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RSSArchive for the ‘religion’ CategoryThe holocaust of timePosted January 10th, 2010 by Jen in family life, features, religion7 Comments » Note: this blog post turned into an essay. If you don’t have TIME to read it, then don’t. But it just might save you some time. What a harsh word to use - holocaust. I think about my comfortable, wise viewpoint of 2010 as I look back upon the Holocaust of the 1930s - 1945 in Europe. HOW could the bystanders and the apathetic and the scared and the collaborators have EVER let it happen? And then I thought about what evil forces are at work at this moment in history, a very different holocaust, the annihilation of well-spent time, and I believe that my descendants will have the same judgement: HOW could the bystanders and the apathetic and the scared and the collaborators have EVER let it happen? Time is…what? Even the greatest physicists don’t understand the nature of time. Time is clearly more than a hand on a clock. It is motion, logic, and life. Time is perhaps a dimension, an eternal state. Whatever it is, in our daily life we understand that we are limited in our access to time, and if more time is consumed than we have accounted for, we are left motionless, logic-less, and lifeless. Oh, how often people say “I don’t have enough time” or “I ran out of time.” Time is a commodity that is essential to life itself, and so I’m not surprised that the Enemy of our soul would like to destroy our time. Since there is nothing new under the sun, I suspect that the modern version of time-wasters have some kind of past counterpart. I’d like to try to identify some of the biggest modern time-wasters, then discern what it is that makes us human, and next, distill some basics of life that must be done before all else. I think this progression of thought will be helpful in eliminating those elements that steal time, and hope that we can make some radical changes to avoid a time-crisis of holocaust proportions. Finally, I’ll look at the elements of a holocaust. First, what are some of the biggest time wasters? Here’s a short list I came up with, and by the way these are all probably addictions:
A friend recently sent me an email ending with this pronouncement that says it best: So when you want to talk in real time, using real voice and ears, please feel free to dial us up. E-mail is OK, but you won’t find us on Facebook, tweet, twitter, or twerp; nor on YouTube, the boobtube, or at Jiffylube.
Finally, recognize the basics of life that must be done before all else. See, because time is in fact limited by the nature of our finite lives, it would be wise to do the things that have to be done first, those things essential to being human, then, whatever time is left, tend to the non-essentials. You may discover there actually is no time for the non-essentials. Sadly, we’ve reversed this precept, and are left with the essentials hanging out to dry. So, earn a living, take care of your family and home, and get enough rest, good nutrition, and exercise. That’s about all you’ll really have time for. If there is a holocaust of time, who or what is the perpetrator? In the midst of a holocaust, it seems there are four main groups of people: the strong minority perpetrators, the weak majority victims, the mass of unassisting spectators, and the few and brave of the resistance. My mind screams, “Hollywood!” “Consumerism!” “Gluttony!” But who can I point a finger at, where is the evil Hitler who is the diabolical villain behind the extermination of quiet evenings at home reading to your children and the massacre of talking to your neighbors after work instead of garage door up, garage door down? Is it just modernity? Declining morality? Certainly there is a particular greed surrounding the monetizing of time that can be found in Hollywood and the corporate gadgeteers. There’s money to be made off of people wasting their time on your latest fad, gadget, game, icon, celebrity, or cereal. The weak majority of Americans who fall for these artifices are suffering intensely. We have anxiety over the stress we feel on our time, so we’re perhaps on some kind of medication, we fail at family life, maybe turn to drugs or alcohol. It takes time to be healthy mentally, spiritually, and physically! What about that mass of spectators that is typically found in a holocaust? I would describe the unassisting spectators as those whose heads are buried in the sand and think nothing is wrong. They love their sitcoms and sit idly by while their kids play violent games on the X-Box and become entrenched in a depraved culture with little likelihood of finding their way out. And the resistance. I’m a big fan of the heroes of the French Resistance, the Dutch Resistance, and others who bravely fought to defeat the Nazis. They worked underground, through stealth and reconnaissance, and turned the tide. True, they were also betrayed, tortured, and killed. So, to complete the holocaust analogy, this is where it happens. It’s the Resistance who need to be courageous in this battle for our time. Resist the time-wasters and for heaven’s save, do not allow your children to succumb to them. Get rid of your TV if you have to. Unplug. Kids do not have to join organized sports at age three. They don’t need to check Facebook and text their friends twenty times a day, nor do you. Blessings upon your time, my friends. Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of. - Benjamin Franklin
Technorati Tags: faith, family life, God, time, time management  Revisiting the Magic WindowPosted December 9th, 2009 by Jen in family life, features, religion, the ranch3 Comments » I wrote about my Magic Window last December, and guess what? I found it!
I wrote last December:
Here it sits, right at home in my bedroom window, a magical melding of past and present. This was the first day of snow in Central Oregon, several weeks ago now. Gazing out my windows at the crystalline air and bustling winterish activity, I had an epiphany. Something I can’t put into words, but a full circle was realized on this day. My littlest made the first cheery snowball of the season. His big brother followed suit in a grand way with his own ambitious snowball. Who knew my little Magic Window circa 1975 would be a foreshadowing of such delightful affairs? I thought of a passage from Paul’s writings in the New Testament:
Here’s to a continued revealing and clarifying of the “magic window” of our lives. May unspoken dreams come true. May dark days get brighter. May we soon be face to face. Technorati Tags: Central Oregon, childhood memories, Christmas, Magic Window When you feel like giving upPosted November 20th, 2009 by Jen in family life, politics/world news, religion6 Comments »
Remember Winston Churchill’s words to Harrow School on a visit in October of 1941:
He could not have known fully what was to come. It was only 1941, and several years of terrible, unspeakable war were ahead. Churchill did also say in that same speech something that does, however, lead me to believe he had an inkling:
I feel like giving up almost daily. I stop and pray. Sometimes there is a breakthrough and the clouds powerfully part and the sun shines through. Sometimes there is no breakthrough, only new struggles. I was struck in Churchill’s speech by the quote from Kipling to treat Triumph and Disaster just the same (from the classic poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling). Which is with courage and humility. As the Bible says, give thanks in all things.
Be strong today.
Technorati Tags: faith, “If” by Rudyard Kipling, don’t give up, Winston Churchill It’s been a long monthPosted September 25th, 2009 by Jen in education, family life, features, religion6 Comments » I see it’s been exactly a month since I posted here. I look forward to October and a time when September will be but a memory. This past month has been long and arduous, painful and exhausting. Sleepless nights, numbing days, and the kind of stress that makes one physically ill. It’s been a month of classic “what not to do” trials as I have undertaken starting a new Christian school. I will not post any advice here except to say that you should begin with a rock-solid vision that you don’t compromise on. There are lots of great visions out there, but you have one unique to what it is that you want to accomplish, so stick with it. It would also be a great benefit to have a mentor who has gone before you to help in navigating the known and unknown. How I wish I had had this person at the beginning of this venture. I have her now, and she has been incredibly valuable. A former administrator with a great deal of experience and expertise in education, she brings a lot to the table. Imagine that the tablecloth had just been jerked out from under an apparently lovely meal, and food went flying and every dish was broken. This mentor came and swept up the mess, repaired the dishes as best she could, pointed out that the food wasn’t that great to begin with and not really food I even liked, and set about restoring order to the kitchen. I was handed a classic cookbook and began, with her practiced oversight, to prepare a simple meal of all my favorites. I learned, among other things, to not order caviar when what you can afford is rice and beans. Like I said, she brings a lot to the table. Above all, God has been meeting me in this place. A dear friend sent me the following passages from 1st and 2nd Corinthians to encourage me in the midst of my trials:
I am so grateful for my friends who have called and said, “For some reason, you’ve been on my mind and I’ve been praying for you,” and for those who have helped out in some other very tangible ways. I am walking in that perplexing truth that when we are weak, He is strong. Faith Like PotatoesPosted August 13th, 2009 by Jen in family life, religion8 Comments » “The condition for a miracle is difficulty, however the condition for a great miracle is not difficulty, but impossibility.”
My husband and I watched the movie Faith Like Potatoes last night. Great movie for this season of our life especially. It’s the real-life story of South African farmer Angus Buchan who, in faith, plants potatoes in the dust in the midst of a severe drought. You can guess what happens. Are you facing difficulty or impossibility? Then you are ripe for miracles, if you would just have “faith like potatoes,” or “like a mustard seed,” as we have more commonly heard from Scripture. The photo I posted here was from our recent outing to Lake Billy Chinook. This log captured my attention and mesmerized me for quite some time. The old timber would float to and fro with the waves, smoothed to nearly silk from the endless action of the waves. It provided hours of glee for my son who would sit on it, and hours of contemplation for me as I thought about the ups and downs and yet constancies of life. Technorati Tags: faith, Faith Like Potatoes, Lake Billy Chinook, God PAXPosted June 3rd, 2009 by Jen in features, religion4 Comments » I fly out of PDX (Portland International Airport) soon, not to be confused with PAX (Latin for peace). It’s PAX that’s on my mind, even as I prepare to board that flight out of PDX to attend a memorial service for my aunt. As I listened to a friend of mine speak this morning about attaining peace, I closed my eyes and imagined myself approaching the throne of God with every care in the world bulging in my arms. With each step, I laid something down. First, my big box of “school stuff” I bring home every night, from papers that need grading to literature books waiting for lesson plans to emerge. I took another step toward the throne and cast aside my cell phone with all its distractions and bad news. My house was dumped, my laundry, the future of my children, my finances, every anxious thought. There are so many thoughts and fears that can crowd my mind. I have to be conscious of these words:
Peace of Christ to you. A bowling lessonPosted May 21st, 2009 by Jen in family life, features, religion0 Comments I took my sixth graders bowling several weeks ago and was reminded of something about the Lord. One of my students said, “Mrs. T., do you want to bowl with me?” I wasn’t officially bowling because I wanted to be available to float around and watch over all the kids. But this child let me in on his game, and even though I threw a few gutter balls on him, he invited me back! God spoke to me about my position with Him. How gracious and merciful of the Lord to keep inviting us back into His “game” and His calling and kingdom work, even though we throw gutter balls now and again.
It’s by His grace. Not by any merit of our own that we receive God’s favor. I am not invited to partner with the Lord because I have a perfect game–whether I bowl a 300 or a 30, I have still been “chosen in Him, before the foundation of the world” and I am loved no more or no less for the game (Eph. 1:4). This is truly glorious, as many versions put it, “glorious grace.” I love Ephesians chapter 1. It’s a passage that I read to my firstborn nearly every night while he was still in the womb–it’s a passage you would truly want someone to speak over you, believe me. If you or someone you care about struggles with feeling a condition on the love granted to him/her, Ephesians 1 is a great place to begin correcting that. These are such soul affirming words, and my bowling lesson the other day reminded me of this. I don’t want you to have to look too far for these life-giving, power-filled, blessing-bestowing words, so here is Ephesians Chapter One in its entirety: Ephesians 1 2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Spiritual Blessings in Christ 3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. Thanksgiving and Prayer 15For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
Technorati Tags: Bible, bowling, devotions, Ephesians 1 Be blessed as you servePosted May 10th, 2009 by Jen in features, religion9 Comments » God is meeting you and has some things to teach you even as you are ministering to others. It’s not just about teaching the kids. Be open to and be prepared for the Lord’s ministering over you. When I was with the doctor a few weeks ago, as he was fixing up JoJo (who needed a tick removed, eeewww), he still turned to me and said, “How about YOU? Any questions, anything for you, how are you?” So the doctor turned his attention to me and set me up with a regimen for some physical things I’m dealing with…”You need magnesium, Vitamin D, Potassium!” God was meeting me right in the midst of my ministry to others (which in fact has exhausted me). Galations 5:13 says through love serve one another. This is a command from the Lord, but there is a blessing attached to our service. The servant will be first in Heaven, and it’s important in this life to set our eyes on Eternity. Mathew 20:16 states that “the last shall be first, and the first shall be last.” Even Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve (Matt. 20:28). What are some spiritual blessings that you would like, if you could pick? I think I would like the blessings of wisdom and faith, which are connected in a way: “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.” (James 1:5-8) Wisdom comes through experience, and often through serving and enduring difficulty. Knowing this should increase your joy as you serve, knowing that the blessing is great! James goes on to say that “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” Be blessed today. But God IsPosted April 15th, 2009 by Jen in family life, religion15 Comments » Hello, friends. I’ve been learning lately about this mysterious property of the God-human relationship: in our weakness, He is strong. I think this concept must be outside of the laws of physics. Shouldn’t a weak link break the chain? Here are my thoughts as I sit after a long and taxing day (oh, it’s tax day!): My little boy’s babysitter quit today because he’s too difficult. But God is the shepherd of our hearts and His Spirit brings correction. I’m overwhelmed with caring for my family while my husband is away working. But God is my husband and strong tower. I have financial concerns pressing in. But He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and my inheritance is rich as a child of the King. I was invited to the Democratic Republic of Congo for a missions outreach and the very thought scares me. But He is Lord of the Nations. I feel unorganized, unproductive, and unable. But He set the order of the universe and made something out of nothing. I am tired and discouraged and ready to fall. But He gives rest to the weary and hope to the hopeless; He holds my foot so it doesn’t slip. I am not smart enough, brave enough, or bold enough to do the tasks before me. But He is all-wise, and the wind and waves obey His commands as He valiantly walks on water. I am weak. But He is strong. Technorati Tags: Christianity, faith, God, God’s provision, devotions Reflections on the ResurrectionPosted April 10th, 2009 by Jen in features, holidays, religion7 Comments » I helped my 9 year old son plant part of his garden today (indoors in little planters until the last frost). He carefully dropped seeds into the fresh, rich soil– carrots, lettuce, cucumbers, watermelon, radishes, pumpkin, sunflowers, corn, peas, and a few others. Wow, we’ll see how it all does in this tough growing climate. But, I was thinking about that little seed the whole time. AMAZING, that tiny seed that is SO powerful that it can be life giving and fruit producing. What a fantastic representation of the RESURRECTION power of Jesus Christ. It looks like this dead, dry little ball, and yet with the aid of some water, sunshine, and good earth, has the force to manufacture this product which can sustain a human being with its harvest! I just can’t get over how mind-blowing that is! How can something bigger than itself be brought forth out of dirt? How can something come from nothing? When this son of mine was in-utero, God led me to a certain passage which I read over him almost daily. It was Ephesians Chapter 1. Recently, I heard a sermon on this scripture, and as I realized that I knew it so well that I could almost predict what the pastor would say next, I recalled this season of prayer and intercession over my firstborn.
I’m sitting here marveling at how God in His wisdom and foresight brings all things together in His time. I have this swirl of thoughts and memories…visiting OMSI at ten weeks into my pregnancy and seeing the developing baby exhibit, realizing for the first time the fullness of life that was inside me. Attending an outdoor sunrise Easter service when I was about 10 years old, shivering on a hard chair with childlike wonder at the thought of the risen Christ, somehow symbolized in the sun rising over the Arizona mountains in all its brilliant colors. Wondering at how little seedlings poking up through a sidewalk could have had enough power to crack the concrete. All of these reflections are tied to the power, the potency of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Did you catch the promise in Ephesians chapter 1? The Resurrection power of Jesus Christ is available for those who believe!! Do you understand the kind of power it takes to raise someone from the dead?? It is power over sin and death. Power over every fear, sickness, unbelief, bad habit, and inherited disease. This assurance brings hope beyond belief. I hope you have a transforming Resurrection Sunday~many blessings to you! Jen @ diaryof1.com Technorati Tags: Christianity, faith, family, God, Ephesians 1, Easter, Resurrection Sunday, planting, gardening Finding My Inner AmishPosted April 6th, 2009 by Jen in family life, features, religion10 Comments » This was a scheduled post to fit into my April theme~a magical, simple, and refreshing time of renewal. The dream began a few weeks ago with the gift of an Amish friendship bread starter. You take care of the dough starter for about ten days, then split it into four new starters (three to give away, one to keep) and bake a batch of the sweet bread for yourself. This enchanting, pastoral scene led to an all day baking session with a friend to stock up on meals and fill our freezers for those days when company is coming or time is scarce. We even wore cute aprons. I became delusional that I was born for baking and meal planning and living, well, sort of like the Amish. Simple, slow, homemaking and picking daisies. (Excuse me while I go pull a frozen pizza out of the oven.) However, at this moment, I’m finding that I have no inner Amish and it would be all but deceitful to write such a post. I’ve had a rough few days and maybe rougher ones ahead. My house is a disaster with clothes, toys, and random items strewn helter-skelter like a really bad hair day. I feel far from the peaceful Amish that I picture in my mind’s eye. I passionately miss my husband, who’s working out of town, my live-in mother is convinced the house will burn down just because a bad battery sent every alarm screaming through the night, and the dog has worms (the cat is suspect as well). I have parent-teacher conferences in two and a half days and a performance evaluation in one. And I can’t even come up with three more friends to give the next batches of Amish friendship bread starters to. If you find my inner Amish, you can send it packing to Pennsylvania, because it would not be at home here. I’m so glad that next week I get to celebrate the Resurrection, and, as you can see in my sidebar excerpt, I’m hoping for the power of the living Christ to be at work in me. I NEED it to be, and I hope (I know) that the resurrected Christ is more meaningful than my Amish fantasy. Technorati Tags: Amish friendship bread, simplicity It is for freedom we’ve been set freePosted March 27th, 2009 by Jen in family life, religion, the ranch10 Comments »
This is a verse that came my way today from two different sources. I don’t know what it means to you, but I wanted to share it with you. Part of it for me means being FREE and available for all God has for me. No eye has seen or mind can comprehend what God has prepared for those who love Him. And none of it is fully available when we are not free. So, I’ll be meditating on what this means for me and how I can obtain further freedom…from fear, exhaustion, unbelief, and anything else that I struggle with. That’s my little JoJo in the photo exercising her freedom! Without a care and full of the joy of living, she pedals into the wind like a newly released balloon reaching for the skies. Technorati Tags: Central Oregon, Christianity, God, freedom in Christ, Galations, Bible Parakeet MoralityPosted March 7th, 2009 by Jen in family life, politics/world news, religion11 Comments » How parakeet breeding led me to thoughts on a great moral issue: I stopped in the pet store yesterday to get some grit for the birds, to aid their digestion. While there, the kids reminded me of one of their pressing concerns. We have a boy and girl parakeet, and the kids keep wondering if they will have babies. My son begged for a nest to place in the bird cage, just in case. My daughter’s mind was filled with the wonder of baby keets. The store clerk discouraged all of this. She and I had just finished a discussion about how to work with our birds to turn them into friendly, tame, sit-on-your-finger kind of birds. She pointed out that once parakeets have babies, they will not be tame pets. They will be extremely protective of their brood and you can forget about a sweet housebroken budgie. I was fuzzy on some issues. What if they mate without all the nice trappings of a brooding box and comfy nest, and the girl lays her eggs on the bottom of the cage? Just throw them out, said the clerk. Take the eggs away, she’ll forget all about them, and she won’t lay any more eggs after a while. Do not encourage breeding, she said, by not putting a nesting area in the cage. Then you’ll get to keep the birds as pets to pamper and cuddle and train. I couldn’t help thinking about how to dispose of those eggs without the children having a meltdown. Would I flush them down the toilet? Would I toss them out the window? Offer them to someone with a pet snake? Ah, well, they are just parakeet eggs, and the snakes need to eat. Okay, so the only way for the parakeets to care enough about human companionship instead of protecting their clutch is to prevent them from breeding, and take away their eggs when they do happen to lay them. For some reason, my mind made a leap this morning, a shocking leap to connect with a great moral issue that I think of often. Abortion. Here is the connection I made. I wondered if the taking away of a human mother’s baby-in-utero, abortion, has the same effect (the “taming” of humans), and if there is perhaps an underlying societal motivation (from the left) for wanting women and couples to not “breed.” A motivation similar to the parakeet issue: are women and families more easily manipulated and pliable when they don’t have the “mother bear” syndrome, the innate and fierce drive a mother has to look out for the best interest of her baby? A new mother, of course, will be less interested in say, political issues of whether murderous criminals should be spared the death penalty or whether women should have the “right to choose,” than she will be in the immediate care of her newborn, how to feed and nurture him, and don’t you dare harm my baby. Does it seems plausible that childless people will be more loyal to the state than to the family? I’m making a leap here, but there is some shifting of interests that occurs when your eggs are stolen away and you’re encouraged to forget about them, be you parakeet or person.
Technorati Tags: abortion, parakeet breeding Aunt Beth~in springPosted March 3rd, 2009 by Jen in family life, religion9 Comments » My Aunt Beth died yesterday. There is something about death that leaves one so introspective. I wanted to immediately fly back to Michigan and be with family, but Aunt Beth had requested a spring memorial. She apparently didn’t want people flying in from all over the country in the midst of a frigid Michigan winter. Early March in Michigan is not always nice. Everyone told me, no, don’t come now, wait ’til spring, it’s what she wanted. I had to set aside this immediacy I felt and go with reason. She wanted us to gather in the cemetery in late spring, with green grass and lovely blooms. As I thought about Aunt Beth, it made such sense. She was the essence of spring. I don’t know why exactly I feel that way, but maybe it was her smile, her warmth, her innocence, her youthful spirit. Aunt Beth was my mom’s oldest sister, and at age 84, it seems a natural time to die. She held onto life until the 23rd Psalm was read to her, then she passed into glory. My cousin who gave me the details of the moment said to make sure my mom knew that Beth was not in pain and was surrounded by loved ones. And she said, “Jenny, be danged sure that when that time comes for your mom, you have her favorite scripture on hand!” Tonight I made my mom her favorite meal - bean burritos - and stopped at the library for some good books for her. I had been so worried about how she would handle this. She’s surprised me. Very calm, taking everything in stride. I asked her last night to tell me about a fond memory she had of her sister Beth. She spoke of the joy of riding her bike, with her brother Doug, over to Beth’s house. Aunt Beth was five years older than my mom, and married young, maybe 18 or 19 years old. My mom would have been 13 or 14 at the time, and I thought how sweet of her big sister, with a new home and new husband, to be welcoming to her young siblings, so much so that her little sister still remembers that bit of hospitality about 67 years later. At the library tonight, I picked out a book for myself as well. I chose A Year in Provence, a chronicle of an English couple that escape the rat race of life and head to the south of France. I guess it’s no surprise that I was drawn to this story just now. I was reading this last year, and only got as far as August (each chapter is a month of the year), and have been wanting to finish it. As I said, death leaves one introspective, and I’m thinking about life and love and meaning. I suppose Provence symbolizes those things for me. Plus I remembered that this book made me laugh until I cried more than once. Until spring and until Provence… Technorati Tags: death, family, France, A Year in Provence Richard Wurmbrand MoviePosted March 1st, 2009 by Jen in education, persecuted church, religion5 Comments » I saw this over at Challies, and love this kind of feature. It’s the story of Richard Wurmbrand, and is the latest in the Torchlighters Heroes of the Faith series (perfect for ages 8-12).
Richard Wurmbrand spent 14 years in Communist imprisonment in his homeland of Romania, suffering horrific torture for his Christian faith. Wurmbrand later became the founder of the The Voice of the Martyrs. He tells his shocking story in his book Tortured for Christ. This DVD from Torchlighters also includes a one-hour documentary that Challies liked even better than the animated feature. His wife Sabina also has an amazing story, told in her autobiography, The Pastor’s Wife.
Technorati Tags: Christianity, Voice of the Martyrs, communism, Richard Wurmbrand, Romania John Sanford: retired Cornell professor shows up DarwinismPosted February 24th, 2009 by Jen in book reviews, features, religion, science11 Comments » Dr. John Sanford, retired professor from Cornell University, has done brilliant work in the field of genetics. His research and studies have led him to refute “The Primary Axiom” upon which modern Darwinism is built. The Primary Axiom is that man is just the result of random mutations and natural selection.
Dr. Sanford begins his book with this Prologue:
This reminds me of the battle of wits about the poison in The Princess Bride. If Darwinian evolution is true, life is meaningless and therefore the doctrine itself is meaningless. If it’s false, it’s more than meaningless, it’s been a catastrophic blow to the sanctity of human life.
Sanford ends the Prologue with a grave remark about the consequences of our thinking.
Exactly how Dr. Sanford unravels the mystery of the human genome, the “book of life,” I will leave for the author to reveal to you. As I said, the book is readable for a lay person, but the complexity of biological and genetic information that is built up chapter upon chapter is too much for this space. Sanford covers topics such as how mutations consistently destroy information, how selection capabilities are very limited, and how mutation/selection cannot realistically create a single gene. There is a helpful glossary of terms in the back of the book. And most importantly, Dr. Sanford ends with a personal postlude giving an answer to replace a false axiom - Jesus Christ, our only hope. Technorati Tags: Intelligent Design, creation, evolution, faith, Genetic Entropy, John Sanford, human genome, The Princess Bride Benjamin Carson: star neurosurgeon sees God in sciencePosted February 8th, 2009 by Jen in education, features, religion, science15 Comments »
Dr. Benjamin Carson is one of the world’s best neurosurgeons. He made history in 1987 when he accomplished what every neurosurgeon before him had failed to do: he successfully separated Siamese twins who were joined at the back of the head. Many other “firsts” followed this, and Dr. Carson continues to blaze a trail in the field of pediatric neurosurgery. He is currently a professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery, and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and he has been chief of pediatric neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center for nearly a quarter of a century.
Dr. Carson has been a leader in scientific research his entire career. He has over 120 major scientific publications in peer reviewed journals, almost 40 books and book chapters, and grant awards of about one million dollars. With his clear intelligence in the fields of medicine and science, I think his opinion on the origin of life deserves to be heard. Does evolutionary theory have any direct bearing on his daily work as a neurosurgeon? Only philosophically, I would say, but can you tell me one field of science where evolutionary theory actually makes a tangible, measurable difference in how that scientist works and contributes to society? It merely plays out in a theoretical or metaphysical or political way. A lot of people believe in evolution because most scientists do (or at least it’s the common perception that most scientists do). I don’t know the statistics, but I suspect the number of scientists who do not believe in evolution is large and growing. I am not speaking of microevolution, but the general theory of Darwin that all life originated and evolved by gradual and chance advantageous mutations - which is entirely void of factual support. Back to Benjamin Carson–I’m more than pleased to know that this distinguished man speaks openly and honestly about his faith in God and belief in a Creator and Designer. He looks to the facts and wonders at Darwin’s own assertion that within fifty to 100 years of his lifetime fossil remains would be found of the entire evolutionary tree, displaying an indisputable step-by-step evolution of life from amoeba to human. As Carson points out, this does not exist:
Dr. Carson is certainly a risk-taker in more ways than one. In fact, his latest best-selling book is called Take the Risk. In his surgical field, he continually pushes forward with innovation and new techniques. For example, with hemispherectomies (removal of half of the brain to prevent untreatable severe seizures), he significantly increased the safety of the procedure by coming up with better ways of controlling bleeding and infection, as well as developing a system of incrementally removing specific brain parts. In his willingness to explain his creation views, he is also a risk taker. He addressed the National Science Teachers convention in Philadelphia and the very prestigious Academy of Achievement, which includes many Nobel scientists. Dr. Carson’s basic message was that “evolution and creationism both require faith. It’s just a matter of where you choose to place that faith.” If you’d like to find out more about Benjamin Carson, there are some fantastic resources available. Just this past Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009, TNT aired Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story. Superbly played by Cuba Gooding, you will be inspired to learn of Carson’s upbringing in extreme poverty in Detroit, raised by a single mother with a third grade education. Ben Carson’s story is also told in his autobiography, Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story. Visit the Carson Scholars Fund for information on Benjamin Carson’s education initiatives and scholarships. Resources:
Technorati Tags: Benjamin Carson, Christianity, creation, evolution, faith, neurosurgeon, science Zakaria Botros, unafraid to defy IslamPosted January 25th, 2009 by Jen in features, persecuted church, politics/world news, religion7 Comments »
However, mass conversions to Christianity as a result of his ministry are the reason for the label. About six million Muslims convert to Christianity annually, and an Islamic cleric admitted on al-Jazeera TV not too long ago that many of these conversions are attributed to Botros’ public ministry. What is his secret, and how has he survived? I believe his greatest asset is his command of classic Arabic and his TV show broadcast in Arabic into the heart of Muslim territory. Born in Egypt, Botros has been hosting Truth Talk since 2003, a weekly 90 minute show where he expertly exposes the inherent contradictions of Islam. Because Zakaria Botros knows Arabic and has read all of the teachings of Muhammed, the Quran, and countless other Muslim books, he is in an unusually strategic position to counter the inconsistencies of Islam with Islam itself, not just the Bible or Christian teaching. Botros is ultimately interested in saving souls, but is aware that a traditional evangelical approach will not work. He explained this recently:
One example of how Botros will expose Islam with his polemic, debating style, was his lengthy exposure of a certain embarrassing aspect of Islamic law, which Islamic authorities are unable to rebut:
Another telling illustration of how Zakaria Botros forces Muslims to examine the roots of their faith is this:
Whether Zakaria Botros is confronting universal jihad or the inferiority of women, he is always careful to painstakingly cover all the sources, quoting the original Islamic texts and inviting a response from the ulema, the expert Muslim theologians who articulate sharia law. Al-dalil we al-burhan, evidence and proof, is what he demands. You may wonder how Zakaria Botros is still alive. You must know that any one of his statements would bring death if he were to be roaming the streets preaching in any Islamic town. He’s been jailed twice for preaching the gospel to Muslims, and was sentenced to life in prison. Miraculously, the judge instead released him on the condition that he be forced into exile - Botros had to leave Egypt for good. After having ministered in Cairo for over 30 years, Botros moved to England. Since then, he “retired” into his airwave ministry. It seems the threats are just beginning. Botros is sure he’d be dead were it not for broadcasting from an undisclosed location. Jihadist groups have posted death threats worth up to a reported $60 million for his head. Zakaria Botros knows the seriousness of this. Growing up as a child in Alexandria, Egypt, Muslim attackers killed his young teenage brother. His response:
Botros does more than defy Islam. He offers an alternative, the truth of Christianity, and he consistently opens and closes his show with an invitation to his viewers to come to Christ. With the growing worldwide hostility to anyone who speaks out against Islam (for example, the Dutch lawmaker currently facing prosecution for anti-Islamic statements), Botros is truly fearless. “Fear? I fear nothing,” says Botros. “My dictionary does not contain the word fear. I believe in God and I believe that the epistle of Ephesians says we are created in Jesus Christ for a plan, which was engaged from the early beginning. No one can cut it, and when it is completed no one can continue it.” photo: World Magazine
Technorati Tags: Christianity, Islam, Zakaria Botros, Muslim, evangelizing Muslims Overlooking the ValleyPosted January 22nd, 2009 by Jen in family life, religion, science, the ranch9 Comments »
What element of God’s creation speaks to you today?
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: literary giant, light of truthPosted January 13th, 2009 by Jen in features, politics/world news, religion6 Comments »
Just over five months ago, the Russian novelist and historian, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (December 11, 1918 – August 3, 2008), died in his homeland. What a loss to the world, this giant of the twentieth century who wrote from a Christian worldview to change the world. Through the writings of Solzhenitsyn, the West became acquainted with the Gulag, the forced labor camps of the Soviet Union, in which he served an eight-year term for criticizing Joseph Stalin in a private letter to a friend. Solzhenitsyn’s experiences in the labor camps formed the basis of his groundbreaking novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. His masterpiece, The Gulag Archipelago, came about a decade later, a scorching detail of four decades of Soviet terror and oppression. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970. At the end of Solzhenitsyn’s term in the labor camps, he was sent to internal exile in Kazakhstan, a common fate of political prisoners. During his imprisonment and exile, Solzhenitsyn turned deeply philosophical and spiritual and threw off the Marxism of his former days as a Red Army captain. His story sort of parallels that of Dostoevsky, who also spent time in exile in Siberia and had a quest for faith a hundred years before Solzhenitsyn. Solzhenitsyn was finally freed from exile in 1956 under the Khrushchev regime, and spent his time teaching and writing. However, after the ousting of Khrushchev in 1964, things took a turn for the worse once again. The KGB began seizing his manuscripts, and by 1974, Solzhenitsyn lived in exile once again. Once the KGB found the manuscripts for the first part of The Gulag Archipelago, Solzhenitsyn was arrested, deported, and stripped of his Soviet citizenship. He found refuge in Germany, then Switzerland, and finally, the United States, where he ended up spending almost two decades.
The entire text of this speech is brilliant and prophetic for 2009, and I do hope you take the time to read it. This portion of that Harvard address, in which Solzhenitsyn speaks of courage, or the lack thereof, is especially insightful:
One who has seen the depths of evil and is a person of any courage must tell the truth of the matter, as Solzhenitsyn has done time after time. From various writings and interviews I’ve come across, Solzhenitsyn is best characterized by Truth–he is compelled to reveal it. Being the remarkable, profound writer that he was, his words cannot be paraphrased by anything I could attempt to cobble together, so here are some more choice morsels from his pen:
Issues in Solzhenitsyn’s writings revolve around matters of conscience. He writes of God, justice, how people should live rightly in a corrupt nation, how the state has taken the place of the church, and always, truth. Technorati Tags: Russia, Christianity, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Truth, Stalin, The Gulag, faith, Soviet Union Call to Prayer for the DRCPosted December 30th, 2008 by Jen in persecuted church, politics/world news, religion10 Comments »
The history of the unrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) is long and complex, involving notable European powers, especially Belgium. Below is a Timeline of the Democratic Republic of Congo from the BBC (note the Sept. 2005 entry, in which the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels of Uganda infiltrate the DR Congo via Sudan). There has been a heavy involvement of the UN in the Congo conflicts, dating back to about 1960, and I’m not so sure how much good they’ve done, considering things like the allegations of gold and arms trafficking by UN peacekeepers in Ituri region (May 2007). At any rate, as Christians whose brothers and sisters in Christ are being massacred, raped, displaced by the tens of thousands, and grievously injured in so many ways in the DRC, we must pray. If you want a place to give, World Relief, a Christian Relief Organization, has been delivering food and aid to local churches caught in the middle of the violence and terror of the civil war in the DRC that has claimed the lives of over 5 million people in the past 12 years. I met a local woman last month who runs a branch of World Relief here in Central Oregon. Until I met her, I really wasn’t aware of this crisis. Through her passion and outreach to the Congolese, I’ve suddenly noticed the DRC in the news–you know how that is, it’s been there all along. Timeline: Democratic Republic of Congo A chronology of key events: 1200s - Rise of Kongo empire, centred in modern northern Angola and including extreme western Congo and territories round lakes Kisale and Upemba in central Katanga (now Shaba). 1482 - Portuguese navigator Diogo Cao becomes the first European to visit the Congo; Portuguese set up ties with the king of Kongo. 16th-17th centuries - British, Dutch, Portuguese and French merchants engage in slave trade through Kongo intermediaries. 1870s - Belgian King Leopold II sets up a private venture to colonise Kongo. 1874-77 - British explorer Henry Stanley navigates Congo river to the Atlantic Ocean. Belgian colonisation 1879-87 - Leopold commissions Stanley to establish the king’s authority in the Congo basin. 1884-85 - European powers at the Conference of Berlin recognise Leopold’s claim to the Congo basin. 1885 - Leopold announces the establishment of the Congo Free State, headed by himself. 1891-92 - Belgians conquer Katanga. 1892-94 - Eastern Congo wrested from the control of East African Arab and Swahili-speaking traders. 1908 - Belgian state annexes Congo amid protests over killings and atrocities carried out on a mass scale by Leopold’s agents. Millions of Congolese are said to have been killed or worked to death during Leopold’s control of the territory. 1955 - Belgian Professor Antoin van Bilsen publishes a “30-Year Plan” for granting the Congo increased self-government. 1959 - Belgium begins to lose control over events in the Congo following serious nationalist riots in Leopoldville (now Kinshasa). Post-independence turmoil 1960 June - Congo becomes independent with Patrice Lumumba as prime minister and Joseph Kasavubu as president. 1960 July - Congolese army mutinies; Moise Tshombe declares Katanga independent; Belgian troops sent in ostensibly to protect Belgian citizens and mining interests; UN Security Council votes to send in troops to help establish order, but the troops are not allowed to intervene in internal affairs. 1960 September - Kasavubu dismisses Lumumba as prime minister. 1960 December - Lumumba arrested. 1961 February - Lumumba murdered, reportedly with US and Belgian complicity. 1961 August - UN troops begin disarming Katangese soldiers. 1963 - Tshombe agrees to end Katanga’s secession. 1964 - President Kasavubu appoints Tshombe prime minister. Mobutu years 1965 - Kasavubu and Tshombe ousted in a coup led by Joseph Mobutu. 1971 - Joseph Mobutu renames the country Zaire and himself Mobutu Sese Seko; also Katanga becomes Shaba and the river Congo becomes the river Zaire. 1973-74 - Mobutu nationalises many foreign-owned firms and forces European investors out of the country. 1977 - Mobutu invites foreign investors back, without much success; French, Belgian and Moroccan troops help repulse attack on Katanga by Angolan-based rebels. 1989 - Zaire defaults on loans from Belgium, resulting in a cancellation of development programmes and increased deterioration of the economy. 1990 - Mobutu agrees to end the ban on multiparty politics and appoints a transitional government, but retains substantial powers. 1991 - Following riots in Kinshasa by unpaid soldiers, Mobutu agrees to a coalition government with opposition leaders, but retains control of the security apparatus and important ministries. 1993 - Rival pro- and anti-Mobutu governments created. 1994 - Mobutu agrees to the appointment of Kengo Wa Dondo, an advocate of austerity and free-market reforms, as prime minister. 1996-97 - Tutsi rebels capture much of eastern Zaire while Mobutu is abroad for medical treatment. Aftermath of Mobutu 1997 May - Tutsi and other anti-Mobutu rebels, aided principally by Rwanda, capture the capital, Kinshasa; Zaire is renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo; Laurent-Desire Kabila installed as president. 1998 August - Rebels backed by Rwanda and Uganda rise up against Kabila and advance on Kinshasa. Zimbabwe, Namibia send troops to repel them. Angolan troops also side with Kabila. The rebels take control of much of the east of DR Congo. 1999 - Rifts emerge between Congolese Liberation Movement (MLC) rebels supported by Uganda and Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD) rebels backed by Rwanda. Lusaka peace accord signed 1999 July - The six African countries involved in the war sign a ceasefire accord in Lusaka. The following month the MLC and RCD rebel groups sign the accord. 2000 - UN Security Council authorises a 5,500-strong UN force to monitor the ceasefire but fighting continues between rebels and government forces, and between Rwandan and Ugandan forces. 2001 January - President Laurent Kabila is shot dead by a bodyguard. Joseph Kabila succeeds his father. 2001 February - Kabila meets Rwandan President Paul Kagame in Washington. Rwanda, Uganda and the rebels agree to a UN pull-out plan. Uganda, Rwanda begin pulling troops back from the frontline. 2001 May - US refugee agency says the war has killed 2.5 million people, directly or indirectly, since August 1998. Later, a UN panel says the warring parties are deliberately prolonging the conflict to plunder gold, diamonds, timber and coltan, used in the making of mobile phones. 2002 January - Eruption of Mount Nyiragongo devastates much of the city of Goma. Search for peace 2002 April - Peace talks in South Africa: Kinshasa signs a power-sharing deal with Ugandan-backed rebels, under which the MLC leader would be premier. Rwandan-backed RCD rebels reject the deal. 2002 July - Presidents of DR Congo and Rwanda sign a peace deal under which Rwanda will withdraw troops from the east and DR Congo will disarm and arrest Rwandan Hutu gunmen blamed for the killing of the Tutsi minority in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide. 2002 September - Presidents of DR Congo and Uganda sign peace accord under which Ugandan troops will leave DR Congo. 2002 September/October - Uganda, Rwanda say they have withdrawn most of their forces from the east. UN-sponsored power-sharing talks begin in South Africa. 2002 December - Peace deal signed in South Africa between Kinshasa government and main rebel groups. Under the deal rebels and opposition members are to be given portfolios in an interim government. Interim government 2003 April - President Kabila signs a transitional constitution, under which an interim government will rule pending elections. 2003 May - Last Ugandan troops leave eastern DR Congo. 2003 June - French soldiers arrive in Bunia, spearheading a UN-mandated rapid-reaction force. President Kabila names a transitional government to lead until elections in two years time. Leaders of main former rebel groups are sworn in as vice-presidents in July. 2003 August - Interim parliament inaugurated. 2004 March - Gunmen attack military bases in Kinshasa in an apparent coup attempt. 2004 June - Reported coup attempt by rebel guards is said to have been neutralised. 2004 December - Fighting in the east between the Congolese army and renegade soldiers from a former pro-Rwanda rebel group. Rwanda denies being behind the mutiny. 2005 March - UN peacekeepers say they have killed more then 50 militia members in an offensive, days after nine Bangladeshi soldiers serving with the UN are killed in the north-east. New constitution 2005 May - New constitution, with text agreed by former warring factions, is adopted by parliament. 2005 September - Uganda warns that its troops may re-enter DR Congo after a group of Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army rebels enter via Sudan. 2005 November - A first wave of soldiers from the former Zairean army returns after almost eight years of exile in the neighbouring Republic of Congo. 2005 December - Voters back a new constitution, already approved by parliament, paving the way for elections in 2006. International Court of Justice rules that Uganda must compensate DR Congo for rights abuses and the plundering of resources in the five years up to 2003. 2006 February - New constitution comes into force; new national flag is adopted. 2006 March - Warlord Thomas Lubanga becomes first war crimes suspect to face charges at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. He is accused of forcing children into active combat. 2006 May - Thousands are displaced in the north-east as the army and UN peacekeepers step up their drive to disarm irregular forces ahead of the elections. Free elections 2006 July - Presidential and parliamentary polls are held - the first free elections in four decades. With no clear winner in the presidential vote, incumbent leader Joseph Kabila and opposition candidate Jean-Pierre Bemba prepare to contest a run-off poll on 29 October. Forces loyal to the two candidates clash in the capital. 2006 November - Joseph Kabila is declared winner of October’s run-off presidential election. The poll has the general approval of international monitors. 2006 December - Forces of renegade General Laurent Nkunda and the UN-backed army clash in North Kivu province, prompting some 50,000 people to flee. The UN Security Council expresses concern about the fighting. 2007 March - Government troops and forces loyal to opposition leader Jean-Pierre Bemba clash in Kinshasa. 2007 April - DRCongo, Rwanda and Burundi relaunch the regional economic bloc Great lakes Countries Economic Community, known under its French acronym CEPGL. 2007 April - Jean-Pierre Bemba leaves for Portugal, ending a three-week political stalemate in Kinshasa, during which he sheltered in the South African embassy. 2007 May - The UN investigates allegations of gold and arms trafficking by UN peacekeepers in Ituri region. 2007 June - War could break out again in the east, warns the Archbishop of Bukavu, Monsignor Francois-Xavier Maroy. 2007 June - Radio Okapi broadcaster Serge Maheshe is shot dead in Bukavu, the third journalist killed in the country since 2005. 2007 August - Uganda and DRCongo agree to try defuse a border dispute. Aid agencies report a big increase in refugees fleeing instability in North Kivu which is blamed on dissident general Nkunda. 2007 September - Major outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus. 2008 January - The government and rebel militia, including renegade Gen Nkunda, sign a peace pact aimed at ending years of conflict in the east. Renewed clashes 2008 April - Army troops clash with Rwandan Hutu militias with whom they were formerly allied in eastern Congo, leaving thousands of people displaced. 2008 August - Heavy clashes erupt in the east of the country between army troops and fighters loyal to rebel leader Laurent Nkunda. 2008 October - Rebel forces capture major army base of Rumangabo; the Congolese government accuses Rwanda of backing General Nkunda, a claim Rwanda denies. Thousands of people, including Congolese troops, flee as clashes in eastern DR Congo intensify. Chaos grips the provincial capital Goma as rebel forces advance. UN peacekeepers engage the rebels in an attempt to support Congolese troops. 2008 November - General Dieudonne Kayembe dismissed as armed forces chief over war in east. Replaced by navy chief General Didier Etumba Longomba. The BBC timeline ends there, but I’m sure will soon be updated with the Christmas 2008 massacres. What will 2009 hold for the Democratic Republic of Congo? If all God’s people will get on their knees and pray and intercede for persecutions going on worldwide (this is just one of many), maybe we will see a radical change…
Technorati Tags: Lord’s Resistance Army, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo, DRC, persecuted church I think he’s in love with me!Posted December 11th, 2008 by Jen in family life, parenting, religion10 Comments » I sat holding my four year old son last night, cherishing the moments that are so fleeting. He began a long and lovely conversation with me that went something like this:
He went on. And on. We all need to hear that sometimes!! It was a long and exhausting day and I sat rather crumpled in a chair, and when he came to climb in my lap, I wasn’t so sure I had the energy for this. But I was wrong. I always have the energy to listen to how beautiful I am. :-) Our Father in Heaven thinks we are all beautiful, and I believe He chose to tell me that last night through my precious little boy. Christmas Music: Annie Moses Band!Posted December 6th, 2008 by Jen in education, family life, features, holidays, music, religion3 Comments » Do you have a favorite Christmas song or album? I discovered my latest rave last Christmas, as I heard a completely unique rendition of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” come over the airwaves.See what I mean? I’m talking an amazing mix of contemporary Christian with classical strings that is now called “chamber pop,” delivered up with the voice of an angel, and to top it off, this is a family band. I love family bands, and this one, the Annie Moses Band, goes well beyond what you might see at the county fair. About the Annie Moses Band: First, this is a family outfit, whose members include parents Bill (composer/arranger/pianist) and Robin (lyricist/vocalist) Wolaver and their children: Annie, Alex, Benjamin, Gretchen, Camille, and Jeremiah, in ages ranging from twenty-four down to ten.
Their music is fused with jazz, bluegrass, classical, celtic, country, and pop sounds, and is hard to define, but overall, there is a message of hope and love through Jesus Christ. Their latest Christmas album, This Glorious Christmas, was just released in October, and includes God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen and other classics, as well as another of my new favorites, the soulful Bethlehem House of Bread. The lead singer, Annie Wolaver, is named after her great-grandmother, Annie Moses. Annie shared about her namesake:
What an inspiring story! I am addicted to their sound, stirred by their spirit. The Annie Moses Band cares deeply about the next generation, and hosts a Fine Arts Summer Academy where students can play with the band and other teachers and mentors.
If you’re in the Nashville, Tennessee area, and would like some fun, challenging music training for your young one, ages 4 through college-age, don’t miss this! Mark your calendars for July 10-25, 2009. I’m on the other side of the country in Oregon, and this isn’t an option for me. However, I have friends here in Central Oregon who attend a similar, smaller-scale, music camp with another amazingly talented local family, so check out the Booher Family Music Camp held in Sisters, Oregon. So, tell me, what music is awakening your soul this Christmas season? Had you ever heard of the Annie Moses Band before? Technorati Tags: Booher Family Music Camp, Bethehem House of Bread, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Christmas music, music, music education, Annie Moses Band My Star of BethlehemPosted December 2nd, 2008 by Jen in features, religion, science12 Comments »
I felt like a modern-day shepherd, or maybe a wiseman, as I drove home last night, the brilliance of the convergence of Venus and Jupiter juxtaposed next to the crescent moon causing me to breathe deeply at the magnificent sight. What a perfect and fitting way to herald in the holy season as we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. My children noticed, I noticed, people around the world noticed this awesome spectacle in the night sky. Did you see it? Look tonight…it won’t be nearly as perfect as last night, but it will be there. When Trials ComePosted November 19th, 2008 by Jen in music, religion7 Comments » When Trials Come, sung by Margaret Becker (a long time favorite artist of mine), words and music by Keith Getty. You’ll love this Celtic-style song and the images of Ireland on this video. The album it’s from is full of Irish hymns and it’s on my wish list! Stand fast in the trials, dear ones. Looking up the Exhaust PipePosted October 2nd, 2008 by Jen in family life, religion7 Comments »
What does one do when her life feels like she’s looking right into the exhaust pipe, ingesting toxic fumes? When I took this cute picture of our cat a few days ago, these reflections were far from my mind. I just thought, “isn’t that a sweet little photograph - Tawny has his special spot under the van.” The metaphor hit me later, as I struggled to wade my way through a myriad of chores, overwhelming undertakings, serious concerns. I wanted to curl up like my cat and lie down (but not under a tire!). I know without a doubt there are many brothers and sisters facing life in front of the exhaust pipe of toxic trials, because I’ve talked to several of them this past week - it’s a grim diagnosis, a financial predicament, family chaos. As Christians, we can flounder about trying to find God in the midst of these stresses and strains and stretchings. We can sink into depression, question our faith, fail to see His bigger plan, and even ditch Him altogether. BBC2 last month began airing God on Trial, a film written by Frank Cottrell Boyce. In it, a group of Auschwitz prisoners decide to put God on trial. They summoned a rabbinical court, put God himself on trial - and declared him guilty. (God on Trial will be shown in the United States on PBS stations on November 9, 2008, on the new anthology series Masterpiece Contemporary). In The Guardian (UK), Cottrell Boyce wrote a very interesting article, and I particularly found this bit revealing:
When I was 21 years old, a fresh college graduate enjoying life and a new job in Washington, D.C., I felt compelled to memorize James Chapter 1. I worked on it each day as I walked from the Metro station in Silver Spring, Maryland, to my cousin’s house, where I was living for the year. The beginning of the chapter basically extols the benefits of tribulation, and though I had no outstanding troubles during this period of my life, it was God-ordained that I have this stored in my memory for the future. I was especially good at verses 2-4, coming at the start of the chapter:
By the time verse 27 came around, I was a bit fuzzy, but still, after 17 years, I basically have James Chapter 1 memorized. Good thing, because when I have those days when I feel like I’m under the van sucking exhaust or about to get run over by a tire, or when I want to put God on trial, it’s critical that I remember there is a purpose to our hardships. That purpose being a faith-producing experience, an endurance-strengthening exercise, and the goal of becoming more and more perfected in Christ Jesus. I wonder, have you been looking up the exhaust pipe lately? What has helped you the most through these times? The Home Fire’s A-GoingPosted September 24th, 2008 by Jen in family life, religion, the ranch15 Comments »
I’m totally delighting in this lovely fire my husband built tonight. The woodbox is full and the house is warm! We are halfway moved into our new house, and hope to have the move completed within a few weeks. It’s been a long time since I sat in front of a wood fire in my own home. The rented house we’ve been living in for the past two years didn’t have a fireplace; the house we owned for the two years before that had a “fake” natural gas fireplace; our home for the five years prior to that possessed a wood fireplace with a nasty habit of filling the house with smoke every time we dared use it. Downed juniper trees scatter the property, the victims of our building project. Don’t cry for them, they’re keeping my hearth warm. I love the smell of juniper; we just can’t invite Chuck and Connie over when we’re burning juniper, he’ll turn beet red and break out in hives or something. He’ll have to bring his own pine logs. The rest of you, come in and sit a spell and let us tell you a tale of God’s goodness and merciful provision. We are not finished, quite. Almost, but not quite. We are trusting God for the working out of some final important pieces, and wouldn’t you know, dear Christian, when that last lap of the marathon is about to kill you, that famous second wind can sustain you, the powerful wind of the comforting, helping Holy Spirit. Someday I’ll get to tell you the story of a little girl who grew up in a dirt-floored shack and now sits before the warm hearth of a mansion, the gift of her Father who loves her. Until then, keep the home fires burning. Blessings. Don’t Get Mad!Posted September 18th, 2008 by Jen in education, family life, religion5 Comments » Following up on my last post about teaching patience to children, here is another great resource I discovered on overcoming anger. I’ll be going through this short worksheet with my own children as well as my students. If you are battling with anger or have a child who does, I’d recommend reading the scriptures listed here and memorizing them with your children. Don’t Get Mad! Take Preventive Steps to Avoid Getting Angry(material gathered from Doug Britton, author of Victory Over Grumpiness, Irritation and Anger; permission granted to print for personal use) Man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires (James 1:20). There is such a thing as “righteous anger,” but most of our anger is not righteous. In fact, our anger usually is destructive. My greatest obstacle to overcoming anger is _________________________________________ . Compare your answer to: “Not recognizing I am sinning when I am angry.” It is rare that our anger is righteous anger. As James wrote: Man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires (James 1:20). I won’t have as much trouble getting angry if I am ___________________________________________. Compare your answer to: • Patient. Look at God’s example in 2 Peter 3:9 and then read Proverbs 15:18. • Eternally-minded. Look at Paul’s example in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. • Forbearing. Read Ephesians 4:2 and Colossians 3:13. • Understanding of other people. Read about God’s understanding in Hebrews 4:15. • Aware of anger’s destructiveness. Read about the results of anger in Psalm 37:8 and Proverbs 15:1. • Secure in who I am in God. Read about Jesus’ silence before Pilate in Matthew 27:12-14. Note that Jesus didn’t “need” to defend himself. Personal application I will pray to become more: ___________________________________________________. One practical step I will take to make this change is: ________________________________________________________________________________________. Key Bible verses on anger management:
Blessings to you, my friend, as you work toward victory over anger! I’m right there with you, and I’ll share some more later about how this process is going with my students and my family. Remember, HE IS ABLE, and our God has already won for us every victory, and I plan on not turning down my blue ribbon. :-) A Simple Woman - September 1Posted September 1st, 2008 by Jen in book reviews, education, family life, religion8 Comments »
For Today… Outside my Window…is a pale blue September sky, a hint of chill in the air. The day is warming up after a *freeze* last night! I am thinking…about God, His plans for our future, how He will provide our needs, how we can be a blessing to others. From the learning rooms…The two older kids are playing Monopoly, a game continued from yesterday, which was continued from the previous day. The youngest arranges his blocks and works on a puzzle book. I am thankful for…my amazing husband, my healthy children, our home, the many opportunities before us. Thank you, Jesus. From the kitchen…dishes that need washing, bread that needs baking. I am wearing…a long sleeved blue t-shirt, gray exercise pants, socks. I am reading…The Hoosier School-Master by Edward Eggleston. An old, old book first published in 1871. An amazing piece of American regional writing and a stunning showcase of old Hoosier dialect - this is backwoods Indiana, the story of a young schoolteacher on the Indiana “frontier” before the Civil War. I love old books. The novel begins:
I am hoping…to be ready to face my first day of school tomorrow (shaking in my boots a bit). I’m hoping for lessons to be planned, room organized, lunches packed, kids scrubbed and fresh. I am creating…grading charts, lesson plans, discipline procedures, and ideas are swirling in my head. I am hearing…Big L and JJ moving Monopoly pieces, adding numbers, “What do I owe you?” “$20!!” Around the house…clean laundry to put away, clothes to be sorted. Do the kids even have clothes to wear to school?? One of the greatest setbacks of moving from homeschool to private school is that now we can’t go around in rags all day! We have to actually dress nice every day. My budget is taking a big hit. A huge thank you to Grandma T. who bought each child a few outfits to start us out. One of my favorite things…is hunting for obsidian chips around the property, and once in a while even finding a near complete arrowhead. I love that my kids all delight in this activity as much as I do, and can spend patient hours in this simple pursuit. A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week… get all the orders packed up for TeamMASCOT ahead of time; run to Lowe’s with hubby to get some last minute items for the house (electrical cords, bits of pipe, etc.); stop at my school and have the room totally ready; buy lunch boxes and ice packs for the kids; figure out my teaching plan for the adopted Social Studies/History text the school uses, and align it chronologically and with the correct timeline. Thankfully, I have Susan Wise Bauer’s The Story of the World to help me with this. Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you…
Back to the ClassroomPosted August 25th, 2008 by Jen in education, family life, religion14 Comments » Hello friends, You can hold the Homeschool Blog Awards, I won’t be qualified. I’m headed back to the classroom and all my kids are going with me. I’ll be teaching at a private school somewhere in Oregon, and that’s all I’ll say because I’m a security freak. So if you know me personally, please keep your comments general! I labored a great deal about having to write this post, and the main reason I am is because I noticed that I’m on a lot of bloggers’ dedicated “homeschool blog rolls” and I can’t just be sneaky about it! And I suppose with this transition in our family life, I’m sure to want to write about teaching and school life occasionally. I love homeschooling and it’s been a great blessing in our family life. I will continue to support my homeschool friends and write about the homeschool issues I care so much about, like the situation in Germany and other freedom of education topics. Part of my hesitation to write about this change is very personal. I have friends who believe that homeschooling is THE only way to educate a child, so of course I have concerns about certain people feeling like I’ve betrayed the movement. On the other hand, certain folks are rejoicing that I’m no longer homeschooling because they’re of the opinion that it’s a bad choice for all children (you know, the socialization contention). When it comes down to it, my husband and I make our family decisions based on God’s call on our life, not anyone else’s opinion. I will have some questions to throw out for you as I’m attempting to integrate my educational philosophy with a more traditional school system. I’m not dealing with a public school, so at least I won’t have many of the obstacles I would otherwise face. I have the freedom (and responsibility) to teach a biblical worldview in this school–a duty I approach earnestly and prayerfully. But how do I maintain the individual child’s sense of unique identity and liberty in a classroom of 20+ kids? How do I avoid treating information/knowledge as a commodity to be dispensed by me, the teacher? School has the potential to be a huge waste of someone’s childhood if the teacher is not engaging her students in meaningful, purposeful and effective learning-related pursuits. How do I maintain a child’s sense of being in control of and responsible for his own learning? I have so many more questions. I’ve been a classroom teacher in the past, before I homeschooled, and I never truly dealt with these questions. Mostly because I hadn’t yet homeschooled nor had I fully developed my own personal philosophy of education. I was trained in public institutions and taught in public institutions–it was all I knew. So, why, you may ask, if I have so many questions and doubts, am I teaching in a classroom and sending my kids there as well? I may discuss that another time, but I do feel called by God to this place for this time. I hope to honor God, my administration, my students, my students’ parents, and my own educational ideals all at the same time. I would really love to hear your thoughts on this big transition in our family life, and would appreciate your prayers for both me and my family. Technorati Tags: Christian education, education, family life, homeschool, teaching Peace Like a RiverPosted August 13th, 2008 by Jen in family life, religion16 Comments »
Welcome to Word-Filled Wednesday - a place for sharing a photo and a Bible verse. Here are two of my children getting refreshed on a hot day last week. This is peace, two siblings drinking out of the same hose and not spraying each other up the nose!
Technorati Tags: children, family life, outdoors, peace, Word Filled Wednesday WFW: He grants sleep to those he loves.Posted July 30th, 2008 by Jen in religion21 Comments »
Welcome to Word-Filled Wednesday - a place for sharing a photo and a Bible verse. I’ll give you a peek at our new kitty today, who just perfectly exemplifies the verse I’m choosing to share with you.
Technorati Tags: Bible verse, Psalms, kitten, Christianity, Word Filled Wednesday Free SpeechPosted July 18th, 2008 by Jen in features, history, politics/world news, religion14 Comments » Some ramblings on free speech…pardon the lack of a cohesive statement. Today I’m thinking about the potency of the tongue, the desire of those who seek to censor it as a political power move, the double speak going on with regards to who should have free speech and who shouldn’t. This is not an academic piece of writing, so please, keep the lawyers away.
Inspired by Franklin D. Roosevelt’s speech, The Four Freedoms, dated January 6, 1941, Norman Rockwell (who I wrote about here) painted a series of freedom paintings, the first of which was The Freedom of Speech. Here is that segment of FDR’s speech mentioning the four freedoms:
I think it no coincidence that freedom of speech and expression is at the top of his list. Certainly, with Hitler’s tyranny against the slightest criticism and silencing of all forms of expression but Naziism, and with WWII then raging, Roosevelt saw a need to aggressively defend this particular freedom. The Guardian UK published an interesting timeline of the history of free speech a few years ago. Here are a few dates that caught my eye:
Hate Crimes Hate crimes, also known as bias motivated crimes, occur when the victim is targeted because of his membership in a certain group - racial, religious, gender, age, etc. I’m thinking of the lynching of African-Americans, ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, the Holocaust. History of hate crimes legislation: The federal hate crimes statute (18 U.S.C. § 245) was originally created to protect civil rights workers in the 1960s. There were serious issues of violence regarding African-Americans enrolling in public schools, enjoying public establishments, travel issues, and more. This statute deals with racial, ethnic, national origin, and religious bias, and does not include sexual orientation. However, almost all states have much broader hate crimes legislation that does include sexual orientation. The hype today is hate crime legislation targeting anti-gay sentiment. As far as assaults on gay people or destruction of property, or other violence toward homosexuals, there are already laws in place to deal with these crimes. So why is legislation being considered that criminalizes one’s moral or religious opposition to homosexuality? This clearly conflicts with the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech. If someone is inciting others to violence with their speech, this is another issue, but anything less than that is simply criminalizing one’s thoughts. Is this America? The expression of moral judgment is the right of a free person in a free society, whether one agrees with it or not. There are community standards and a consensus that help guide social mores, and clearly, there is not consensus on the homosexual issue. In 2007 the House passed HR 1592 before it was put away by the Senate. This was an attempt at expanding federal hate crime legislation and will be back. I like what Congressman Ron Paul had to say about HR 1592 (emphasis mine):
McCain-Feingold Have you ever wondered recently why Dr. Dobson won’t support John McCain for President? It’s partly because of the federal legislation that John McCain (R-AZ) pushed through in 2002, the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, known as the McCain-Feingold Act. It basically restricted political free speech by placing new regulations on the financing of political campaigns - both in how much money can be raised and how and when groups can place political ads. For example, the Act requires advocacy groups to name their financial donors if they run ads within 60 days of a general election or within 30 days of a primary, if those ads were targeting candidates. In effect the McCain-Feingold Act limited the ability of groups like Focus on the Family to contact constituents about upcoming legislation. George Will commented on it last November:
Has anyone noticed how left-wing political speech (especially if you’re a Muslim) is protected and conservative political speech (especially if you’re a Christian) puts you in jail? And did you notice how House Speaker Pelosi exercised her free speech to call President Bush a “total failure” yesterday (inciting and fueling hatred of America?), yet Pelosi referred to conservative talk-radio as “hate” radio and wants to bring back the Fairness Doctrine (effectively censors conservative opinion on TV and radio). It’s only “hateful” speech if it’s anything under the sun the liberals disagree with; otherwise it’s “fairness.” Apparently only liberals/Muslims/gays/anybody-but-conservative-Christians deserve free speech (and deserve to hate). Are you disturbed about infringements on free speech?
Technorati Tags: faith, McCain-Feingold, Nancy Pelosi, free speech, First Amendment, Four Freedoms, Norman Rockwel, hate speech, hate crimes, Ron Paul, Dr. Dobson, Focus on the Family Christian Carnival CCXXXIII: The Hilarious EditionPosted July 16th, 2008 by Jen in blog stuff, carnivals, humor, religion13 Comments » We don’t have to look far for bad news these days. I thought we could all use a dose of humor and fun, so welcome to the 233rd Christian Carnival: the Hilarious Edition! This is not to downplay the seriousness of world issues or the personal crises we find ourselves in, but a “joy break” to perhaps recharge your soul. Today’s blog posts will be salted with Christian humor, and I do pray you come away with a smile on your face. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Keith Williams presents My NLT Odyssey: A Bible translation story posted at NLT Blog. FMF presents Robert Kiyosaki on Tithing posted at Free Money Finance.
Robert Minto presents Living In Heaven Today: A Meeting of Newman and Kline on the Subject of Holiness posted at The Veil Away. Ali presents A sin with a lasting stain. posted at Kiwi and an Emu..
Tiffany Partin presents I Want It My Way posted at Fathom Deep: Sounding the Depths of God. Raffi Shahinian presents Incoherent Ramblings That Might or Might Not Have Something to Say About Jesus and Affirmative Action…You Decide posted at parables of a prodigal world.
simplyeddie presents Shadows of Christ~ The Death of Abel posted at Simple Life In Christ. Erich Bridges presents The stars in their courses posted at CounterCulture.
Steve Mounts presents A Vision of God’s Power posted at Steve Mounts. Allen Scott presents Passports posted at A View from the Nest. Arris Charles presents Anyone Can Balance On Their Head posted at Spirited Ink.
Richard H. Anderson presents Priestly Blessing posted at dokeo kago grapho soi kratistos Theophilos. Michael presents Encouragement posted at Chasing the Wind.
Diane R presents Postmodern Philosophy for the Rest of Us–Part 1 posted at Crossroads: Where Faith and Inquiry Meet. Fr. Joshua Wagner presents Miracle Grow! (Homily for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A) posted at Total Possibility.
Mark Olson presents A Bone To Pick (with my brethren in Christ) posted at Pseudo-Polymath. e-Mom presents Bible Study: Jesus’ Use of Q & A posted at C h r y s a l i s.
Drew Tatusko presents Making Pro-Life Plausible posted at Notes From Off Center. Angela Williams Duea presents Cleaning my spirit house posted at angelawd.
David Porter presents A Boomer in the Pew: “Children of the Living God” - Sinclair Ferguson (Chapter 1c) posted at A Boomer in the Pew. Ken Brown presents Islam, Christianity and the Freedom to Insult posted at C. Orthodoxy. Stephen Hawkins presents Did Christ establish two kinds of churches? posted at Waters to Swim In.
William Meisheid presents Knowing God Study Guide Now Complete posted at Beyond The Rim…. Weekend Fisher presents “Miracles violate the law of nature”–or do they? posted at Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength.
Jeremy Pierce presents Novel Interpretations and Confidence posted at Parableman. Elementaryhistoryteacher presents Reverend: False Elevation or Grammatical Error? posted at Got Bible?.
John presents How to Be a God-Focused Encourager posted at Light Along the Journey. Jot and Tittle presents Confessions of a techno geek… posted at Jot and Tittle.
ChrisB presents The Bible and Capital Punishment posted at Homeward Bound. Heath Countryman presents How Big Is Your Satan? posted at Esprit d’escalier.
Rodney Olsen presents Pushing against the wind posted at RodneyOlsen.net. Henry Michael Imler presents The Jobian Take on Righteousness posted at Theology for the Masses.
Thank you for visiting this hilarious edition of the Christian Carnival! Next week it will be hosted by A True Believer’s Weblog. You may submit your blog post here by Tuesday, July 22, Midnight ET. Technorati Tags: Christian Carnival, humor Love MeansPosted July 11th, 2008 by Jen in family life, religion12 Comments » Have you ever thought about the silliness of the saying “Love means never having to say you’re sorry”? This line from the novel and 1970 film Love Story is baffling, and I pondered this as I contemplated my relationships today. As one who actually over apologizes, does this mean I don’t love? Now, I understand the point of the quote to mean that….well, hmmm, I guess I have no clue what it could mean. Does it mean that if you’ve offended or wronged someone, the best thing to do is just let it pass and ignore it? Sounds like a recipe for disaster in a marriage or any other close relationship. Does it mean that you don’t have to say you’re sorry because you’re so perfect and never offend the one you love? I haven’t seen the movie. Perhaps the quote of “never having to say you’re sorry” was meant to apply to the comatose, the dead, the unborn, the Holy Mother, or Christ himself! Those are the ones who never wrong others. The rest of us, well, I say open your mouth and start talking. From a biblical perspective, we are commanded to repent from our sin, and we all sin, we all hurt others in some way, shape, or form, intentional or unintentional. The essence of a true, heartfelt statement of “I’m sorry” is repentance, hopefully leading to a change in the behavior at issue - a critical factor in our life of faith. “I’m sorry, will you forgive me?” followed by a return of “Yes, I forgive you” — this makes more sense. Can I come up with my own version of this famous love quote?
Well, as often as needed. This would be a good piece of advice to anyone approaching marriage or anyone who has a human relationship - um, all of us. Now go love on someone. Visit Marriage Monday for more blog posts on marriage and relationships. Religious FreedomPosted July 6th, 2008 by Jen in features, history, persecuted church, religion14 Comments »
I don’t promise much better at this point because the topic of religious liberty is so vast and convoluted by bizarre interpretations of the First Amendment that I can’t think straight. I’ve been looking at early original writings on religious liberty, a church history book, and modern writers on the subject. Then there’s the ACLU, the atheists, and the activist judges who muck it all up. Here’s what we all know from the First Amendment:
The horrors of the Old World still near in their minds, the Founders in the New World wanted a fresh approach. The high price of enforced religious conformity, with its untold thousands of martyrs, was the climate in which the Founders were seeking true religious freedom of conscience. I was listening to a Focus on the Family broadcast a few days ago, featuring historian David Barton, in which he talks about the large percentage of people who actually think the term “separation of church and state” appears in the Constitution, and mistake the Founders’ intent for the government to leave people alone in regards to their religion, with some twisted idea of a religion-free public life. Here is an excellent piece on the Founders’ view of religion in public life:
The phase “separation of church and state” comes from a letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Baptist Association, and can be read here in its entirety. In fact, this letter is the only record of Thomas Jefferson ever mentioning this phrase, and none of the other 90 or so men involved in the writing of the Constitution ever talked in terms of a “wall of separation between church and state,” but in the past 50 years, it’s been cited over 3,000 times by the courts, typically to justify the eradication of religious expression from public life. Here’s what’s taken terribly out of context: these Baptists in Danbury, Connecticut were opposed to a “religion clause” even being in the Constitution at all. The reason is because they feared that religious privileges would thus be viewed as “favors granted” from the state, not as inalienable rights. They felt that the government guaranteeing religious liberty was a “degrading acknowledgment” and “inconsistent with the rights of freemen.” Jefferson replies that the Danbury Baptists need not worry, that he completely agrees with them that “religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God.” The assurance of the “wall of separation between Church and State” that Jefferson mentions in this letter is a promise and commitment to this group of Christians that the language of “make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” was simply meant to “restore to man all his natural rights.” Coming from the religious tyranny of England, it’s no wonder the Founders felt a need to be very explicit about religious freedom. I discovered an interesting phrase in this very letter in which the “separation of church and state” is mentioned by Thomas Jefferson. It’s an overlooked phrase, one that has incredible bearing on current events regarding religious liberty and free speech. Are you ready?
Wow. I’ll be discussing Free Speech next week, but for now, I’ll just say that I find it quite ironic that the “separation of church and state” phrase has been latched onto and used mercilessly to eject any and all Christian thought from American public or political discourse, but this phrase has been conveniently disregarded. This phrase, were it made law by the Supreme Court, as has the “separation” phrase, should preclude such religious intolerance and government meddling like telling public schools what prayers they can or can’t say, what language is acceptable and what is not, or telling a private photography company that it violated state law by refusing (for religious reasons) to take a job photographing a lesbian commitment ceremony. Those Danbury Baptists had some very valid concerns and clearly anticipated the religious/political landscape we now call Post-Modern America. I’m grateful for the inclusion of the Establishment Clause, however, America needs a return to the intent of the Founders before her people find themselves again under total religious tyranny at the hands of the government.
Technorati Tags: American Revolution, religious liberty, religious freedom, First Amendment, Establishment Clause Don’t ask for just a few.Posted June 20th, 2008 by Jen in religion10 Comments » I just read an encouraging story of miraculous provision from the hand of God. It’s from my daily Bible reading, and is found in 2 Kings 4:1-7. There is a widow - her husband was a prophet under Elisha. She is desperate because with her husband now dead, and no way to continue payments of his debts, the creditor is making unreasonable and egregious claims for his compensation. He is coming to take away her two sons to be slaves. Aren’t you glad we have laws against this? She turns to the prophet Elisha in her distress, and he gives her some unusual advice - well, for an Old Testament prophet, it’s not at all unusual, those were some veeerrry interesting fellows. Upon discovering that all she has in her entire house, her whole earthly belongings, is a little bit of oil, Elisha directs her:
Enter the miracle. She follows his directions precisely, right down to the shutting of the door. The widow pours and pours into the many jars. Son, give me another jar, she said. Sorry, Mom, that was the last one, says he. Then comes the stunning end of verse 6: “Then the oil stopped flowing.” God provided exactly what she needed. The moment the jars ran out, the oil stopped. She could sell the oil, pay the debts and have enough left over for her and her sons to live on. This story truly sends shivers up my spine. It can be difficult to ask for help, especially for a lot of help. I can imagine perhaps the widow had to set aside her pride and her tendency to say, “neighbor, can I have just a few?” If this was me, that’s what would have happened. But I’m picturing the joy of the entire village, as each member had given much to this family, and they all get to rejoice in the immense provision. What a life lesson! Seek help from wise people, follow God’s precise instructions even if they don’t make sense, and watch the blessings flow. He cares for you. Revisiting Father’s DayPosted June 15th, 2008 by Jen in family life, parenting, religion8 Comments » I was commenting today over at Tipper’s blog, Blind Pig & the Acorn, on her Father’s Day post, and I’m reposting my comment right here, because it’s a good follow up to my previous post. Tipper blogs about her Appalachian heritage, a favorite subject of mine (with my own Appalachian father from the hills of West Virginia), and I’m seeking to reclaim some of those roots. Tipper’s post asked for three random facts about your dad.
p.s. Julie has a blog tag about an “a-ha!” moment you’ve had this week, so this will count as mine! Go check it out and see if you can come up with something, and if you’re reading this and would like to play along, consider yourself “tagged.” And if you also have some things to share about your dad, visit Tipper. Technorati Tags: family life, Father’s Day, Appalachia, fatherless, childhood memories, God, relationships For the Fatherless on Father’s DayPosted by Jen in family life, parenting, religion9 Comments » I am fatherless. On Father’s Day, I celebrate my husband as father of our children. But I’m still reminded that I am fatherless. You say God is my father. I’ve heard many, many sermons about how even if you don’t have an earthly father, God is your heavenly father, and that makes everything right -but I’m still understanding and accepting this concept. It’s an amazing truth, though, and taking hold of God as Abba Father, especially for the earthly fatherless, is powerful and redemptive. Redemptive to the same degree you accept Him as Abba, and lay down your pain, anger, disappointment, and mistrust. Greg Laurie has some great thoughts on this today; you may be blessed to read this. Giving Thanks…for bread and beans…Posted May 29th, 2008 by Jen in family life, religion18 Comments »
Giving thanks today. Iris at Sting My Heart hosts the Thankful Thursday meme, and I thought I’d participate. I actually desperately need to participate today. Forgetting to give thanks to God for His many blessings is a paved road to bitterness, depression, anger, hopelessness, and despair. I’d rather not go there. So, today, I thank the Lord for…. ……the breadmaker my mother-in-law gave me almost 12 years ago, so I could make a fresh loaf this morning, as we are out of bread (dough only cycle is a lifesaver)…. ….the left-over beans and hotdogs from Connie’s BBQ, which she kindly sent home with us, so we could have a nice dinner last night, as we are out of everything…. ….the bag of coffee from Jane, from Christmas, stuffed in the back of the cupboard, discovered in the nick of time this morning, so I could have a nice cuppa joe to start my day, as we are also out of coffee…. ….an email this morning from my sister, Julia, asking me about a creation science children’s show, encouraging because I need to know I’m not alone in this journey…. ….an email this morning from my friend, Julie, inviting our family and a few others on a hike to the Camp Sherman fish hatchery, encouraging because I need fellowship with other believers…. ….the New Hope Church (in Hawaii) website, which has the daily Life Journal reading, so I can keep to a good schedule of Bible reading, as I will die a slow death otherwise…. ….a new family I just met on the side of the road (who randomly stopped to watch Chuck’s cannon shoot), who also homeschool and are also Christians, and live out our way in the country, encouraging because even though I haven’t called the wife yet, just knowing they are there, 5 or 10 minutes away, brings hope…. What are you thankful for today? Technorati Tags: Christianity, relationships, Thankful Thursday The ArtistPosted May 21st, 2008 by Jen in arts & crafts, family life, features, religion9 Comments » My kids were picking up old tin cans on the other side of her field. I watched with some admiration how the owner of the field, a strong, determined looking woman, was quickly moving pipes to irrigate the field for her cattle. I had seen her before on a tractor pulling a plow, and before that digging trenches. An Oregon farm woman, not an unusual sight around here. What I didn’t know was that she was just as accomplished with a paintbrush and oils as she was in handling the workings of an 80 acre ranch. This was Pixie Gullickson, and she’s just as cute and sprightly as her name sounds. I think she’s such a fine artist at least in part because of her full engagement in life and her many interests. She must have a third lens through which she views the world, picking up on the intricacies of nature and the handiwork of the Creator, and before this ever hits the canvas, it comes forth from her heart, gathering expression and spirit as it goes.
I love how Pixie painted this Indian woman in a canoe, which painting hangs regally above her bed, as if on watch through the night. It’s an enormous painting with bold and confident color, and I didn’t even fit it all in here. Her father was half Choctaw, and Pixie’s Native American heritage is evident in much of her work. Scattered throughout her home are many Indian artifacts, arrowhead displays, beads, feathers, leather work. These two paintings I found in her studio, one of a warrior and one of her father: I was able to get Pixie to sit still long enough to answer a few questions for you (a difficult task, I can assure you, as this woman never seems to stop), and I’m sure you’ll enjoy this interview. Jen: What are your earliest memories of art? Was this a childhood interest? Was it a hobby, an artistic outlet, a therapeutic thing?
Jen: Are you self-taught, or have you had any art training?
Jen: What advice would you give to other budding artists regarding how to further their skills?
Jen: I know you work in several mediums, but what is your favorite artistic expression?
Jen: You are very giving and generous; however, you have earned money from your art. How did you begin to establish art as a career, and what advice would you give to a starving artist trying to make his/her way?
Jen: Art can be a powerful tool for ministry. Can you share a testimony about some way that your art has been used to touch someone’s place of need with the love of God?
Thank you, Pixie! Technorati Tags: art ministry, art, nail art, murals, art education, murals, Central Oregon The Intelligent LizardPosted April 28th, 2008 by Jen in humor, religion, science12 Comments »
p.s., the lady of the house was really freaked out to see her little girl’s pet lizard taking over her laptop computer. My sincere apologies and lizardly regrets for causing such a commotion. Well, being so evolved and all, I enjoy the cinema as well as computers, so I’m off to the movies. Technorati Tags: lizards, Creation Science, Intelligent Design, animal humor, Expelled the Movie, Ben Stein’s Expelled Religious Rights of Students in Public EducationPosted April 22nd, 2008 by Jen in education, politics/world news, religion10 Comments » A commenter made a good observation on my previous post about the case of the Wisconsin high school art student receiving a Zero and subsequent detentions for including in his landscape drawing a cross and the lettering “John 3:16.” The student, named as A.P. in a lawsuit against the school district, signed a policy the teacher presented at the beginning of the semester, which “prohibited any violence, blood, sexual connotations or religious beliefs in artwork.” Hmmm, placing religious beliefs alongside and seemingly on the level of violence, blood, and sexual connotations is interesting. Anyway, the comment was this:
Her question got me thinking. A minor can void a legal contract, true. The contract was not binding, but neither should it be meaningless. I don’t think it’s smart to be teaching kids that they can break contracts willy-nilly and be free of all responsibility. HOWEVER, this particular contract…oh boy. This student should have carefully read the contract at the beginning of the class and raised a stink at that point - because on the face of the policy itself is a violation of student rights, as set forth in legal precedent (Tinker v. Des Moines Community School District (1969) which upheld the right of students to wear black armbands in protest of the Vietnam War). Tinker held that the First Amendment did apply to public school students and teachers, and that regulation of student speech in the classroom would be allowed only if there was a constitutionally valid reason, like “substantial interference with school discipline or the rights of others.” A mere desire to avoid controversy is not a valid reason to suppress student expression. Tinker has since been limited by other cases, with the scope of free speech not including indecent speech (Bethel School District v. Fraser) and with school newspapers being regulated (Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier). See also Perry Education Association v. Perry Local Educators Association and Morse v. Frederick. Not only the Tinker case, but a document from the Department of Education, circulated in 2003 (Guidance on Constitutionally Protected Prayer in Public Elementary and Secondary Schools), makes it clear that students have a right to religious expression in the classroom. Here is the relevant portion from that D.O.E. document:
The fact that this “contract” the student in Wisconsin signed was ever conceived and drafted shows not only the ignorance, but the bias, of this teacher/school. There is a lesson here for all students and parents of students in public schools: Know your rights. Because it’s obvious that attempts will be made to violate and undermine your rights, often out of honest ignorance of the law and confusion among school leaders about the religious liberties of students. That Dept. of Education document is a good one to print out and go over carefully with your child. The prevailing anti-religious climate and the extreme, sometimes absurd, secularization of public life doesn’t appear to be letting up, so be on top of the issues and use favorable laws to your advantage while we have them. Vigorously protect religious expression - this is a unique American principle. The point of the First Amendment is to prevent a state-sponsored religion, not to squash religious expression in American public life. It is unjust and unconstitutional to mandate that public schools be religion-free zones. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof … — Religious-liberty clauses, First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Technorati Tags: religious liberty, First Amendment, religious expression, U.S. Constitution, religious freedom, public school It’s a good thing Raphael didn’t attend public school in modern day WisconsinPosted April 19th, 2008 by Jen in arts & crafts, education, history, religion14 Comments »
The Tomah Area School District in Wisconsin has a policy that bans Christian symbols in students’ artwork, leading to a high school student receiving a Zero on his illustration depicting a landscape with a cross and the lettering “John 3:16.” Michelangelo, Raphael, Da Vinci, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Giotto, and the rest of the famous artists who produced the religious masterpieces of the world: I’m forever grateful that you didn’t live in 21st century America where you have to sign away your freedom of religious expression.
Technorati Tags: art history, famous artists, First Amendment, religious expression Be Thou My VisionPosted April 16th, 2008 by Jen in music, religion13 Comments » Do you have a favorite hymn? Linnet’s Nest asked this question, and shared hers. Thank you, Linnet, that was beautiful. I think Linnet should do a podcast sometime so we can all hear the lovely British accent that I know she has. My favorite hymn is Be Thou My Vision. I love the gentleness of the song, woven throughout with a call for God’s constant presence and guiding hand in our lives. This is a traditional Irish hymn, and hands down the best recording I’ve ever heard is performed by Van Morrison. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find this on YouTube, so I’ve presented here Fernando Oretega’s version. While it is still moving, the man is clearly not Irish, as Van Morrison is, and somehow I just like to hear an Irish man sing a traditional Irish song. You can find Van Morrison’s Be Thou My Vision on his CD Hymns to the Silence. When we homechurch, we always play Van’s version and sing with him - my kids love it, we love it, and I’ll bet you would be moved. But here is Fernando Ortega with Be Thou My Vision: Are you happy or are you holy?Posted April 7th, 2008 by Jen in family life, religion12 Comments » Marriage: For Happiness or Holiness? This is the topic for the Marriage Monday group writing project over at Chrysalis. I admit I really didn’t know where to begin on this topic because I was a little confused; I had never considered this view of marriage as either/or, but as both or none. Happiness and Holiness in marriage are certainly not mutually exclusive. I had to ask e-Mom over at Chrysalis what she was getting at. Well, once I figured out that there’s a book out there by a gentleman named Gary Thomas called Sacred Marriage with the subtitle “What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?”, it all made sense. I haven’t read the book, so I can’t presume to know all of Mr. Thomas’ basic premises. However, I did find an old article he published in Christianity Today (1999) in which he addressed the exact subject:
This cleared things right up. Why an entire book needs to be written when these four paragraphs would do… But like I said, I haven’t read the book, and I feel this way about nearly all self-help books, not just this one. IF happiness in this discussion is a selfish, inwardly focused, pleasure-seeking state of mind, and holiness is that state in which we are growing in the character of Christ, then this is an easy discussion. It seems that a self-focused happiness (what will make ME feel good) is in opposition to true humility. Humility is that holy quality of being free from pride, being intent on serving our spouse and meeting his/her needs, considering the other above ourself. So, yes, marriage should be more about working toward holiness than happiness. IF, however, happiness in this discussion is a mutual feeling you share with your spouse, as in, “we have such a happy marriage,” or a joint sense with your spouse of contentment, joy, and pleasure in your marriage, then this seems to be a holy thing in itself. And it seems silly to try to put this happiness in juxtaposition with holiness, because the two are working together like two parts of a body, just as the scriptures command. Happiness or holiness? I’ll take both, please. Five Year Old’s Solution to HellPosted April 4th, 2008 by Jen in family life, parenting, religion22 Comments » Aloha, it’s Friday! My fun question for you today is this:
Here is my answer, from a very amusing incident last week: Now that JoJo has turned 5, she is very smart. Perhaps she will go straight from kindergarten to seminary, for, you see, she has solved the problem of hell. We listened to Matthew ch. 5 today, and afterward I asked the kids what they thought. JoJo said it was a little bit scary - the part about someone’s whole body being cast into hell (v. 30). The fires, the eternal burning - even theologians have a difficult time understanding this concept. Is this real? Is hell a metaphor? But no matter, like I said, JoJo is very smart, and she had a solution:
Do you have a great “out of the mouths of babes” moment? I’d love to hear it, leave me a comment! (You can visit An Island Life for more Aloha Friday participants.) Technorati Tags: children, Christianity, faith, God, hell, heaven Christian Carnival CCXVII: Attributes of God EditionPosted March 26th, 2008 by Jen in carnivals, religion11 Comments » Welcome to the Christian Carnival CCXVII: Attributes of God Edition! I am honored to present such an expansive and quality array of posts this week. I’ve arranged the posts around several attributes of God, using the wonderful little book Praying the Attributes of God by Rosemary Jensen (former director Bible Study Fellowship International) as my guide. I hope you’ll find some encouragement and insight here as we examine the character of God and read various spiritual thoughts from each of the authors below. 1. God is Accessible Deuteronomy 4:7: What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? Ephesians 3:12: In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
2. God is Creator Genesis 1:1: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Hebrews 3:4: Every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.
3. God is Eternal Isaiah 40:28: The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. Revelation 4:8: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.
4. God is Faithful Genesis 28:15: I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you. 1 Peter 4:19: Those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
5. God is Good Psalm 34:8: Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Matthew 7:11: If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
6. God is our Guide Psalm 23:2-3: He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. John 16:13: When he, the Spirit of Truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
7. God is Holy Leviticus 19:2: Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” 1 John 1:5: This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, in him there is no darkness at all.
8. God is Impartial Deuteronomy 10:17: The Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. Acts 10:34-35: I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.
9. God is Immutable Psalm 33:11: The plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. Romans 11:29: God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.
10. God is Jealous Exodus 34:14: Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. Ezekiel 39:25: This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will now bring Jacob back from captivity and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name.
11. God is Just Proverbs 17:3: The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart. 1 John 1:9: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
12. God is Love Isaiah 38:17: Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back. Romans 5:8: God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
13. God is Merciful 2 Samuel 14:14: Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him. 1 Peter 5:10: The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
14. God is Provider Psalm 23:5-6: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Luke 22:35: Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?” “Nothing,” they answered.
15. God is Savior Deuteronomy 32:39: I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand. 1 Corinthians 1:18: The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
16. God is Wise Daniel 2:20-22: Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. Ephesians 3:10: His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.
Technorati Tags: blog carnival, Christian Carnival, Christianity, faith Christ is Risen, Happy Easter!Posted March 23rd, 2008 by Jen in persecuted church, politics/world news, religion1 Comment » Easter blessings to you all! Today I celebrate the reason I can live. Here is some wonderful news out of Italy, a Muslim converts to Christianity.
I will pray for Allam, and many like him, who has already received death threats from Hamas, and he now faces additional danger, as converting from Islam is apostasy and punishable by death. Though killings are rare, Islamic legal doctrine does call for the death penalty for rejecting Islam. Peace of Christ to you on this blessed Easter. HT to Crunchy Con Good Friday and Call for SubmissionsPosted March 21st, 2008 by Jen in blog stuff, carnivals, family life, holidays, religion1 Comment » I trust your Good Friday was good. This year, my little JoJo had her birthday on Good Friday. She enjoyed a happy celebration with many friends. As for me, I just loved all the moms who came and I basked in the rare opportunity to fellowship with all these ladies at once.
Here’s a verse that caught my eye as I thought about Good Friday, the day we commemorate the Crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I thought this was an appropriate response for believers; as Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice, we can respond with a sacrifice of thanks. What struck me about this scripture was that our thank offerings help pave the way for our salvation! Having a thankful heart, a constant spirit of gratitude, is honoring to God and critical to our eternity. I’m hosting the upcoming Christian Carnival, and I hope you’ll consider submitting an article. You can click here to submit your post. This carnival publishes on March 26, and I need your submissions by Midnight Eastern Time on Tuesday, March 25. Here are two past Christian Carnivals I have hosted, if you’d like to see the format: Christian Carnival 189: Dietrich Bonhoeffer Edition Have a blessed Easter.
Technorati Tags: birthday party, blog carnival, Good Friday, Christian Carnival A Fast from AskingPosted March 17th, 2008 by Jen in family life, parenting, religion5 Comments »
I am worn down to raw nerves from everlasting requests for a glass of water, more apples, a new spoon because mine fell on the floor, my clothes because I’m too lazy to go upstairs and get them myself, a certain book, a new train, a bike, a bunny, a horse. Times four. We’ve somehow gotten into a very bad habit of asking for things, often without even thinking or without having a great need. Just because. I know it could be much worse. The kids don’t watch TV (just videos) and so are spared the incessant barrage of commercials. They don’t attend a regular school so they have a reprieve from coveting the latest styles and gadgets of their classmates. However, because we humans are selfish by nature, we still have to battle the Stuff Monster. So, I gathered the children and explained that we would spend the next two days REFRAINING from ASKING for anything, save for the bare necessities of life. Like, I need some toilet paper in the bathroom. I explained to the kids that it’s become a bad habit, that it’s wearing me out, and that it goes against God’s words about not being gluttonous, greedy, materialistic, selfish, and covetous. They all listened attentively. My six year old daughter had just one question: What will we get if we do this? AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHH!
Technorati Tags: children, Christianity, fasting, greed, materialism A Three Year Old and a FishPosted March 13th, 2008 by Jen in family life, religion16 Comments »
But it was all just too much. As you can see, that’s enough food for several schools. I happened upon the bathroom today, and the betta fish was lying on her side (my daughter just knows it’s a girl), and only the faintest twitch told me she was still alive, but quickly approaching her final moments. The boy had found his opportunity. He was soundly disciplined and we await the moment when “your father gets home.” The real details emerged from my four-year-old daughter. I thought the curious child just really wanted to feed the fish. But, he must have spilled his guts to his other sister, because she tattled confided to me the terrible truth. “He was trying to catch the fish, and he couldn’t, so he got mad and dumped in the food and some soap.” Oh, how my heart sank. Not just an innocent mistake, but acting in anger. We’ll be having some earnest discussions over here, dealing with controlling our anger, true repentance, forgiveness, and asking God to change our hearts. What a wonderful, terrible, teachable moment. In the meantime, my precious, mourning daughter had me record her memories:
Technorati Tags: betta fish, children, fish, fish food, death of pet, teachable moment Is this a Christian song or a coffee commercial?Posted March 12th, 2008 by Jen in music, religion4 Comments » This is a poignant song by some very talented ladies, but darn it, I mistake it for a Folger’s commercial every time. I thought it was just me. But I confessed to my husband this evening that Point of Grace was sounding like an old coffee jingle, like…, “Folgers,” he finished my sentence. It’s the first lines that get me - one of Folger’s commercials starts with “Every day I wake up,” and Point of Grace (How You Live) says “Wake up to the sunlight.” That wake up part, with the same sort of rhythm and feel, and suddenly I’m grabbing for that second cup.
Technorati Tags: coffee, commercial, Folger’s Coffee, How You Live, Point of Grace, Folger’s coffee commercial, Christian music, TV jingle My TestimonyPosted March 11th, 2008 by Jen in religion12 Comments » Can I get a witness? I’ve created my own little “meme” and it’s about the most important subject to me, my faith in God and life in Christ. More than anything, I like to hear people’s stories of their faith journey - their testimony. Here is a bit of mine, and, if you’d like to share yours, too, just use this template and fill in your own answers. Leave me a comment and let me know if you participate, I’d love to read everyone’s! 1. When did you become a Christian?
2. Was there anyone instrumental in your decision to be a Christian?
3. Were there any difficulties to overcome in your early walk with God?
4. How did your life change after committing yourself to Christ?
5. Do you have a favorite Bible verse?
6. What does it mean for you today to be a Christian?
7. Any last words?
I’m randomly “tagging” some bloggers to do this meme, but if you’re reading this, consider yourself tagged! Chrysalis By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. John 15:8 Technorati Tags: Christianity, God, habits, testimony, witness A Habit of PeacePosted February 26th, 2008 by Jen in religion9 Comments »
The ever-present worry, knots in my stomach, and uneasiness of late have become like a tiresome, old friend. I strangely cling to them out of familiarity and a bizarre sense of duty to hold onto them. If I let go of these worrisome habits, will I be doomed? Not worrying equals sure ruin, in my twisted mind. How does one come to such a warped understanding? For me, It’s partly the result of being continually let down as a child, so to hope for good things meant they surely would not come to pass.
I need to retrain my mind to diligently run after peace. How do habits get formed, anyway? I suppose by performing the same action over and over. The amount of mental will-power required to retrain your mind is enormous! Truly, only with God’s help is this possible.
I noticed yesterday, even after some situations had been resolved, that I still had residue of worry over the very thing — it was there from habit only. A great big light bulb went off in my head! I was never trained in the habit of peace — which is ultimately a complete trust in God and his love for you. I’ll be instructing myself in the habit of peace by doing a few things:
Grace and Peace to you, my friends.
The Sun Broke ThroughPosted February 15th, 2008 by Jen in family life, poetry, religion4 Comments »
The Sun Broke Through The sun broke through, we must find a trail, photo: our property (can you see the jackrabbit in the center?)
Grapes of Abundance: 13 ThoughtsPosted February 7th, 2008 by Jen in family life, religion14 Comments »
1. I should expect God’s provision. We are trying to wrap up our house project, and there is the stress and strain of all the elements of time, money, and labor having the essential collaboration and timing. I will trust in His abundant supply. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, he clothes the flowers, and consider the birds… 2. Aside from raw supplies, I can trust God to provide for my spiritual needs, in abundance! His Joy, Peace, Comfort, Eternal Security, and so much more. I can’t live without these resources. I woke up feeling very spiritually at rest, a contrast from the past month of intense worry and anxiety. 3. It’s interesting that the first immense cluster of grapes I saw was in my husband’s strong hand. As the main financial provider and spiritual head of our household, this makes sense. I had a fleeting thought in my dream of “I don’t know if I could hold up that huge bunch of grapes.” But he could. 4. My husband and I have a dream of cultivating a small vineyard on our property - the property in question. It’s interesting that the grapes appeared in my dream, as it to say, “We are coming!” 5. I did a quick search on grapes this morning, and unbelievably, I found an article titled, “Cornell Names New Wine Grape ‘Abundance.’” Can you believe? I live in Central Oregon, not exactly wine country, but there are a handful of vineyards. And this grape, ‘Abundance,’ was named for its productivity, makes a good red wine, and is disease resistance and winter hardy. Sounds exactly like what we would need to survive our harsh winters. 6. The presence of the younger brother in the dream - perhaps he has a share in this abundance, either monetary or spiritual? 7. There were grapes not only in my husband’s hand, but also in the sack the brother was reaching into, and the abundance of such was evident; this was more than we would ever use for just ourselves. 8. Grapes in the Bible symbolize charity; we have always prayed that we could be a blessing to others in significant ways. 9. The new wine that is embodied in grapes denotes a blessing. From Isaiah 65:8: Thus says the LORD: “As the new wine is found in the cluster, And one says, ‘Do not destroy it, For a blessing is in it,’ So will I do for My servants’ sake, That I may not destroy them all.” 10. Like Pharaoh’s dream of seven fat cows and seven healthy ears of grain, perhaps this dream signifies the beginning of the years of plenty, and the rest has not yet been revealed. 11. The first verse that pops into my head about abundance is this: Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34). What is in the heart is the crucial issue. 12. Along those lines of the heart, another telling scripture on abundance, from Proverbs 20:15 - There is gold, and an abundance of jewels; But the lips of knowledge are a more precious thing. “Lips of knowledge” speak to me of wisdom; speaking wisely, acting wisely. 13. I’m so thankful for my dreams! I love looking for the nuances, the possible meanings, and just the richness of dreams. They are sometimes common, with no meaning at all, but sometimes extraordinary and vividly colored messages from God. Works For Me: FaithPosted January 30th, 2008 by Jen in carnivals, religion3 Comments » Welcome to another edition of Works For Me Wednesday - see the complete list of entries HERE. What works for me is Faith. Have you tried it? It moves mountains, heals sickness, and changes lives. Sounds too good to be true. Where can you find this faith thing, you say? The good news: you don’t have to climb to the top of a mountain in Tibet, chant, do yoga, or drink a detoxifier. The other news: you must believe that God can do what He says He can do. Well, even the demons believe, so you must actually go beyond belief. What is beyond belief? FAITH! What works for me is a faith that makes me act like I believe God. One thing that means is not circumventing the details of the situation to get to the faith goal. God tells you, “Have faith that I will accomplish X.” If, like Abraham and Sara, you decide that “I must do A, B, and C to make sure that X happens,” that is not faith, and will bring a lifetime of painful consequences. Surely you remember Ishmael. But, if you have faith like the Roman Centurion who believed that Jesus would heal his servant, even from a distance, just with His words, you have the kind of faith that brings this response: “I have not found such great faith, no, not in all Israel!” (Luke ch. 7, Matthew ch. 8). Disturbing images to stop the whining?Posted January 22nd, 2008 by Jen in family life, parenting, religion7 Comments » Am I just a twisted mother to do such a thing? My son had been whiiinnnning all morning about doing his math. With no apologies, I told him he simply must learn how to do subtraction with renaming. It’s an arithmetic skill that’s a necessity in life. He continued with the mournful complaints mixed in with tears. I talked to him about being thankful - what we all resort to at some point, right? Look, we have a warm house, clothes to wear, food to eat, a wonderful family….and the privilege of learning math. So suck it up. My rational words didn’t even make a dent in the laments. So, I took my strategy to the next level. I did a Google search for “pictures of starving children.” Oh, yes I did. I made him look. First, he just cried all the harder at the disturbing images. You do the search and see what comes up. But at least these tears were justified. Children in Sudan, naked, bones protruding, crawling in the sand to find bugs to eat. “Mom, I’m going to have nightmares!” I panicked. Had I gone too far? However, he grew quiet, the tears subsided, and he soon carried on with the borrowing and subtracting. I certainly don’t want to make light of the situation in Africa and elsewhere, and just because I used it to my advantage to shock my boy into being thankful, I hope that doesn’t make me a shameless and unscrupulous mother. Does it? I would be shameless and unscrupulous if I brought out pictures of starving children every time my kid whined, and only when my kid whined. But if the approach is to bring world calamities and injustices to the forefront of our comfortable lives on a regular basis, regardless of the children’s current temperament, and for the purpose of compassion and consciousness, then I really think it’s okay. And if you need a boost in the math department every once in a while… Christian Carnival: Renaissance EditionPosted January 16th, 2008 by Jen in carnivals, religion17 Comments »
Welcome to the 207th Christian Carnival, the Renaissance Edition! Renaissance comes from the French, meaning “rebirth.” What a fitting word for a Christian! This period of European history spanned roughly from the 14th-17th centuries, but the 15th and 16th centuries best represent the Renaissance. Life in the Renaissance by Marzieh Gail is a fascinating look at this cultural movement, and left me with several impressions of Renaissance Life. I’ll do my best to arrange our posts this week according to these central themes. There is no way to cover the vast details of the Renaissance in this small space, but I hope your interest is piqued and you study further.
Beyond the Rim presents Thinking Christians? Are you a thinking Christian? If so, consider yourself a rare person in the modern world in which we live. This post touches on that problem, which just about guarantees almost no one will read it. ;-) Crossroads presents A Review of Everything Must Change-Part 5: This is the last in a series reviewing and comparing the books, “Street Saints” and Brian McLaren’s new book, “Everything Must Change.” The Veil Away presents What It’s All About: I will tell you right now what “it’s all about”–the thing that human life is about, and without which you may be human but you are certainly not alive. I will tell you simply and I will tell you shortly. JR Madill at Theology for the Masses presents Creating a Universe of Certainty, or, If You Remove Reason, You Remove Doubt (Part 2 of 2) Notes From Off-Center presents What if Belief in God is Just a Delusion After All…What Then? Let’s say that “God” is a poisonous and vile belief in itself - a problem to the degree that it is the very source of most, or at least an awful lot, of human harm in the world. And let’s also humbly admit that it is a mass delusion reinforced by socio-political groups called religions. What is the suggested solution to treating people with this delusional belief? A Frank Review presents BoC’s Watershed Moment: After 9-11, the term “fundamentalist” has taken on new connotations. Need Christians and other religions be concerned about the public perception of what it means to be a fundamentalist?
Henry Michael Imler at Theology for the Masses presents Question of the Day: The Naked Truth: What is one “truth” that is not a) contextual, or b) discovered/conditioned through experience inside a particular culture? Observation and Principles presents In the Beginnning, Jesus: I wonder if John 1:1-4 is describing who Jesus was in the beginning, at creation? Dokeo kago grapho soi kratistos Theophilos presents Last Harvest: For the last harvest, the churches will need to re-tool their marketing.
Homeward Bound presents Prosperity Preachers Consistent: As we hear the stories of opulent homes and antique-adorned offices, we should remember that this is exactly what they teach. Tom Fuerst at Theology for the Masses presents Contra-Dispensationalism: The White Horse in Revelation 6: Contrary to this popular interpretation, though, this figure in chapter 6 is hardly some eschatological anti-messiah. This figure really is the actual Messiah, Jesus Christ. He comes forth to conquer, but does not do so with violence – again, the lack of arrows in his bow. Enigmania presents Genesis 3: The post is about the story of the Fall, which seems literally fabulous nowadays (whence, via Aesop’s Fables, the connection with the Renaissance), but I feel that the earliest Monotheistic account of Creation ought to have some deeper meaning, and so I wonder what that could be. Royally Redeemed presents Way 2: Life Savers: Discipline and self control are crucial in the life of a Christian. These are the very things that force us to crucify our flesh, because if we are going to talk the talk of a Christian, we must walk the walk of a Christian. C.Orthodoxy presents Of Sin and Judgment: I had a dream last night: A man finds himself in a dark place. There are skeletons lining the walls around him, each bearing a name and a list of sins. And finally, a few quotes from Life in the Renaissance that seemed to fit with particular posts.
Bounded Irrationality presents Heaven is better than a story: Does Heaven seem boring to you? Do you make comments like “I don’t want to be sitting on a cloud playing a harp for eternity”? Perhaps as a Christian, Heaven just seems good in comparison to Hell. If that’s your perspective I’d suggest you think about why Heaven is better than a story.
An Accidental Blog presents A Fox in sheep’s clothing? Matthew Fox’s creation-centred spirituality.
Principled Discovery presents Student, Interrupted: How universities are treating the mentally ill. Well, they’re certainly not giving them red wine and spice; read this post to find out more.
The Evangelical Ecologist presents 10 Tough Psalms for Worship Songs: Even Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, or Darlene Zschech would have a tough time with these.
Nerd Family presents the Everything Skit. A musical drama.
Healing Through Words presents Am I the Only One? This is a quick article about how everything is sold to us. Logical Consistency presents Nicaragua’s Bravery: Recently, the Associated Press wrote a twisted report on Nicaragua’s new abortion ban. Cramer Comments presents American Idolatry: So, I missed last night’s premiere of American Idol. I hope to miss the rest of the season as well…
Weekend Fisher presents Old Testament, Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh? Weekend Fisher considers the current controversy over the name of the earlier books of the Bible and how the conversation provides chances to explain Christ to the world. Tidbits and Treasures presents Changing Our Thought Pattern: We should be going to the Word to see what our thoughts should be. Psuedo-Polymath presents For The Christian Blogger: A prayer for blogging.
Alexander Marlin presents Do You Know if You’re a Loving Parent?
Parableman presents Moderate Deontology and the Problem of Evil: One kind of defense against the problem of evil seems to require an undesirable ethical theory. This post responds to that difficulty. Thank you for visiting the Christian Carnival: Renaissance Edition. Next week’s edition will be hosted by Chasing the Wind, and you may submit your post HERE. I Really Like Homeschooling, I Just Want Someone Else to Do It For MePosted January 14th, 2008 by Jen in education, family life, parenting, religion, the office10 Comments » There are days, there are seasons to be sure, when a homeschooling parent has a tough spell. After spending a week investigating a local fine arts charter school, a private Christian school, and homeschool co-op options, I’m back to where I started. At home. My many conflicting commitments have sent me into a tailspin. With pressing financial obligations that require me to leave Homeschool Fantasy Land, I’ve seriously looked at my options. How can I homeschool and run a business? When I can’t afford outside tutors, how do I teach my kids in the disciplines in which I’m not equipped, like music, but which are very important to me? Can’t someone else do this for me? I did what I have to do in cases of extreme distress: I called Catherine. I look upon her as my Homeschool Mentor-Mom Mentor-Wife Mentor, and she’s always the one to help me readjust my perspective. She gave me a real talkin’ to this time. She’s not one to say, “Oh, honey, you poor thing, I feel for you.” It’s more like, “Are you even thankful for what you have? You are where you are, now work with it.” I complained about not being able to afford private music lessons, and how, unlike her, I don’t have 10 years of music training in the French conservatories. “You can listen to CDs of classical music, can’t you?” I grumbled about having to work at our family business. “Do you know how many people would die to have a family business? To have that opportunity to teach their kids a life skill at their side?” I groused about feeling inadequate. “Jennifer, I would say that about some people, but never you. You’re intelligent, educated, and love the Lord.” However, she maintained that all my education and degrees may actually hinder me, as I’m tempted to reproduce an educational institution in my home. Her main point, as she talked, and I humbly listened, was that God has our family where He has our family. She is adamant about just living life with your children, and learning as you go. Her style is much more un-schooling than mine, and her children are so bright and lovely and competent. “You just need to ask the Lord, how do I accomplish this? will You please provide what I need?” she asserted. Nothing has changed about my situation. I still have to find a way to spend several hours a day working on the business; I still have to buckle down and really stretch myself on the music education; I still don’t have anybody to pass my kids off to; I still don’t have any more money than I did a week ago. However, I’ve regained a little bit of the mind of Christ, which was lost over the past month of holiday insanity. The mind of Christ seems to be telling me to chill out. Chill out and educate my children one day at a time. “Why do you homeschool?” Catherine had pointedly asked me. Oh, yeah. It affords us the opportunity to bring up our kids as children of God. It empowers our family to grow together in ways that we can direct. It enables me to take advantage of those daily moments where training happens, moments I can even set up in advance to teach my children life lessons on character and friendship. And homeschooling, perhaps most importantly, ensures that my children are not trapped in an artificial construct, but are learning to live a real life in the real world. Okay, I’ll do it. No guns, oh, and no free speech on public transitPosted January 1st, 2008 by Jen in education, politics/world news, religion5 Comments » The Texas woman who was kicked off the Forth Worth, Texas public transportation system “T” bus this past Saturday - was she concealing a weapon, endangering passengers with violent behavior, or selling drugs? No, she was reading her Bible to her children, enroute to church. Public Transportation is rife with problems. Last April in St. Paul, Minnesota, the city saw a 16 year old shot and killed while a passenger on the Metro Transit bus. In November, a 71 year old man was brutally beaten with a baseball bat in Gresham, Oregon by a 15 year old gang member at the MAX public transit station. Just two weeks ago in Baltimore, a 14 year old boy was shot and wounded on a Maryland Transit bus. And here’s just two paragraphs from the Baltimore Sun article to give you a taste of the real problems facing public transportation in major cities:
So don’t give me this flap about a lady reading the Bible on the bus. Is there nothing more interesting happening in Fort Worth, and the terribly bored bus drivers must resort to throwing off Bible reading mothers? According to MyFox Dallas-Fort Worth, the woman kicked off the bus, Christine Lutz, sees this as a clear case of religious persecution. Lutz told FOX 4 that she was sitting in the back of the bus, not being disruptive, and reading to her children from the Bible. She said she was stunned when the bus driver asked her to stop reading her Bible. Lutz responded, “No, I’m reading the Bible, I’m teaching the kids, I’m going to continue.” Before she knew it, the bus had pulled over, and she and her kids were escorted into a supervisor’s van and driven the remainder of the way to church. Now, as a homeschooling mom, I’m quite familiar with teaching on the go. In the van on the way to Cub Scouts, along the grocery aisles, in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, in line at the Post Office. I’m always teaching, reading the kids a story, answering questions. When dealing with children, animation is often required. I’ve surely annoyed some people along the way. However, the person waiting in line behind me to get his package shipped has no constitutional right to not be annoyed by my teaching. And I have a right to free speech. So does the obnoxious person shipping that package talking at full volume on his cell phone. So does the mother reading the Bible to her children on the public transit system. Officials at the Fort Worth T (Trinity Railway Express) claim that their treatment of Lutz had nothing to do with the content of what she was reading, but that she was simply too loud. They point to signs on the bus warning against playing radios and loud behavior. “If she were reading Moby Dick or reciting the Pledge of Allegiance or reading anything else, the same thing would have occurred,” said bus representative Joan Hunter. Really, Joan, does everyone sit in complete silence on the Fort Worth T? Perhaps I’ll try riding the T and read Winnie the Pooh to my children and see if I get thrown off. Given that not a single passenger had complained, this story is pretty weak. Given the real, bona fide problems facing mass transit systems in large cities, like thieves, gangs, and drug dealers, it’s clear to this blogger that the bus driver was in fact engaging in a form of religious persecution. Or maybe just an extremely low annoyance tolerance level. This woman deserves the public apology she is seeking. Happy New Year!Posted December 28th, 2007 by Jen in family life, holidays, religion2 Comments » Since I missed wishing you all a Merry Christmas, here’s a Happy New Year wish! My family and I have returned from being out of town for five days, celebrating Christmas with family.
I wish for you a new year full of peace, love, joy and good health. I wish for you to meet some goals, climb new mountains, courageously cross some valleys, and enjoy quiet moments of solitude. I wish for you to strengthen your family ties, find new ways to support your loved ones, and most of all, to honor God in everything you do. Did you have a joyful Christmas? I hope so. I know Christmas can be a difficult time for many people. Perhaps you’re away from your family, perhaps estranged, perhaps separated by war or death or disease. No matter what the circumstances, the bottom line of Christmas is about the birth of a Savior, the amazing Christ, who at the end of it all, brings victory over every single situation. I trust that you’ll allow Him to bring you victory in the coming year. My Homecoming DreamPosted December 1st, 2007 by Jen in family life, religion11 Comments » In my dream, I was walking down the familiar dirt road with my sister. We’re not twins, but being just 13 months apart, we were often mistaken for such. Nearly always together as children, it was natural to have her beside me in my sleep. Even in my dream, I tensed, knowing that every other dream that began this way ended in terror. But she and I continued down the road, toward our childhood home. I understood the place would be different before the house came into sight. It’s that uncanny way that even in a dream, you bear some kind of consciousness. I knew we were returning after a long absence. We turned into the drive, two little sisters, poor waifs, unkempt. I expected the house to be different, but wasn’t prepared for what seemed to be a mirage, an oasis, a mansion in the desert. It was beautiful. Gone was the shack with the corrugated iron walls and dirt floor, gone were the tumbleweeds and cactus, gone was the shame. In their place was a strong fortress of a home and something definitely good. As we approached, I saw an old couple at the door, who warmly and lovingly welcomed us. “We’ve been expecting you, and your other sister has just arrived ahead of you.” I looked, and there was my older sister, already entering this enchanting place, at her husband’s side. I saw her as I remembered her from childhood, full of spirit and life. My attention was drawn to the door. So big, made of such fine wood, that I stopped to admire it. My other sisters must have gone on to their destinies, because suddenly I was by myself. I was overwhelmed by the beauty of my surroundings. I truly hadn’t expected this. Was the warmth coming from the fireplace? Or perhaps the floor? I fell to my knees, again noticing the grain of the wood in the floor planks. Such remarkable wood, the most extraordinary quality. Sobbing, I think I was overcome with redemption. Later, I was outside at the back of the house, enjoying the view of the lovely green grass. I had always wanted grass as a child. I dreamt this dream last night. All of the hundreds of other dreams I’ve had about my childhood were meant to torment me. But, God is merciful. There was no fear, only love and beauty. A little girl’s nightly prayer of “God, please don’t let me have nightmares” was finally answered. I don’t understand the timing or the reason, but I gratefully receive. Book Review: The Heavenly ManPosted November 27th, 2007 by Jen in book reviews, china, persecuted church, religion6 Comments » The Heavenly Man: the remarkable true story of Chinese Christian Brother Yun The story of Brother Yun is inspiring, painful, seemingly incredulous, and certainly in season. The Heavenly Man details the life and ministry of this Christian house church leader in his own words, also interwoven with accounts from his wife, Deling. A large portion of the book describes the countless ordeals of intense torture that would kill any man, but these reports are offset by Yun’s testimonies of miraculous healings, visions, dreams, and many other supernatural events. In fact, that is the theme of the book: with great persecution, the Church will see the miraculous hand of God and will grow. Brother Yun, Liu Zhenying was his given name, was born in 1958 in Nanyang in the southern part of China’s Henan Province. He spent his childhood in a farming village of 600 people, in a little mud house with a straw roof. He worked the fields like most poor children, along with his four siblings, and received little schooling. China became a communist nation in 1949 and thus Brother Yun was born into a spiritual and political climate that was void of all Christian fellowship and Bibles were nowhere to be seen. Mao Tsetung (Zedong) ushered in communism and death; his policies of the suppression of counter-revolutionaries centered on mass executions, and Mao himself claimed to have killed 700,000 during the early years of his founding of the People’s Republic of China. However, the U.S. State Department puts the number at several times that amount. Not only were Christian missionaries and their Chinese converts slaughtered, Mao targeted the leaders of the former government, former employees of Western companies, rural gentry, and anyone whose loyalty was suspect. His policies of forced collective ownership, including a ban on all private food production and a ban on private land ownership, led to what is thought to be the largest famine in history, resulting in the deaths of tens of millions of Chinese peasants between 1959 and 1962. Brother Yun reports that in his Henan Province 8 million people starved to death. In 1974, Brother Yun was 16 years old. His entire family became Christians overnight when his father was healed of cancer. Yun’s mother, who had heard the gospel in the 1940s from a Western missionary, had become a Christian, but in the ensuing decades of Mao’s dictatorship, was spiritually starved. However, this one night when her husband lay dying, she heard a voice say, “Jesus loves you.” She immediately recognized the voice of God, and told her children that “Jesus is the only hope for Father.” They all prayed throughout the night, and by the next week their father was completely healed. Yun relates that this was such a powerful event in his family’s life that today, over 30 years after Jesus healed his father, all five of his children still follow God. Yun’s mother couldn’t remember much of the Bible, but she told all she knew to her family. Yun began to long to read the words of God for himself, but this was during the Cultural Revolution when Bibles were scarce. People were allowed to read only Mao’s little Red Book, and if caught with a Bible, it would be burned and the owner would be publicly and severely beaten, along with his entire family. A most curious series of events followed, as Brother Yun, a mere 16 years old, began to fast and pray for a Bible, such was his passion to read God’s word. He had a vision one night, in which two strangers gave him a bun of fresh bread, which they pulled from a red bag, and upon putting it in his mouth, it turned into a Bible. His mother and father were afraid their son had gone mad, as Yun frantically searched the house for a Bible. But lo and behold, a knock came to the door, and the same two men from Yun’s vision were waiting there, and slipped through the door the same red bag, which contained a Bible. Yun later finds out that these two men were sent by an evangelist from a far off village, who had received a vision from the Lord instructing him to give his Bible, hidden underground for safekeeping, to a certain young man. This young man was Brother Yun, and despite having only three years of education, began reading his Bible, one character at a time with a dictionary at his side. After reading through the whole Bible, Yun memorized entire chapters at a time. Within the first month, he memorized the Book of Matthew, and then on to the Book of Acts. During this time, Brother Yun received another visitation from the Lord. He felt a tap on his shoulder and heard a voice tell him “Yun, I am going to send you to the west and south to be my witness.” Yun started preaching at age 16, and because no one had a Bible, his preaching consisted mostly of reciting the books of the Bible that he had memorized. People would stay up all night just to hear him speak, because they too longed to hear the Word of God. Within that first year of preaching in neighboring villages, Brother Yun led over 2,000 people to Jesus. Persecution was immediate. All of the new Christians in the first village where he spoke were arrested and beaten. Yun’s name was on the Public Security Bureau’s “Wanted” list because of his evangelizing. Soon after, Yun was married to Deling, through the matchmaking of their mothers. She is a lovely Christian woman and shares parts of this amazing story as well. She recounts the story of her and Yun going to the marriage registry office to apply for their marriage license. After waiting a long time, Yun didn’t come out.
The pressure against Brother Yun and other Chinese Christian house church leaders mounted, and the torture and abuse at the hands of the Chinese police and other government officials is unspeakable. In his 23 years of ministering in China, Brother Yun and his family were continually on the run, he was imprisoned three different times for a total of seven years, and yet people came to Jesus by the thousands. Woven throughout the most intense scenes of torture is always the strong presence of God. Yun shares many personal accounts of divine healings, people being delivered from demons, and other miracles. During his first imprisonment, Brother Yun survived a 74 day fast. His second time in prison, the PSB beat his legs so badly that he was crippled, yet he walked out the front doors of the prison and escaped. Yun describes that escape of May 5, 1997, walking past guards and through open gates:
After many trials and long periods of agonizing separation from his family, Brother Yun finally escaped China and now lives in Germany with his family. The last several chapters of The Heavenly Man are his reflections on the Western church as well as a description of his new focus on the Back to Jerusalem movement. I understand why many people are deeply moved by this book. Reading about a man a world away who has to beg, pray, and fast for months just to get his hands on a Bible, while I have ten on my shelf, makes me a bit uncomfortable. Brother Yun has some sharp words for the Western church:
I’m trying to keep perspective here, because I realize that different nations have different battles and their own unique burdens, and it’s not always fair to make direct comparisons. However, Brother Yun’s experiences in China have much to teach us in the West. Brother Yun’s incredible ordeals in China have led him to a deep desire for not only Chinese brothers and sisters to know Jesus, but all the world. In chapter 24 of The Heavenly Man, Yun describes the Silk Roads, key trading routes that first brought herbs, spices, treasures, new religions, and invading armies in and out of China. Some accounts say that Christianity first traveled down one of these roads from Jerusalem to China just decades after the resurrection of Jesus. It is the goal of Brother Yun and the Back to Jerusalem movement for the gospel to travel full circle, out of China and back to Jerusalem. The nations along the Silk Roads are home to the three strongholds of Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism, with more than 90% of the people groups who haven’t heard the gospel living here. Yun describes meeting Simon Zhao in 1995 in Central China, a believer who spent 31 years in prison for his involvement in the first Back to Jerusalem movement in 1950:
Fascinating. The Heavenly Man, the remarkable true story of Chinese Christian Brother Yun is a powerful book that I recommend to all Christians wanting to challenge their Western faith and enlarge their Christian worldview. This review is part of the Chrysalis November Christian Book Fair. Weighed in the Balance and Found WantingPosted November 6th, 2007 by Jen in family life, religion5 Comments »
I may not have been doing any of those particular things lately, but certainly in some ways I have not honored God in all things. In Daniel 5:23, Daniel says to Belshazzar: “But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.” While I don’t advocate Christians beating themselves up over their shortcomings, I do strongly believe in taking inventory of your life. As Socrates said, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” We don’t need to look for handwriting on the wall because we have the Holy Spirit residing within us to convict us of sin. So ask. Where have I been weighed and found wanting? I’ve been examining, and I’ve given myself a report card in some “subjects” that I’ve deemed critical to my family life and my walk with God. I don’t mind sharing how I scored:
I’m used to being a straight A student, so this doesn’t look pretty to me! I won’t go into all the details of why I graded myself with those particular letters, but overall, my deficiencies have to do with being undisciplined, unorganized, quick to anger, and just messy. But folks! Unless we really take the time to sift through all the areas of our lives, and be willing to be honest, and be willing to make changes, we will never grow. I have stepped on the scale, have not measured up to God’s standards, and unless I do something about it (which Belshazzar did not), I’m in trouble. This doesn’t have to be an exercise in just wallowing in the muck. I see this as a very positive operation - the point is to set some new goals, and through prayer, discipline, and the empowering work of the Holy Spirit, advance. The next time I I step on the scale, I hope to find a more favorable balance. :-) Heart and Home of SimplicityPosted October 14th, 2007 by Jen in family life, religion12 Comments » I’ve been furiously cleaning and decluttering my home over the past week. I’ve been yearning for simplicity, but the clutter around me has been just sucking the life out of me.
Do you see the irony of the two pictures above? My kitchen counter was so cluttered that I couldn’t even see my “Simplify” sign. That was a wake-up call for me! I just dropped off five large bags of “stuff” at Goodwill, and 4 large bags of garbage were sent to the dumpster. So far. I have a ways to go. I started with the kids’ toys, and am moving on to the rest of our material items. Part of this project is simple cleaning, part is organizing, part is purging. This quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) kept me on track:
I can almost guarantee that if you are an average American, you have too much stuff. That your children have too many toys. Oh my, if Emerson thought this in the 1800s, what would he say today? I hope you are encouraged here to simplify with me. The less objects in my home, the less chance of something getting left lying on the floor, causing me stress and wasted time. The more time for reading to my children or playing outside with them. And I discovered, after getting rid of those five big bags of toys, that the kids suddenly discovered new playthings. The three dolls I kept, the wooden blocks, the trains. Sometimes, when there is too much stuff, nothing gets used. Does that make sense?
Why do we feel so good when we go camping? I think it’s not just the out-of-doors and beauty of nature, but the lack of all our “stuff” when we’re in the wilderness. It weighs us down, and we don’t always realize it until it’s gone and we feel so free. I felt so much lighter when my living room went from this to this: I just grabbed Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster off my bookshelf. I’ve had this book for nearly 20 years, and seem to always come back to one of the disciplines during a critical point in my spiritual growth. Yes, there’s a chapter on simplicity! Simplicity should always begin in the heart, if you want a lasting thing. The Christian Discipline of simplicity, says Foster, is an inward reality resulting in an outward lifestyle. Both aspects of simplicity are necessary. What is simplicity in one’s heart? As I look back over the past several months, I can see that my deep desire for simplicity in my home has been coinciding with an impulse for simplicity in my heart. Funny how I needed this pointed out to me! I liked this paragraph of Foster’s on the inward simplicity:
There is the necessity of living in the modern world, unfortunately! We are absolutely surrounded with a society lusting for affluence - how does one cope with that? One answer Foster gives is this: “It is time we awaken to the fact that conformity to a sick society is to be sick.” No one is going to even desire Christian simplicity until one recognizes the need to break away from People Magazine, reality TV shows, and the latest designer jeans. What do you think the Bible is talking about when it says to not conform to this world? (Romans 12:2) And above all, even above seeking simplicity, is to seek first the kingdom of God. Then everything else will fall in its proper order.
Blessings to you as you work toward a heart and home of simplicity! In the Spirit of Rich MullinsPosted September 18th, 2007 by Jen in music, religion14 Comments » September 19, 2007 marks the 10 year anniversary of the death of Rich Mullins. As you can see, the only other music review I’ve done is on Mullins, in my first month of blogging. You can read more about his life there, and how I first met his music. People remember where they were during monumental events. Like when JFK or MLK were shot. I wasn’t born yet for those events, but I do remember exactly where I was when I heard Rich Mullins had died. He was already my favorite musician. I was standing in my classroom full of 3rd graders at Bailey Hill Elementary in Eugene, and my husband was just arriving to pick me up at the end of the day. These were the times of our tiny duplex and one car. It was a Monday, and the news had just come over the Christian radio that over the weekend, Rich Mullins was killed in an automobile accident. He and I were both shaken and saddened. It was eerie to think that Rich had sung “When I leave I want to go out like Elijah.”
With this ten year anniversary upon us, it’s good to give honor and remembrance to a man I think of as a poet, a prophet, and a friend. When my husband hears a really great worship leader, he’ll say, “He has the spirit of Rich Mullins.” There have been very few he’s said that about, because it’s a rare quality. How to capture the essence of that spirit in words is difficult. It’s a humility-authenticity-passion-straight out of the heart of God kind of quality. To carry on the “Spirit of Rich Mullins,” we can practice authentic worship and heart-felt serving. He was the kind of guy to stay up all night to talk to a friend in need. The kind of guy to not just talk about caring for the orphan and the widow, but actually doing it. The person who could easily have gathered worldly riches for himself but gave it all away. What an amazing example of Love. Christian Carnival 189: Dietrich Bonhoeffer EditionPosted September 12th, 2007 by Jen in carnivals, religion20 Comments » I am so pleased to present the 189th Christian Carnival, which I have labeled The Dietrich Bonhoeffer Edition. I wrote about Bonhoeffer back in April, on the anniversary of his death. I couldn’t resist returning to this compelling character, most well known for his martyrdom at the hands of Hitler. When I ran into a Christian friend of mine at the library about six months ago, lamenting to her that our little library had no Bonhoeffer books, and she replied, “who is Bonhoeffer?” - well, I would like to introduce you to him, if you also have not been acquainted with this German pastor, theologian, Christan, and man for his times. The posts for this Christian Carnival will be organized around various Dietrich Bonhoeffer quotes and other passages from the book that sits in my lap as I type, the 1000+ page biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer by Eberhard Bethge. This is a monumental book, and should be in every Christian’s library. No, I don’t agree with every bit of theology that Bonhoeffer espoused, but do not miss this complex and fascinating man.
Michael presents Resisting Temptation posted at Chasing the Wind. Temptation comes from outside; sin comes from within. How do we deal with temptation? Did Jesus give us an example? A study of Matthew 4.
Dana presents Religion vs. Spirituality posted at Principled Discovery. Dana reflects on the meaning of religion as “go through again, read again.”
Richard H. Anderson presents I will gather the lame, the outcasts and the afflicted posted at dokeo kago grapho soi kratistos Theophilos. Steve Bishop at an accidental blog looks at a Christian view of work (despite not having Labor day in the UK!)
Luke Houghton presents Does it pay to do the right thing? posted at Luke Houghton. Luke says, “I am a Christian and I do what’s right all the time… does it help? NO. So what can I do about it? Read on to learn more.” Jan presents Serving Leaders posted at The View From Her. Are the leaders serving, or are we serving the leaders?
Renae presents Fulfilling the Purpose of Education, Reason 4 of Why I Home School posted at Life Nurturing Education. Renae is certainly in good company with Paula Bonhoeffer!
Chris Brooks presents Homeward Bound: 5 questions to help your devotions posted at Homeward Bound. Questions to help you get to the juicy goodness when your devotions take you to more difficult passages.
Ian Spencer presents Dispensationalism and the Interpretation of Scripture Part 3: Modern Israel and Biblical Prophecy posted at Philosophical Orthodoxy. Does Modern Israel fulfill Biblical prophecy? Bruce Alderman presents why i will not be raptured, part ii posted at it seems to me….
Diane R presents My Church Visiting Odyssey posted at Crossroads: Where Faith and Inquiry Meet. “I visited four churches this summer, mostly alone. What transpired wasn’t the greatest.” Doug presents Has Sin changed Humans Biologically? posted at Bounded Irrationality. Doug considers if sin has changed our bodies and our genes over the generations since the Fall.
Annette presents Head coverings, our position in the body posted at Fish and Cans. A three part pondering on 1 Corinthians 11 and what that might mean in the church today.
Nick Cross presents Crossinator: Money Won’t Solve Africa’s Problem posted at Crossinator. Comments on a recent article about development aid from the West. Wanda Grindstaff presents Prosperity and Abundance is Your Birthright posted at Creating Abundant Lifestyles. Rodney Olsen presents Show me the money posted at The Journey. Does God want you to be rich? Is the kind of prosperity that Jesus promises in the Bible all about financial wealth? FMF presents God’s Blessing on 90 Percent of Your Income is Better than 100 Percent without the Blessing posted at Free Money Finance.
Brent Turner presents Value of Christian Camping posted at Everyday Liturgy. Tupelo Kenyon presents Goal Setting or Let Go and Let God posted at Tupelo Kenyon.
Jeremy Pierce presents Dawkins and Atheistic Overconfidence posted at Parableman. A response of sorts to Richard Dawkins’ review of Christopher Hitchens’ new book defending atheism. Tom Gilson presents Evolution is Easy: It Just Takes An Infinite Number of You posted at Thinking Christian. There’s an easy solution to the improbabilities of evolution, some say–just have enough worlds and it’s bound to happen. Here’s a response to one such theory.
Henry Neufeld presents Learning a Little Greek posted at Participatory Bible Study Blog. On the dangers of interlinears and other learning crutches. Michael McGinnis presents The Greeting Card Theory of Biblical Authorship posted at Tantalizing if True. The Bible as Hallmark would have written it, and as many Americans read it.
Steve Krager presents How to thrive at a Christian college posted at faithdoubt. Eight practical tips to help you thrive in college. SWBTS Bloggers presents The OT, Christ and Textual Hermeneutics posted at Straight out of the SWBTS Blogosphere.
My Editor’s Pick is from Mrs. Darling, with Friendship, posted at Dishpan Dribble. Enjoy some practical tips on cultivating friendships.
Jody Neufeld presents Frozen in Time posted at Jody Along the Path. There is a healthy way to deal with grief. William Meisheid presents Do This in Remembrance of Me posted at Beyond The Rim…. A few thoughts on remembrance as it applies to Eucharist and our 9-11 memorials. My Christian Carnival is ComingPosted September 7th, 2007 by Jen in carnivals, education, family life, religion3 Comments » Hey, I get to host the Christian Carnival next week, and I really want a post from you! Do you have something to say from a Christian perspective? The current carnival is being hosted at Bounded Irrationality, so check it out if you’re wondering what kinds of posts might be appropriate for this carnival. Submission deadline for this Christian Carnival is: Tuesday, September 11, 2007 23:59, and will be up RIGHT HERE on September 12! Use the handy Carnival Submission Form to get your post in right away! If you have any trouble with that submission form, go ahead and email me your post: blessedinthewest at yahoo dot com. Share your best post from the previous week, and as the carnival description states, your topic does not necessarily have to be about Christianity, but the writer must be Christian to qualify, and whatever your subject matter, the post must reflect your Christian worldview. Please get those posts rolling in, I’m very excited to see what you all have to say! I will just mention that I’ve been both reading and participating in the Christian Carnival for several months, and have absolutely loved getting to know some of the regular contributors through their writings and I guarantee you will be blessed by something you come across there. And you will be a blessing to another, I’m sure. Do share. Elsewhere in Carnival land, check out the Carnival of Homeschooling, the Carnival of Education, and the Carnival of Family Life. How’s your end of summer/fall routine? We just completed Week 2 of our homeschooling year, and pretty much stayed on track. And what a refreshing thing to get back in a routine after the helter-skelter summer we had! We all thrive on order in some form, so blessings to you as you make good plans (and stick to them) for the coming months! Expectations and ContentmentPosted August 27th, 2007 by Jen in religion10 Comments » I was thinking of the parable of the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16) a few days ago. For some reason, it came to mind as I sat with a friend discussing our lives as mothers, and I thought of this parable in a new way.
One of the problems the early workers had was the expectation that they should receive more pay relative to the late workers. No matter that they were all told up front what the pay would be. Let’s say that none of the workers knew what the others were paid. All would have been happy with the denarius, as they all gladly accepted the work for that amount in the beginning. The problem wasn’t the denarius, it was the discontent that came as a result of a certain expectation based on a comparison with those around them. I’m not sure how I’m making the leap to motherhood, but here goes. I feel an important lesson in this parable is learning to be content and not ruled by expectations. Why is it that when the husband is away on a trip, and the wife is caring for the little children all by herself for an entire week, that she just does the job, rises to the occasion, and even enjoys the sweetness of that special time with the kids? But, when the husband is home, and let’s say that the wife still does the same amount of work, she grows resentful because there before her eyes is the expectation that he should help. So, this friend of mine was asking, how do you do it all? She was struggling with raising her children, dealing with depression, and somewhat bitter toward her husband for not helping more, perhaps feeling justified in her attitude. So I answered her that the key to managing it all has to do with expectations. I asked about the mothers of old who routinely raised 10 or 12 kids with husbands off hunting or off to war. Oh, but they had the village, my friend says. Okay, the prairie mother who had no village around her to help in the care of the young ones? She did what was required, and had no reason to be harboring other expectations, because there were no alternatives. When a wife has a child, she does not become a wife who happens to have a child; she becomes a mother. This motherhood should be a joy, a blessing, an honor. Not a job that she would like to be part-time at, or job-share with her husband, counting out how many tasks each partner is responsible for. Yes, the husband becomes a father. He should be responsible before God for his role in the family, and I’m not attempting to address him right now. Can the wife fulfill her role as mother, as long as she is physically able, without placing certain demands/expectations on the father? There is a direct correlation between contentment and expectations. C. S. Lewis put it this way, “If you think of this world as a place intended simply for your happiness, you find it quite intolerable. Think of it as a place of training and correction and it’s not so bad.” If a wife views her role of mother as something glorious to be done, perhaps even a “pull up your big girl panties and get it done” attitude, she will find a good deal of contentment. If she views her role of mother as one in which she is entitled to certain assistance from her husband, her mother, her sister, or whomever, she will always be let down and will certainly succumb to discontentment. I would gently advise a readjustment of her expectations. It’s okay to want fairness; for the workers in the vineyard, there’s nothing wrong with wanting greater compensation for a greater amount of work. For the wife, there’s nothing wrong with wanting fairness in the marriage - wanting your partner to help shoulder the child-rearing or household duties. That makes sense, after all. Aah, that’s where we can err. Didn’t God say something about the wisdom of the world being foolishness? When Fairness and Sense are elevated above God’s ways, one can always expect strife. Here’s a litmus test of sorts to balance what you think is fair against the Word of God. God’s Word always trumps man’s expectation of fairness.
I want for wives and mothers to really hear this. So much of the discontentment and resentment I see in a young mother stems from her feeling a right or claim to help in her job of motherhood. Of course it’s nice to have help - nothing wrong with that and please send some my way anytime! But when that becomes your expectation, dear ones, roots of bitterness are sure to grow. Yes, we live in the 21st century, not the 1st or even the 18th. This is a different, complex culture and it’s not fair to superimpose the 18th century woman and her job of motherhood onto the 21st century woman. Oops, did I say FAIR? The parable of the workers of the vineyard speaks so much to me about my work as a mother and wife. God has every right, as God, to pay 18th century wages to a 21st century woman if He so chooses. I’m not calling on wives to lower their expectations of their husbands. I’m asking wives to take God at His word and find contentment there. What wage, what promise, did He guarantee you, regardless of what the wife and mother next door receives? Don’t compare, don’t complain that you don’t have “the village” to help you, don’t try to control how God dispenses. Here is what every good mother is promised: Her children will rise up and call her blessed. Proverbs 31:28. Whether you have all the extra help in the world or none at all, that’s your pay. photo credit: www.nesegallery.com Deals with the DevilPosted August 14th, 2007 by Jen in politics/world news, religion4 Comments »
Supposedly, this release was a “gesture of goodwill” according to a Taliban spokesman. However, an unnamed source says the two hostages were freed for ransom, after direct negotiations between the government of South Korea and the Taliban. I welcome the release of the two women, and praise God for this unfolding of events. However… Is it right to make deals with the devil? I’ve been grappling with this issue of giving in to the demands of the Taliban. Every compassionate person in the world wants these hostages released. But what is the real price? It’s not $10 million and it’s not eight Taliban fighters being released. It’s a strengthened force of evil that gets more powerful every time it is fed through compromise. I had to ask that question, WWJD? I found an answer of sorts in these scriptures. Mark 1:12-13; Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-15; John 1:19-2:25. These are the biblical accounts of Jesus facing the Devil in the wilderness. Jesus had been fasting for forty days and forty nights and he was hungry, as any man would be. The Devil came and tempted him with several deals. In exchange for Jesus dealing with the Devil in some way or another, and giving the Devil either legitimacy or worship, Jesus could have bread to eat, personal safety, or all the power in the world. Jesus was in an extremely difficult position and was offered a variety of tempting compromises by the Devil. So I decided I could attempt a comparison here. In my little analogy, Jesus will be the Christian South Koreans and their advocates, and the Devil will be the Taliban. So the Taliban Devil comes to the South Korean Christian advocates, which group is also in an extremely difficult position, and begins to offer deals. The heart of the deals is a demand to recognize me, worship me, which is what the Devil really wants. If the South Korean Christian advocates would respond as Jesus, they would first say, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” In other words, being held hostage, when offered freedom (bread) at the cost of bowing to the demands of the Devil, they should decline, believing that their life and freedom comes from the mouth of God. Next, when the South Korean Christian advocates are guaranteed their personal safety as Jesus was (throw Yourself down and the angels will catch you, quoting scripture), they should respond, “You shall not put the Lord Your God to the test.” In other words, when the Taliban Devil begins to talk as if he is a genuine and sanctioned authority who knows the language of negotiation, do not be fooled. And finally, when the Taliban Devil says I will give you all the hostages if you give me $10 Million (fall down and worship me), then the response of the South Korean Christian advocates should be “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord Your God, and serve Him only.’” And what do you think would happen if the South Korean Christian advocates responded as Jesus did and refused to deal with the Devil? Would everything fall apart, would everyone die, would there be ruin? No, I believe that we would have the same ending as given in Matthew 4:11: “Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.” photo credits: Korea Times Planning for the Disorganized SlackPosted August 10th, 2007 by Jen in education, family life, religion13 Comments » How are you? Have you been busy? Of course. Me, too. The long hot days are winding down, and the last of my summer guests is leaving tomorrow. My thoughts are turning toward fall, which for many of us with children, means school.
This is the first time, outside of teaching in a classroom of 30-some elementary students, that I’ve sat down and felt the need to fairly rigidly schedule our homeschool day. It’s sort of like do or die. I have that business to manage, and it’s not going away, and I have the rest of life to manage as well, such as house and husband. I was feeling so incredibly overwhelmed and unable to do anything just a week ago, but once I started planning our days, I slowly regained my sanity and my sense of I can do this. First, my husband gave me a kick in the pants when I said last week, “I don’t think I can do this. I need help.” His decidedly non-sympathetic response was, “Please, you have a Master’s in Teaching and you can’t figure out how to teach just four kids?” I shot back, “Well, it’d be a little easier without your business to run.” He corrected me, “Our business.” Oh, yeah. So, I don’t get to have a perfect little life where I just homeschool and run the kids around to fun activities all day. C’est la vie, right? Next, I ran to God. A good place to run. “Help!” I cried. You have to know, and I’ve said before, organization does not come naturally to me. I feel like I need serious help in getting control of the mess around me. There are solutions. Like getting up earlier. Scheduling. Making Lists. Taking baby steps to do even the little things. Constant prayer has been my companion on this issue lately. Do I trust God to provide for my needs, even helping me to be more organized? You bet. I can’t explain how insurmountable this appears to be at the moment - it’s like I’ve been tangled up in a web and I’m too weak to begin fighting my way out. Where does my help come from? Oh, that’s right, from the Lord, Maker of Heaven and Earth. Ding, light comes on! Have I been spending time with the Creator? Not really, been too busy. Have I been studying His life-giving Word? Not really, been too busy. Okay, there’s the real problem. Somehow, I forget, until I’m at the bottom of the pit, that I truly can’t do anything apart from Him. But with Him, all things are possible!
Now I’m ready for the Teacher Plan Book! I bought it at Barnes & Noble the other day, and as I cracked it open this morning and penciled in a weekly schedule, my anxiety began to melt away. Here’s the rough schedule so far, for the older two, and it’s a very simple schedule. Half-hour increments, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. [My four year old will be mainly working her way through Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, also she and the soon-to-be three year old will be playing with lumps of playdough or puzzles or reading with Grandma, who lives with us.] Monday through Thursday: [for my 1st and 2nd Grade Kids] 9:00 Math: Ray’s New Arithmetics
9:30 Spelling: Spelling Workout, Modern Curriculum Press.
10:00 Language Arts: First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind, by Jessie Wise.
10:30 History: The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, by Susan Wise Bauer.
11:00 French: Miscellaneous.
11:30 Science: Teaching Science to Children: An Inquiry Approach, by Alfred Friedl
12:00 Art/Music: Miscellaneous.
People often ask me, “What curriculum do you use?” Or “What is your homeschool style?” As you can see, I mix and match. I use what I have, what I can get cheaply, or occasionally, I will pay full price for something I really like. I lean toward the Classical Method of homeschooling, as you can see from some curriculum choices that are laid out in The Well Trained Mind. I also love and employ many of Charlotte Mason’s methods, and I’m a little bit Principled as well, and very unschooled on certain days. I’m certainly not definable. What is important to me are ideas like this: the knowledge of God is primary, discovering how we fit into God’s amazing universe is critical, living books should be predominant, history should be chronological, science should be practical and observable, free time and outside time should be ample, all subjects should be a series of relationships, and curiosity and wonder should be nurtured. update:It’ funny, after I first posted this, I realized I left out two things that are such a part of what we live and breathe, that I did not put them in the schedule. I mean, who schedules in the need to have a drink of water? First, Bible, and second, living books. Neither is on the above schedule, because both are just integrated into our lives. We do not have a formal Bible curriculum at this point. We just talk about God and our Christian walk all throughout the day, in a very natural way, not as a separate “study.” Especially for young children, I think this type of integration is essential. Reading Bible stories is a part of our evening ritual, and is prayer. And the living books - again, not scheduled in, but we are a book loving family and my two older kids read on their own and I read to all of them several books a day, and we always have a longer book in progress that we typically do as a “Family Read Aloud” in the evenings, such as the “Little House” series or our current “Treasure Island.” And just a few extracurricular activities I’ve scheduled in:
Other than that, afternoons will be for Quiet Times, Chores, and preparing for Dinner. For the younger kids, Quiet Time will usually be nap time. For the older kids, Quiet Time will be a time to spend with books of their choice for fun reading. And did you notice that I did not schedule anything for FRIDAYS? That day will typically be our Day Out. We’re members of the High Desert Museum, and we spend quite a few days of the year out there. And there are dairies to be toured, farms to be visited, trails to be hiked, and sights to be seen. So, when does Mom work on her other jobs? 5:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. will be devoted to God first, then TeamMASCOT. The kids’ Quiet Time (typically 2 hours in the afternoon, about 1-3 p.m.) will be for the multitude household chores, like laundry and cleaning and some other jobs which the kids can’t easily help with, and any remaining TeamMASCOT work left from the early morning. Can this disorganized slack of late step up to the task? Deep breath. I can do it. I’ve asked my husband to roll me off the bed at 5 IN THE MORNING - that’s the only way this will all happen. I do realize this schedule is subject to change, and I’m okay with that. I just really, really needed to get a handle on this. And above all, I’m trusting God to be my Helper. photo credits: www.logosoftwear.com ********************************************** Some current carnivals I forgot to mention: Carnival of Family Life The French Atheist Still Wanted Jesus on the CrossPosted July 24th, 2007 by Jen in france/french, religion12 Comments » I took Elise to church this past Sunday. Mostly because she had never been to church before, except for a wedding or two. And she was soon returning to France, so I wanted to be sure to include this visit in her small tour of America. I wrote earlier about some perceptions this French teenager has of America. I don’t entirely understand her view of American religious life, but here’s what I observed.
“Is there a concert today?” she asked, as we entered the sanctuary with worship in session. She saw a stage set up with a band and several singers, and the quality of the music was so outstanding, she thought it must be a performance. Kudos to the worship band at this church, it was amazing. Elise nudged me again. “Where is the Christ on the Cross?” she wanted to know. I pointed to the large wooden cross on the wall. “But the Christ?” I’m so used to being in Protestant churches it took me a moment to understand what she was saying. I told her that Jesus rose from the grave after three days, so He was no longer on the cross. Then came the laughter. The preacher was telling jokes, and the entire congregation was laughing out loud. This totally shocked her. I had to explain to her why it was funny, and in my opinion completely appropriate, for the pastor to joke about an old, unmarried lady at a conference, who, upon being asked her life verse, gave the scripture about “If any man would come after Me, let him.” “This does not seem religious,” she stated firmly. I just can’t believe this is religious - over and over again this was the confusion in her head. Exactly!! It’s not religious, it’s faith, relationship, fellowship… Why in the world would a young French girl who considers herself an atheist even care about any of these things? Every one of her comments or observations thus far had come from a critical place - not against church, really, but the fact that this church was different from what she knew in France. I concluded several things. First, it’s human nature to be critical of anything new, unknown, or different. It’s funny, because even with her incredibly limited church experience, she still knew enough from her culture and society to know that this American church was strange and unfamiliar. I also concluded something about her unbelief in God. Having not given me an exact reason for why she doesn’t believe, I assumed a few motives. France has a very high rate of folks who report they are either atheist, agnostic, or simply don’t believe in God. Somewhere between 47% and 54%, depending on what study you examine. Compare that to an unbelief rate of just 3% to 9% in the U.S.A. Thanks in huge part to the French Revolution and the following rise to power of the Jacobins. There followed the Reign of Terror, in which more aggressive atheists sought to de-Christianize France. Religion was replaced with reason, and much of this influence remains today. Elise is very in tune with French culture and society, and probably just accepts atheism as a normal way of thinking. She says her father is an atheist, but her mother believes in God. Her family does not practice any religion and does not encourage her to do so. “They wish me to choose what I want,” she explained. She doesn’t have any Christian friends, except her best friend’s mother. And this woman, from what Elise described to me, is involved in the occult. Moving glasses around the table, calling up spirits…this is the only person (other than her mother) Elise could tell me about that she knew and considered to be a Christian. I begged Elise to steer clear of that activity. Some French paradoxes emerged as I continued discussions with Elise. She does not believe in God, but does believe in angels (”Just one person could not have created the world, but perhaps many angels”). She does not believe in biblical prophesy, but does believe that some guy on a French radio talk show can tell people’s future. She does not believe that it’s healthy for children to be taught that there is a God, but she wants children to believe in the tradition of Santa Claus. So, this French atheist wants the crucifix displayed in church, maybe because that is her norm. She has been enculturated with being “normal,” which makes sense for a socialist, secular country. Oh, but she was really, really impressed with the free buffet of snacks and drinks available to all after the church service. “I might go to church in France if it was like this,” she announced in between bites of delicious cake, and I half think that would be the case. And you know what? I’m certain the Holy Spirit was/is at work, drawing her to Himself. The following morning, my radio happened to be on, tuned into the local Christian station. “Everyday” (It’s You I’ll live for) from Hillsong Australia came on, which we had just sung in church. Elise recognized the song, and later told me she liked the song, and wondered where she might find it. Hmmm, interesting. As the pastor said at the end of the service, “It is no coincidence you are here today.” Perhaps concerts and free food will convert the French. The Story About PingPosted June 26th, 2007 by Jen in education, religion6 Comments » My children love this little book called The Story About Ping, written in 1933 by Marjorie Flack, illustrated by Kurt Weise. I read it to them at least once a week, it seems. Sometimes nightly for a season. The flow of the language when read aloud is beautiful, and I suspect that’s one of the reasons they request this book so often. Ping was a little duck who lived with his huge family on “a boat with two wise eyes on the Yangtze River.” Fearing the spank the last duck receives upon returning to the boat each evening, Ping hides. He gets lost and has several adventures before reuniting with his family. One of the adventures involves coming across some trained fishing birds with rings around their necks to prevent them from eating the delicious fish, and so they dutifully carry the catch to their master. The constraining rings prevent them from eating anything but small morsels. This scene evokes such sadness in me, and can be interpreted on many levels. My kids have actually never commented on this episode and they take it literally and matter-of-factly, for now. But I think I’ll have a discussion with them soon. I’ve been thinking a lot about church issues lately, as well as education. What are the rings placed around our necks? Is it constraining to sit under one head teacher who predigests material for us? Has this “objectivist” type of learning, as Debra Murphy discusses in her article Worship as catechesis: Knowledge, desire, and Christian formation, twisted what it means to “know” something? What if we could enjoy the whole, delicious fish, and not some pasty morsel? How marvelous that would be. What would it look like? How can we remove rings from around our necks? I honestly don’t have the answers, but I’m exploring. Murphy argues that the objectivist view of knowledge needs dismantling. No longer should knowledge be the transfer of educational content from teacher to pupil, but some kind of community experience that repairs the disconnect between what goes on, for example, in the church and what happens in the outside world. Believe it or not, we may need to return to the Middle Ages for an answer. Jeffrey Stout, in his book Flight From Authority, traces how the Middle Age experience of strong community, intertwined with the authority of religious institutions and human inquiry, gave way to the Modern experience of a “flight” from this authority, leaving us today with what he calls “scientism” and “logical positivism,” in which any belief which cannot be certainly proven is folly, and the human conversation in the process gets removed. That’s a mouthful, folks, and I hope you follow what I’m trying to say! I’m not a scholar, but this is my understanding. I haven’t read the full texts of these works I mentioned, but will do so in my quest to find something tangible I can do. Yes, something I can do and you can do, not just a philosophical conversation. The Story About Ping got me thinking. And thinking alone is fruitless. Will someone be willing to read with me, with an eye toward something new? I understand that a real shift in the paradigm may take centuries. It took centuries to get where we are now, after all. Vacation Bible School Shut OutPosted June 25th, 2007 by Jen in education, family life, religion9 Comments » My kids enjoyed a week of Vacation Bible School last week, but not me. Don’t get me wrong, I was thankful that the hosting church put on such a fun-filled adventure for the children, and the kids all benefitted greatly. But here’s the other side of the coin: parents are not welcome. The same problem the larger society has in regard to family exists in the church as well. Our American culture, indeed many other modern cultures, has seen parents relinquish their parental obligations, and quickly we’ve observed public schools and other public institutions take on the surrogate parent role along with the attitude of “leave the schooling to the experts.” At the bottom of this phenomenon is a disregard for the family unit. One of the reasons I homeschool my children is in an effort to preserve my family, because there does not currently exist a widespread school model that does so. Segregating children by age, locking parents out of curriculum decisions, endowing teachers with greater authority in the system than parents - these practices all serve to undermine the family integrity. I’m used to this in the public sector. So, when I arrived at Vacation Bible School and wanted to walk my kids in myself, meet their crew leaders, and follow the children to their stations so I could get a handle on the physical layout of the place, I was met at every turn with: “Are you lost?” “Can I help you find something?” “Is there something you need?” No, I just have a four year old child that I refuse to drop at the door with strangers. Mind you, I had never been to this particular church before, so as a responsible parent, it seemed like a no-brainer to want some information and get a feel for the place. The staff was excellent and I ended up having no issues with the place, BUT. I stuck out in the crowd like you wouldn’t believe. Out of almost 200 kids at this event, I was the ONLY parent to be lurking around, and I know that half the kids had not been to this church before, either. Does this mean that all those other parents are bad, bad people? Does this mean the church people are inconsiderate? No. It means our modern culture has succeeded in enculturating the citizens with a very wrong view of family, responsibility, and society. Our institutions have taken over the familial role. No longer do parents rule - and yes, they should. Now, instead of society and culture fitting into its proper place within the family, the family is required to fit into a proper place within the culture, and it’s a subordinate place. I have a huge problem with this, folks, and I wish more people did. Yes, I know, it would have created a log-jam at Vacation Bible School if every parent were like me, wanting to be a little more involved and present. So, you change the paradigm. Maybe you have a parent/child session on day one. Maybe you make parents fill out a criminal history check and offer them the opportunity to be present (sad, but this is what it would take). Maybe you limit the number of children who can attend so there is more room for whole families. Or maybe you just put on your own family-friendly Vacation Bible School. Church at The Old SchoolPosted June 7th, 2007 by Jen in family life, religion3 Comments » On a more pleasant church note, here’s the fam (minus me, taking the picture for ya) two Sundays ago, doing church.
The house we’re renting is situated on a property that’s the location of an old two room school house. The old school is still standing and in excellent repair. Here we are in the gym, having church together! Dad in his t-shirt and jeans, coffee in hand and Bible on the lap, led us in worship and read a passage from John. We talked, in between the kids skipping and the dog chasing, and just enjoyed being together and having fellowship. It was good. Is this the future of church for us? We don’t know for sure, but you’ll find our family out here for the summer, anyway. Come and join us anytime for Church at The Old School!
Our own property where we’re building our house is just five miles from here, so it’s quite convenient. More than once we’ve thought of how we could make use of this unique complex with the school, this big house we’re living in, and the smaller, original house where perhaps the schoolmaster lived. Just dreamin’ and praying. The owners have tried for years to work with various groups and boarding school-type organizations, but always, ultimately, to no avail, and alas the property sits unused. We’ve had some discussions with them…they are open to some prospects we put forward. So here we are. Keep reading and discover this journey with me. Miracle in PeruPosted May 26th, 2007 by Jen in religion1 Comment » Today I received a letter from missionary friends Abe and Kelly Long, who have been serving in Peru for the past four years. The first part of the letter was about the birth of their second child, Josiah, in Lima, Peru. Here’s an excerpt:
Either a) the doctor was grossly negligent and the baby was alive and he called it dead, or b) the baby was in fact dead and God brought him back to life. Either scenario is possible in my book. Either way, I’m praising God with this amazing couple for their miracle in Peru! God Can Do What He Says He Can DoPosted May 22nd, 2007 by Jen in religion7 Comments »
How has your faith been stretched this week to believe that God can do what He says He can do? Anyone? I borrowed this question from a Beth Moore Bible study I did a few years back. For myself, I’m simply believing God to to give me the strength I need to be a patient mother, free from anger. It’s tough. OK, take a deep breath and calmly ask the child to release her mouth from her sister’s arm. Patience…I need the work of the Holy Spirit to bring my whole nature more and more under the influences of that work of regeneration that began in me when I first gave my life to Christ. And I believe that God can change me, because He says so. He Winked at MePosted May 8th, 2007 by Jen in religion3 Comments »
I have this theory that everyone has something special and singular in nature that really speaks to him or her of the Creator. For me, it’s always been the night sky, and next the mountains. For my husband, it’s always been the ocean. My early childhood was spent in a desert mountain region of Arizona with spectacular night skies; my husband’s early childhood was spent just yards from the Pacific Ocean. So it makes sense to me in that way. Creation declares God’s greatness, and He will use your particular circumstances and surroundings to speak to you, and you will (can you not help it?) respond with worship. Psalm 95 declares “O come, let us sing unto the Lord: Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation … . O come, let us worship and bow down: Let us kneel before the Lord our maker.” And the Psalm goes on to describe some of the amazing universe God created. So, tonight, I wondered what was so remarkable about the sky on this certain night. Earlier in the afternoon, God blessed me with an awareness of His presence, and I was praising Him in my heart, just thinking, “God is SO good!” I think that simply entering the canvas of the heavens with this posture somehow allowed for a tangible, authentic God experience. I had flashbacks to other supernatural night sky encounters with God. I thought about how, as a little girl, like most little girls or boys, I wished upon the first star I saw - except I knew even then that it was the God of the Universe I was speaking to. I remembered gazing out my window on that Arizona sky as I lay in bed each night, watching the familiar patterns of stars go slowly by (there’s Orion’s belt), with a strange yearning and longing for something more. I had a vivid recollection of the summer I spent after my second (or was it third?) year in college as a camp counselor at Spring Hill Camp in Michigan (Enoch Olson was awesome) - I hauled out sleeping bags for my entire cabin of 10 year olds to lie down outside because there was supposed to be a meteor shower that particular night, and we were not at all disappointed. The following year camping up in Canada with college buddies, I had my first experience with the Northern Lights - breathtaking, awe-inspiring, BEHOLD YOUR GOD!!!! What in the world speaks to you of the Creator? I hope you recognize God’s winking. Thank you, Lord, for your Creation that moves me to worship you. Photo credits: Starry Night Photography Saying You’re SorryPosted May 2nd, 2007 by Jen in family life, religion6 Comments » I had to write a difficult letter this morning. It started like this:
Just re-reading that puts a knot in my heart. I just got done writing about maintaining confidentiality and an atmosphere of trust within your marriage, and then I go and bungle it in another area of my life. Doesn’t it seem to work like that sometimes?! There will always be issues that need working through, whether in your marriage, with your children, extended family, friends, or church family. Proceed with caution! Oh, the power of words…oh, the grace of God. This place I’m in now is so precious, though, even amidst the pain. I have valid concerns in this present situation, but wasn’t always wise in the search for a resolution. But how else do I learn, sometimes, than through the muddle and trouble?
I memorized the entire first chapter of James many years ago, when I was barely a young adult and didn’t seem to have a trial on the horizon. But, my, how it’s served me since. Trials take so many forms, some are self-inflicted and others are just the cruelty of the world. Whatever the form of your trial, make wisdom one of your goals, and remember the promise of James: “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:12) Back to having to say you’re sorry. This is so often the result of saying things we shouldn’t say in the first place, and James again has a reply: “If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight reign on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.” (James 1:26) Ouch. I’m working toward maturity… Bonhoeffer executed today in 1945Posted April 9th, 2007 by Jen in politics/world news, religion5 Comments » Monday, April 9 - today’s date - in 1945, was the morning of the hanging of Dietrich Bonhoeffer at the Flossenburg Concentration Camp. German pastor, writer, dissident, and martyr. A great force behind the German Resistance to Hitler’s Nazi regime. Sadly, ironically, but perhaps most profound, is the fact that just a few days later, Allied troops liberated the camp. Three weeks following, Adolf Hitler had committed suicide, and within a month, Germany had surrendered unconditionally. But I believe that Bonhoeffer speaks to us through his sacrifice more clearly today than he did in his life.
Just as a prophet is not accepted in his own town (Matthew 13:57), Bonhoeffer was speaking so far ahead of his time that I believe most of his contemporaries benefited little from his life. Many of his fellow pastors and churchpeople supported Hitler’s policies. The true beneficiaries of Dietrich Bonhoeffer are those of us living today. As he explained his involvement in a plot to assassinate Hitler, Bonhoeffer said: “If I see a madman driving a car into a group of innocent bystanders, then I can’t, as a Christian, simply wait for the catastrophe and then comfort the wounded and bury the dead. I must try to wrestle the steering wheel out of the hands of the driver.” A further glimpse into the action-oriented Bonhoeffer was his collaboration in an effort to help a group of Jews escape to Switzerland, which led to his arrest and imprisonment in April 1943, two years prior to his execution. So, I’m trying to lay the framework of all of this history onto life today. Here’s a Bonhoeffer quote that helps his death bring some benefit to me today: “Nothing is fixed, and nothing holds us. The film, vanishing from memory as soon as it ends, symbolizes the profound amnesia of our time. Events of world-historical significance, along with the most terrible crimes, leave no trace behind in the forgetful soul.” Can we please not suffer from profound amnesia? Can we please not be illiterate regarding church history? Bonhoeffer displayed the most admirable resistance to tyranny you can hope for; yet this was too late for his own age - we are the recipients, and our call is to respond to the conditions that make tyranny possible. We are offered the opportunity, if we would educated ourselves with this history, to direct action at the root of the problem, instead of being forced into a violent struggle with the full-blown fuhrer. So, The Cost of Discipleship teaches me that believing in Jesus isn’t enough - there is a call to action, and Bonhoeffer sets a real-life example of sometimes radical action. Bonhoeffer warns against the “cheap grace” that advocates belief without obedience. “Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship, and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ. It remains an abstract idea, a myth.” Here are some issues I’ll be exploring in more detail in another post - this is an excerpt from the 2003 documentary film, Bonhoeffer:
Do you think the church has any reason today to act against the state? Ahh, now we’re getting to the heart of this, and we must examine this closer if Bonhoeffer’s martyrdom is to have been of any profit. (I don’t want to presume that some action against the state is the only thing that results from Bonhoeffer’s Cost of Discipleship, it’s just one matter among many that I’d like to explore. And so no one assumes a Waco-style ambush, I have a very pacifist bent, as did Bonhoeffer, I’m not talking about war-mongering against the state.) Good FridayPosted April 6th, 2007 by Jen in poetry, religion1 Comment »
The crucifixion of Jesus Christ took place in A.D. 30, on the Friday of the Jewish Passover week. This day is now celebrated by Christians worldwide as Good Friday. Even on the cross he reigned, and today is such a day to observe the ultimate triumph, as well as the passion, the suffering, the humiliation. This is a day of remembrance, mourning, and grief, a day to suffer with Him. I can suffer with Him as I contemplate and consider the injustice of the world, and have compasssion today. I can meditate on the hardship and heartache of the oppressed today, and pray for them. GOOD FRIDAY Am I a stone and not a sheep photo: Christ of Saint John of the Cross by Salvador Dali Lilium longiflorumPosted April 3rd, 2007 by Jen in poetry, religion2 Comments »
A wonderful poem by American poet Anne Porter, in her mid-nineties when the treasury this is part of, Living Things: Collected Poems, was published (talk about a late bloomer), begs to be read: AN EASTER LILY [Ahem, the first verse …here’s the rest of the amazing poem, I for my part received Its blossoms But deep and strong as sweat by Anne Porter Though native to the Ryukyu Islands of southern Japan, I love the fact that the Easter Lily Capital of the World is on the southern coast of MY state, Oregon! I’ve been savoring these days leading up to Easter, this most glorious of all Christian holidays. I’m trying to incorporate traditions into my family, and when holidays come around, I’m always on the lookout for a meaningful observance to weave into our life. I didn’t grow up with traditions, and even as a child I was very sad about that. I want my own children to be grown and say to one another, “Don’t you remember when we always picked out an Easter lily for our table, and one for Grandma, too?” Take pleasure in this week, and hold onto your traditions or create new ones.
Nor the arrow that flies by dayPosted April 1st, 2007 by Jen in religion2 Comments » I’ve found myself struggling with fear lately. What a wretched thing fear is. I’ve taken the offensive and have been speaking God’s words to keep my mind set on Truth. So, I’ve got scriptures pasted all over the place to remind me. Here is one particular gem (on my kitchen window) that I’ve memorized and repeated, and repeated again a dozen times a day. Why? Well, it works. Romans 10:17 tells me that faith comes from hearing the word of God. And the word of God is the “sword of the Spirit” described in Ephesians 6:17. I’d be really dumb not to use the most powerful weapon I have. I’m responsible for setting a tone of joy in my house, and I certainly can’t do that when I’m bound up in fear. This is from Psalm 91 (the entire chapter is worth memorizing), and I’ve personalized it by changing the “you” to “I.”
I will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at my side, ten thousand at my right hand, but it will not come near me.
If I make the Most High my dwelling - even the LORD, who is my refuge - then no harm will befall me, no disaster will come near my tent (my dwelling place). For He will command His angels concerning me to guard me in all my ways. Psalm 91:5-7, 9-11 Scopes in reversePosted March 26th, 2007 by Jen in education, politics/world news, religion, science5 Comments »
Pebble Chaser has covered this superbly, so I won’t go into the whole terrible ordeal; go see what Heidi said. I did just want to add that I found it incredibly ironic that a brief glance back in history shows that the Butler Act, 1925, prohibited teachers from teaching anything but the Divine Creation of man as set forth in the Bible, and specifically banned teaching that man was descended from a lower order of animals. (Of course, the ridiculous publicity stunt of the Scopes trial changed that.) But here we are, just 80 some years later, and those same teachers are prohibited from teaching anything but that man was descended from a lower order of animals. photo by: Gary Albertson In Him we live and move and have our beingPosted March 20th, 2007 by Jen in education, poetry, politics/world news, religion8 Comments » I thought I’d take the Apostle Paul’s tactic with Athens, and quote some poetry for Germany. Around A.D. 50, Paul went to preach in Athens, then eminently famous for learning, philosophy, and fine arts. And godless idolatry. The Athenians actually had an altar with the inscription, “To the unknown god,” just in case they missed one in all their god-worshipping.
So, on to Germany…I must say I was inspired by commenter John’s post at Principled Discovery. Regarding the German homeschool case of Melissa Busekros, which I’ve written about here and here, John gave a historical context of the intellectual elitist mentality in Germany:
Many people do not realize that prior to what took place in the late 1930’s and early to mid 1940’s Germany had become the most intellectual and erudite nation on the planet. It is this very mentality that spawned the horrible dilemma of WW2 and the Holocaust that is now part of our World history. Germany reminds me of Athens, I must say. Intellectual, erudite…And John ended his comment with these words: Every civilization that has forgotten God has failed. Well, the Apostle Paul was probably the greatest teacher and most successful evangelizer of all time (besides Jesus), and if he quotes Athenian poetry to Athenians, I can’t go wrong quoting German poetry to Germans.
Excerpt from Faust, Part 1 Der Allumfasser, And in English: The all-embracing one, Goethe Learned men and women of Germany, do not worship intellectualism or philosophy, but worship God, “the all-embracing one, the all-preserving one,” as your own poet has said. |
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Basically, by demonstrating that the human genome is deteriorating, and always has been since its origin, the theory of human life arising from random, beneficial, and increasingly complex mutations simply can’t be true. If we take an honest look at the human genome research, we will discover profound implications about our views of life, and we must conclude that The Primary Axiom is false.
The story and person of Benjamin Carson makes me so happy because he is just one more amazingly brilliant and talented individual in the field of science and medicine to blow a hole in the tired argument that Christians who believe in God the Creator and not evolution are just uneducated, fundamentalist religious whack-jobs who don’t know what they’re talking about.
He has been named Islam’s “Public Enemy #1″ by al-Insan al-Jadid, an Arabic newspaper, and by merely looking at this elderly Coptic priest, one would fail to see why.
A map of the northeastern DR Congo, Uganda and Sudan, showing attacks attributed to the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army. Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army rebels killed more than 400 people in Christmas massacres in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the Caritas aid charity said Tuesday. (
Sorry I posted a blank Religious Freedom article earlier. It was set to auto-publish, and I lost track of time - it came and went without me noticing. All I had at that point was a poorly written document that started out something like “It was a dark and stormy night.”
Now, that was pretty simple, and it only took me about 4 billion years to figure out. 
I told my kids that we are going on a two day fast from asking for things. I saw over at Heather’s that her family was 
The crime scene, exactly as I found it. The three-year-old coveted his six- year-old sister’s fish. He knows he is too little to feed the fish. We’ve warned him about putting foreign objects in the fish tank. And never is he to use the fish net and attempt to catch the fish.
I’ve decided I must pursue peace as a habit of life. I’m calling it a habit because I have some control over this attitude of the heart and mind; peace is a practice and pattern I can cultivate no matter the circumstances around me. I know this because I’ve been cultivating the opposite habits in my life lately: turmoil and anxiety. Apparently, I’ve tended to them well, because they are flourishing like weeds.
I had 
The first impression of Renaissance life is that it was a rediscovery of the ancient civilizations of the past - the great works of Greece and Rome. Emerging from the Middle Ages and its emphasis on the spirit, the Renaissance man was very interested in learning and in life. Scholars hunted out ancient texts long forgotten, and scoured about for the works of classical authors such as Plato and Cicero. Sculptors dug up old statues and once again were fascinated with the human body. Explorers eagerly poured over maps from antiquity, and all the intellectuals sought to improve the secular and the worldly.
The second impression is that the Renaissance focused on Italy. Florence is widely acknowledged as the birthplace of the Renaissance, and scholars have considered several factors unique to Florentine culture. This was the heartland of the ancient Roman Empire. Florence brought in wealth as a capital of silk and jewelry. The ruling Medici family were great patrons of the arts, and apportioned enormous sums of money to commission works from the leading artists of Florence, including Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, and Michelangelo. Some historians adhere to the Great Men theory - it was pure luck that great men were born there. Da Vinci, Botticelli, and Michelangelo were all born in Tuscany. It’s more likely that the cultural conditions present in the region are what allowed these men to rise to their potential.
A third impression is that the Renaissance was a dazzling spectacle. The splendid dresses with great balloon sleeves and rich fabrics, the magnificent chapels and palaces and ships, books streaming from the newly-invented printing press. This was an age of display and extravagance.
The gist of this story is that a landowner hired several shifts of men to work in his vineyard, promising each of them a 
The Taliban released two female hostages on Monday, the 
I spent the day pencil in hand, scratching out a schedule in my Teacher Plan Book. I have four little pupils - currently 2, 4, 6, 8, who do we appreciate? Okay, I just had to say that because after next week, I can’t say it anymore, as the two year old will turn three. I do little planning for the 2 and 4 year olds, but the two older kids need a schedule.
We pulled into the parking lot of 
Look how spacious and beautiful this gym is. There’s a cafeteria-style kitchen, two generously sized classrooms, two bathrooms, and the most gorgeous scenic murals painted down the hallways. Just an old country school.
The Heavens declare the glory of God, and He just winked at me. A moment ago, I returned from taking 
