Ten Commandments

The last few weeks our pastor has been doing a series of sermons on the Ten Commandments. We discussed in Sunday school today, that anthropologists study cultures from recent to the beginning of the earth, and while all have had people who sinned, who broke the commandments, people who stole, who murdered, who committed adultery; they have discovered that never before has any culture been found that actually made these acts legally acceptable. We; our generation and the world that we live in, we are the first to do such a thing. There have always been people who would murder, but we are the first to pass laws saying it is right to do so.(abortion, euthanasia) There have always been sodomists, and homosexuals, but we are the first to pass laws saying it is right to do so.(same sex marriage) Even the Greeks, who are world famous for their lustful desires, for having sex with anyone and anything, in the name of worship even; even they had laws on the books forbidding acts like murder and homosexuality. There have always been people who would break the laws of God and man, but we are the first to create legislation saying it is right for man to break God's laws.
Have no other gods; there have been many gods (lust, money, possessions), and cultures have embraced them, and soon our laws will too.
Do not murder, our culture has embraced murder when it's convenient. Why is it legal for me to murder my child today (I'm four month pregnant), but it will be illegal for me to do so six months from now? How about in sixteen years when I can't take the attitude, then will it be 'legal' for me to take her life? If life has any value at all, then it has value today, even in the womb. And, it is murder to take this life, even today, even in the womb.
Do not commit adultery, God created and ordained the institution of marriage between one woman and one man, and we know that men have found that nearly impossible to live up to since the beginning of time, but does our struggle to do right mean that we should pass laws claiming wrong as right instead? Our culture has embraced adultery, and soon our laws will as well.
Do not steal, we have embraced a world of 'healthy' competition, always scheming to find a way to improve our earthly life, never considering the effect on others. Even in youth, this is obvious: we have seen young girls manipulate circumstances to make themselves appear better than they are, usually to appear more popular. We watch them use other, less pretty or less confident girls as steps in their ladder to the top. We complain about their catty-ness, and then we say, 'oh, they are just little girls'. But, when we watch their mothers, we see that age has nothing to do with it. Our culture has embrace theft, by calling it 'healthy' competition, and soon our laws will embrace it as well.
Call me guilty - of every sin there is. I have broken every commandment, and so have you. By the grace of God who gave us those commandments, I have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. We are free to do whatever we choose, says Paul, because we are redeemed by Christ. But, then, should we sin more to see grace abound? Never!
I would encourage you to be salt. Salt was primarily a preservative, and it's purpose was to stop the rotting of meat. So, go out and be salt; stop the rot.

There is a saying, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can not make him drink."

but you can give him salt.

SALT MAKES YOU THIRSTY!!! JESUS IS THE LIVING WATER!!!

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Selling My House

Is it real? I ask out loud. Could it be we are actually moving? It seems hard to believe. My heart has been so torn, as I see us moving in the direction that God is calling us; researching and writing more books, encouraging families to take God at His word, and ministering to those God brings our way.
For awhile, there were no showings, no interest in the house, no contact from our realtor, no hope it seemed that our dream to be on the road, full time missionaries, could ever come true.
So, we just trusted. If my efforts, my energies, my work could ever have accomplished anything, then I would probably not trust as I do. Because it is never easy, and our daily bread is always just that; daily, I have no choice but to spend my days and my nights on my knees before my Lord.
Then, we agreed (Don & I) that we still believed in what God had called us to do, and while there might be challenges, that shouldn't discourage us. So, we started to act like we believed in what we were doing. We looked for ways to replace the home phone and internet service, we looked at options for a mailing address after we leave the stick house, we started shopping for our new van/home, and even narrowed down our options to a few specific models.
When we did this, things began to turn, and people came to us and said they felt called to give us things; cash, food, clothes, items to sell on Ebay, and more. The bounty just kept raining down on us. We still every day just have our daily bread, but as we let go of things in the house and begin to embrace the new lifestyle (even though we can't see it yet), it comes closer and closer to being reality.
Tomorrow, we have a scheduled showing on our house. It is only the third since we listed it last October, and the first one this year. It's just a showing; not an offer or a sale, but as we rest in God's promises, and trust that He will lead us down the path that He has put us on, things are coming together more and more.
I am often negligent in my Thanks, so while I will spend this evening and most of tomorrow scrambling to get the house 'just so', I want to say Thank you now for the showing, because although just a showing, it is for us, a sign of Hope.

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you'll laugh about it later

Things that I didn't think were funny at the time, but now they kind of are:

Summer, age 4, in the midst of being reprimanded; waggled her pointer finger at me and said, "Don't you use that tone of voice with me!"

Ethan, age 3, at the end of a one hour drama that he had sat still and fairly quiet for (it was a Last Supper drama; when Jesus said that one would betray him; each character stood up and told of all their experiences with Jesus and then asked, "Is it I, Lord?"). Judas was last, and he asked, "Is it I, Lord?" It was a very dark and solemn play, but it was obvious that even the actors were struggling to keep their composure, when Ethan yelled out "YES!"

I'm sure I'll think of more later, but had a few moments and thought I would share those with you. I hope it puts a smile in your day!

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