The Love of God

Most of us do no stop to think that God is in our every day lives. We don't seem to 'see' him at work or even that, in the least things, God can be found. I've come to realize we've missed special moments with God in not keeping our minds tuned on him.

Last night, we attended a music get-together. A Christian band was the one to close out the show for the night. They sang some great songs and were very good! But what caught my heart was the fact that one of the singers went down to get three little children, two boys and a girl. One of the boys was a child with down's syndrome. I assumed the head of the band was the boy's father since he told the story about getting him ready for bed and his son talking about 'his love'. It pertained to a song they had been learning and this little boy picked up on the love of God.

The thing that struck me and brought tears to my eyes was the love that was shown to this little boy by the girl (lead singer) who had brought him on stage. She would kneel beside him, prompting him to sing what he could. She would touch him sweetly to get him to sing. She never seemed to tire of giving him and the other two children her attention, constantly on her knees are singing at their ears. You could just see the love of God in her!

Matthew 22:39 tells us to 'Thy shalt love thy neighbor as thyself'. And I have never seen a sweeter demonstration of love than this girl showed that little boy.

Technorati Tags: Love, God

You be the Judge

I was sent these two articles from my close Christian friend. I knew some of these things were happening but had no idea at what lengths pastors will go to get young people in church or to an 'on-line' church.

It doesn't matter what tactics they use to try and win the young. Only the TRUTH of GOD is going to hold them. When one is won through the Word of God, it will hold him. I do not believe someone drawn to a church through such tactics will be long in the church. It takes a true life-changing experience with God to make you want to leave your old life and join His kingdom! When God woos a person, it doesn't take anything extra to win him/her. Such tactics, to me, undermines the truth of God. It belittles the foundation to which one is trying to win the lost. And I do not believe God is amused at the way some pastors are trying to build their church.

Wanna Be Cool Christianity - Sacrificing Authentic for Hip

The Perils of Hipster Christianity

Technorati Tags: Christianity, Cool Christianity, Hipster Christianity

America's Trust in Their New Gods

Everyone needs to watch this Video which comes from The Perry Stone Ministries. Listen to it intently. It is so enlightening!

America's Trust in Their New Gods

Technorati Tags: America, God

El Shaddai – the God who is more than enough

The economy looks bad. People are losing their jobs every day. Their houses are being repossessed. There doesn’t seem to be an end to the recession right now although the government says it is over. To those in need it says something else.

Each of us has probably been on the receiving end of needing something we could not get when we needed it. We usually just live with the thought that we’ll get it when we have the money. Most of us don’t worry over the small stuff. But when it comes to losing homes, jobs, etc., then that is a different matter.

As a Christian we should know what to do, but many don’t do it. They carry the burden themselves. They do not give it to God. Only He is able to ease our lives by taking our burdens on himself. He tells us to give Him all our care. How hard is that?

Well, in fact, for many, it is very hard. We say we have faith, but we don’t exercise it like we should. We say we know the Word, but we don’t put it into play when we really need it. Instead, we suffer and take these things on ourselves. We worry that we won’t have the money to pay the next bill. We worry that we will lose our homes. We worry about where the next meal is coming from.

Scripture tells us that HE will provide us with the things we need because HE knows everything about us. Our want is not always what we need. He tells us in His word to ‘seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you’. So many times we just seek after the ‘things’ rather than God. If we could rely on God completely, life would be simpler.

Technorati Tags: El Shaddai

Nothing like the Christmas Spirit

What does it take to get you into the Christmas spirit? After Thanksgiving, just start playing the Christmas songs, show a good Christmas movie on television, or let me stroll through the mall and see all the beautiful decorations. It never fails; I'm in the Christmas spirit.

It seems that, with every year that passes, receiving Christmas gifts is less on my mind. Instead, I always want to figure out what gift would please each of those on my Christmas list. It thrills me to be able to buy something that a kids wants and see his eyes light up when he opens the gift. It is so nice to hear, "YES", exclaiming the thrill the gift brought to that child.

I'm ready to put up my Christmas decorations this year. It has been many years since I put them up this early. I usually do that a week or two before Christmas. But I think I'll break that mold and start another one this year. I usually leave my decorations up later than most, considering I take them down when I feel like it. There is never any rush around here.

Actually, I think we need to be in the Christmas spirit all year long. We celebrate the birth of Christ on Christmas. But Christ is with us every day of our lives, living within us, if we are Christians and obey His Holy Word. With His spirit within us, we should be happy, joyful, loving, and most of all, thankful that God sent His Son to redeem us from our sins, and to give us the gift of eternal life with Him. This should have us in the Christmas spirit every day!

Technorati Tags: Christmas, Christ, Christmas Spirit

Coffee and Ministry

Coffee is a drink that Americans love. You see so many different coffee houses that open up with their own brand of coffee and customers flock to them to get that special coffee, be it a regular cup of coffee or Espresso based coffee drinks.

Shadrach, Meshach & ABeanToGo Inc. is the gourmet coffee company Kirk Walker founded in Goodrich, Mich. He fell in love with coffee at the age of 14. The Lord had given him the name for his coffee company years ago, and then brought it back to his memory in 2003. He had a business to fail, so he started his coffee company.

Walker's coffee is in 13 states, Christian stores, and church bookstores all over the nation. And, Walker and his wife, Amy, opened a cafe of their own in Goodrich last Spring. They now have the opportunity to drink coffee with their customers and pray for them.

HT: FaithNews Network

Technorati Tags: Coffee, Ministry, Kirk Walker, Goodrich, Michigan

Check Jesus at the door

In this world of problems, it really angers me to hear that a governor in the United States would actually tell a Chaplain that he could pray but he could not invoke the name of Jesus in that prayer. But that is what the Governor of Virginia did to the state troopers chaplains for the state of Virginia.

Gov. Timothy Kaine of Virginia has affirmed his support for a new statewide policy under which state troopers serving as chaplains will not be allowed to pray "in Jesus name," explaining that he can pray "without mentioning Jesus."

"I would never do anything to inhibit anybody's religious worship. It doesn't diminish my ability to worship my God, to pray to the Father or the Lord without mentioning Jesus Christ," he said.

• John 14:6, "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

Scripture plainly tells us that we cannot reach the Father unless we go through Jesus Christ, His Son. He is the mediator between man and God. Christ is how our prayers reach God. How can we, as Christians, check the name of Jesus at the door simply because someone tells us that it might offend others? To me, this offends the person praying as much or more than it would offend those hearing the prayer. It offends me to think that this Governor would support a policy that keeps these Chaplains from expressing their heartfelt belief in Jesus.

Six Chaplains turned in their badge and lost their job. They are no longer permitted to serve as Chaplains unless they agree to this policy.

On November 1, there will be a 'Stand up for Jesus' rally brought about to protest the move that made the 6 Chaplains to decide they had to resign. There were only 17 chaplains for the troopers before this move. The rally is headed by a coalition of pastors from different churches and denominations. This rally will be held at Capital Square Bell Tower at Richmond, VA, which is in earshot of the Governor's mansion.

Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt, the former Navy Chaplain who lost his career because he refused to not pray in Jesus name, "won a victory in Congress allowing other chaplains to pray as their conscience dictates."

Klingenschmitt said the chaplains "were given direct verbal orders to stop praying 'in Jesus name' … [and] faced with a choice between disobeying orders and violating their conscience by publicly denying the name of Jesus Christ, they resigned."

That's exactly what persecution is, he continued.

The governor's response was "degrading and insulting to me, to the chaplains, to the 86 pastors, and to our faith," Klingenschmitt said.

What is your impression of this situation? Do you think this is wrong? If not, why not?

Technorati Tags: Jesus, Virginia, Governor Timothy Kaine, Chaplains, State Troopers

Louie Giglio - Laminin

This is awesome!!

Watch out for porn

Those of us with Christian web sites try our best to keep them clean for adults and children alike. We link to sites that we would not mind our families surfing in. But as good as we are to check out the sites, that isn't always good enough.

Case in point: I got a note from a parent tonight who was surfing for a good teen site for her daughter. She came upon my page on my web site. She liked what she saw, but in checking out the links to magazines, she found nudity and adult content where there should have been a clean teen magazine. She was quick to alert me and I promptly removed the offending link.

When a Christian buys a domain and then fails to keep it up, the domain is then for sale again. The porn people are right there, waiting to snatch all those sites up. The host for my domain is a Christian. Every time someone fails to retain their domains, he buys them up just to keep as much porn off the Internet as possible. And, I certainly appreciate his effort to do so.

If you have a Christian web site, by all means keep check on the links quite often. What was okay today may not be okay tomorrow. My site is proof of that!! But, for the moment, all is well there.

Linked at Conservative Cat

Technorati Tags: Domain, Christian, Porn

Are you on the right path?

I came across this article about Obama this morning. I had recently read Cal Thomas' article, Obama is no Joshua, about him. But this morning, the quote about there being 'many paths to the same place' caught my attention.

clipped from www.onenewsnow.com

I'm rooted in the Christian tradition," Obama told Falsani. "I believe there are many paths to the same place, and that is a belief that there is a higher power, a belief that we are connected as a people." The latter part of that statement, says Thomas, would likely be viewed by most Christians as universalism.

---

"... [T]here is a clear requirement for one to qualify as a Christian and Obama doesn't meet that requirement," stated Thomas. "One cannot deny central tenets of the Christian faith, including the deity and uniqueness of Christ as the sole mediator between God and Man and be a Christian. Such people do have a label applied to them in scripture. They are called 'false prophets.'"

The Bible teaches us that the enemy will come as an angel of light, trying to get us off the path to God.

2 Corinthians 11:14, "And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light."
Deuteronomy 11:16, "Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;"

In the world today, it is easy to get off the true path to the Lord. There are so many that call themselves Christians, yet they exhibit no fruit. They do whatever they please for self, not adhering to the commandments of God. They think of themselves as okay. Yet, scripture tells us that there will be those that have done things in His name, yet did not live the Christian life and will not inherit eternal life.

Matthew 7:21-23, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

Each of us have to examine ourselves to see if we are on the right path to eternal life. Or, have we let others lead us astray without even realizing what was happening?

Technorati Tags:Eternal Life, Christians, God, Lord, Christ, Heaven

Dottie Rambo - Sheltered In The Arms of God

I heard the news about the death of Dottie Rambo yesterday. The Gospel singing industry has surely lost a wonderful singer and one whom you knew loved the Lord. She had just sang in Granite City, which would turn out to be her last appearance.

Calvary Life Pastor Mark Maynard described her death as “a huge loss for the gospel music world,” saying the concert “was a wonderful night of laughter and tears.”

Singing the following song, Dottie talks about the friendship between her and Porter Wagoner who preceded her in death.



Dottie Rambo Bio
List of Dottie's Songs

Technorati Tags: Dottie Rambo, Death

Whose fool are you?

As the years pass, April 1st, considered April Fool’s Day by most, has become just another day for me. I am not a person of jokes, especially those for fools. They once were funny, but they have just lost their appeal to me.

Here is The American Heritage Dictionary’s top three definitions of a fool:

1. One who is regarded as deficient in judgment, sense, or understanding.
2. One who acts unwisely on a given occasion.
3. One who has been tricked or made to appear ridiculous; a dupe.

Today, Fox News reported that Google had a problem with their search engine. They are reporting a bug someone has slipped in there to cause someone to be sent to a ‘rogue’ place and then their own computer is then hacked. So they are saying to keep your security software on your computers updated. This we do every day by letting it update automatically. Popups occur nearly every day. I sent the information to my son who replied: “Do you think it might be an April Fool’s joke?”

A very close friend of mine sent her son, who loves to play jokes, the following announcement (remember Sarah in the Old Testament?) :

“Setting a new Guiness record
Your Mom, at 67, is old
And you thought I was going to say pregnant
But OLD it is not; Pregnant it is; your baby sister will arrive in 9 months, more or less”

To which her son responded (you would just have to know this kid to appreciate his quip!) “Funny coincidence. I was just about to tell you I was pregnant too.”

But, the best answer for a fool’s joke is something I received in an email this morning. It goes as follows:

I love a quote I heard the first time years ago.. A youth was accused of being a fanatic about his faith and of making a fool of himself. He replied, "So..I'm a fool for God. Whose fool are YOU??"

April 1st has been considered April Fool’s Day for a long time, and it probably won’t go away. And, it’s origin is skeptical, at best. Many will play jokes on others all through the day today. Hopefully, none will be harsh enough to cause problems.

So, to those reading, I ask the question: “Whose fool are you?” I, like the youth, prefer to appear as a fool for Christ. He is not into trickery or joking. He was absolutely serious when He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one cometh to the Father but through me.”

Linked at Planck's Constant

Third World County
Church and State

Technorati Tags: April Fools Day, Jokes, Christ,

The day after Easter

Hopefully, everyone had a blessed Easter and enjoyed the Sunday service at church. We also had family, including my 91 year old Mother for lunch yesterday. We ate too much and had some great fellowship!

The day after Easter just seems like another day to us. We got through the holiday, and now we are back to 'the real world' of work and school. But, I read something yesterday that made sense. The article said every day should be Easter to us. That statement is different than saying 'every day should be Christmas'. We celebrate Jesus birth on Christmas. And, we should remember he came to earth to make a difference. But, on Easter, we celebrate his resurrection. He died, was buried, arose, and ascended to the right hand of the Father. And, He said, that when he left, he would send another comforter to us, which is the Holy Spirit. But, Jesus died for us that we might live for him, and some day be with him again eternally.

Too often, we do 'holidays'; in other words, we go to church in our Sunday best, and sit through the sermon and then go home. We don't prepare ourselves for the spiritual aspects of the day and the after affect it will have on our every day lives.

Lots of people only show up for church on Easter and Christmas. I often wonder what God is thinking when He sees those that seem to be only interested in Him on those two holidays. Does He think that perhaps they are only coming to be seen in their new Easter attire? Or, perhaps those two holidays are the only time they feel guilty for not recognizing Him other days of the year? I don't know the answer, since I've always gone to church. Scripture tells us not to forsake the assembling together (Hebrews 10:25). So how do these people justify what they are doing with what the Word says?

Linked at Conservative Cat
Third World County

Technorati Tags: Easter, Holiday, Christmas, God, Church, Resurrection

Home at last

Home at Last
Each of us comes here with a purpose and a destiny. We may never fulfill our purpose in this life, but each of us will fill our destiny. Some of us may fill it earlier than others.

We buried my cousin on Thursday. She had lived a life of 77 years. She had been a Christian practically all her life. She had been the pianist in my hometown church and also had a beautiful voice that she used for the Lord. She didn’t get married until later in life, but I think God had her life all planned out. She never veered from serving him, and one day, God called her to be a minister’s wife. She fulfilled those duties wholeheartedly. She truly enjoyed being in the ministry, serving as her husband’s helpmate in the ministry, and also as a pianist and singer.

At her service, you could tell she was deeply loved and appreciated. So many spoke of her love for the Lord, her love of her husband, and of the church. They talked about how she stepped in to help in any way she was needed. Many people, from churches in which her husband had previously been pastor, came to pay tribute to her.

Although she knew one day her life would come to an end here on earth, she used each minute of her life to follow in the steps that God had planned. I remember when I was young how she went to church when her parents never went. I think she led them both to the church and to the Lord by her obedience in the ministry God chose for her.

She fought the disease of the mind, Alzheimer’s, a long time. Both her Mom and Dad were afflicted with this terrible disease. Her Dad died first and her Mom followed three years later. She once told my mother that she was fighting with all her might not to give in – that was several years ago. I had last seen her about a year ago at another cousin’s funeral. She still knew me but didn’t know this cousin’s two sons and I had to show them to her and go with her to speak with them. As she progressed, I know she realized what was happening and it must have been a frightful trip for her to make, realizing she was following down the path after her Mom and Dad.

The disease may have taken away most of her ability to live life to the fullest, but it did not take away her ministry. Someone told me just the day after her death that she had visited this man’s family restaurant about two months ago. Although she didn’t know anyone, or seem to know what was going on, she got up and played the piano! The disease works on people differently. But, I believe God had a purpose in her life that she filled until she was no longer able to move those fingers or perhaps even get out of bed.

As we grow older, we realize that our time is growing nearer. If I could be half the person she was in fulfilling my purpose in this life, I would be happy. I know she will hear ‘well done, thy good and faithful servant’.

One song sang yesterday at the service was It Is Well With My Soul. And there is no doubt in my mind that it definitely was. She used to sing a song that said, “If I could help somebody along the way, then my living would not be in vain”. From the testimonies of those who knew her, she definitely did not live life in vain! She touched so many lives through her ministry that she knew of and perhaps many more that she will only learn of in Heaven.

Technorati Tags: Home, Life, Destiny, Ministry

How late can one be?

Today is the 15th of the month, and only 10 days until Christmas morning. And, if you decorate for Christmas, this seems to be a late start. Well, I decorate for Christmas, and yes, I am getting a late start. I would love to have a real tree, but I suppose it will be the artificial one I put up again this year. But, with all the beautiful decorations, it is gorgeous when I am finished. And, I plan on finishing today!

As for shopping, I always mean to get started early. After Christmas, gifts for next year for my grandkids and my kids always seem to creep into my head. And, I think, "it would be nice to start buying the first of the year and have it done long before Christmas". My Mother used to buy early and I never remember her rushing out at the last moment to buy anything. She was too busy cooking all those delicious items we had for Christmas dinner. But, me; I seem to procrastinate, at times. I start shopping, buy one or two things, and then can't really find what I want. I sometimes have rushed out on Christmas Eve to find exactly what I had been hunting for the last month! I have one gift this year my granddaughter has asked for and it can't be found. Or, so it seems. But, I have faith it is some place out there waiting for me to find, and find it I will.

As for cooking, I always wait until the day before to start my baking. I know that is terrible, but I no longer have a large freezer where I can store things. So I do all my baking the day before. And, I get up during the night on Christmas to put on our turkey and ham. I usually cook my dressing the day before. By the time the kids arrive, it is all done and ready to eat.

But, the most important thing about Christmas is Jesus - getting to know Him as your personal Savior. How many wait until the last minute to decide to let Him have control of their life? How many wait until they see death at the door to make a commitment? And, then I wonder how many wait too long and forego the relationship with the one who could usher them into the arms of God?

However you choose to celebrate Christmas is up to you. But, I hope and pray your Christmas includes the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. As someone said other day, HE is no longer a little baby laying in a manager, but He is the living God, the soon coming King - our Redeemer!

Linked at Church and State
Pursuing Holiness
Conservative Cat

Technorati Tags: Christmas, Celebrate, Lord, King, Savior, Redeemer

An angel of light - subtle satan

There is much talk about the Harry Potter books being a bad influence on our children. Now comes The Golden Compass, a movie derived from the works, His Dark Materials trilogy, by British writer Phillip Pullman.

How easily is it to be deceived? Well, the Bible says that ‘satan himself is transformed into an angel of light’ (II Corn 11:14). This should immediately give us cause to be concerned when it comes to our children and what they read or view. Their peers or other things they come in contact with so easily influence their minds. Parents have to be very cautious and involved in everything their children do in order to combat the subtle ways of satan.

I recently wrote an article about The Golden Compass, wondering if it was really a movie we needed to watch. I presented some thoughts and findings of Peter Hitchens. Here are two more great blog entries where you can learn more about the movie and Pullman’s works and perhaps get a good view on just how subtle satan can be.

• What compass are you following?
• About “His Dark Materials”

Christians are ‘in this world, but not of this world’. I believe it would behoove us to take every precaution to teach our children the Truth of the Word, so, when they are presented with things such as the above, they will be able to make the right decisions. Too often our youth are not well versed in the Word and are not equipped to come against the things of this world and the deception that satan sets before them.

Linked at Conservative Cat
Church and State
Pursuing Holiness

Technorati Tags: Angel, Satan, Deception, The Golden Compass, Bible, Truth

Cross Dressing in schools - Diversity at all costs?

The Iowa's East High School in Des Moines came up with a "Bender-Gender Day" during that school's homecoming week. This is a 'cross-dressing' event where girls dress up as boys and boys dress up as girls. This even really upset lots of parents and they removed their children from area schools and began homeschooling.

That apparently includes cross-dressing, an event which has found sponsorship in other arenas from the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, which has promoted a school lesson plan for teaching boys and girls to cross-dress.

State officials in Des Moines confirmed to WND that at least 80 children whose parents were alarmed by the "Gender-Bender Day" during homecoming week at the city's East High School have moved their children from the various districts in the area into homeschooling plans. Several parents told WND that the number could be in the hundreds.

Apparently, the school thought nothing of it since it was just one day during the Spirit week where different days have different themes. But, to the parents, it was something they could not live with. Most of the families attend Christ Apostolic Temple, a church that believes that we should 'come out from among them and be ye separate.' (2 Cor. 6:14-17).

I'm a parent and there is no way I would have let my children cross-dress for a school event. This school probably never thought that perhaps the parents would object. Perhaps diversity in this state means more than teaching the children.

East High recently was the chosen location when Iowa Lt. Gov. Patti Judge announced a new state award highlighting increased diversity in the state.

"The "One Iowa Award" recognizes those who are working to create a "unified Iowa."

Judge said making that a reality takes input from Iowans "regardless of their race, age, gender, nationality or sexual orientation." The announcement had been staged to include East High students talking about the importance of diversity.

Linked to Conservative Cat
Blue Star Chronicles

Technorati Tags: Cross Dressing, School, Diversity, Iowa, Des Moines

Christian woman accused of evangelizing

An unnamed woman in Iran was running a tailoring shop. She had all her sewing equipment destroyed and she was beaten. She had started to teach 3 women how to sew when Christianity came up and she gave her testimony. When they started asking questions, she began to teach them about Christianity.

One of the women was from a very 'fanatic Muslim family'. She began to follow the Christian faith and her family did not approve. They began to beat her and threatened to kill her if she didn't return to Islam. So she fled to another city. Her family went after the sewing instructor, thinking the woman had gone there.

"They thought she might have taken refuge in the home of the lady who was teaching her how to sew. They had heard about her and the fact that she had evangelized their daughter. In any case, they contacted that lady and threatened her by telling her that if she did not send their daughter back to them, they would close down her shop and would even arrange to kill her," the report said.

"Within fundamentalist Islam, the penalty of someone who turns from Islam is death. That is why they had the right to kill her if they wanted to. Obviously, their daughter was not staying with that seamstress, but the parents did not believe this," VOM said.

The family of the woman who had turned to Christianity destroyed all the sewing equipment. They beat her and then told the police. She was taken to court and the Judge determined she was the guilty party because she was 'evangelizing'. He said her persecutors had the right to attack her, and if he ever caught her doing this again, he would punish her more severely.

The woman has since moved to another town. Churchgoers have helped her with medical bills. The Voice of the Martyrs have made a commitment to help her replace all her equipment so she can open another tailoring shop.

Linked at Conservative Cat

Stuck on Stupid

Technorati Tags: Iran, Christianity, Islam, VOM, Muslim

The Golden Compass: A movie worth missing?

The Golden Compass, the movie starring Nicole Kidman, will be hitting the theaters December 7th.

A children’s fantasy film that stars Nicole Kidman and features a little girl on a quest to kill God has some Christian groups upset over what they believe is a ploy to promote atheism to kids.

The movie, “The Golden Compass,” is adapted from the first novel in a trilogy called “His Dark Materials” by English author Philip Pullman, an outspoken atheist. Critics fear that the film, due out in December, will encourage children to read the anti-Church series.

It is claimed that the movie is based on a series of books with anti-religious themes. Check out Snopes. They say it is true.

Peter Hitchens has this to say:

Pullman’s stories are crammed with the supernatural and the mystical, and take place mainly in alternative worlds, most captivatingly of all in an Oxford recognisably the same place while utterly different. But while Narnia is under the care of a benevolent, kindly creator, Pullman’s chaotic universe has no ultimate good authority, controlling and redeeming all. God, or someone claiming to be God, dies meaninglessly in the third volume of his trilogy. There is life after death, but it is a dark, squalid misery from which oblivion is a welcome release. Pullman puts forward a complex theory of man’s true destiny, and his stories are a powerful epic that everyone should read. But many who buy these books for children and grandchildren would be surprised, and even shocked, if they knew just how vehemently Pullman despises the Christian Church, and how much he loathes his dead rival, Lewis. He is, in fact, the Anti-Lewis.

He has described the Narnia Chronicles as grotesque, disgusting, ugly, poisonous and nauseating. Yet, as Michael Ward, an expert on Lewis, has pointed out, Pullman’s saga begins just as Lewis’s does with a girl hiding in a wardrobe and finding more than she bargained for. It is almost as if he wants to turn Narnia upside-down and then jump on it. While Lewis portrays rationalist atheists as comically ghastly and joyless, Pullman depicts priests as evil and murderous, drunk and probably perverted, and the Church as a conspiracy against happiness and kindness.

As with all things, parents have the say in what their children read or watch on television or at the movies. This movie may warrant a check before letting the little ones see it on the screen.

HT: Read Tom Gilson's post on this movie and how it is coming to your schools.

Linked at Conservative Cat
Third World County

Technorati Tags: The Golden Compass, Narnia, C.S. Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Church, Christian, Atheist,

Supplements and Substitutes

Today was our yearly Homecoming at our church. We always have a speaker and people come who may have once been a member and live some place else. In other words, it is a day of fellowship and a good home-cooked meal by the ladies of the church afterwards.

Our speaker today was Don Channell, who was a musician for Benny Hinn for years and still goes on tour with him. He and his wife, Cathy, minister in music, as well. Don has been visiting our church a couple times a year for years and never fails to bring us a new perspective on the Word. Today was no different.

When you think of supplements or substitutes, it will usually remind you of vitamins and minerals that you can take when you don’t eat correctly. In the spiritual world, there are also substitutes that many use to try and justify their not going to church. Take Christian television for instance. There are many faiths, many beliefs with a wide range of preachers who appear on television. You dial up who you want to hear according to what you want to believe – it is all there for anyone who wants to watch. You don’t get to know them personally and they don’t get to know you. But, a person will listen to them rather than go to the church God would have them in to hear someone who may tell them things they do not want to hear. In other words, they do not want to be held accountable for anything they may want to do.

He made one comment that was comical but oh so true. He said ‘some people treat God like Burger King; just drive through for a quick fix.’ They seem to think Christianity is all about comfort and convenience.

Nothing can substitute for the Word of God. He has His plan for our lives written in His workbook, so to speak. Anybody who wishes to learn more about His plan for their life needs only to open up the Book and read. God speaks through His Word to those that want to hear what He is saying today. Words in the Old Testament are just as relevant today as they were back then. Had God not wanted us to know about it, it would not have been written. The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed. In other words, they correlate with one another.

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Pursuing Holiness

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