You tell me I cannot love and insist that I hate you, but do we even know what love is?

Dear Whomever It May Concern:

Trigger Warning: What follows may not be politically correct.

You tell me I hate you because I do not agree with you on every issue or approve of everything you do. Yet, I love my husband and my kids more than my own life, and I can promise you we don't always agree or approve of everything each of us says or does. Do you agree with your parents, spouse, and/or kids on everything? If not, do you hate them?

You say I do not love you if I do not celebrate and endorse all of your behaviors and choices, even if those choices are destructive and could get you or someone else killed.

A brief period of wrong choices took a dear friend's life. He died of AIDS in his early 20s, but thankfully, he repented, choosing Christ as Lord for the rest of his short life on earth and forever in eternity. What if loving friends/family had not shared truth with him and supported him as he turned from his dangerous behaviors and come back to Christ before it was too late? Do you honestly believe those friends and family members who spoke truth into his life, stood by him in his illness, and strengthened his faith did not love him? I dare say they loved him unconditionally, sacrificially, and completely as Christ loves His church, but they never approved of the behaviors that brought about his fatal illness.

One stranger's wrong choice to drink and drive took my best friend's daughter's life and nearly took hers as well. That accident also took almost everything her family owned, but their faith in God held them strong and steady. If you were the drunk driver's close friend, which would you have done to show your love to her: 

1. Buy her drinks and get wasted with her, so neither of you are sober enough to get behind a wheel or to stop the other from driving
2. Ignore her drinking problem so as not to offend her.
3. Warn her, encourage her, support her, and go with her to AA meetings?

Which action could have prevented the fatal accident?

Countless marriages and families we all know have been ripped apart because of a series of wrong choices followed by an unwillingness to repent ( ie, stop the adulterous behavior and turn one's heart back to the Lord and to one's spouse). Would a true friend give high fives and encourage continued infidelity or speak truth to the adulterer, warning him/her of the dangers ahead, and encouraging the friend to fight like crazy to save the marriage?

The examples go on and on....

We don't have to agree on everything, but it would certainly help if most people could at least agree on what love truly is. Since God has told us and shown us that He is love, I look to Him for the definition of love. The only way we can truly love others is to know and experience the love of God. We can love others rightly only because He first loved us. If love was simply accepting someone's lifestyle, no matter how wrong or harmful it may be, then Jesus never would have suffered in agony on the cross in our place to redeem us and to free us from those hurtful strongholds. God's love is unconditional, sacrificial, tough when needed, but full of mercy and grace with the long term greatest good in mind. God's love frees and draws us closer to Him. Acceptance of that which is unholy only enslaves us and separates us from God's presence and power in our lives. Thankfully, we are not defined by our choices, good or bad. We are defined by God who made us in His image and paid the ultimate price for us.

If I pretend or decide to agree with you so you'll be my friend, I'm only being selfish. If I risk a valuable friendship out of concern for your life and your soul, then have I not loved sacrificially? Why do yo still insist that I hate you?  Yes, my words and actions must be seasoned with gentleness and grace, but if the motive of the heart is only the best interests of the other without thinking of oneself at all, is that not love? (Philippians 2:4)

If you say I cannot love you unless I celebrate your sinful choices and mine, then aren't you really saying God can't love you or me? Instead of celebrating our sins, Christ agonized on the cross to defeat the death those sins bring, and He mercifully said, "Go and sin no more!"

If you say I must hate you if I don't agree with you, then are you not saying you hate God, and God hates you? What a blasphemous thought, for God loved you so much He gave His only son to save you. But that is exactly what the world's way of thinking suggests.  In those areas of our lives which God has forbidden for our greatest good, we will never agree with him as long as we still cling to those worldly desires instead of clinging to Him.

The more we receive His love and truth, however, the more we will begin to reflect His love and the more we will desire what He desires. I want to agree with Him on everything, for He is perfectly holy, all powerful, all knowing, always present, eternally loving and good. Who dares shake a fist at God, refusing to agree with Him? We may not understand His ways at times, for His thoughts are higher than our thoughts and beyond our full comprehension, but He has given us every reason to trust Him. Does a speck of clay on a potter's wheel resist the potter, insisting that he knows better than the potter what is good for him?  He has no idea just how beautiful he could become in the good potter's hand.  We just have to trust Him.

The Fourth Beast in Daniel's Vision

Source:  www.neverthirsty.org

World history makes it easy to see to see which kingdoms the first 3 beasts were referencing in . Daniel's prophetic vision of the 4 beasts (Daniel 7). The first beast, which was like a lion with eagle's wings, was Babylon. The second beast, which was like a bear, was Persia. The third beast, which was like leopard except it had four heads, was Greece. The fourth refers to the Roman Empire, and most theologians agree that it also refers to the end time civilization (modern times). Interestingly, this fourth beast is not described by natural, animal forms. It's entirely different. The Hebrew word used to describe it is shainah, which means "changed, altered, different". (Source:  Book of Mysteries, Day 114, by Jonathan Cahn). It has iron teeth and bronze claws. That description sounds like a machine, so it always made me think of the industrial revolution, the technology boom, and nuclear weapons which have characterized modern times and the march toward the last days. But Jonathan Cahn describes it in broader terms. 

"End-time civilization will be based on the natural, not the unnatural. It will exists against nature. It will be of an altered or transmuted nature, a civilization at war with creation, with nature and with the order of God......those who live in the end times must resist a civilization that wars against the order of creation and uphold the Word of the Eternal."

This emphasis on changing the natural into the unnatural makes me think of GMOs, environmental toxins, synthetic hormones, the use of chemotherapy type drugs to treat cancer instead of the plants God made which have the capacity to kill the actual cancer stem cells (which chemo and radiation cannot do) while boosting the immune system instead of attacking it, possibly the vaccine industry's overreach, and big pharma companies that tend to create something unnatural that attempts to mimic what is natural (because they can't patent nature...the big money is only available by patenting what is unnatural even though our bodies are only designed to process what is natural...so the side effects are always worse with manmade drugs).

But what about the whole LGBTQ movement? Is that a highly organized war against God's natural order with the goal of normalizing the unnatural, even exalting it over what is natural?

What do you think of Cahn's interpretation?

Examining our own hearts in light of continued racism, hatred, and violance

As hatred, violence, division, and accusations mount (according to plan), perhaps we should first honestly examine our own hearts in light of God's truth before reacting in unhealthy, destructive, volatile ways, fueled by the heightened and irrational emotions evoked by the media's false narratives, angry attacks, distortions, exaggerations, and outright lies. I have written in second person to engage others, but only after asking myself each of the questions below.
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"Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses." (Proverbs 10:21)

• Is your heart consumed with hatred or with love? 
• Are you praying for God's love to touch and redeem your enemy, or are you praying for him to suffer?

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 "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives..." (James 4:3)

• Do you really expect God to hear your prayers if you pray outside of his will....wishing harm on others instead of good, simply because the media or some well-funded radical group told you that you should hate them? 

“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” (Psalm 66:18)

Note:  Regarding iniquity refers to deliberate, habitual, unrepentant sin.  It is placing one's desire to sin over their desire for God.  We all fall short, and God's grace is not dependent upon our works, but a truly repentant heart that receives the grace and redemption of God will hate one's sin and ask for God's help to overcome it instead of shaking one's fist at God and insisting He can't have that area of their life.  Such defiance is rejecting the Lord, not receiving Him.

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2 "For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,
speaking against me with lying tongues.
3 They encircle me with words of hate,
and attack me without cause.
4 In return for my love they accuse me,
but I give myself to prayer.
5 So they reward me evil for good,
and hatred for my love." (Psalm 109:2)

• Are you slandering and attacking others without cause? Whether or not you agree with them is irrelevant. If they have offended you, then that is your problem, not theirs, for we are each individually responsible for how we respond to the words and actions of another. No one has the power to offend us unless we willingly give it to him. 
• How has the subject of your ire legitimately and truthfully (media narratives do not count because they are often unreliable) harmed you to warrant your attacks? 
• Are you returning evil for good or good for evil? 
• Are you seeking vengeance or trusting in the Lord's justice and goodness?

"Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.'" (Romans 12:19)

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"Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves." (Romans 13: 1-2)

• Are you mad at God for allowing Trump to be elected? 
• Or are you a Republican upset over the fact that your state elected a DNC pawn as it's governor?
• Do you really think God makes mistakes? 
• Are you suggesting that you know better than the omniscient One who made you and who is the source of wisdom and truth? (John 14:6, Proverbs 2:6) 
• Are you subjecting yourselves to the authorities God has established or rebelling against them out of selfishness and without Biblical mandate?

"I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2: 1-4)

• Are you praying for your leaders and seeking peace with your brethren, or do you wish injury and shame upon him?

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"31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." (Ephesians 4: 25-32)

"6Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." (Colossians 3: 5-17)

• Are you verifying statements before repeating them in slander?
• Are you ready to forgive, or are you storing up resentment?
• Are you choosing to be thankful or bitter?
• Do you view all people, regardless of social class, race, or gender as your brother or sister, worthy of respect, acknowledging that you are nothing without Christ and no better than anyone else?
• Do you strive to obey God in all things, asking Him to help you when you fall short, ever grateful for His mercy and grace?
• Are you opening your entire life, every decision, word, thought, action, and heart's desire to Him so that He can redeem and transform you? Alternatively, do you only obey Him when it is politically correct or convenient? 
• Is He Lord over your life or do you think you have authority over Him and are thus better able judge what is right and wrong, just and unjust? 
• Do you insist that you know better than God does with regard to His word, omitting the parts you find uncomfortable and clinging only to those that fit your narrative and make you feel good? 
• Is your life consistent with the knowledge that we will never experience freedom from sin, lasting joy, or peace until we become so uncomfortable with the reality of our sin that we choose God over our unholy lusts and humbly repent? Until He is Lord over all, He is not your Lord at all.
• Do you do all things to honor Christ or to exalt yourself?
• Are you a peacemaker? Do you put the interests of others before your own? (Philippians 2:4)
• Do you acknowledge that Christ is the only one who can unite us all and give us peace? Is He your only hope and heart's desire, or are you still trusting in earthly powers and fleeting carnal enticements?

The Total Solar Eclipse of the Heart

On August 21 at 2:00 EST, the moon will completely block the sun. Everything will grow dark.

Source:  NASA

 Just because we can't see the sun, however, doesn't mean it's not still shining. The sun remains completely unchanged, but our perspective is darkened by the moon. For that moment, it seems darkness has overcome us, but the sun is still there in all it's massive splendor and light.

Note: The sun is over 400 times larger than the moon in diameter. The sun is over 113 times larger than the earth, and the earth is 3.67 times larger than the moon.

So, while we may go through periods of darkness as we journey through this life and while God's light may sometimes be hard to see, He's still there, massive in glory, shining brighter than ever. Our problems are smaller than we are, but they are infinitely smaller than He is. Furthermore, our dark days are temporary, only a blip in the timeline of eternity. So, when darkness overwhelms you, trust in the light you cannot see, knowing that He will ultimately set you free.

The radiant sun as viewed by the author on 8/19/17

"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." (2 Corinthians 4:17)

"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1)

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Hebrews 13:8)

"My God is so big, so strong and so mighty
There's nothing my God cannot do" - Cedermont Kids

Colors of Heaven

The Bible's descriptions of Heaven and of God's glory include so many brilliant colors with rainbows of light and gemstones except in Heaven the rainbows are full circles instead of half circles, for in Heaven we will not just see in part, but in whole. (Reference Ezekiel 1:26-28; Revelation 4:3, 10:1, 21:9-21).

So given God's love for brilliant tapestries of color, I find it interesting that whenever we give the kids at church coloring sheets, they tend to color them with rainbows of different colors, regardless of what color that animal or object may actually be on earth.

I'm with the kids.....let's bring glimpses of Heaven into our daily lives....through the power of His Spirit who lives in us, and may we look for splashes of His glory through the beautiful colors (especially as we build relationships with people of different skin colors) all around us.

For further study on the colors of heaven, I recommend the study developed by Glenn Pease found here.

Corrupted Churches and Seminaries vs. Monsanto Corporation

The hip pastors pouring out of corrupted seminaries (like Duke Theological Seminary which is now doing more damage to the true church with their pretense and heresy than those who openly confess their hatred of God) who teach a politically correct but distorted version of God's word with the hope of drawing the masses remind me of Monsanto Corporation.

Monsanto Corporation

 In the name of feeding the masses (BTW: Hunger is a more of a distribution problem than a supply problem with over 50% of the food supply currently being thrown away), Monsanto has corrupted the seeds of the most basic food staples, such that it's nearly impossible to find non-GMO peanuts, corn, soy, wheat, etc. Our bodies were not designed to process GMO foods, so while food should nourish and heal us, GMO foods are causing sickness and even death, especially as they grow in degree of saturation across the food supply. 

Similarly, our hearts and souls can ONLY be nourished, purified, and completely healed by the true word of God. Man-made distortions of God's truth will only make us spiritually ill. This on-point post by John MacArthur provides an excellent analysis of this compromised evangelism in light of the Scriptures, specifically in reference to the Parable of the Sower and the Seed.

The Parable of the Sower and Bad Evangelism
https://www.gty.org/library/blog/B170809

Key quotes from the post by John MacArthur that got an amen from me include:

• "But you cannot manufacture converts by changing the message or stylizing the messenger"

• "The preacher who thinks designer jeans will make his message more palatable is akin to a farmer investing in a designer seed bag so that the soil will be more receptive to his seeds."

• "One of the primary refrains about evangelism today is that the church needs to update the methods without altering the message. But if we’re not faithfully preaching the truth about man’s sinfulness, God’s grace and mercy, the sinner’s need for repentance and faith, and the completed work of Christ, we’re not protecting and preserving the gospel message."

Men vs. Women

Men vs. Women

I'm sure the article entitled, "Are Men Better than Women at Chess? Probably" offended a lot of people.  Pop culture and progressive feminism (not to be confused with classical feminism which accomplished a lot of wonderful, much needed reforms for women) would say that all women should protest, riot, and viciously express their disdain for such a politically incorrect statement.

As a woman who graduated at the top of her class in engineering school and who gets giddy over all things math, logic, and strategy related, I am not the LEAST BIT OFFENDED by this article or it's headline. I thought I would post that here, so Google will have a record of it as they police our thoughts .(This comment is a sarcastic reference to Google's decision to fire someone for writing a brilliant memo with sound reasoning and scientific proof because some snowflakes could not accept the truth and threw temper tantrums about it.  Google caved to their bratty children, just as expected, and fired the man unjustly and illegally while providing yet another example of the liberal hypocrisy of liberal tolerance, when liberals are the most intolerant of all, especially with regard to different viewpoints that are so easily justified whereas their talking points make no sense at all).

I also much prefer having women compete against women athletically and consider it to be sheer insanity to allow transgendered men to compete against women in events created for women only. We are each unique and there are plenty of women who can beat other men in these venues, but in general, when you consider the collective data, men have a biological advantage in both chess and most athletics, and that FACT doesn't discriminate against me or bother me AT ALL. I'm thankful for it because these differences drive the complementary nature of the genders for healthy families and societies in general.

 ¹² Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For we were all baptized byone Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. (1 Corinthians 12-13)

There are PLENTY of things women can do better than men and in which they have their own advantage, so when you look at all those differences collectively, it evens out. (Of course, our value has nothing to do with our performance, anyway!) No one is more valuable than another (although the socialistic government gods would like to be the judge of that), but we do need each other

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)

Women seeking validation by trying to convince the world that they can do everything a man can do but better have missed the whole point. They will never receive the validation they are seeking that way, but they will wear themselves out trying.

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. (Romans 12:3)

Furthermore, by disrespecting the unique gifting of men, women will only cause men to stop doing what they are called and especially equipped to do. That places all the responsibility on women alone, and the U.S. statistics on the number of fatherless homes and the outcomes for children and society as a result provide plenty of alarming evidence of where that leads. Let's learn to celebrate our differences and work together in a complementary way to build synergy for healthy homes and communities.

The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”   (Genesis 2:18)