Hee hee

I don't like the other candidate either.....
~B

HT: mommylife.net

Just Buy It

Mallard Fillmore

Think

I have recently seen on the net, thoughts about how the Bible outlines what we can and cannot do. They go to Leviticus to get their ammunition to tell us, "How can you take the Bible seriously when there are these things in there." Things such as:

• Leviticus 19:27 "Do not trim off the hair on your temples or clip the edges of your beards."
  
• Leviticus 11:10 "You may not, however, eat marine animals that do not have both fins and scales."
  
• Leviticus 11:5 "The same is true of the rock badger, and the hare, so they also may never be eaten."
  

Okay, okay, let's get it straight here. Let's start doing our research and understand why these rules were set up.

'Leviticus was written as a handbook for the priests and the Levites of Israel. It gives detailed rules concerning the daily lives of the Israelites and special procedures for the worship of God. It provides instructions for offering sacrifices. It describes the proper methods for the Israelites to observe major festivals and holidays and for the priests to carry out their duties of their offices.'[paraphrase from a NLT Bible].

Now, do we have even a tiny glimpse of what Leviticus is dealing with here? We need to try to stop and think before we just jump into believing what someone else says that the Bible is saying. We have no comprehension of what needed to be done back in those times to establish a priesthood or to be an Israelite. None whatsoever. If you are a Bible scholar, you then do know what's going on, but just me and my friends sitting around: None.

Leave the Bible alone. "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows." Galatians 6:7

This doesn't mean that at times I don't have questions about God and about what God expects from us. I do have questions, and sometimes I have tons of them. Sometimes I don't have an understanding of some of his laws. I then have to make myself go to the Bible and to other strong Christians that are knowledgable in God's Holy Word , to get a grip on the situation of my questions.

I explained to my children yesterday about why God has set up rules for us to follow. Picture the Grand Canyon, picture a bridge, a wobbly one at that, that has no side rails, it's just you and that bridge getting in touch with nature by trying to get across without a rail....ha. The rules that God has us follow are the boundaries, ie: the siderails that he installs on the wobbly bridge.

If I tell my children not to play in the front yard when I run to the store, I am not trying to ruin their lives, I am not trying to be legalistic and controlling, I am merely knowing that playing in the front yard during that small time that I am away, is a boundary that is there to protect them. Do they always understand why I have put up these boundaries? No, definitely not. But just as a child doesn't understand why it shouldn't reach out and touch the plug in, we don't always understand some of what the Holy Lord has put out in front of us.

God is not afraid of our questions. Go ahead and ask them. But don't desecrate the very Bible that gives you instruction. Make sure that you go to someone who respects the Lord, who doesn't want to paint you a pretty picture and say what you want to hear. Go to someone that will tell you the truth, not their truth, but God's truth.

Jesus came as God incarnate. He came to bring Truth to the world. He testifies to the Truth. The evidence is clearly written out for all to see.

~B

Enough of my blabbing, this question below is what brought on this flood of thoughts:
My Answer by Billy Graham
Q: Why don't Christians follow all the laws in the Old Testament, and not just parts of it like the Ten Commandments? Christians believe it's all part of God's Word, don't they?

— R.T.

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A: Dear R.T.,
Yes, the whole Bible is God's Word, and every part of it has lessons to teach us. The Bible says, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16).

At the same time, Christians have always believed that many of the laws of the Old Testament no longer apply to us the way they once did - and the reason is because Jesus Christ has fulfilled them. They pointed forward to the coming of the Messiah - and once He came, they were no longer needed.

Let me give an example. In Old Testament times, the priests carried out animal sacrifices every day to make atonement for the sins of the people. But through His death on the cross, Jesus paid the final price for our sins - fully and completely. No more sacrifices are needed, because He is a final sacrifice for sin. Our sins have been forgiven because all our sins were placed on Christ, "And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin" (Hebrews 10:18).

Does this mean we should just ignore those parts of the Old Testament? No, not at all. They teach us just how seriously God takes sin, and they remind us too of what it cost God to make our salvation possible. Most of all, they point us to Jesus Christ, who loved us so much that He was willing to give His life for us. Have you responded to His love by giving your life to Him?

Quote of the Day

"A departure from principle in one instance becomes a precedent for a second; that second for a third; and so on, till the bulk of the society is reduced to be mere automatons of misery, to have no sensibilities left but for sin and suffering." — Thomas Jefferson

Again, Someone Distorting the Bible

"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows."
Galatians 6:7
---------------------------------------

James Dobson accuses Obama of distorting Bible

By ERIC GORSKI, AP Religion Writer

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - As Barack Obama broadens his outreach to evangelical voters, one of the movement's biggest names, James Dobson, accuses the likely Democratic presidential nominee of distorting the Bible and pushing a "fruitcake interpretation" of the Constitution.

The criticism, to be aired Tuesday on Dobson's Focus on the Family radio program, comes shortly after an Obama aide suggested a meeting at the organization's headquarters here, said Tom Minnery, senior vice president for government and public policy at Focus on the Family.

The conservative Christian group provided The Associated Press with an advance copy of the pre-taped radio segment, which runs 18 minutes and highlights excerpts of a speech Obama gave in June 2006 to the liberal Christian group Call to Renewal. Obama mentions Dobson in the speech.

"Even if we did have only Christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools?" Obama said. "Would we go with James Dobson's or Al Sharpton's?" referring to the civil rights leader.

Dobson took aim at examples Obama cited in asking which Biblical passages should guide public policy — chapters like Leviticus, which Obama said suggests slavery is OK and eating shellfish is an abomination, or Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, "a passage that is so radical that it's doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application."

"Folks haven't been reading their Bibles," Obama said.

Dobson and Minnery accused Obama of wrongly equating Old Testament texts and dietary codes that no longer apply to Jesus' teachings in the New Testament.

"I think he's deliberately distorting the traditional understanding of the Bible to fit his own worldview, his own confused theology," Dobson said.

"... He is dragging biblical understanding through the gutter."

Joshua DuBois, director of religious affairs for Obama's campaign, said in a statement that a full reading of Obama's speech shows he is committed to reaching out to people of faith and standing up for families. "Obama is proud to have the support of millions of Americans of faith and looks forward to working across religious lines to bring our country together," DuBois said.

Dobson reserved some of his harshest criticism for Obama's argument that the religiously motivated must frame debates over issues like abortion not just in their own religion's terms but in arguments accessible to all people.

He said Obama, who supports abortion rights, is trying to govern by the "lowest common denominator of morality," labeling it "a fruitcake interpretation of the Constitution."

"Am I required in a democracy to conform my efforts in the political arena to his bloody notion of what is right with regard to the lives of tiny babies?" Dobson said. "What he's trying to say here is unless everybody agrees, we have no right to fight for what we believe."

The program was paid for by a Focus on the Family affiliate whose donations are taxed, Dobson said, so it's legal for that group to get more involved in politics.

Last week, DuBois, a former Assemblies of God associate minister, called Minnery for what Minnery described as a cordial discussion. He would not go into detail, but said Dubois offered to visit the ministry in August when the Democratic National Convention is in Denver.

A possible Obama visit was not discussed, but Focus is open to one, Minnery said.

McCain also has not met with Dobson. A McCain campaign staffer offered Dobson a meeting with McCain recently in Denver, Minnery said. Dobson declined because he prefers that candidates visit the Focus on the Family campus to learn more about the organization, Minnery said.

Dobson has not backed off his statement that he could not in good conscience vote for McCain because of concerns over the Arizona senator's conservative credentials. Dobson has said he will vote in November but has suggested he might not vote for president.

Obama recently met in Chicago with religious leaders, including conservative evangelicals. His campaign also plans thousands of "American Values House Parties," where participants discuss Obama and religion, as well as a presence on Christian radio and blogs.

Comic

Jane Roe's prolife commercial

Feeling the Empty Nest

For the past 11 years, I have been a mother.
I have wiped bottoms, noses and highchairs endlessly.
I have hugged, disciplined and laughed too many times to count.
I have had amazing days where I didn't want it to end and
I have had days, that I wished would have never started.

Yesterday, I felt it all starting to slowly, painfully slip away.

See, my children are no longer:

• newborns
• toddlers
• Kindergarteners

They are now on that part of life where, little by little, they are gaining their independence from me. This is how it's supposed to be. Where I work myself, ever so slowly, out of a job.

But yesterday hurt.
All four children were off somewhere.
Somewhere playing with their friends.
Somewhere playing at the pool.
Somewhere dreaming about their futures.

And I was washing dishes wondering who I will be when they are gone, out of this house and onto their lives.

Who will I be?

I know that if you aren't a stay at home mom, you won't understand. You have your careers, you have your friends, you have all that surrounding you. I have these four souls surrounding me. What will I be without them?

In 12 short years, all of my children will be 18 and above. I have lived in this house almost 12 years. All four of the children were welcomed into this very home the day they came back from the hospital. All of my important and major memories are here:

• Bringing home my first-born son, me and my husband being amazed at what a tiny little creature we helped bring into this world.
  
• Wanting more children, getting pregnant with twins. Having a difficult time as they struggled through the NICU.
  
• Getting pregnant again, having to rush to the hospital because labor was going so fast. Having an incredible birth and the nurse telling us, "That's the most peaceful birth I have ever witnessed."

The diapers, the noses, the tears, the fights, the happinesses, the frustrations. The sleepless nights!

The growing. The growing. The growing.

They can all go to the pool without me now.

Maybe you don't see the significance in that:
They can all go to the pool without me now.

Just last year, my youngest wasn't able to go without me.

Where is my purpose going? Where is this all headed.

They're growing. This is good, right?

I am teaching them to be future adults. I am teaching them to be future mothers and fathers.

I am teaching them how to live and love.

I make so many mistakes. But God is good...... a friend always says that, and it strikes me as incredibly encouraging. God is good. He will take my mistakes and He will work through them.

But I am still right back at where I started. What will I be in 12 years?

I don't want to be a career-woman.

I want to be a mom.

I don't want to work in an office.

I want to be a mom.

What will I be, when the time comes for them to go?

A mom, but to what?

Four adults that don't really need me.....

Will I spend my days cleaning a house that's already clean enough? Will I stand by the sink and pretend to wash dishes? Will I wish that there were clothes to wash and fold?

What is there that God has planned for this little person in the world?

I want to be a mom.

My inner most desire is to be a mom.

I want nothing else.

Like an artist who knows nothing except to do his art, I want to be this mom.

~B

Derek Webb - I Wanna Marry You All Over Again

His Eyes Are On the Sparrow

I am Your sparrow.

Can you hold me just a little longer?

I don't know how to pick up the pieces to this puzzle.

Will you keep Your eyes on me just a bit longer?

I don't think that I know how to fly. Not anymore.

I think that I used to. I think that I used to know how to live.

Now I just stumble and hurt and fall so often.

Please teach me what you're trying to teach me.

Please help me be a good student. Help this student learn what you are trying to teach.

Lord, my wings are broken. Can they ever be mended?

I sit, protected in Your hand. Can I stay here a while? Is there ever a time, that I'll have to leave?

Could You hold me through this storm?

Are there any other sparrows out there, that could come and sit here with me so that I wouldn't be so alone?

I'm so alone.

I'm so broken.

Let me sit here and be still.

~B