I happened to catch a discussion on TV the other day that resonated with me. The discussion was about the number of churches in America today and the number of people who attend those churches.
One of the points alluded to but not really discussed was that many of the churches today are not really Christian churches; they are not committed to Jesus Christ. They are allowing or embracing with open arms distortion of or complete avoidance of God's Word, the Bible. In my opinion, you cannot be a Christian if you do not embrace God's Word.
On the other hand, there are many excellent Christian churches who understand that God's Word is ALL important. As someone has coined: BIBLE = Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.
Some time ago I read a book called "The Heavenly Man: The Remarkable True Story of Chinese Christian Brother Yun" by Brother Yun with Paul Hattaway. Brother Yun details how he came to Christ in China in the 1970's and worked tirelessly to spread the truth of Jesus Christ through home churches, etc. Brother Yun was imprisoned and tortured numerous times and finally left China with his family. The book is eye opening and well worth reading.
One thing that struck me near the end of the book is Brother Yun's comments about Western churches. Some of his comments follow:
"Before I traveled to the West I had absolutely no idea that so many churches were spiritually asleep."
"On some occasions I've struggled while speaking in Western churches. There seems to be something missing that leaves me feeling terrible inside. Many meetings are cold and lack the fire and presence of God that we have in China.
"In the West many Christians have an abundance of material possessions, yet they live in a backslidden state."
"The first thing needed for revival to return to your churches is the Word of the Lord. God's Word is missing."
"Not only is knowledge of God's Word missing, but obedience to that Word. There's not much action taking place."
"If you truly want to see God move, the two main things you must do is learn the Word of God and have the obedience to do what God tells you to do."
I would greatly like to believe that Brother Yun only visited those churches deemed part of the "Emergent Church Movement" but sadly I'm guessing that is not the case. Some churches today are alive and vibrant because they teach the Word and focus on living it. We need more of those but I'm afraid many of our churches are going in the other direction and ignoring the Word or changing its meaning to suit their own purposes. Two excellent books about what a faithful church and the emergent church look like are "This Little Church Went to Market: The Church in the Age of Entertainment" and "This Little Church Stayed Home: A Faithful Church in Deceptive Times," both by Gary Gilley.
I think we each need to ask ourselves the following question. If you can honestly answer yes, I believe you belong to God. If you cannot answer yes, please consider learning more about Jesus and what it means to become saved.
Question: If someone with a gun walked into the room and said "I'm here to kill Christians. Stand up if you are a Christian?" Would you stand up for Jesus?
Think about it.
As a side note, China eased up on Christian churches for a while but the last I heard they were again cracking down. We need to pray for Chinese Christians both current and future.
Blessings,
Mary
Monday, December 27, 2010
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Be still, and know that I am God
I'm not fond of driving at night since my eyes aren't quite up to par anymore. I try to limit my after-dark wanderings to familiar areas and I'm very careful and pay close attention. The other night as I was headed out, the car radio was on, the street lights and car lights flashed by and I could see all the store lights in the distance. The world as I know it here was in motion - constant motion.
Without warning a picture of a horse-drawn wagon popped into my mind followed by the thought "Be still and know that I am God."
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
--Psalm 46:10-11 (NIV)
That set my brain whirring about. I got to wondering what it would be like to have lived back in the days before electricity and cars and cell phones and radios and TVs and computers and ATMs. Oh, wait, I did live before cell phones, TVs, computers and ATMs. How quickly I forget.
It was a different, slower-paced time when stores were closed on Sundays and we had Sunday dinner together as a family. As kids, my brothers and I would play out in the field where the only technology was the electric fence. I never knew a time without electricity . . . or cars and radios.
How would we handle it if suddenly all the things we have come to depend on suddenly disappeared? We've grown terribly dependent on technology so if it were to be jerked away from us suddenly, I suspect we would be in a terrible plight. See EMP Attack: Back to the Dark Ages.
But, what would it be like if we could go back in an orderly fashion. Don't get me wrong, I really would not like to go back 300 or 400 years to a time without all of our "conveniences" but I wonder how it would be if we could go back to the time of the Garden of Eden where we would be alone with all that the Creator made just as it was at the beginning of time. No electricity, no flashing lights, no whizzing cars, no fancy houses to care for, no crazy busy jobs to rush about for; just God and the beautiful garden He provided for His creations. I wonder if we would be more likely to spend time with God or would we, as the human beings we are, find excuses to avoid Him.
Hmmm . . . That's what Adam and Eve had. What did they do with it? They threw it all away because they listened to Satan rather than God. How often do we do that? Perhaps rather than listening to Satan (in so many forms on earth), we need to spend way more time in the Word and as Psalm 46:10 says:
Hmmm . . . That's what Adam and Eve had. What did they do with it? They threw it all away because they listened to Satan rather than God. How often do we do that? Perhaps rather than listening to Satan (in so many forms on earth), we need to spend way more time in the Word and as Psalm 46:10 says:
Be still, and know that I am God.
Blessings,
Mary
Friday, December 24, 2010
When Was Jesus Born? Does it Really Matter?
I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior in early 2007. I'm a slow learner! As I began to study the bible and Christmas came around each year, I often wondered when Jesus was actually born. I never found an answer.
Then the other day I read an article by Thomas C. Simcox titled What Christmas Is Really About in the magazine, "Israel My Glory" that made my question unimportant. The relevant part of the article is:
"It doesn't matter that we likely do not celebrate the Incarnation on the precise day Jesus physically came to Earth or that December 25 was probably a pagan holiday. The important thing is that there is a day each year that we dedicate to the reality that God came to Earth and that humanity's greatest need was about to be met, as the Lord promised in the Hebrew Scriptures.
"Christmas is about the arrival of "a Savior who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11). And that's definitely worth celebrating."
By the way, if you are interested in getting a free 1-year subscription to "Israel My Glory," you can do so here. The magazine is published by the Friends of Israel which is "A worldwide Christian ministry dedicated to the support of Israel, the Jewish people, and the message of the Messiah." It has some excellent articles.
Merry Christmas!
Mary
Then the other day I read an article by Thomas C. Simcox titled What Christmas Is Really About in the magazine, "Israel My Glory" that made my question unimportant. The relevant part of the article is:
"It doesn't matter that we likely do not celebrate the Incarnation on the precise day Jesus physically came to Earth or that December 25 was probably a pagan holiday. The important thing is that there is a day each year that we dedicate to the reality that God came to Earth and that humanity's greatest need was about to be met, as the Lord promised in the Hebrew Scriptures.
"Christmas is about the arrival of "a Savior who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11). And that's definitely worth celebrating."
By the way, if you are interested in getting a free 1-year subscription to "Israel My Glory," you can do so here. The magazine is published by the Friends of Israel which is "A worldwide Christian ministry dedicated to the support of Israel, the Jewish people, and the message of the Messiah." It has some excellent articles.
Merry Christmas!
Mary
Thursday, December 23, 2010
The Best Christmas Gift of All
As I watched all the TV commercials for the nifty new toys and other items that the sellers are trying to convince the people they really "NEED," I thought back to many years ago when I was a kid. I don't remember most of the "stuff" I ever got for Christmas, but one Christmas stood out because it pointed out the restraint that most people don't seem to have today.
Back in the late 50's we didn't have credit cards, debit cards and ATMs. PCs and laptops were not even possible yet so there was no internet shopping in the comfort of our own homes. All banking transactions were done by hand. If you wanted to deposit your paycheck, you went to the bank and handed the check to the teller. The teller posted that deposit to a ledger by hand. If you wanted to withdraw some of the money from your account, you went to the bank, filled out a withdrawal slip, gave it to the teller and the teller gave you the money and posted it to the ledger of your account. You couldn't go to a bank in another city and withdraw money from your account. The records were local to YOUR bank. If you wrote a check to someone, they deposited it in their bank and their bank posted it to the ledger of their account and then sent the check to YOUR bank where it was posted it to the ledger of your account. Today that all seems pretty primitive. And, I'm guessing, with the number of people and the number of transactions that are done each day, it would not even be possible to do it all manually. So, we have computers; we have credit and debit cards; we have internet shopping; we have ATMs. These all make impulse buying way way more possible than years ago. And, sellers are counting on that.
Back to that Christmas that stood out for me - my parents were not rich. My father worked a full-time blue-collar job, took care of our few cows, and tend a large garden during the week. We had lots of home-grown milk, beef, chicken and vegetables but not a whole lot of money for frivolities. The year that these neat new portable transistor radios came out, all 3 of us kids wanted one. The problem was they were $35 each which, back then, was a whole lot of money. My parents talked it over and gave us a choice: we could each have one of those transistor radios but nothing else. We all said YES! So, on Christmas we each had ONE package to open. We were thrilled with out gifts but, if I remember correctly after all these years, the reception was crappy and, in the end, we would have been better off foregoing those radios.
So, what's the point? I think there are several points. First, because it is so very easy to buy stuff today, we frequently don't take the time to really think about what we are buying. We often end up with buyers' remorse when we realize we spent money on things we really didn't need or didn't want once we got them home. It wasn't as easy to do years ago but it still happened from time to time. Today I think it happens way more. We spend lots more money than we need to. I occasionally wonder how much money I've thrown away this way.
Another thing we see today is parents who go into debt to buy their kids all kinds of stuff for Christmas. Some of them are trying to give their kids what they never had. I think others are buying buying buying out of guilt and some are trying to buy their kids' love. To go into debt to purchase toys and unnecessary items for any of these reasons is just bogus. It is way better to teach our children about proper use of money than to shower them with debt-producing gifts. In many cases, the kids won't remember what they got for Christmas very long anyway.
There is, of course, one Christmas gift that costs nothing but gives forever. That is Jesus Christ. Many people forget that Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus, the Son of God. (In fact, it seems many people who don't even believe in Jesus don't have a problem celebrating His birthday - that is absolutely insane!) Without His incarnation, there would be no hope of salvation. Jesus, fully God and fully man, was born into this world for the purpose of dying for the salvation of the world. All you need to do to participate in that salvation is to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and dedicate your life to Him. He is the gift that keeps on giving. If you don't know Jesus, please seek Him out. You won't be sorry.
Blessings,
Mary
Back in the late 50's we didn't have credit cards, debit cards and ATMs. PCs and laptops were not even possible yet so there was no internet shopping in the comfort of our own homes. All banking transactions were done by hand. If you wanted to deposit your paycheck, you went to the bank and handed the check to the teller. The teller posted that deposit to a ledger by hand. If you wanted to withdraw some of the money from your account, you went to the bank, filled out a withdrawal slip, gave it to the teller and the teller gave you the money and posted it to the ledger of your account. You couldn't go to a bank in another city and withdraw money from your account. The records were local to YOUR bank. If you wrote a check to someone, they deposited it in their bank and their bank posted it to the ledger of their account and then sent the check to YOUR bank where it was posted it to the ledger of your account. Today that all seems pretty primitive. And, I'm guessing, with the number of people and the number of transactions that are done each day, it would not even be possible to do it all manually. So, we have computers; we have credit and debit cards; we have internet shopping; we have ATMs. These all make impulse buying way way more possible than years ago. And, sellers are counting on that.
Back to that Christmas that stood out for me - my parents were not rich. My father worked a full-time blue-collar job, took care of our few cows, and tend a large garden during the week. We had lots of home-grown milk, beef, chicken and vegetables but not a whole lot of money for frivolities. The year that these neat new portable transistor radios came out, all 3 of us kids wanted one. The problem was they were $35 each which, back then, was a whole lot of money. My parents talked it over and gave us a choice: we could each have one of those transistor radios but nothing else. We all said YES! So, on Christmas we each had ONE package to open. We were thrilled with out gifts but, if I remember correctly after all these years, the reception was crappy and, in the end, we would have been better off foregoing those radios.
So, what's the point? I think there are several points. First, because it is so very easy to buy stuff today, we frequently don't take the time to really think about what we are buying. We often end up with buyers' remorse when we realize we spent money on things we really didn't need or didn't want once we got them home. It wasn't as easy to do years ago but it still happened from time to time. Today I think it happens way more. We spend lots more money than we need to. I occasionally wonder how much money I've thrown away this way.
Another thing we see today is parents who go into debt to buy their kids all kinds of stuff for Christmas. Some of them are trying to give their kids what they never had. I think others are buying buying buying out of guilt and some are trying to buy their kids' love. To go into debt to purchase toys and unnecessary items for any of these reasons is just bogus. It is way better to teach our children about proper use of money than to shower them with debt-producing gifts. In many cases, the kids won't remember what they got for Christmas very long anyway.
There is, of course, one Christmas gift that costs nothing but gives forever. That is Jesus Christ. Many people forget that Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus, the Son of God. (In fact, it seems many people who don't even believe in Jesus don't have a problem celebrating His birthday - that is absolutely insane!) Without His incarnation, there would be no hope of salvation. Jesus, fully God and fully man, was born into this world for the purpose of dying for the salvation of the world. All you need to do to participate in that salvation is to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and dedicate your life to Him. He is the gift that keeps on giving. If you don't know Jesus, please seek Him out. You won't be sorry.
Blessings,
Mary
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Are You Prepared for an Emergency?
Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!
It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions
in summer and gathers its food at harvest.
--Proverbs 6:6-8 (NIV)
He who gathers in summer is a son who acts wisely,
But he who sleeps in harvest is a son who acts shamefully.
--Proverbs 10:5 (NASB)
--Proverbs 10:5 (NASB)
The wise store up choice food and olive oil,
but fools gulp theirs down.
--Proverbs 21:20 (NIV)
Lately I've been seriously thinking about the possibility of a real emergency (major hurricane, tornado, major long-term power failure, national or international financial crisis, man-made disaster (for example, something along the lines of an EMP Attack), terrorist attack in some other form, or you name it). Natural disasters have occurred with regularity in this country and around the world. I've been fortunate that the worst I've experienced is a short power outage, a pretty mean snowstorm, and a nasty sand storm with winds over 100 MPH. None of these led to more than minor inconveniences. Others in this and other countries have not been so fortunate.
For some time I have been contemplating setting up/purchasing some short- and long-term food storage and perhaps a short-term emergency kit that I could grab, throw in the car, and take off. I don't know if an emergency will come about or not. But, it seems to me that it would be a good idea to be prepared. To that end, I started poking around online to see how best to go about it. I've found a bunch of stuff, some of it actually helpful. I had pretty much decided the best way to approach the task is to use freeze-dried foods with a shelf-life of 20 to 30 years as a base for long-term food storage. I've looked around a few times and found several options for purchase of such food but nothing grabbed me. That is probably because I don't have a clue what I'm doing - how to decide what food, what quantities, etc. Tonight I came across The Ready Store which I found very helpful.
If you subscribe to their free ReadyNation Newsletter (which I did out of curiosity), you get free access to their downloadable/printable 13-page "ReadySteps(TM) Worksheets" and their ReadySteps(TM) Workshop Videos which I found quite interesting and valuable. The video workshop walks you totally through creating a plan, determining how much money it will cost so you can do it over time. The video workshop talks about both Shelter-in-Place and Grab-N-Go necessities and how to determine which foods and which quantities you need for each. The one thing that irritated me is the workshop is one continuous workshop split into numerous different videos. You start out simply clicking the play arrow thingie. When that video is finished, you have to click next video and play that one and then click next video and play that one and then click next video and play that one -- you get the idea. It would be nice if it was all one video so you could just pause it if you need a break, or at least give a list of videos so you know how many there are. That complaint aside, I watched them all (5 or 6 or 7 of them, each about 9 minutes long) and I think it was worth my time. I first downloaded and printed the worksheets so I could more easily follow along when he talked about each page.
I do recommend the videos and worksheets. I think we all should have some kind of an emergency plan in place. I think the worksheets should give me the guidance I need to start my own Emergency Preparedness Plan. I imagine I'll be working on implementing it for at least a couple of years as my budget permits.
Blessings,
Mary
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Will We All End Up as Talking Heads?
I recently read an article saying that people who cut their "normal" calories 10% to 30% feel better and live longer. I've heard this before. I've also heard that people with a few extra pounds on them (not as many as I have though) stay healthier than people who are very thin. So, if you believe these things, I'm guessing the answer lies somewhere in between.
Many of us should certainly cut our calories. In fact, I'm hoping to have the discipline to do that again myself in about 2 weeks after the Christmas and New Years holidays are over and we are in the doldrum period between January 1, 2011 and the end of May (Memorial Day). Of course, for those with significant others, Valentine's Day may cause a small blip on the calorie line.
How drastically should we cut? Should we cut 10%, 20%, 30% or more? I don't have an answer to that. How much weight should we plan to lose? Should we get stick thin or should we keep a little padding that our bodies can use if we get really sick? I don't have an answer to that either! What I would say is don't cut so many calories that you feel lethargic or get sick; figure out where that line is. And, lose weight until you are comfortable doing all the things you do in your daily life and those things you couldn't do before because you were too fat. Stick thin signals mental or physical disorder to me.
On a closely-related note, I just received an email from a friend with the subject: "If You Were Born 1930-1979." I suspect you have all seen these emails at one time or another. This one lists all the things we did growing up in the 30's (well, not me) 40's (yes, me), 50's, 60's and 70's BEFORE the government started regulating everything we can do and before much of the technology of today was even a gleam in it's inventor's eye. The email talked about the young folks being outside much of the time running around playing all over the community - that's true - I was one of those young folks once upon a time in the late 40's and 50's so I know of what I speak. It we sat down, it was on a make believe horse as we charged around the field either chasing bad guys or escaping from good guys, depending which side you were playing at that moment. We skated in the winter time - on the creek or on the swampy area in our field that my father hand-dug out for us - it looked like a dumbbell - we enjoyed it greatly.
There was this one winter when I learned to tip my boots over and shake them before I put them on for the first time. It must have been a winter when my feet had pretty much stopped growing since I was putting on the same boots from the winter before. We always put our boots and winter jackets in the little alcove behind the kitchen door when we were done with them. The first time we needed them the following winter, I grabbed my boots and stuffed my feet into them. One wouldn't go in and I heard a crunch sound. That gave me pause so I yanked the boot off and turned it upside down; out fell a dead mouse. That was the last time I didn't check my boots before I put them on.
Ah, but I digress. I was talking about how things used to be. We also had no artificial food for the most part; oleo comes to mind as one of the first artificial food items. I looked it up just to make sure I remembered correctly and found something quite interesting (to me, at least):
Most of the food we ate was 'real,' unadulterated good stuff: beef, pork, chicken, turkey, fresh or canned vegetables, milk, bread that wouldn't last a year without going stale because of additives like today (OK, I exaggerate a bit).
So, we ate 'real' good food and we got a substantial amount of exercise and the percentage of obese people was a whole lot lower than it is today. Disclaimer: I was one of the ones who did all these things and still managed to be obese - shucks!
Today, how many kids get off their butts and exercise regularly? Surely, not as many as years ago. As was noted in the email I mentioned above:
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's and X-boxes.
There were no video games,
no 150 channels on cable,
No video movies or DVD's,
no surround-sound or CD's,
No cell phones,
No personal computers,
no Internet and no chat rooms.
WE HAD FRIENDS And we went outside and found them!
There are lots of kids out playing sports today - true. But, there are even more who sit home on their butts using the aforementioned technology "stuff." Some of them don't even have healthy friendships/relationships with other kids! They are too busy texting, video gaming, etc.
As I was reading the above-mentioned email, an old TV episode came to mind. I do not remember whether it was Star Trek or Twilight Zone (if anyone knows and knows the episode title, please let me know). I don't remember the story line; I just remember the hero(s) arriving on some other planet to find a table with a whole bunch of talking heads on it (not the rock band). These were the heads of brilliant people who looked just like humans (at least their heads did). They were the smartest and the best on their planet. But, they forgot one thing: exercise! They were so busy doing their brilliant thinking to the exclusion of all else that the completely lost the use of their bodies and eventually the bodies themselves. And, they regretted that!
While the old TV show episode was completely made up, I wonder what prompted the creators of that episode to think along those lines. Perhaps they were the brilliant thinkers of their time. If that's so, I doubt very much if they sat still and let their own bodies atrophy. I bet they at least exercised!
If one wanted to be a little weird, I'll bet there is one thing that would get our young people exercising again and probably not eating as much as they do. That is this. I am certainly not wanting to go back to the dark ages. I'm just saying it would certainly change EVERYTHING.
As for me, I currently continue to eat too much. As I mentioned above, I'm planning to change that in the new year. That's not a resolution, mind you; I don't believe in resolutions because most of us fail to keep them for long. Just what I know I need to do for my own health. I do currently work out 3 mornings a week in a "Senior Boot Camp" which we've named "The Sweating Sweeties." If I had my way, I'd be like the young folks of today and sit on my butt in front of my computer or my TV but I know the end of that story so I make myself get to the gym. If you are not doing that today, perhaps you can make a resolution or a non-resolution and start exercising and eating right in the new year. Maybe I'll see you at the gym!
Blessings,
Mary
Many of us should certainly cut our calories. In fact, I'm hoping to have the discipline to do that again myself in about 2 weeks after the Christmas and New Years holidays are over and we are in the doldrum period between January 1, 2011 and the end of May (Memorial Day). Of course, for those with significant others, Valentine's Day may cause a small blip on the calorie line.
How drastically should we cut? Should we cut 10%, 20%, 30% or more? I don't have an answer to that. How much weight should we plan to lose? Should we get stick thin or should we keep a little padding that our bodies can use if we get really sick? I don't have an answer to that either! What I would say is don't cut so many calories that you feel lethargic or get sick; figure out where that line is. And, lose weight until you are comfortable doing all the things you do in your daily life and those things you couldn't do before because you were too fat. Stick thin signals mental or physical disorder to me.
On a closely-related note, I just received an email from a friend with the subject: "If You Were Born 1930-1979." I suspect you have all seen these emails at one time or another. This one lists all the things we did growing up in the 30's (well, not me) 40's (yes, me), 50's, 60's and 70's BEFORE the government started regulating everything we can do and before much of the technology of today was even a gleam in it's inventor's eye. The email talked about the young folks being outside much of the time running around playing all over the community - that's true - I was one of those young folks once upon a time in the late 40's and 50's so I know of what I speak. It we sat down, it was on a make believe horse as we charged around the field either chasing bad guys or escaping from good guys, depending which side you were playing at that moment. We skated in the winter time - on the creek or on the swampy area in our field that my father hand-dug out for us - it looked like a dumbbell - we enjoyed it greatly.
There was this one winter when I learned to tip my boots over and shake them before I put them on for the first time. It must have been a winter when my feet had pretty much stopped growing since I was putting on the same boots from the winter before. We always put our boots and winter jackets in the little alcove behind the kitchen door when we were done with them. The first time we needed them the following winter, I grabbed my boots and stuffed my feet into them. One wouldn't go in and I heard a crunch sound. That gave me pause so I yanked the boot off and turned it upside down; out fell a dead mouse. That was the last time I didn't check my boots before I put them on.
Ah, but I digress. I was talking about how things used to be. We also had no artificial food for the most part; oleo comes to mind as one of the first artificial food items. I looked it up just to make sure I remembered correctly and found something quite interesting (to me, at least):
From Wikipedia:
Oleo is a term for oils. It is commonly used to refer to a variety of things:
- Margarine
- Oleic acid
- Oleo (shock absorber), A type of shock absorbers on airplane landing gear
- Oleo (song), a bebop composition by Sonny Rollins
- Óleo, a city in the São Paulo state in Brazil
- GNU Oleo, a spreadsheet program
- Oleo (album), a 1962 album by jazz guitarist Grant Green
Most of the food we ate was 'real,' unadulterated good stuff: beef, pork, chicken, turkey, fresh or canned vegetables, milk, bread that wouldn't last a year without going stale because of additives like today (OK, I exaggerate a bit).
So, we ate 'real' good food and we got a substantial amount of exercise and the percentage of obese people was a whole lot lower than it is today. Disclaimer: I was one of the ones who did all these things and still managed to be obese - shucks!
Today, how many kids get off their butts and exercise regularly? Surely, not as many as years ago. As was noted in the email I mentioned above:
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's and X-boxes.
There were no video games,
no 150 channels on cable,
No video movies or DVD's,
no surround-sound or CD's,
No cell phones,
No personal computers,
no Internet and no chat rooms.
WE HAD FRIENDS And we went outside and found them!
There are lots of kids out playing sports today - true. But, there are even more who sit home on their butts using the aforementioned technology "stuff." Some of them don't even have healthy friendships/relationships with other kids! They are too busy texting, video gaming, etc.
As I was reading the above-mentioned email, an old TV episode came to mind. I do not remember whether it was Star Trek or Twilight Zone (if anyone knows and knows the episode title, please let me know). I don't remember the story line; I just remember the hero(s) arriving on some other planet to find a table with a whole bunch of talking heads on it (not the rock band). These were the heads of brilliant people who looked just like humans (at least their heads did). They were the smartest and the best on their planet. But, they forgot one thing: exercise! They were so busy doing their brilliant thinking to the exclusion of all else that the completely lost the use of their bodies and eventually the bodies themselves. And, they regretted that!
While the old TV show episode was completely made up, I wonder what prompted the creators of that episode to think along those lines. Perhaps they were the brilliant thinkers of their time. If that's so, I doubt very much if they sat still and let their own bodies atrophy. I bet they at least exercised!
If one wanted to be a little weird, I'll bet there is one thing that would get our young people exercising again and probably not eating as much as they do. That is this. I am certainly not wanting to go back to the dark ages. I'm just saying it would certainly change EVERYTHING.
As for me, I currently continue to eat too much. As I mentioned above, I'm planning to change that in the new year. That's not a resolution, mind you; I don't believe in resolutions because most of us fail to keep them for long. Just what I know I need to do for my own health. I do currently work out 3 mornings a week in a "Senior Boot Camp" which we've named "The Sweating Sweeties." If I had my way, I'd be like the young folks of today and sit on my butt in front of my computer or my TV but I know the end of that story so I make myself get to the gym. If you are not doing that today, perhaps you can make a resolution or a non-resolution and start exercising and eating right in the new year. Maybe I'll see you at the gym!
Blessings,
Mary
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
This Made Smoke Shoot Out of My Ears!
God must be weeping right now. He sent His only son to become man and suffer horribly and die sinless so that our sins would be forgiven. And, now He gets this: Belgium: Court Approves “Wrongful Life” Rule that Disabled Child Should Never Have Been Born by Wesley J. Smith. Wrongful Life??? To what level has civilization degraded? We are no longer civilized if we think this is right.
According to this article: "Belgium’s euthanasia law permits people to be killed by doctors because they are disabled. In such a discriminatory setting, is it any wonder that a Belgian court has now approved the odious notion of a wrongful life."
This particular ruling apparently revolves around a doctor making a mistake. The doctor thought the unborn child would be born healthy. The child was actually born with a disability. As best as I can tell, the parents then sued the doctor because they had a child with a disability. Had they known the child had a disability, they would have legally had an abortion. The doctor's mistake: Thinking the unborn child was healthy when it actually had a disability. For that he was sued! There will be penalties. And, the even more mind-boggling part is the court said an abortion would have been in the best interests of the child! How in the world do they arrive at that bit of idiocy? Being dead is in the best interests of the child???? What have we come to!
Apparently and thankfully, I'm not the only one who is smoking (from the ears, that is). Here is one of the comments for the above-linked article:
"Who’s to say what is a “handicap” and what is not? Who’s to say that the life growing in the womb will be a life not worthy of life? What gives the courts the right to decide? What about the aborting of children where the parents have received “false positive” test results? My sister was told that her child would be born with Down Syndrome. Being Christians, her and her husband refused to abort. Had they aborted, they would have killed a perfectly healthy baby because their son was born absolutely healthy with no Down. Think of how many people we would lose on just the “assumption” of disabilities. Come to think of it, how many are we already losing to abortion each and every day anyway? All of these children, disability or not, have a right to be born and survive. God made these children, and they are all perfect in his sight. It’s the parents who would rather kill, than to be burdened with taking care of a child, with or without disabilities. They think it’s easier to just “dispose of the problem” because society says it’s okay. I can only pray that their eyes will be opened before their day of judgement!"
I don't think I can improve on that except to say, if the Progressives have their way, look for this to creep into the United States as well. Sadly, it is already here in the form of human-legalized abortion but it could get way worse.
Pray for our leaders that God would guide them, write letters and make phone calls when the need arises. In the meantime, stay close to God. He is always the answer.
Blessings,
Mary
According to this article: "Belgium’s euthanasia law permits people to be killed by doctors because they are disabled. In such a discriminatory setting, is it any wonder that a Belgian court has now approved the odious notion of a wrongful life."
This particular ruling apparently revolves around a doctor making a mistake. The doctor thought the unborn child would be born healthy. The child was actually born with a disability. As best as I can tell, the parents then sued the doctor because they had a child with a disability. Had they known the child had a disability, they would have legally had an abortion. The doctor's mistake: Thinking the unborn child was healthy when it actually had a disability. For that he was sued! There will be penalties. And, the even more mind-boggling part is the court said an abortion would have been in the best interests of the child! How in the world do they arrive at that bit of idiocy? Being dead is in the best interests of the child???? What have we come to!
Apparently and thankfully, I'm not the only one who is smoking (from the ears, that is). Here is one of the comments for the above-linked article:
"Linda K.December 7th, 2010 | 10:08 am
"Who’s to say what is a “handicap” and what is not? Who’s to say that the life growing in the womb will be a life not worthy of life? What gives the courts the right to decide? What about the aborting of children where the parents have received “false positive” test results? My sister was told that her child would be born with Down Syndrome. Being Christians, her and her husband refused to abort. Had they aborted, they would have killed a perfectly healthy baby because their son was born absolutely healthy with no Down. Think of how many people we would lose on just the “assumption” of disabilities. Come to think of it, how many are we already losing to abortion each and every day anyway? All of these children, disability or not, have a right to be born and survive. God made these children, and they are all perfect in his sight. It’s the parents who would rather kill, than to be burdened with taking care of a child, with or without disabilities. They think it’s easier to just “dispose of the problem” because society says it’s okay. I can only pray that their eyes will be opened before their day of judgement!"
I don't think I can improve on that except to say, if the Progressives have their way, look for this to creep into the United States as well. Sadly, it is already here in the form of human-legalized abortion but it could get way worse.
Pray for our leaders that God would guide them, write letters and make phone calls when the need arises. In the meantime, stay close to God. He is always the answer.
Blessings,
Mary
Saturday, December 4, 2010
DEATH: A Wonderful Explanation
A friend sent me an email containing this explanation of death. It is too good not to share. No other words are needed:
A sick man turned to his doctor as he was preparing to leave the examination room and said,
"Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side."
Very quietly, the doctor said, "I don't know."
"You don't know? You're a Christian man, and don't know what's on the other side?"
The doctor was holding the handle of the door. On the other side came a sound of scratching and whining, and as he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness.
Turning to the patient, the doctor said,
"Did you notice my dog? He's never been in this room before. He didn't know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here, and when the door opened, he sprang in without fear.
"I know little of what is on the other side of death, but I do know one thing... I know my Master is there and that is enough."
Blessings,
Mary
~DEATH~
WHAT A WONDERFUL WAY TO EXPLAIN IT
A sick man turned to his doctor as he was preparing to leave the examination room and said,
"Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side."
Very quietly, the doctor said, "I don't know."
"You don't know? You're a Christian man, and don't know what's on the other side?"
The doctor was holding the handle of the door. On the other side came a sound of scratching and whining, and as he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness.
Turning to the patient, the doctor said,
"Did you notice my dog? He's never been in this room before. He didn't know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here, and when the door opened, he sprang in without fear.
"I know little of what is on the other side of death, but I do know one thing... I know my Master is there and that is enough."
Blessings,
Mary
Friday, December 3, 2010
Encouraging Predictions for 2011
I received the following via email today and thought it was worthwhile to post it here. It is truly encouraging. And, we all need to be reminded frequently that God Almighty is in control now and forever!
ENCOURAGING PREDICTIONS FOR 2011
With all the problems the world is facing, it can be unsettling to the mind. Today, I will share with you ten predictions that are true!
Top ten predictions for 2011
1. The Bible will still have all the answers.
2. Prayer will still be the most powerful thing on earth.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still honor the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praise to God.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
8. There will still be room at the Cross.
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost when they come to Him.
Isn't it great to remember who is really in control, and that; "the Word of the Lord endures forever" (1 Peter 1:25). Sometimes we need the reminder of just "WHO" is really in control.
Isn't it great to remember who is really in control, and that; "the Word of the Lord endures forever" (1 Peter 1:25). Sometimes we need the reminder of just "WHO" is really in control.
Blessings,
Mary
Thursday, December 2, 2010
EMP Attack: Back to the Dark Ages
I am currently studying the Bible book of Isaiah in a Bible Study Fellowship class. Isaiah has a lot of end times prophecy in it. I am also watching Dr. David Jeremiah's sermon series called "The Coming Economic Armageddon" in which he speaks at length about end times through the prophecies in the books of Daniel and Revelation.
Then, a bit ago, I read an article "Report warns Obama about 'new' Dark Ages" by Bob Unruh. The article talks about a report titled "EMP Attacks – What the U.S. Must Do Now". The article starts out with the following:
"Two national-security experts have issued a report through the Heritage Foundation that warns Obama administration officials to start working now to prevent – and mitigate the damage from – an electromagnetic pulse attack on the United States because of the potential for "unimaginable devastation."
"Not even a global humanitarian effort would be enough to keep hundreds of millions of Americans from death by starvation, exposure, or lack of medicine. Nor would the catastrophe stop at U.S. borders. Most of Canada would be devastated, too, as its infrastructure is integrated with the U.S. power grid. Much of the world's intellectual brain power (half of it is in the United States) would be lost as well. Earth would most likely recede into the 'new' Dark Ages," states the report by James J. Carafano, the deputy director of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies and director of the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies, and Richard Weitz, senior fellow and director of the Center for Politial-Military Analysis at the Hudson Institute.
.
.
.
""An EMP strike can easily obliterate America's electrical, telecommunications, transportation, financial, food, and water infrastructures, rendering the United States helpless to coordinate actions and deliver services essential for daily life," says the report."
The report goes on to say there are several countries with the capability to pull off an attack of this kind. It could be accomplished from a ship off our coast firing a short- or medium-range missile to lift a nuclear warhead over the U.S.
But, setting aside the idea of an enemy attack for a minute, there is also the possibility of a similar event occurring in relation to a massive geomagnetic storm caused by sun flares. Some scientists believe because we will reach solar maximum (the period of greatest solar activity in the solar cycle of the sun) within the next 2 years, the possibility of disrupting solar flares could also be a serious problem. According to the article the last 'great' geomagnetic storm, called the Carrington Event, occurred in 1859. We've come a long way, baby! But, it might bite us in the butt if we have another 'great' geomagnetic storm in the near future given our amazingly large dependence on electricity.
The article mentions blackouts in 1977 and 2003. The one in 1977 was cause by two lightening strikes (the equivalent of a minuscule fraction of an EMP). Both were devastating to the areas they hit. I remember a blackout in 1965 or thereabouts. I know it was in November because my mother was standing on a stool reaching into a kitchen cabinet to get down candles for my birthday cake!
So, what does this mean to us? I don't have a clue. But, it seems to me quite interesting in light of some of the things described in the Bible. Is it related? Again, I don't have a clue. It's just something to think about.
I do have to say, I've had a concern about our reliance on electricity, cell phones, computers, etc. for quite a few years. The more we rely on technology, the bigger the butt-kicking we might take if technology is halted in its tracks.
Remember all the hoopla over Y2K? I do! I was still working back then and I was a software engineer with IBM working on their premiere mainframe operating system. Y2K was a really big thing for 'old' software. Back in the dark ages of the 1960's and 1970's (not the devastating dark ages discussed in the report) the people who wrote the code that ran the operating systems never anticipated their code would still be running 30 or 40 years later. They had to be concerned about fitting large amounts of data into small places. So, years were coded as 2 digits rather than 4. When it became apparent that we needed to ferret out all the places in the whole operating system code and "fix" the way the year was portrayed/stored, we realized that was a big deal. Bunches of people worked on that for over 2 years. IBM was pretty confident they found all the spots that needed to be "fixed" but, in programming, you just never know what you might have missed. So, all of us were sitting around (sober) on New Year's Eve waiting for the phone to ring. Fortunately, my phone never rang so I watched the ball drop and some of the following festivities and then went to bed. As far as I know, there were no catastrophic errors that weren't found before hand and the few that were found were in non-critical applications. This was true at least at IBM Poughkeepsie, NY.
But, I have to say, I was not sure enough that all places were "fixed." So, I took out a bunch of money (a small bunch, that is) to have on hand in case ATMs were out of commission. Fortunately, all went pretty smoothly. Phew!
Think about it a minute -- if there can be this much hullabaloo over fixing a date, how much worse do you think it would be if we were hit by an EMP attack? I think the farthest thing from our minds would be whether or not the ATMs work.
Am I paranoid? No, I'm not. I have faith in Almighty God who was and is and always will be. These things just fascinate me.
Blessings,
Mary
Then, a bit ago, I read an article "Report warns Obama about 'new' Dark Ages" by Bob Unruh. The article talks about a report titled "EMP Attacks – What the U.S. Must Do Now". The article starts out with the following:
"Two national-security experts have issued a report through the Heritage Foundation that warns Obama administration officials to start working now to prevent – and mitigate the damage from – an electromagnetic pulse attack on the United States because of the potential for "unimaginable devastation."
"Not even a global humanitarian effort would be enough to keep hundreds of millions of Americans from death by starvation, exposure, or lack of medicine. Nor would the catastrophe stop at U.S. borders. Most of Canada would be devastated, too, as its infrastructure is integrated with the U.S. power grid. Much of the world's intellectual brain power (half of it is in the United States) would be lost as well. Earth would most likely recede into the 'new' Dark Ages," states the report by James J. Carafano, the deputy director of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies and director of the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies, and Richard Weitz, senior fellow and director of the Center for Politial-Military Analysis at the Hudson Institute.
.
.
.
""An EMP strike can easily obliterate America's electrical, telecommunications, transportation, financial, food, and water infrastructures, rendering the United States helpless to coordinate actions and deliver services essential for daily life," says the report."
The report goes on to say there are several countries with the capability to pull off an attack of this kind. It could be accomplished from a ship off our coast firing a short- or medium-range missile to lift a nuclear warhead over the U.S.
But, setting aside the idea of an enemy attack for a minute, there is also the possibility of a similar event occurring in relation to a massive geomagnetic storm caused by sun flares. Some scientists believe because we will reach solar maximum (the period of greatest solar activity in the solar cycle of the sun) within the next 2 years, the possibility of disrupting solar flares could also be a serious problem. According to the article the last 'great' geomagnetic storm, called the Carrington Event, occurred in 1859. We've come a long way, baby! But, it might bite us in the butt if we have another 'great' geomagnetic storm in the near future given our amazingly large dependence on electricity.
The article mentions blackouts in 1977 and 2003. The one in 1977 was cause by two lightening strikes (the equivalent of a minuscule fraction of an EMP). Both were devastating to the areas they hit. I remember a blackout in 1965 or thereabouts. I know it was in November because my mother was standing on a stool reaching into a kitchen cabinet to get down candles for my birthday cake!
So, what does this mean to us? I don't have a clue. But, it seems to me quite interesting in light of some of the things described in the Bible. Is it related? Again, I don't have a clue. It's just something to think about.
I do have to say, I've had a concern about our reliance on electricity, cell phones, computers, etc. for quite a few years. The more we rely on technology, the bigger the butt-kicking we might take if technology is halted in its tracks.
Remember all the hoopla over Y2K? I do! I was still working back then and I was a software engineer with IBM working on their premiere mainframe operating system. Y2K was a really big thing for 'old' software. Back in the dark ages of the 1960's and 1970's (not the devastating dark ages discussed in the report) the people who wrote the code that ran the operating systems never anticipated their code would still be running 30 or 40 years later. They had to be concerned about fitting large amounts of data into small places. So, years were coded as 2 digits rather than 4. When it became apparent that we needed to ferret out all the places in the whole operating system code and "fix" the way the year was portrayed/stored, we realized that was a big deal. Bunches of people worked on that for over 2 years. IBM was pretty confident they found all the spots that needed to be "fixed" but, in programming, you just never know what you might have missed. So, all of us were sitting around (sober) on New Year's Eve waiting for the phone to ring. Fortunately, my phone never rang so I watched the ball drop and some of the following festivities and then went to bed. As far as I know, there were no catastrophic errors that weren't found before hand and the few that were found were in non-critical applications. This was true at least at IBM Poughkeepsie, NY.
But, I have to say, I was not sure enough that all places were "fixed." So, I took out a bunch of money (a small bunch, that is) to have on hand in case ATMs were out of commission. Fortunately, all went pretty smoothly. Phew!
Think about it a minute -- if there can be this much hullabaloo over fixing a date, how much worse do you think it would be if we were hit by an EMP attack? I think the farthest thing from our minds would be whether or not the ATMs work.
Am I paranoid? No, I'm not. I have faith in Almighty God who was and is and always will be. These things just fascinate me.
Blessings,
Mary
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
War is Hell; Family matters
The other evening I started to read Those Who Dare by Phil Ward. The back of the book jacket says "The first in a series of heavily researched World War II novels about hit-and-run raids against Hitler's war machine by British forces--under the command of an unconventional U.S. Army officer." This is my first fiction book in close to a year so I'm really looking forward to finishing it.
Mr. Ward is a decorated Viet Nam veteran and a former instructor at the Army Ranger School and lives in Austin. He is currently President of USA Training Company, a national driving safety organization which is where I slightly know him since I teach defensive driving and USA is our training organization and processes our certificates of completion. Mr. Ward graciously offered those associated with USA a free copy of his book. I jumped at the chance.
I've only gotten through the first 27 pages so far but I'm greatly enjoying the story. I feel right at home with the subject matter because a guy I knew back in New York State was very very interested in World War II. His father came ashore on one of the beaches at Normandy on D-Day. For those who don't have a clue what I'm talking about here, see Normandy Landings. My friend had the entire Walter Cronkite-narrated video collection on World War II and I watched them all with him numerous times. He also had a bunch of VHS movies (The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Longest Day (which is an amazing movie), Battle of the Bulge, A Bridge Too Far (another excellent movie), In Harm's Way, Patton, Tora! Tora! Tora!, The Battle of Midway, and a few I don't remember) which I watched with him. The war formally ended on September 2, 1945 and I was born 2 months later. I sometimes jokingly say the war ended when it did because they knew I was going to be born soon and they knew they needed all their resources to keep an eye on me. :-)
All this to say I've been immersed in World War II. So, I am really looking forward to reading the remainder of Mr. Ward's book and perhaps future ones as well. I may decide to talk about it in a future blog (or not).
OK, let's get to the real reason for this blog post. This morning I can across an article in "Woman's Day" magazine (hardcopy) and found it online also (Being a Military Mother). As I read it, tears began to crawl down my cheeks. The article talks about a lovely young man who decided he wanted to go to West Point which he did. He then ended up in Iraq. He and his mother did not agree on him joining the military and did not agree on the need for the Iraq war. These disagreements tore them apart. So, he went off to war knowing his mother and he were not on good terms. She, on the other hand, had a heart full of pain because the two of them were separated not only by miles but by heart distance and she was constantly fearful for his life. Through her journaling, she came to understand the need for them to reconnect and they did.
What struck me so is the pain both must have felt. How hard would it be for a young man to head off to war in a country that is totally foreign to him knowing he is in great danger and may never see his family and friends again. How much more painful must it be if he goes knowing his mother does not agree and does not have faith in his decision and perhaps his decision-making process. What doubts must that raise in him for his ability to do the things he needs to do without second guessing himself. How sad.
On the other hand, how hard must it be for the parent knowing their child has pulled away from them and knowing they have distanced themselves from their child as well. What might the guilt feelings be not only while that child is at war doing his job, but what might the guilt feelings be for the rest of their life if that child does not return from that war.
How many parents and children in this situation are currently serving in Afghanistan or elsewhere in the world? I don't have a clue. Perhaps very few, but perhaps a bunch. That made me wonder if our U. S. Military provides any type of counseling or guidance to both the young men and the parents who are in this situation. If not, perhaps they should. A better soldier and a happier parent might result.
I have used 'son' in the above, but it could just as well have been a 'daughter.'
Please pray for our soldiers and their families who serve us so faithfully.
Blessings,
Mary
Mr. Ward is a decorated Viet Nam veteran and a former instructor at the Army Ranger School and lives in Austin. He is currently President of USA Training Company, a national driving safety organization which is where I slightly know him since I teach defensive driving and USA is our training organization and processes our certificates of completion. Mr. Ward graciously offered those associated with USA a free copy of his book. I jumped at the chance.
I've only gotten through the first 27 pages so far but I'm greatly enjoying the story. I feel right at home with the subject matter because a guy I knew back in New York State was very very interested in World War II. His father came ashore on one of the beaches at Normandy on D-Day. For those who don't have a clue what I'm talking about here, see Normandy Landings. My friend had the entire Walter Cronkite-narrated video collection on World War II and I watched them all with him numerous times. He also had a bunch of VHS movies (The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Longest Day (which is an amazing movie), Battle of the Bulge, A Bridge Too Far (another excellent movie), In Harm's Way, Patton, Tora! Tora! Tora!, The Battle of Midway, and a few I don't remember) which I watched with him. The war formally ended on September 2, 1945 and I was born 2 months later. I sometimes jokingly say the war ended when it did because they knew I was going to be born soon and they knew they needed all their resources to keep an eye on me. :-)
All this to say I've been immersed in World War II. So, I am really looking forward to reading the remainder of Mr. Ward's book and perhaps future ones as well. I may decide to talk about it in a future blog (or not).
OK, let's get to the real reason for this blog post. This morning I can across an article in "Woman's Day" magazine (hardcopy) and found it online also (Being a Military Mother). As I read it, tears began to crawl down my cheeks. The article talks about a lovely young man who decided he wanted to go to West Point which he did. He then ended up in Iraq. He and his mother did not agree on him joining the military and did not agree on the need for the Iraq war. These disagreements tore them apart. So, he went off to war knowing his mother and he were not on good terms. She, on the other hand, had a heart full of pain because the two of them were separated not only by miles but by heart distance and she was constantly fearful for his life. Through her journaling, she came to understand the need for them to reconnect and they did.
What struck me so is the pain both must have felt. How hard would it be for a young man to head off to war in a country that is totally foreign to him knowing he is in great danger and may never see his family and friends again. How much more painful must it be if he goes knowing his mother does not agree and does not have faith in his decision and perhaps his decision-making process. What doubts must that raise in him for his ability to do the things he needs to do without second guessing himself. How sad.
On the other hand, how hard must it be for the parent knowing their child has pulled away from them and knowing they have distanced themselves from their child as well. What might the guilt feelings be not only while that child is at war doing his job, but what might the guilt feelings be for the rest of their life if that child does not return from that war.
How many parents and children in this situation are currently serving in Afghanistan or elsewhere in the world? I don't have a clue. Perhaps very few, but perhaps a bunch. That made me wonder if our U. S. Military provides any type of counseling or guidance to both the young men and the parents who are in this situation. If not, perhaps they should. A better soldier and a happier parent might result.
I have used 'son' in the above, but it could just as well have been a 'daughter.'
Please pray for our soldiers and their families who serve us so faithfully.
Blessings,
Mary
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