Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Happy Veterans Day
It's the soldier, not the reporter who has given us Freedom of the Press.
It's the soldier, not the poet, who has given us Freedom of Speech.
It's the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the Freedom to Demonstrate.
It's the soldier, not the lawyer, who has given us the Right to a Fair Trial.
It's the soldier who salutes the flag, serves under the flag and whose coffin is draped by the flag, Who gives the protestor the right to burn the flag.
~Father Dennis Edward O'Brien, USMC
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
It's Good Enough for Me
When Jason and I began our family, we were so scared and excited at the same time. We were nervous and didn't really know what we were getting into. No one does. We found parenting to be a pure joy, but the hardest thing we'd ever done. More than anything, we wanted our children to come to know our Saviour. All our decisions regarding entertainment, recreation, friends, church, and school have been centered around that one desire. We've made mistakes, and we've also made enemies and had people accuse us of being too strict and other things that I'd rather not say here. The sacrifices have been great on our part just to stand firm on the convictions that the Lord has given us on how to raise our children. Friends have come and gone. Family has come and gone. But the Lord has been true.
And as I sit here this morning, I can tell you that it has all been worth it. The Lord saved my baby girl Madelyn yesterday. It was glorious. It was real. And it was worth more than anything I've ever had to give up in order to live by my convictions.
We've never allowed our children to go into children's church. We don't allow them to go to youth groups or AWANA. We've never taught them The Roman Road (as Bro. Milby says, we don't want to go to Rome, we want to go to Calvary!). We don't believe in child evangelism "techniques" that teach children the ABCs of salvation (Admit, Believe, Confess). And we don't want them "making decisions" for Christ. Madelyn already believed in God and knew she was a sinner before she got saved. "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." (James 2:19) You'll be no better off than the devil by ABC techniques, without the drawing power of the Holy Spirit, "No man can come to me, except the Father which has sent me draw him" (John 6:44).
We've tried to keep their hearts and minds pure and uncluttered so they could hear from the Lord. We've kept them at home with us most of the time, so that we were there to answer their questions about the Lord. We've raised them under spirit-filled preaching, and just prayed that the same Holy Spirit that drew us to salvation would grip the hearts of our children as well.
If you think I'm bragging about being a great parent, you just don't get it. I am helpless. I am nothing. I have tried to lay the groundwork, but in the end, I can't save my own child. What I'm trying to say is, AS MUCH AS I WANTED TO, I COULD NOT HELP MADELYN MAKE THAT DECISION. I have watched her struggle and cry and wrestle with God, but I couldn't do it for her. My daughter had to do personal business with her Creator. As I watched her precious little feet inch closer and closer to the aisle, I knew she was exercising that measure of faith that God has dealt to every man (Rom. 12:3). The modern church has lost confidence in the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. The Lord hasn't changed his method of salvation. He'll save your child the same way he saved you and your parents and your grandparents and your great-grandparents, etc....
It was good for our Fathers
It was good for our Mothers
It will take us all to heaven,
And it's good enough for me!
And as I sit here this morning, I can tell you that it has all been worth it. The Lord saved my baby girl Madelyn yesterday. It was glorious. It was real. And it was worth more than anything I've ever had to give up in order to live by my convictions.
We've never allowed our children to go into children's church. We don't allow them to go to youth groups or AWANA. We've never taught them The Roman Road (as Bro. Milby says, we don't want to go to Rome, we want to go to Calvary!). We don't believe in child evangelism "techniques" that teach children the ABCs of salvation (Admit, Believe, Confess). And we don't want them "making decisions" for Christ. Madelyn already believed in God and knew she was a sinner before she got saved. "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." (James 2:19) You'll be no better off than the devil by ABC techniques, without the drawing power of the Holy Spirit, "No man can come to me, except the Father which has sent me draw him" (John 6:44).
We've tried to keep their hearts and minds pure and uncluttered so they could hear from the Lord. We've kept them at home with us most of the time, so that we were there to answer their questions about the Lord. We've raised them under spirit-filled preaching, and just prayed that the same Holy Spirit that drew us to salvation would grip the hearts of our children as well.
If you think I'm bragging about being a great parent, you just don't get it. I am helpless. I am nothing. I have tried to lay the groundwork, but in the end, I can't save my own child. What I'm trying to say is, AS MUCH AS I WANTED TO, I COULD NOT HELP MADELYN MAKE THAT DECISION. I have watched her struggle and cry and wrestle with God, but I couldn't do it for her. My daughter had to do personal business with her Creator. As I watched her precious little feet inch closer and closer to the aisle, I knew she was exercising that measure of faith that God has dealt to every man (Rom. 12:3). The modern church has lost confidence in the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. The Lord hasn't changed his method of salvation. He'll save your child the same way he saved you and your parents and your grandparents and your great-grandparents, etc....
It was good for our Fathers
It was good for our Mothers
It will take us all to heaven,
And it's good enough for me!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Joe Wilson for President!
First, he calls out the lying President in front of the entire world, now he wants to give the Congress a dose of their own medicine.
He's just got the guts to say what everyone else is thinking!
Joe Wilson Proposes Forcing Congress Onto Government Health Insurance Plan - FOXNews.com
Posted using ShareThis
He's just got the guts to say what everyone else is thinking!
Joe Wilson Proposes Forcing Congress Onto Government Health Insurance Plan - FOXNews.com
Posted using ShareThis
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Stocking up on our Vitamin D!
There's no better vaccination against the Swine Flu (and a host of other ailments) than God's gracious provision of vitamin D through His beautiful sunshine. We decided to take advantage of it by pulling out some science kits and heading OUTSIDE for lessons today. Seth and Bub enjoyed putting together this dinosaur gears kit that we've had for years. It's always a winner, at least after I assemble it. I never could get Caleb to care about putting it together, but it was right up Seth's alley! He had it figured out in no time, and was telling me where parts went! I love being a teacher!
A Chilling Article
Investors.com - Service.gov And Its Soviet Similarities
Please take time to read this article above. It was written by a woman who was born and raised in Soviet Russia, and immigrated to America in 1980. This is an editorial she wrote as a warning to all free citizens of the U.S.
I just finished reading "East Wind", the autobiography of Maria Zeitner Linke, about her life growing up under the heavy hand of Russian communism. In addition to having her parents snatched away periodically for state service (once taking her mother for 6 long months to dig ditches, leaving her as a 9-10 year old child to care for her 2 young sisters, one of whom was only 4 months old; the baby died before her mother returned), having her father's factory confiscated for the state, relocated so many times it was hard to keep count, having her beloved brother kidnapped for service in the Red Army (they never saw him again)....as if this wasn't bad enough, she also spent 9 years in Stalin's Gulags. I've studied a lot about Hitler and the Holocaust, but this book truly opened my eyes to the evils of Communism. I believe there are few people who realize how many millions of people have died at its cruel hand. Stalin, alone, is estimated to have murdered more than 20 million of his own people (this is the conservative number! no one truly knows but the Lord).
With this book so fresh in my mind, reading the article linked above just sends chills up my spine. How did America come to this on our watch? With a marvelous, ingenius Constitution that has a remarkable Bill of Rights attached to it....how? Who would want to trade the privileges and freedoms that we enjoy for the death and tears that ALWAYS accompany communism? IF YOU WANT SOCIALIZED HEALTHCARE, MOVE TO CUBA! But don't come in and highjack our country!
Please take time to read this article above. It was written by a woman who was born and raised in Soviet Russia, and immigrated to America in 1980. This is an editorial she wrote as a warning to all free citizens of the U.S.
I just finished reading "East Wind", the autobiography of Maria Zeitner Linke, about her life growing up under the heavy hand of Russian communism. In addition to having her parents snatched away periodically for state service (once taking her mother for 6 long months to dig ditches, leaving her as a 9-10 year old child to care for her 2 young sisters, one of whom was only 4 months old; the baby died before her mother returned), having her father's factory confiscated for the state, relocated so many times it was hard to keep count, having her beloved brother kidnapped for service in the Red Army (they never saw him again)....as if this wasn't bad enough, she also spent 9 years in Stalin's Gulags. I've studied a lot about Hitler and the Holocaust, but this book truly opened my eyes to the evils of Communism. I believe there are few people who realize how many millions of people have died at its cruel hand. Stalin, alone, is estimated to have murdered more than 20 million of his own people (this is the conservative number! no one truly knows but the Lord).
With this book so fresh in my mind, reading the article linked above just sends chills up my spine. How did America come to this on our watch? With a marvelous, ingenius Constitution that has a remarkable Bill of Rights attached to it....how? Who would want to trade the privileges and freedoms that we enjoy for the death and tears that ALWAYS accompany communism? IF YOU WANT SOCIALIZED HEALTHCARE, MOVE TO CUBA! But don't come in and highjack our country!
Monday, November 2, 2009
Sleeping Princess
KK snapped this after church yesterday. Look at those sweet rosey cheeks and lips.
One Nation Under God painting
Click here to look at this amazing painting by James McNaughton. You can scroll over each person in the painting, and it reveals the artist's interpretation and why he chose to include that person in the painting. It's good to see patriotic artists at work!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
The Decline of the Presidents
I am so humbled and convicted just by reading this prayer of our first President, George Washington, a man whose character was said to be the "wonder of the world". He was "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen".
O eternal and everlasting God, I presume to present myself this morning before thy Divine majesty, beseeching thee to accept of my humble and hearty thanks, that it hath pleased thy great goodness to keep and preserve me the night past from all the dangers poor mortals are subject to, and has given me sweet and pleasant sleep, whereby I find my body refreshed and comforted for performing the duties of this day, in which I beseech thee to defend me from all perils of body and soul. Direct my thoughts, words and work, wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of the Lamb, and purge my heart by thy Holy Spirit, from the dross of my natural corruption, that I may with more freedom of mind and liberty of will serve thee, the ever lasting God, in righteousness and holiness this day, and all the days of my life. Increase my faith in the sweet promises of the gospel; give me repentance from dead works; pardon my wanderings, and direct my thoughts unto thyself, the God of my salvation; teach me how to live in thy fear, labor in thy service, and ever to run in the ways of thy commandments; make me always watchful over my heart, that neither the terrors of conscience, the loathing of holy duties, the love of sin, nor an unwillingness to depart this life, may cast me into a spiritual slumber, but daily frame me more and more into the likeness of thy son Jesus Christ, that living in thy fear, and dying in thy favor, I may in thy appointed time attain the resurrection of the just unto eternal life. Bless my family, friends and kindred unite us all in praising and glorifying thee in all our works begun, continued, and ended, when we shall come to make our last account before thee blessed Saviour…
(From William J. Johnson, George Washington, the Christian (New York: The Abingdon Press, New York & Cincinnati, 1919), pp. 24-35.)
No wonder America has been the wonder of the world for over 200 years, being founded by humble men like this who feared God. President Washington was a servant leader that was elected unaminously, having the hearts of the people...something which he didn't use for political aspirations; instead, something he humbly treasured.
How far we have regressed! Our modern tyrant in the White House, who has no time for even a formal National Day of Prayer (at least, if it's Christian...plenty of time for homos and Muslims), had to hire government funded thugs to dishonestly and illegally get him votes , spews blasphemy almost every time he opens his mouth, and has chosen to surround himself with czars who crank out volumous rules and regulations to force the people to bow to his agenda. (I might as well get it all off my chest while I still can.....)
O eternal and everlasting God, I presume to present myself this morning before thy Divine majesty, beseeching thee to accept of my humble and hearty thanks, that it hath pleased thy great goodness to keep and preserve me the night past from all the dangers poor mortals are subject to, and has given me sweet and pleasant sleep, whereby I find my body refreshed and comforted for performing the duties of this day, in which I beseech thee to defend me from all perils of body and soul. Direct my thoughts, words and work, wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of the Lamb, and purge my heart by thy Holy Spirit, from the dross of my natural corruption, that I may with more freedom of mind and liberty of will serve thee, the ever lasting God, in righteousness and holiness this day, and all the days of my life. Increase my faith in the sweet promises of the gospel; give me repentance from dead works; pardon my wanderings, and direct my thoughts unto thyself, the God of my salvation; teach me how to live in thy fear, labor in thy service, and ever to run in the ways of thy commandments; make me always watchful over my heart, that neither the terrors of conscience, the loathing of holy duties, the love of sin, nor an unwillingness to depart this life, may cast me into a spiritual slumber, but daily frame me more and more into the likeness of thy son Jesus Christ, that living in thy fear, and dying in thy favor, I may in thy appointed time attain the resurrection of the just unto eternal life. Bless my family, friends and kindred unite us all in praising and glorifying thee in all our works begun, continued, and ended, when we shall come to make our last account before thee blessed Saviour…
(From William J. Johnson, George Washington, the Christian (New York: The Abingdon Press, New York & Cincinnati, 1919), pp. 24-35.)
No wonder America has been the wonder of the world for over 200 years, being founded by humble men like this who feared God. President Washington was a servant leader that was elected unaminously, having the hearts of the people...something which he didn't use for political aspirations; instead, something he humbly treasured.
How far we have regressed! Our modern tyrant in the White House, who has no time for even a formal National Day of Prayer (at least, if it's Christian...plenty of time for homos and Muslims), had to hire government funded thugs to dishonestly and illegally get him votes , spews blasphemy almost every time he opens his mouth, and has chosen to surround himself with czars who crank out volumous rules and regulations to force the people to bow to his agenda. (I might as well get it all off my chest while I still can.....)
I mourn for my nation, but I can still humbly beseech our Lord on my own behalf, that I might personally be found doing His will, and have my own heart and mind cleansed and focused heavenward. Thank God for this wonderful example set for us all by our first President.
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