A Great Quote from DYS

My husband is a true gentleman. He opens car doors for me, helps me with my coat and always carries the packages. My son follows in his fathers footsteps in how he treats his sisters and myself. The other day we were running a lot of in and out errands and several times I rushed ahead of the kids and opened the doors without thinking about it. Finally, in fustration DYS said, "Mom, I'm trying to be a gentleman but you have to let me!". Oh, from the mouths of babes!

A Great Quote from Voddie Baucham

“I believe one of the greatest crutches in the church is the nursery. Parents who have neglected to train their children have very little encouragement to do so when there is a place to hide them. The father who should be up in arms by the time he gets home from church because of the embarrassment to which his child subjected him ends up going home with a clear conscience while the nursery worker takes a handful of aspirin.” -Voddie Baucham

As someone who has swolled my fair share of apirin I can only say Amen! Or as Voddie says, "if you can't say amen then you had better say ouch!

Worldview Wednesday: Scripture is sufficient

As Christians God's word should stand alone as sufficient. 2 Timothy 3: 15-17 says, "and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correcting, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." God's word has given us the perfect standard for judging all other knowledge. Secular Humanism and Evolution have taken over the church because the church chose other knowledge above scripture. They attempted to make the word of God fit into science instead of scienc into the word of God.

God's word speaks to every area of our lives. Psalm 19: 7-9 says, " The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever." God's word tells us how God veiws theology, philosophy, biology, psychology, ethics, sociology, law, politics, economics, and history. If we do not look to the scriptures to define our worldview on these areas then our worldview will not be the worldview of God. 2 Corinthians 10: 4-5 tells us "We demolish arguments and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ."

I recently read the book Already Gone by Ken Ham. One of the results of the survey they conducted was that the church has lost its relevancy based on its failure to teach its children the importance and TRUTH of God's word. God's word is more than a "story". It is reality. When the secular educational system asks churched kids about dinasours the children can not give an answer because they have not been taught the answer. Most of them do not even realize that scripture has an answer. 1 Peter 3: 15-16 says, " but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account of the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence and keep a good conscious so that in the thing in which you are slandered , those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame."

Pro Life Sunday

Every day 4,000 babies are murdered in the womb in this country. This is a statistic that every pro lifer is familiar with. Once upon a time it was difficult to prove that a fetus was a baby. The abortionist called the baby a blob of tissue. Today's technology has proven the inaccuracies of that concept. 3-D imaging, prenatal surgeries, and continuing technological care of preemie babies leaves little doubts that the "blob" of tissue is indeed a human being. The argument shifted away from the issue of viability to the issue of woman's rights. It is here that the pro life movement has fallen short.

The pro life movement has failed to acknowledge that for EVERY baby that is aborted there is a WOMAN. They yell at the culture about the life of a baby, bill boards proclaiming that its a baby not a choice. The pro life movement has succeeded in this area. No one doubts that it is a baby which makes that theory an argument that is seldom brought to the debate floor. However, the pro life movement continues to use this same tactic. What about the mother. Until we reach out to woman, those who have already suffered and been wounded by an abortion, those who would consider abortion as a viable alternative to their circumstance and those who love the woman in those circumstances we will not win the lives of babies or the hearts of their mothers!

For every baby that is killed there are grandparents, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, husbands, or boyfriends whom this act will forever define. The statistic is that 1 out 4 woman have had an abortion. The statistics run across the board and include woman sitting next to you in church. Multiply the number of people affected by that decision and every single day upwards of 40,000 people are affected by that "choice". For these people there is only three realities to living in the aftermath. They can harden themselves to the reality they know in their hearts and deny any wrong. They can admit the truth to themselves and live with the guilt and shame they feel which will keep them silent and unable to pass "judgement" on others by voicing their experience. Or, the final choice is to find forgiveness and healing in Christ. For these woman and their families the statistics do not matter because they are the statistics.

Our culture will never pass a law making abortion illegal. To do so would be to convict millions of people of murder. Those people are not going to vote for legislatures who are willing to attempt to pass such legislation. Knowing this is true many pro life advocates have decided that they should pursue a law that would make exceptions because they feel this has more opportunity to be passed. It has no hope of working and is hopelessly flawed. So how do we reach the millions of people affected by abortion in this culture and convince them to make the change. I would say, that we have to convince them that they have been wronged, lied to and damaged. We have to convince them the truth of forgiveness and help them heal. We have to get the truth to them and bring the abortion industry out of the dark, out hiding and into the light. We have to educate the culture on this multi million dollar industry, the health issues surrounding it, and the damage it has done to woman. The pro life movement needs to become the movement that loves woman!

Friends don't let friends have abortions.

I don't get it

I am feeling more than a little confused. I don't make a habit of watching the news or reading the papers because I don't feel as though either offer an unbiased view of events. However, in passing the other day I happened to see that some people, supposed conservative peoples, were upset that President Obama was going to address the nations school children in a speech. He wanted to tell them to work hard and to get good grades. People were so upset by this that they were threatening to keep their kids home. I don't get it. Conservatives send their kids off to public school where they are taught every conceivable opposite value that their parents hold dear and these parents don't bat an eye. Children learn in history class that America is bad and that most of the worlds problems are caused by us. They go to literature class and they read pornography or trash instead of classics. They go to P.E. class and they learn how to put condoms on bananas. Then they are given free condoms because there is no way that they can control themselves. Their schools host gay pride day and offer acceptability to alternative life styles. None of these things upset these conservative parents enough to pull their kids out of the public school but the President wanting to address their children, that sends them over the edge. Several people were quoted as viewing this as an socialistic move to undermine parental authority and increase the socialist mentality of the children. Well, duh! The public school is a socialist invention! The public schools whole purpose is to undermine the parents authority and values and instill socialist values. This does not bother the conservative parents? How bizarre.

The Express

My family and I sat down Friday night to watch our weekly movie. This weeks pick was the Elmira Express, a movie about the first black American football player to win the Heisman Trophy. It got a thumbs up from all us. I was particularly touched by one of the first scenes in the movies which involved a situation that we would all do well to contemplate more. When all the colleges come calling to court this young player to their schools they are all talking about what they can offer him but the grandfather looks one of the coaches in his eye and asks him what kind of a man he is. His grandson is going to be learning under him, listening to him, asking him for advice. What type of a man is he and should he want his grandson being influenced by him. We would all do well to consider that question in the lives of our children! How many of us simply turn our children over to someone we don't know and give them the responsibility for their character formation without ever considering what type of a person they are! Youth groups, sports, friends, other parents, daycare, school teachers and numerous other situations where our children spend inordinate amounts of time with people whose character is unproven.


Schoolteachers used to be vetted on their character. They were required to attend church, not date and have unquestionable morals. Now we separate their character out as if it is irrelevant to the process of education when in reality it is the cornerstone of the education. A teacher who is an atheist will react to every situation differently than a teacher who has a Christian worldview. Is the coach there as a mentor to encourage Christian value or is he out to win and is willing to sacrifice the child's health and mental well being to achieve it. When that person is sought out for advice in life's drama's what will they tell your child? When there is a conflict in the classroom or on the sports field how will it be handled? These life experience accumulate and add up to form our children's character. Character is not formed in a vacuum. It is a daily accumulation of situations and teaching that build upon each other. Who is your child spending time with?

Thought On Being Pro LIfe

One of my favorite blogs http://applecidermama.blogspot.com/ did a fabulous series on openness to life. I won't attempt to recreate what Mrs. Hudson has done but you should go there and read it for yourself!

Reading this article got me thinking about what being pro life means. I have been active in various ways over the years in supporting what I will now label as anti abortion activities. I have worked at crisis pregnancy centers and volunteered in various ways with the right to life movement. I am against abortions. But what Mrs. Hudson article opened my eyes to was that I had allowed myself to be defined by what I was against instead of what I was for. What I am against limits me but what I am for is broad and all encompassing.

This is another area where instead of the church defining pro life and the meaning of being such, that the political process has created the defining vocabulary. In the past, when candidates for political office attempt to reach their base, it is the abortion issue that gets trotted out. Even though the candidates themselves have no intention of doing anything about it the issue mobilizes conservatives. It no longer mobilizes moderates or what I purport is the majority of Christians. The left continues to define the abortion issue as a civil rights issue because it can no longer medically be sustained as a fetus not being life. By defining abortion as pro life we are seen only as the people who want to take away anther's "rights".

Being pro life is about believing that ALL human life is special and sacred to the GOD who created it. This includes but is not limited to the unborn child. Congress has actually debated how old an infant must be to have rights under the constitution. Pro Life includes any person, born or unborn, infirm or healthy, young or aged. It is not limited to those whose IQ is above average. Pro life should include all issues of life, including the morality of stem cell research using embryonic stem cells, cloning, genetic altering and infertility treatments. Does our pro life belief stop at wanting abortion to be illegal or does it stretch out the hand of love to include adopting a child and raising them or housing a single pregnant mother.

I have seen several awe inspiring accounts of woman who have chosen the life of their child over their own by refusing medical treatment for cancers that would kill or injure their child. I have read the stories of woman who so believed the life of the unborn child was sacred and special that they carried that child to full term knowing that it would die at birth. The woman who despite rape understand the life they carried to have purpose and meaning beyond what they see. The family who chooses to not genetically test their unborn child and then loves and raises a handicapped child believing that child to have been created to God as a special beautiful individual whose life has purpose and meaning. The elderly person who has an incurable disease or is dying of old age will die in God's timing in the timing of medical professionals. ALL life is sacred. As Christians this is the Pro Life that we should be defining us, not abortion rights.