NEVER WRESTLE WITH YOUR DANCE PARTNER

When I was thirteen a friend wanted me to go to a teen club dance with her.  I thought it sounded like fun.  So our parents drove us and dropped us off.  There was music playing and a boy asked me to dance.  My 7th grade teacher had taught me how to do a box step.  So we started to “slow” dance. But almost immediately the boy took my right hand and pushed my arm behind my back and he pressed his body against me.  I pulled and pushed his hand back into the proper position and pushed him away from me.  Then he pushed my arm behind me again.  We wrestled through the entire dance.

So what should I have been warned about?  Maybe if a boy does something you don’t like you should immediately remove yourself from his presence and find other people.  But of course in this politically correct time we don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.  Well, I believe it is time to teach our tweens and teens to offend each other if something is happening that you sense is not right. This includes boys who are in doubt as to what a girls intentions are.

In our age of sexual freedom young people are instructed in the media and by some parents that they should go ahead and become sexually involved when they believe the time is right.  It seems more teen boys than girls believe anytime is right.  Some act like animals and not people with brains. I wish that our society would go back to when it was the right time to become sexually involved after you are married.  We are after all not animals.  We do have intellect. 

Even fairy tales are becoming sexually immoral.  My granddaughter said that maybe in the story, “The Princess and the Pea,” that the princess who felt the pea was pregnant.  I said, “She better not be because she hadn’t married the prince yet!” 

She said, “You can get pregnant if you are not married."  

I said, “People are supposed to wait until they are married to do anything that will cause a pregnancy.” 

So not only do we have to teach our kids to just say no to drugs, we also have to teach them to just say no to pre-marital sex!

Help Lord!  You are the only one Who can lead us in the way we should go.

MEAN- SPIRITED REPORTING

It is widely thought that North Carolina has lost all business and will go bankrupt because they passed a bathroom law.  Not so.  Read the following report from World Magazine.  Click here to go to the article.

CHURCHGOERS SURVIVE POTLUCK NIGHTMARE

I thought you would enjoy this blog as much as I did:

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Jul 26, 2016 | Headlines

Tragedy struck Langley Baptist Church on Sunday afternoon when every covered dish at the church’s monthly potluck was a green bean casserole. Stunned onlookers watched in horror as family after family arrived with the same popular side dish in tow. By the time grace was said over the meal, there were over twenty-five green bean casseroles lining the buffet table with no meat dish in sight.  To read the rest of the blog click here.

LAW SCHOOL: WHAT LAW ARE WE UNDER

If you are interested in why Christians obey some laws in the Old Testament and not others read this:

by Clint Archer

 Before I travel to a new country I investigate if there are any peculiar laws I need to observe. Luckily I have never had to verify any of these for myself – but they are on the internet so they must be true, right?

In Thailand it is illegal to leave your house without wearing any underwear. In Israel it is illegal to bring bears to the beach. Ireland has prohibited its citizens from pretending to perform any type of witchcraft, enchantment, or occultic practices. It’s not against the law to actually perform them, just to pretend to perform them.

In Canada you may not pay for an item that costs 50c using only 1c coins, you may not water your garden if it is raining, and citizens may not remove bandages in public.
The local law in Chelsea, UK prohibits impersonating an elderly person. (That’s not preventing rude youth from mocking old people, it’s because pensioners are entitled to a housing subsidy, so pretending to be one is considered fraud.)

There’s much confusion among Christians as to which laws in the Bible apply to us. When we decry homosexuality (which was condemned in the Mosaic Law) but still eat bacon (which was also condemned in the Mosaic Law), are we just being arbitrarily selective?  If you would like to read the rest click here.

LOOKING AHEAD TO THE LIKELIHOOD OF INCREASED CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION IN AMERICA

This blog was written by Randy Alcorn:

Several months ago I was asked by World Magazine some questions about religious persecution. Here are my responses.

There’s a lot of talk in evangelical circles about the likelihood of increased persecution of believers in the years ahead. Do you think that forecast is on target?

Yes. However, I don’t believe we should live in fear and dread of persecution, but realize that God tells us to expect it (2 Timothy 3:12) and not to be surprised by it (1 Peter 4:12). He promises to use it to increase our perseverance and build our character (Romans 5:3-5), and increase our happiness in Christ (Luke 6:22-23). God will use persecution, as He always has, to thereby strengthen His church and extend the Gospel message, not destroy it. Persecution in America will probably never be as extreme as it has been in countless places throughout church history and as it is around the world today.

So, sure, let’s hang on to what liberties we can, but not whine and complain like a disgruntled special interest group. Instead let’s focus on sharing Jesus and the Gospel.
If you would like to read the rest of the blog click here.

Randy Alcorn (@randyalcorn) is the author of over fifty books and the founder and director of Eternal Perspective Ministries. 

WILL YOU PRAY WITH ME BEFORE THE OPENING OF THE DNC?

	Dear Friend, A week ago, thousands of people prayed with me live before the start of the Republican Convention. Join me again tomorrow at 2 p.m. (Eastern time) on Facebook as we pray before the opening of the Democratic National Convention. This is an opportunity to intercede before God on behalf of our troubled nation. We will pray together that the Lord will bring healing, repentance, and revival across our land. We need to ask Almighty God to humble the hearts of America’s leaders—both Democrats and Republicans, change their lives, and turn their eyes toward Him.    Watch Monday at 2 p.m. EST                                                            Tell your friends, family, neighbors, and others in your church about this special event. We need the whole country praying for our broken political process and the future of our nation. May God richly bless you—and I look forward to praying with you tomorrow. Sincerely, Franklin Graham “The Lord was moved by prayer for the land.” —2 Samuel, 24:25, NASB

SUMMER OF TERROR

President Obama says that chaos in the world doesn't jive with most people.  Then why did the New York Post publish a front page like this?

NAN REMEMBERS

Nan served cake for Chris and me at our 1965 wedding.

Because of all the clothes rationing in Northern Ireland during World War II Nan’s mother, Annie, would rip apart old clothes and remake them for Nan and her sister Alice.  She would even unravel yarn from sweaters and knit a new sweater.  

They were only allowed 2 oz. of butter each.  Annie would boil parsnips and mash them and add banana flavoring to spread on toast.   Alice didn’t even know what a banana looked like until after the war. (A neighbor of a friend of mine said that she moved to the United States from Liverpool after the war so that she could have orange juice.) 

One time Nan wrote to her Aunt Lucy in the United States and asked her to send some white flour, as their flour was a dirty gray.  Nan received the letter back from the censors. The part about the flour was cut out, as they were not allowed to ask for rationed food.  If you traveled by car, bus, or train, there were inspectors that could stop you and search your baggage.  They looked for food or other things that were black market items.

Annie carried a small flask of brandy and sugar and also a tablespoon.  If someone went into shock you were to give the person a tablespoon of it.   She also carried all their important papers with her—marriage certificate, birth certificates, insurance papers, and other important papers. 

Nan had two older cousins, Lucy and Annie.  They were 19 and 20 years old.  They worked at the rope works in Belfast.  Their father used to walk them to work when they were on the night shift.  They would roll their hair up on metal roller.  One night the sirens went off and they were so scared their father told them to take the rollers out of their hair or the planes would see them.  That kept them busy so they couldn’t think so much about what was happening.

Every street in Belfast had air raid shelters along one side.  They were brick with a thick roof of cement.  Trucks came by and took the metal railings and gates they had around their gardens in the front yard of each house.  They would be used at the munitions factories. Friends of the family had an underground shelter. The girls and their mom went there one time as the whole street had been hit and all the houses were burning.  They had to wait until the fires were out to go and see if their house was still there.  It was.

When families lost their houses and all their possessions the neighbors shared what they had with those who had nothing.  Even a blanket and a cup would help out. 

Nan’s father’s parents, Andrew and Alice, came out of their shelter after a raid and all they had left was the clothes on their backs.  Nan’s mother brought them to Portadown.  The next day she pleaded with her uncle’s neighbor to take them in. She did. They stayed there until after the war was over in 1945. 

During a raid one night the water works was hit.  There was a big laundry not far from them so they would take pots and get water from the huge green glass bottles. 

After a raid, trucks would come around to pick up the dead, and take the bodies to the wholesale fish market that had been set-aside as a morgue.  Annie, a friend of Nan’s mom, couldn’t find her father after a raid.  Annie went with her and they found him by his I.D. at the fish market. 

Nan remembers seeing a lady pushing a pram with a baby and her other children hanging on to her.  They were dressed but she was in her nightgown.  She had just enough time to pull on a coat before they had to go to the shelter.

When the victory was declared each family on the street brought out their tables and lined them up end to end. They all cooked whatever they had and shared it in a big potluck.  Prayers of thanksgiving were said for God’s grace, mercy, and victory.

It wasn’t until Nan was twenty-six that she moved to the United States.  She remembers the hoops she had to jump through to move here and then to become a citizen.  She said it was worth doing. When other people come here they should be glad to do what is required because it is worth it. 

She met her husband, Ralph, here, and had thirty wonderful years with him.  Then she had twenty as a widow.  She was a light to the church and community all the days of her life.  She prayed that God would keep her in her senses and He did.  She was a comfort and help to many people not counting the good food she made for people.  (Including feeding our daughter and son when they were attending college in the Spokane area.)

Ralph and Nan would always invite the Spokane Stowells over for Easter dinner.  She was able to keep up the tradition until both Nan, and my cousin Janet’s, health failed.  

Nan and I agreed-- even when you had nothing else in your life you had Jesus always with you.  Although we did share with each other how we liked food, clothing, and shelter! We thanked the Lord every day that He had provided such a great life for each of us!

Nan finished well.  I hope and pray that I can do the same.

If you have any additions or corrections please reply with a comment.

NAN REMEMBERS WORLD WAR II

Nan babysitting our daughter in 1971.  She and her husband, Ralph, would keep her while we went out.  

We moved away when Heather was seven.

Nan, a long time friend of the Stowell family, and my friend, prayer partner, and sister in Christ, was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland.  She lived there during WW II.  She was nine years old on September 9, 1939, when war was declared.  Her sister Alice was six.  Her father, Andrew, wanted to enlist but had poor health. He worked at the shipyard as a driller.  Later he came down with meningitis and died after going to the hospital.   

In 1940, Nan and her sister Alice, along with her maternal grandparents, were evacuated to her great uncle’s farm in Portadown, Co Armagh. They attended school there.  After morning prayer the teacher would ask what part of Belfast they were from and then would tell them if the area was bombed the night before. When the American’s arrived they set up camp behind her uncles farm.  After Nan’s father died her mother brought the two girls home to be with her in Belfast.  Their Uncle Chris would come and check on them after the ‘all clear’ signal.

In the school in Belfast they had to learn many defense measures.  First they were timed to see how fast they could get home from school.  If they were fast enough they could go home when the air raid siren blew.  If they couldn’t get home quickly they were taken to a shelter in the playground at the school.  Each child had an identification number.  Nan’s parents had bracelets made for the girls with their numbers on them.  They practiced jumping out of a two-story window.  They had to bend their knees so they wouldn’t break their backs. They were issued gas masks.  Nan could still remember the smell of that horrid rubber.

Families and communities clung to God during the dark years and sang hymns and songs to each other to keep up their courage.

Each week a group of children from different schools would be taken to the City Hall to sing on a radio broadcast.  They sang hymns like:

Eternal Father strong to save,

Whose arm doth bind the restless wave,

Who bids the mighty ocean deep,

It’s own appointed limits keep.

Oh, hear us when we cry to thee,

For those in peril on the sea.

They would change the words to “For those in peril in the air,” referring to the Royal Air Force.

Another song Nan remembered went like this:

God is our refuge be not afraid,

He will protect you all through the raid.

When bombs are falling danger is near,

He will protect you to the “all clear.”

They also sang this:

They’ll always be an England while there’s a village street.

Wherever there’s a cottage small beside a field of grain,

There’ll always be an England and England shall be free,

If England means so much to you, as England means to me.

The siren was a warning of a raid. Another different sound was for “all clear.” There were two air raid wardens for each street.  They patrolled the streets to make sure no light was showing from the houses.  Everyone had to install dark blinds. No street lights were lit at any time. The houses were all joined together.  The wardens knew everybody on that street.  After a raid, if you got separated from your family, the air raid wardens helped you find them.  Everyone dreaded moonlit nights because as the enemy bombed they could see the animals in the field and would machine gun them to devastate their food supply. They also had to put sticky tape on their windows. It was supposed to keep glass from flying all over if they were blown out.

One older lady in their neighborhood refused to go to a shelter.  She would hide under the stairs in her house.  Each house was required to leave the doors open so in case of a bomb landing near by the explosion wouldn’t destroy the house. One moonlit night the moon went behind a cloud. She peeked out and said, “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph they shot down the moon!”

One family thought that they would be safer in the hills rather than in a shelter.  One sister was married so she and her husband would run and get the other sisters and hide.  One time one of the sisters yelled that she had forgotten her teeth!  The brother-in-law yelled, “What the hell do you think they are dropping, sandwiches!”

Ration books were issued for food, books, blankets, and clothing.  New toys and household goods were not manufactured as all the factories were used for the war effort.  Nan remembered a neighbor who wanted to give her small daughter a doll buggy as a Christmas gift.  Nan gave her the one she had used as a young child.  The mom painted it, made a new pillow and blanket, and the child was delighted with it. 

This is getting long.  I will continue the rest of the story in my next blog.  If you have any corrections or additions add a comment.  

TRENDS IN CHURCH ARCHITECTURE PART 1

I thought this article by Ed Stetzer published on line in Christianity Today was interesting.  Click here to read.

PROPHECY HEADLINES UPDATE. END TIMES. 7/18/16

The You Tube above is the latest news for July 17, 2016.  It is almost impossible to keep up with the tragic news all over the world each day.  Now another attack has happened in Germany. Click here to read.

THE PAIN! THE PAIN!

What a shock!  I’ve experienced another first world problem today.  I’m hurting more than usual from my fibromyalgia pain because my doctor quit her job and decided to stay home with her kids.  The clinic I prefer does not have another woman doctor I could have as my primary care doctor.  I had to see a young male doctor.  He sees me as an almost 73-year-old woman who shouldn’t be taking muscle relaxants. He decreases my dose without telling me.  Fortunately the clinic has hired another woman doctor so I will see her the first part of August.  I have confidence she will restore my pills!

Life is tough all over!  Nobody gets a free lunch.  What we do know is that Jesus has the words of life.  There is nowhere else to go but to Him.  I’m counting my blessings today despite the pain!  It burns like this bonfire!

“Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil." Psalm 37:8

IT'S TIME FOR AMERICA TO GROW UP!

Here are two pictures of a baby demonstrating the immaturity of America.  She insists on sitting on the table.  People cannot eat there, or do any type of work because she is adamant about having her own way.  This reminds me of I Corinthians 6:^9 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor ^[f]effeminate, nor homosexuals, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.”

The second picture depicts America when they will not listen to God but reap what they have sowed.  She rolls on the floor having a temper tantrum. 

When will she accept that all she needs to do is grow up and accept God’s laws and obey His commandments?  If this happened then this: ^{f 11 "}Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God."

She will be God’s faithful obedient child all grown up.  May America learn and obey.

BOBBI'S BIBLIOTHECARVIAL BLOGGERS

Here are links to the blogs I read on a regular basis.  My category for blogging would be "the hobbyist." I enjoy reading and writing about culture, faith, and how Christians are surviving in a society that is more and more hostile to people of "The Book." I also occasionally write about my personal story. I thought you might be interested in checking out some of the blogs I like:

 http://www.epm.org/blog/. Randy Alcorn, who lives in Oregon, writes here. I have read several of his books including his non-fiction book, “Heaven.” Also, I read his novel about a Chinese Christian working for Christ in China, “Is This The Day I die?” His fiction trilogy “Deadline”, “Dominion”, and “Deception” was similar to Frank Peretti’s novels.

 http://www.patheos.com/blogs/frenchrevolution/ Nancy French writes this one.  Her husband David French writes for the National Review. I would call it a gossip column.  I think it basically informs about the anti-Christian culture we live in.

http://www.olivetreeviews.org. “Understanding the Times” is a weekly radio show on Saturday mornings.  I listen to it on I Tunes.  It informs about stories of the week that point to end times.  I click on the link and go to the right side of the page to check the daily headlines.

https://mereorthodoxy.com/ A Small group of Young Christians who have spent the past seven years working out what their faith looks like in public.

http://thecripplegate.com/  Blog by a group of pastors and professors.

http://billygraham.org//decision-magazine/ The evangelical voice of today.

http://thewardrobedoor.com/blog This blogger lives in TN with his wife and two sons and two daughters, where he serves as a writer and online editor for Facts & Trends.  As you can tell from the title of his blog he is a C.S. Lewis fan.

These are the blogs I read from the Gospel Coalition.  They are a group of pastors and writers from the reformed tradition.

https://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/trevinwax/  https://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/rayortlund/

https://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/justintaylor/

https://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/kevindeyoung/

https://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/gospeldrivenchurch/

http://www.challies.com  Tim Challies is a pastor at Grace Fellowship Church in Toronto, Ontario, where he primarily gives attention to mentoring and discipleship. He is a book reviewer for WORLD magazine, co-founder of Cruciform Press, and he has written three books.

http://gilandamy.blogspot.com/ is a blog by a missionary to Tanzania.  She blogs about her family, missions, adoption, and the joys and struggles of life in Tanzania.

https://world.wng.org/ World Magazine is the source that informed families across the country turn to each week for breaking news, current events, cultural analysis, and insightful editorials from a Christian perspective.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/ Christianity Today is a globally minded evangelical magazine that provides thoughtful biblical perspectives on the news and ideas of our day.

https://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/author/joelcrosenberg/ Joel C. Rosenberg (www.joelrosenberg.com) is a New York Times best-selling author of 11 novels and five non-fiction books, with more than 3 million copies sold. 

http://sacredsandwich.com/ Is written somewhere in Missouri, I think. We are pleased that you have found The Sacred Sandwich and are hopeful that you will find much spiritual food presented within these pages. However, if you read no further than this introduction and feel compelled to read the Bible instead, then our work is done.

What blogs do you read on a regular basis?

SINNERS IN THE HANDS OF AN ANGRY GOD-- CLASSIC SERMON BY JONATHAN EDWARDS

Today, July 8, is the anniversary of Jonathan Edwards famous 1741 sermon.

Life is murder. More lives and souls are being lost every day.  Once again we are confronted with news stories telling us about lives snuffed out.  Police kill two black men during stops. Snipers kill five cops during a “Black Lives Matter” protest.  According to scripture, it will get worse until Jesus comes back and sets up His Kingdom.  Meanwhile Christians need to get the word out that it isn’t too late to turn to God.

 “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” - Classic Sermon by Jonathan Edwards, (You Tube above gives the audio of the 48 minute sermon), tells about the strength, power, and sovereignty of God.  He holds evil men over the abyss and will let them fall in when He desires it.  Our job is to get across to those who have turned away from God that they must turn and repent or they will be thrown into the “Lake of Fire.”

It fascinates me that one of God’s Ten Commandments is to Keep the Sabbath and to keep it Holy.  Many people believe that they are doing this by going out into nature and worshiping God there.  But how do they take the Lord’s Supper to remember Jesus until He comes?  How do they not forsake the gathering together of the brethren?  How do they bear one another’s burdens?

Today I read II Peter 2.  Verse 1 says that false teachers will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord.  (Destructive heresies are divisive opinions or teachings that result in the moral and spiritual destruction of those who accept them.  This definition is according to the footnotes in my NIV Bible.)  These people will say, “Did God really say that?”  Did God really say that homosexual sex was a sin?  Did God really say that sex outside of marriage was a sin? (Some Christians rationalize that supporting sin in the name of civil rights is good.  Next they will not only support immoral sex, and murder of the unborn, but then will rationalize that they have to support stealing and lying as thieves and liars need civil right too!) 

God was very kind to us by dying on the cross to pay for our sins.  Let’s pray that many will accept this free gift and turn to Him before it is too late.  And lets pray that false teachers will not lead Christians astray leading to their moral and spiritual destruction.