with other believers. They are comfortable with their view of God, even though it is reeking of pagan Greek philosophy. Christian teaching has been muddled up for so long that most believers don't even know the difference. It was true of me as well, until I decided to actually listen to what open theology had to say and to compare it to the Bible, just the Bible. What a light-bulb moment!!

This listening to others, though; it goes for more than just theology. I will save the discussion on theology for another post. I know I need to explain it for many of my readers, and I will. I can think of many other areas of life in which to apply good listening skills - the proper approach to politics, the proper approach to ending legalized abortion in America, the way to rear children, the way to school children, reasons for not attending a mega-church (gasp, did I say that out loud?!), the list goes on.

~Lindsay

Friday Fill-ins...not on friday.

2008-02-23T22:09:00.004-05:00

Well, I came accross this meme. I am not a meme-y blogger. You know, those blogs that do a bazillion memes every week. I like reading some of them, but it's just not my style. But this one, I thought, looked kinda fun, and I haven't seen it on everyone-and-their-brother's blogs, IYKWIM!!

1. Discovery is the best thing about traveling.

2. I love a good cup of hot cocoa, with marshmallow's, when I'm cold.

3. I often use no deoderant. (gasp, did I just make that public? actually, if you keep your pits freshly shaven, you don't really need it! - atleast, *I* don't.)

4. I'm reading The Plot right now; I dig it.

5. Mucous is something I dislike talking about.

6. When I visited Australia I most looked forward to seeing the outback.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to (last night - friday) watching law & order on my laptop, tomorrow my plans include Same ol', same ol' - DH works Saturdays and Sunday, I want to enjoy the celebratory activities for my dad's 53rd birthday!

~Lindsay

On Shades of Gray

"You're So Judgemental!!"

Born Alive

New & Improved GOD for Today's MODERN Christian

Indiana Planned Parenthood Caught On Tape Giving Fabricated Medical Information

Helping People in Crisis

Exceptions Calculator

Do Right And Risk the Consequences

"Free!" Sermon on 01/23/2010

"The Teacher"

Eight Seconds to Disprove Eight Atheist Clichés

Planned Parenthood Does Wickedness in the Light of Day - Will Christians Keep Turning Their Heads?

What Do I Teach My Children About Atheism? - by Dani Kekoa

Exciting PERSONHOOD News!!

Environmentalists have it BACKWARDS!

Reason # 2,898 Why NOT to Send Your Kids to Public School:

Pelosi: Children Are a Burdern

Government Set to Bail Out the Abortion Industry

Taking Comfort in the Warnings of Jesus

Rick Warren - Unfortunate Typical Christian Leader, Gives The Wicked a False Sense of Security

Our First-ever Christmas Newsletter! - Merry Christmas!!

Where the heck is global warming when you need it?!?

Mom to 4 U.S. citizens ordered to forced sterilization

Giving the Gift of Abortion?!

From Our Gobble-Heads to Yours!

Strongest Argument Against Abortion for Rape/Incest

Veterans Day

I voted for the good guy

My Response to: Why do you believe McCain is EVIL?

Front Lines of the Pro-Life Movement

The Simpsons - Actually Right for a Change

Abortion Survivor Makes Australia's Finest Uncomfortable

Trick or Treat

Happy Birthday To Me (...and my husband!)

A Wasted Vote

Good vs. Evil ~NOT~ Lesser Evil vs. Evil

Barack Obama vs John McCain - SAME DIFFERENCE

None of the Above

Sarah Palin - Feminist in Sheep's Clothing

Are you Unashamedly a Christian?

Take Care Down There

Relationships

Open Theism: An Email Discussion

World's Largest Protest Sign at the DNC

Gabriel's first trip to the ER

Happy 10th Anniversary - To US!

Kid Quotes - The "Why" Phase

Silly Boys by Michael Pearl

Dobson Renige's Again

Wordless Wednesday

Situational Morality

Check out --> Embracing Grace

Perky-O's

The Astronaut Bee-Keeper

On beginning a blog

Wordless ...Is it Thursday, Already?

Happy Father's Day

Good Ol' Appendicitis

The Pill Kills! Protest June 7, 2008

Web Link Wednesday - Remembering the tiniest lost lives

Vaccines

What a Month!

Colorado Personhood Victory!

To My Readers and Friends.

Caring for the Elderly

Kid Quote

A Joke

What is your worldview?

Racing for the *CURE*? - Better know for sure!!

Please Meet MaryContrary

What-Day-Is-It-Wednesday

Life begins at *Fertilization*

Wordless Wednesday - Sittin' Up Fun

Butterfly saving lives

Oh, No, Oprah!!

Kid Quote

Happy Birthday to Riley!

Can you be PRO LIFE and support the Death Penalty?

T13 #7

Wordless Wednesday - Successful Dieting 101

Racing for the CURE? - Better know for sure!!

Life begins at Fertilization