Why I Don't Have An I Phone

Matt 12:36 But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment.

My sister/mother in the Lord, Nan, and I remind each other of what Jesus said in the Matthew verse above when we are concerned about wrong choices in the lives of our loved ones,  other Christians, and non Christians.  We want to speak in the way God wants us to but sometimes we don’t have a clue as to how to deal with the situation.  We don't want to be a stumbling block in the life of anyone.

One way we could deal with injustice is like Abigail did in I Samuel 25.  She realized that Nabal would not listen to her so she spoke to David.  He listened and many lives were saved that day.

In the case of Esther she requested that her people fast and pray before she approached the king.  When she did approach the king many lives were saved.

With Saul in I Samuel 20 his son Jonathan reasoned him with but there was not a good outcome.

Proverbs 26:4 says, “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, Or you will also be like him. 5 Answer a fool as his folly deserves, That he not be wise in his own eyes.”  I have struggled with when to speak and when to be quiet.

Here are some examples of difficult subjects that I have addressed with little success.  Should one continue to speak or should one be quiet?

·      When a pastor believes that it is more important to have compassion on a pregnant woman by aborting the baby than to save a baby’s life.

·      When a pastor will not tell you whether he is for homosexual marriage.

·      When a friend or relative will not understand that Mormonism is not Christian.

·      When a missionary buys into Marxism,(Malcom Muggeridge called Marxism "The Great Liberal Death Wish",) believing that the government is supposed to support the poor.  ( I thought it was the Church--Matthew 25:40 "The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.")He also believes in peace for the United States at any price including giving in to bullies.(Ecclesiastes 3:8 "A time to love and a time to hate ; A time for war and a time for peace.")

·      When a person believes that God’s word is no longer relevant or that it has been misinterpreted in the past.

·      When a person is bitter against Christians, believing they are terrorists, or just evil people.

·      When a Christian friend chooses EST training over Bible study.

·      When a mom believes that her adult children have no brains and that they should obey her and do everything her way.

·      When poverty is blamed for young people turning to crime.

Peter Hubbard, pastor of North Hills Community church in Greenville, South Carolina preached on Ephesians 5: 5-9 last week.  Here is the link: http://www.nhcconline.com/sermonwalk-as-children-of-light/

 He mentioned that he was a friend of Alan Chambers who was president of Exodus International, a ministry to help homosexuals overcome the life style.  Chambers closed down the ministry.  Hubbard wondered why he did this.  When he read the book “Pure Grace” by Clark Whitten he realized that Whitten had led Chambers astray.   Chambers was saying that one could continue in a sinful life style and still live the Christian life.  Not so!

So if a Christian or a non-Christian will not listen to warnings, we should weep, because some day they will answer to God.  This keeps us humble, as we have to keep praying as we watch our words. We have nowhere else to go but to the One who loves us.

Can a Board Game Change a Culture? Or has the Culture Changed the Game?

If you have ever played a Hasbro game called “The Game of Life” you may or may not have played one distributed in 2007.  I played this one with my 8-year-old granddaughter.  We didn’t bother to read the rules, but I was wondering about this game and it’s teaching of moral values, when I landed on a square that said I could have children.  There was no mention of getting married.  Then I landed on a square, which said that I could sue somebody to get money from him or her in order share the wealth.  Huh?  This sounded like what Malcolm Muggeridge talked about in his piece about the “Great Liberal Death Wish.” Here is an excerpt:

”It was from that moment that I began to get the feeling that a liberal view of life was not what I'd supposed it to be - a creative movement which would shape the future - but rather a sort of death wish. How otherwise could you explain how people, in their own country ardent for equality, bitter opponents of capital punishment and all for more humane treatment of people in prison, supporters, in fact, of every good cause, should in the USSR prostrate themselves before a regime ruled over brutal-ly and oppressively and arbitrarily by a privileged party oligarchy? I still ponder over the mystery of how men displaying critical intelligence in other fields could be so astonishingly deluded.” 

And then he said this:

 “I laugh at it all now, but at the time you can imagine what a shock it was to someone like myself, who had been brought up to regard liberal intellectuals as the samurai, the absolute elite, of the human race, to find that they could be taken in by deceptions which a half-witted boy would see through in an instant. I never got over that; it always remained in my mind as something that could never be erased. I could never henceforth regard the intelligentsia as other than credulous fools who nonetheless became the media's prophetic voices, their heirs and successors remaining so still. That's when I began to think seriously about the great liberal death wish.”

 Would other people feel the same way about this game that I did?  I checked out  the reviews on Amazon.com.  It looked to me that few liked the update of this  game.  Of the reviews I read all were negative.  Apparently the older version of the game was much better.  Here is the link to the Amazon page. http://www.amazon.com/Hasbro-4000-Game-of-Life/dp/B00000IWD7/ref=sr_1_1?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1377365469&sr=1-1&keywords=the+game+of+life

Hmmm, I wouldn’t recommend this game to anyone.

Intelligent Design

 In the You Tube video above check out this scientist who believes in intelligent design.   I wasn’t there when God created everything so I don’t know all or even any of the answers.  But I do know that by scientific experiment, which, Pasteur did, he proved that a person couldn’t make something out of nothing.  Only God can do that.
  

My Foot Had Almost Slipped

 Historical movies or books inaccurately written make me angry.  I don't know where my anger comes from --maybe my great aunt!  (I don't remember my mom or dad getting angry when I was growing up.  They just seemed to go with the flow trusting that everything would be fine in the end.) Anyway, when Dan Brown's "Davinci Code" was published I was angry.  He rewrote history and fooled many into thinking his version of history was true.  Here is a link explaining:  http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2012/10/04/reading-for-worldviews-the-da-vinci-code/

Now the movie "The Butler" will be fooling many people.  I was planning on boycotting the movie anyway as Jane Fonda, who plays Nancy Reagan, has never apologized in a sincere way for siding with the enemy against the United States during the Viet Nam War.  Now we find out that there are historically inaccurate depictions in the movie "The Butler," especially about Ronald Reagan. Here is what Michael Reagan wrote:  http://townhall.com/columnists/michaelreagan/2013/08/22/the-butler-from-another-planet-n1670773/page/full
The same person who indicted Sarah Palin and others in other movies wrote the screenplay.

But then I remembered Psalm 73:1 Surely God is good to Israel, To those who are pure in heart! 2 But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling, My steps had almost slipped. 3 For I was envious of the arrogant As I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 For there are no pains in their death, And their body is fat. 5 They are not in trouble as other men, Nor are they plagued like mankind. 6 Therefore pride is their necklace; The garment of violence covers them. 7 Their eye bulges from fatness; The imaginations of their heart run riot. 8 They mock and wickedly speak of oppression; They speak from on high. 9 They have set their mouth against the heavens, And their tongue parades through the earth. 10 Therefore his people return to this place, And waters of abundance are drunk by them. 11 They say, "How does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High?" 12 Behold, these are the wicked; And always at ease, they have increased in wealth. 13Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure And washed my hands in innocence; 14 For I have been stricken all day long And chastened every morning. 15 If I had said, "I will speak thus," Behold, I would have betrayed the generation of Your children. 16 When I pondered to understand this, It was troublesome in my sight 17 Until I came into the sanctuary of God; Then I perceived their end. 18 Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. 19 How they are destroyed in a moment! They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors ! 20 Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when aroused, You will despise their form. 21 When my heart was embittered And I was pierced within, 22 Then I was senseless and ignorant; I was like a beast before You. 23 Nevertheless I am continually with You; You have taken hold of my right hand. 24With Your counsel You will guide me, And afterward receive me to glory. 25 Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. 26 My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 27 For, behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You. 28 But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, That I may tell of all Your works.

Antiques, Jewelry, and Howard Hughs

My mother was, what you might call, a preservationist.  She wanted to save everything from the past—books, letters, furniture, clothes, typewriters, and more.  You name it, she wanted to store it.  I did not share this philosophy of life until I read a novel by T. Davis Bunn.

In the novel “Florian’s Gate, “by Bunn, we learn that this gate, Florian’s Gate, is the main entrance to the medieval city of Cracow, Poland. But for Alexander Kantor, now a successful antiques dealer in London, the place holds only one memory. It was here that the Nazis arrested him as a young man.  Years later, while living in London, he learns about the people starving under the cruel, atheistic Communist rule.  He decides, at the risk of his life, to help the hungry people by smuggling their antiques that they had hidden from the government, out to London, and sell them.  Then he smuggles the money back in so they can buy food.  It was then that I started to value old stuff!  I do like food!

Many women love jewelry, (diamonds are a girls best friend, and all of that.)  Chris, my husband, thinks a woman needs to wear jewelry to have a finished look for her outfit.  I don’t share their interest in such things.  You might say I’m a secret Amish or Mennonite.  I just don’t have the patience to take the time to put on earrings or necklaces and certainly not bracelets.  My mom, sister, and daughter never wore much jewelry either.  It must be a genetic thing.  Anyway, after reading “Winter Palace” by T. Davis Bunn, I began to understand that jewelry might have some value other than just being pretty.  I have heard of Russians during the revolution smuggling gems sewn in their clothes out of the country, so that they would have something with which to buy food and shelter.  I do like food and shelter!

Then there is the movie “The Aviator,” which included Howard Hughes obsession with always experimenting with airplanes.  Because of his fixation, his contribution to the knowledge of the United States defense in building airplanes in World War II was invaluable. 

So I plan not to judge anyone’s interests or likes because some day we may need to have some use for these things!