How Ironic

Is it Ironic ?

"Some $1.042 billion was spent online during Black Friday, a 26% increase on Black Friday 2011," according to statistics from comScore. Is it ironic that that Black Friday occurs right after Thanksgiving? I think not. We are in Satan's kingdom right now, and he wants to replace our thankfulness with a greedy and consumeristic spirit. As Christians, we are not citizens of this world.

Things to Keep in Mind:

*1 Peter 2:11 "Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war on the against the soul".

*Philippians 3:20 "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord."

*1 Timothy 6:6-11 "But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness."

A Heart Issue, Not a Spending Issue

It is not wrong to shop on Black Friday. The question we must ask ourselves is, “What are we pursuing?” In which kingdom are we storing our treasure? Scripture tells us that where our treasure is, there our hearts will be also. Are we pursuing the American dream–riches and a luxurious lifestyle–or are we pursuing righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness? We must examine our hearts because that is where the problems really begin. You could refrain from spending even a penny on Black Friday and still have a greed issue in your heart. Proverbs 4:23 reminds us, "Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life." We should be thankful for what God has already given us, content where He has us, and willing to share. We can trust He will provide for us in the future.

A Surrendered Attitude

Job had a beautiful attitude even after he had lost practically everything. Job 1:21-22 “Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. He said,'Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.' Through all this Job did not sin, nor did he blame God." We should also have this attitude. God is the Giver, but He can also take away. He is the One who makes our very hearts beat, but He can also take our life at any time. Have you surrendered everything to God? Is there anything you are holding back? It could be your plans, your possessions, or your very life. Just know that when you put something in God's hands, it could not be in a better place.

Who Do We Give Thanks to at Thanksgiving?

The Giver of all good gifts! God! God is the one we should acknowledge for everything we have. We should thank Him every day, not just on Thanksgiving!

This Year's Election

What is the Christian's Responsibility?
I don't know who you voted for, if you did vote, or even if you are able to vote. I commend all the Christians who voted against abortion and gay unions. Every eligible christian should have voted this way because we are bound by scripture to do so. Christian liberty is not a matter of freedom to do anything and everything we please. We are freed from slavery to sin and freed to do all that is in harmony with God's word. Scripture warns against using our freedom as a covering for evil(1 Peter 2:16, Galatians 5:13). We shouldn't vote with prejudice's to a different race. We should not vote for someone because of their amiable personalities or skilled speeches. We should vote for someone because they uphold the word of God as the standard by which to rule their own private lives and their country. If no such candidate is found, then as Christians we should vote for the candidate that at least upholds the constitution. If there is still no one who does this, than we must vote  for the candidate who has the most biblical principals and supports biblical laws. In this case it was Mitt Romney. Although he is not a Christian, he is pro-life and he stands for biblical marriage. Romney did not win though. So how should we view this election?

What Does This Say About America as a Nation?
If the votes were tallied honestly, then it is evident that our country no longer values what God values.
We must pray for revival and faithfully preach the gospel to all men. The president is a good mirror of America because she chose him. As the church this should motivate us to share the gospel when we see the fallen state of our nation! We need God's grace and intervention.

How Should Christians View Purposeful Miscounting and Voter Fraud?
The communist Tyrant and mass murderer Josef Stalin said" He who votes decides nothing. He who counts decides everything." This voices well the fear that many Americans feel. They feel that it is pointless to vote because their vote will not count. How should Christians view voter fraud and purposeful miscounting? Please consider these scriptures.
Proverbs 16:33 " The lot is cast into the lap, but it's every decision is from the Lord."
Proverbs 21:1 "The king's heart is like channel's of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes."
Psalm 33:10-11"The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates  the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever. The plans of his heart from generation to generation"
Proverbs 16:9 " The mind of a man plans his ways, but the Lord directs his steps."
Ephesians 1:11"Also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of his will."
John 19:11a " Jesus answered,'you would have no authority over me unless it had been given from you from above...'"
We can clearly see that neither the one who counts the votes, nor the one who votes elects our our president, but God elects the president. We are still responsible to vote, but God ultimately makes every decision.

Should Christians Submit To Non-Christian Leaders?
Where should we look for answers? In the Bible! First Peter 2:13-14 says"Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right." Authority is good. We should submit to every human institution unless they prohibit you from doing something God requires or require you to do something God prohibits. In Acts 4:19-20 "But Peter and John answered and said to them, ' Whether  it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.'" In this passage Peter and John had to obey God rather than men. When forced to choose, always obey God, but if you are able to obey your leader and God then do so. In Acts 5:29 Peter and the apostles said "We must obey God rather than men."

Will We Respond in Fear or Faith?
Over and over in scripture we are commanded not to fear. Perhaps You fear the possible persecution to come. This all boils down to fearing man. In an earlier post I spoke about this and will not focus on fearing man in this article. Instead, I will focus on how to overcome fear.

 Here is one of my favorite passages on fear: Philippians 4:6-8 says "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by  prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God. And The peace which surpasses all comprehension will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." There are four points I would like to make about this text. First of all, we are commanded not to be anxious. Secondly, the first step to overcoming our fears is to give them to God in prayer. Thirdly, we must rejoice and give thanks to God. And lastly, we must redirect our thoughts to what is good.

If we give our fears to God in prayer we no longer have to carry them. If we are thankful, that helps us to remember all the ways God has been faithful in past, and that gives us courage to face the future. If we redirect our thoughts onto good things, we don't leave room for Satan to work.

Conclusions
God is faithful! Psalm 2:12b "Blessed are all who take refuge in him." I would like to end with this passage, "Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, ' For Your Sake We Are  Being Put To Death All Day Long; We Were Considered As Sheep To Be Slaughtered.' But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I'm convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:35-39

Reading The Bible Is...

Powerless to save

Do you have a Bible? Do you read it? Why? There are many reasons to read it, but if you read the Bible because you think it will give you life, you will be disappointed. In Mark 5:39 Jesus says" You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life: it is they that testify about Me;" The scriptures cannot give life; they can only point to the source of it. Jesus is the only way to eternal life! We read in Mark 14:6 "Jesus said to him, ' I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me'." The scriptures are powerless to save, your good works are powerless to save, and there is no other name except the name of Jesus by which you may be saved (Acts 4:12). For what purpose should we read scripture then? What is it useful for?

Useful for...

*Teaching, Reproof, Correction, Training in Righteous, and for Equipping

Second Timothy 3:16 says "All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."

*Direction Psalm 119:105 says " Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."

*Conviction of sin Romans7:7

*Leading us to Christ Galatians 3:24"Therefore, the law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ , so that we may be justified by faith."

*Revealing God's character to us

*Renewing our minds Romans 12:1-2 

We should read God's word to know God and be conformed to his Image. It points you to a mighty savior and proclaims the good news, that anyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved (Acts 2:21)! Repent and trust in Christ alone for your righteousness!

Suprise! Surprise!

The news
   It was a casual Wednesday. I'd finished my studies, and I was at war once again with the tangles in my hair. Then Mommy called my name, so I came. She had a very interesting look on her face. Her smile and laugh portrayed that she had an enigmatic surprise. Perplexed, I asked "What is it?" She just kept laughing instead of replying. My suspense had heightened at this point, but I would never have even begun to speculate what  she was about to inform me of. Our dear friends, the Williams, had invited me to go to Kentucky with them to the Creation Science Museum!

   I'd been hoping to go to the museum ever since I'd heard of it. Upon receiving this announcement, I was thrilled! The decision to take this trip was very spontaneous! The Williams said they'd be arriving to pick  me up in about two hours, so I hastily packed for our five day trip.

Our First Stop
  On our way, we stopped at Mammoth Cave National Park and toured the cave. Of course we did not see all of it considering the fact that it spans hundreds of miles. We toured for two hours and still only saw a small fraction of the cave. Without our guide and without the lights in the cave we would be lost. For a few moments our guide turned off all the lights in the cave so that we could see just how dark it really was inside the cave. There was no light at all! It would be impossible to find your way around in the cave without lights. There were deep  pits and tiny passage ways. In many places crouching was necessary and in some places there were enormous rooms such as the Rotunda. God's word must be our guide and our light in this life. God's splendor was displayed in intricacies of the design of mammoth cave!

Memory Making
   Sleeping arrangements were quite comical. Anna Clair, Sarah Grace, and I all shared a queen sized bed one night. We decided to sleep horizontally on the bed so we'd have more room; our feet, however, hung off. I slept well every night because I was really tired, and we all enjoyed being together.

The Ride
   The car ride was pleasant and I enjoyed it! We watched videos on worldview, apologetics, and history. We had great conversations about politics, history, and religion. I learned a lot from their family just by traveling with them. It was in the car that we ate salt and vinegar flavored crickets, and I watched in disbelief as Anna Clair ate her lollipop with a real scorpion in it. We got lost a few times in Cincinnati, which was an adventure too.  I was glad that I wasn't responsible for getting us to the destination; I was just in for the ride. God should be in control of our lives. He never gets lost, but sometimes he takes our lives on a different course than we'd planned. This can be difficult if we're still trying to "drive"; there can be only one driver though. We just have to trust him and submit to his plans.

An Unexpected Visitor
One evening as we were eating our dinner, a man pulled up a chair and asked us about our modesty. We explained that we are Christians, and as Christians we value modesty, want to glorify God by the way we dress, and don't want to cause others to stumble. The way we dress sends others a message. In the same way that a Muslim  can easily be identified by his or her attire.

Leaving Bread Crumbs
We stayed in several hotels. Before we left, if I had time, I would gather all the towels, and remove the bedding and place it on the bed to make it easier for the maids to clean our room. I also left a tract for them. I wanted it to be obvious that a Christian had stayed. Leaving little acts of kindness is like leaving bread crumbs that lead the way to sharing the gospel.

The Museum
I greatly enjoyed the museum! It was very faith strengthening! There was so much to see and do! It dealt with a lot of the popular oppositions to the Christian faith, and "evidences" for evolution. I could have spent hours just looking at the books and resources in the gift shop! I would highly recommend this museum  to all people of all backgrounds. It simply lays out the evidence for God in creation, and shows why we can depend on God's word.

The Aquarium
We also visited the Newport Aquarium! It was amazing to see God's fingerprint and master craftsmanship in his creation that he made to inhabit the water! The creatures were so vibrant, elegant,  and intricate! I knew also that  I was only seeing a small fraction of his creation, and I was blown away! I enjoyed seeing yet another part of God's creation!

My Overall Thoughts
I was very grateful to the  Williams family for inviting me to join them. At each stop, I was able to observe, explore, and enjoy God's glorious creation, but how much more glorious is the Creator! I have rich memories and my faith was enriched! I know that everything God has planned for me is to conform me to his image. This was one of the more exciting and pleasant things that he used! God does use unpleasant things too. He is working all things together for the good of those who love God. I'm just excited to see what He is going to do next on this journey of becoming more like Christ.

 

Worthless

   All around us there are things to see, do, hear, taste, and touch. Sometimes we observe these things on accident, and sometimes we set them before ourselves purposely. For instance, when you walk into a store you may glance at a television that is playing as you walk by and turn your gaze away if it is not God honoring. If you, however, rent a movie and watch it that would be setting it before you. We cannot always control what we encounter; however, we can control what we set before our eyes.

  The Psalmist declares in psalm 101:3, " I will set no worthless thing before my eyes..." I find it interesting that he used the word worthless. In Hebrew the word translated as worthless actually means: "Without profit, worthlessness, (by extension) destruction,wickedness."How does this verse apply to us when evaluating what we put before ourselves? What sort of questions should we use to find out whether we should put something before us? When we evaluate what we are going to put before ourselves our question should be neither, " Does this have anything bad in it?"nor, " Does this have any thing good in it?". Here's why. It is very challenging to find movie, magazine, or book (besides the Bible) devoid of anything bad because corrupted people create corrupted matterials; on the other hand, just because there is one good thing in something, that does not make it valuable. The question we should ask is, "Is this valuable?".

  It is true that there may be nothing inherently wrong with playing a race car video game, but is there any value in it? Not all things are a sin, but not all things are a good use of our time. Our culture has given too much room for time wasting and labeled it entertainment. In Ephesians 5:15-17 we read " Therefore be careful how you walk not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is." You can almost hear Paul's urgency through the verses on this page. The days are evil. Satan is seeking whom he may devour. He wants to destroy you and use you in the destruction of others. We are in a war. It may not be a sin to be entertained, but we are on the front lines and cannot afford to be distracted. This is an old military tactic. You distract your enemy and sneak in on them. Do you not think Satan is doing just that? He has got us so distracted that we do not even have a hand on our weapons! Far too often, we are just relaxing and amusing ourselves! We will give an answer to God for how we use the time He has given us; therefore, we must not waste it!

  We should avoid wasting time by not setting worhtless things before us and seeking to glorify God in whatever we do. It is time for reformation in this area of our lives! We must be intentional with what God has given us including the time He's entrusted with us. This life is but a breath, but let it be a fragrant aroma to the Lord.

                                                                                 Your Servant in Christ,
                                                                                           Dallas

Never Smell a Cinnamon Tic-Tac

   They were so shiny and red. We had been told not to eat them, and we were quite bored while we sat waiting for our mom to find the right pair of shoes at the mall. My little sister and I sat under the chairs with mommy's purse and eyed the cinnamon tic-tacks. We rarely got to have candy because it was not healthy, and mommy cared more about health than we did. It was so tempting, but we knew we should not eat them, so we continued to stare at them. Next, we decided to just hold the container so we could see them better. Then, we decided that we should smell them so that we could better imagine how they would taste if we were eating them. Then, it happened. Gracie sniffed the tic-tack right up her nose. It began to sting because it was cinnamon and everyone in the mall knew it (including mommy). We ended up going to the hospital, and Gracie sounded so much like a siren that no ambulance was necessary. By the time we got there it had dissolved, but Gracie was in much pain!
I was feeling terrible because it had all been my idea!

   Now this true story took place a good ten years ago, but the lesson I learned from it is still applicable today. I learned that one should never smell a cinnamon tic-tack because chances are, one might end up with a stinging nose. No, I'm just kidding. Seriously though, we shouldn't taste, touch, handle, or "smell" temptations. In the scriptures Solomon instructs his son saying, "Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not proceed in the way of evil men. Avoid it, do not pass by it; turn away from it and pass on."(Prov 4:14-15) We are supposed to avoid the evil path. We aren't even to go near it! (And yes, that means no smelling your mom's tic-tacks.)

   I remember when it would be my turn to empty the trashcans from around the house into the large kitchen trash can, and little things would fall on the floor during the process of dumping them. I was so disgusted with the thought of picking up the little pieces with my bare hands, that I would go and get  grocery sacks to use as gloves instead of just washing my hands afterwards (which I would have to do anyways). The fact is, most of us are clever enough to find ways around doing things we do not like. We should go to the same measures to avoid temptation. If it is a sin, our attitude should not be an attitude  that says, "How close can I come to doing it without doing it?", but an attitude that says " How can I go out of my way to avoid coming into contact with it?" Can we expect to handle hot embers in our bosom and not have our clothes burned?(Prov 6:27) When we get too close to temptation we will most likely get burned!

   Lastly, avoiding temptation is not enough. We must also pursue what is good. I would like to close with this charge to all of my readers: "Now flee from youthful lust and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, with those who call on God from a pure heart." ( 2 Tim 2:22)