Why I Stand with Phil Robertson

I believe that what has transpired over the past 24 hours is completely ridiculous. Phil Robertson is a man who is taking a stand and not backing down or cowering away from what he believes in just to please people. While I am denominationally different from Phil Robertson and his family, I support them. This has gone far past just agreeing or disagreeing with what someone says. This is now a direct attack on freedom of speech and freedom of religion. I'm sure that many people were offended by what he said but, how many times have those people offended us? Being an American means that you have the right to believe what you want and you can be open about that belief. Being a Christian is not a direct attack on one person or group of people. People that use this argument are trying to put a face on sin and you can't do that. Yes, we are all dirty rotten sinners but, you can't go around attacking people. The only way to confront a sin problem is to confront the heart problem, not attacking the person. Phil Robertson in no way attacked any person or group of people in what he said. While some of his comments were crude, he stated what he believed. However, after he stated what he believed, he also stated that he loved all of humanity. Funny how the media is manipulated to not show any of the good. It is our time to stand up for we believe in. Denominationally different or not, it is our duty to stand and fight for our freedoms. I stand with Phil Robertson and his right to speak what he believes.

John 15:18-20
   "If the world hate you, ye know that is hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greated than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also."

The thing about modesty...

Have you ever noticed how a lot of teenage girls go around bad-mouthing boys because "they're inappropriate" or "they're perverted"? It almost sounds like they're appalled that boys would think and talk that way. I find it ironic that those same girls are walking around with very short, tight shorts and tight, revealing shirts. Is it really right to blame the boys for what you're pushing in their face? It's really hard for guys to walk through school or a store or even down the street without seeing girls dressed like this. It's normally too much chest or too much leg showing. And guess what? Guys can't un-see those things. After they see it, it's permanently etched in their mind. So, it's really back on us, girls. We're the ones who go around "flaunting our stuff" in their faces. That's right... it's our fault. I love the way my camp counselor put it when she was addressing modesty: "If you know someone who is trying to lose weight and eat better, you wouldn't go up to her and stuff a chocolate muffin in her face. Well, it's the same thing with guys. There are guys out there trying to stay pure with their thoughts but, when girls dress immodestly, it's like stuffing that chocolate muffin in their face." Don't be that chocolate muffin. You don't want to be the girl that causes other boys to stumble. It's not fair to them and it's definitely not honoring to God. Modesty is not just something to help the guys out... modesty is something that is commanded in Scripture. God didn't put those verses on modesty in the "do this if you want" section... oh wait.. the Bible doesn't have that section. These are commands. Modesty is pleasing to the Lord. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." Our immodesty brings about lust and impurity. James 1:15 says, "Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." This is a serious thing, girls. This is not just about looking cool and seeing if guys notice you. It's not fair to them and more importantly, it's not fair to God. We have a duty as Christian young ladies to glorify God with our bodies and that includes how we dress and how we pose for pictures we put on the internet. You should constantly be checking yourself and your motives. "Will this cause anyone to stumble?" "Is this glorifying to God?" Make sure that what you wear and what you think is pure so that you do not cause anyone to stumble and so that you glorify God.

A very hectic summer...

Here we are with less than two weeks until school starts. Where has the summer gone? I got to enjoy some of it but most of it I was miserable. After my awesome week at the Wilds, I came home with a bad cold... which turned into a sinus infection. I was miserable. To make matters worse, I had a drug reaction to the antibiotic they gave me and ended up in urgent care. Making that a total of 4 weeks I was out of commission. Then if that wasn't enough, 2 weeks ago I went through the dreaded wisdom teeth extraction. I am praying that nothing else will go wrong this summer... I want to enjoy my last two weeks! Other than that, this summer has been great. I had an amazing beach vacation, an awesome week at camp, and Neighborhood Bible Time at our church. The Lord has definitely in and around me this summer. It was especially noticeable this past week of NBT. I can't wait to see how the Lord will continue to work. It's one thing to read about our God in the Bible but when you actually look and see His work around you... it's beyond amazing. How great a God we serve!

Memorializing Memorial Day

I've noticed that year after year Memorial Day is losing its meaning. People are more focused on throwing a big party or going out on the lake. They seem to forget who gave them those privileges. People also tend to go too far in the other direction. They over-emphasize remembering the men who died. You may not think this is possible, but it is. These people do not focus on what Memorial Day should be focused on. Memorial Day is day set aside for remembering the men who died but more importantly, it's remembering why they died. If we don't know why they died or what they died for then we cannot honor them. If we don't how they died we can't continue what they started. Isn't that our duty as American Patriots? It is our job to carry on the legacy of those who have gone before us. It is our job to make sure that we continue the fight for freedom. There is no better way to honor those who have fallen. They deserve that honor and respect. Anything less would not be acceptable. We can't let their death be in vain. Those died fighting for where we are today. Unfortunately, the fight is far from over. We must continue to fight.


"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same."

~Ronald Reagan

One Last Hope

How can you find words to describe something that is outside of our realm of understanding? How can you try to tell someone about something that you can't even fathom? How can you try to explain life and death to a child? How can you explain the horrid wickedness of man and yet still explain the wonderful goodness of God?

Heaven got 20 little angels last week. Actually, heaven got more than that. Kids are dying or getting killed everyday whether we hear about it or not. Innocent people are getting killed for no reason. People are getting sick. People are getting hurt. We are living in very dark world. A world who cries for peace and justice while at the same time pushing the Creator of peace and justice out. We wonder if there is any love in this world but we don't look to the greatest of all Love. How can we expect improvement in our society when we are more concerned in pleasing the Devil than God? God has been merciful to us. We deserve a much worse society than we are living in right now. Every single one of us deserve to go through what those kids did at Sandy Hook Elementary. Well, we actually deserve worse. We are a evil and wicked country. We deserve no hope.

I've painted a pretty ugly picture, haven't I? I'm sorry. The truth hurts. Well, it doesn't stop there. Yes, we all deserve to suffer eternally with no hope but, we don't have to. We have wonderful Hope that is willing to take our hand and guide us through the wicked place we live in. He doesn't promise to keep us from tragedy or hardship but He does promise to lead us through it. He also promises us that it will be over soon and then we will be spending eternity in presence of God. He has offered this gift to many. This gift of hope and assurance and love. Actually, this gift has been offered to every man that's every lived. Unfortunately, many people won't receive it. They all have different reasons. "Maybe God isn't the real Hope." "He never did anything for me." "There is no God." These words break my heart. The fact the all those souls could have this wonderful free gift but they just turn it down. Their hearts are wicked. They've turned away from their very Creator. We've turned away from our Creator. It's hard to imagine yourself being such a wicked and evil person isn't it? I know it was for me. It's hard to fathom how sweet little innocent babies can turn into such evil monsters. It's hard to understand how people can have so much hatred in their hearts. It's hard to understand why people continually get taken away for what seems like no reason at all. But no matter what God allows to happen, it happens for a reason.

What we need is to turn back to God. We all need to get down our knees and beg God to have mercy on us and forgive us for turning our back on Him. You are going to have trials in this life but you don't have to go through them alone. Don't wait another second... you never know what second is going to be your last. Turn to God now. He is the only way.

True Greatness

Have you ever wanted to be something great? Something above normal... something that people will remember. I have a feeling most, if not all, have had this feeling. You've probably tried to think what you could do to make it big... how you could make a difference. Too many people caught up trying to do something to make them great that they forget the greatest thing of all. I hate to burst your bubble but, nothing you can do will make you great. Yes, some people do get temporary greatness on this world but it doesn't last. Their legacy may live on for a while but it will eventually fade away. Greatness isn't doing something... it's being something. Being great doesn't mean that thousands of people worldwide know who you are. Being great isn't about having millions of dollars. It doesn't even necessarily mean that you have to make a difference in people's lives. Being great has nothing to with anything this world has to offer and everything to do with God. The only Person who walked on this earth and never sinned... He died a horrifying death on the cross with literally the weight of the world on His shoulders and didn't complain even once. This is the only perfect picture of true greatness you will ever find. Anyone can become great but not in their own strength. God is the only thing that can make any man great... not because of what man does but because of how awesome our God is.

Veteran's Day

Veteran's Day is a very special day for me. It's a day with which we should spend honoring those who have served and are serving. They are the reason we are where are today. They're the reason we have the freedoms we have right now. Most of the time we don't even give them the time of day. They went through so much for people that they have never even met. I think the least we could for them is to take one day a year and just thank them... let them know that we will never forget what they did... what they fought for... Let them know that they have a special place in our hearts. Let them know that have pride as a nation because of what they did. They didn't take their job lightly, so why should we? Take some time out of your day to thank a veteran today. Trust me... you won't regret it.

Mission

So, this week at our church we've been having Neighborhood Bible Time at our church. It has been an amazing week. It's been exciting to see people getting saved and getting assurance of their salvation. For me, I enjoyed everything. The preaching has been awesome. In the sermon last night Mr. Tyler talked about taking up your crosses. Notice that crosses is plural. Every person who is saved has taken up the cross of salvation and accepted God's gift to us of eternal life in fellowship with Him. The second cross is the cross os service. Just accepting Christ as your Saviour isn't enough. Yes, it will get you to heaven but we are called to do more. We are called to give Christ our entire heart, our entire mind, our entire life. Everything belongs to God. We are called to serve with everything we have. It's pretty hard to put your heart into something when you're holding onto something... something's holding you back. There are many things that could do this. Drugs, alcohol, friends, magazines, books, tv shows, music, etc. I know from experience that forsaking these things completely is hard but worth it. You see, God doesn't want you to just accept Him as Saviour. His desire is that all people accept Him AND follow Him. We can't tell God, "Ok. Here's my books and my magazines but I'm keeping my tv shows and music." He want's everything... but He already gave everything for us so He doesn't just want it, He deserves it. Following Christ doesn't mean that you can't do anything fun or that you can't ever do anything again. If you follow Christ you will receive more than you have ever been willing to give. Things of this world will not give us true happiness... they will fade away and loose their appeal in just a very short time. God never fades. God never looses His appeal. God is true happiness. Our mission on earth isn't to "Get glory, make money, and die." We have a calling. A calling to follow Christ with everything. No regrets. And trust me, there won't be any. So, who will take up their cross of service? Who will deny themself and follow Christ?

Eyes

As I was playing in the ocean today, I got water in my eyes. Whenever you get salt water in your eyes it burns your eyes  doesn't it? It almost blinds you. I was thinking about why God made our eyes so sensitive and then it hit me. Our eyes are sensitive in more than one way. When we see something it is permanently in our brain. Sometimes when we see something that looks beautiful and fun but it blinds us the dangers that are coming. If you can't see in the ocean you have no idea when the next wave is coming and you don't know when you're going to fall. Be careful what you do with your eyes. They can be deceiving.

Verse of the Day ~ May 24, 2012

Proverbs 4:22-24 ~ For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life. Put away from you a deceitful mouth, And put perverse lips far from you.

Verse of the Day ~ May 23, 2012

Proverbs 4:20-21 ~ My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart;

Verse of the Day ~ May 22, 2012

Proverbs 4:18-19 ~ But the path of the just is like the shining sun, That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know what makes them stumble.

Verse of the Day ~ May 21, 2012

Proverbs 4:14-17 ~ Do not enter the path of the wicked, And do not walk in the way of evil. Avoid it, do not travel on it; Turn away from it and pass on. For they do not sleep unless they have done evil; And their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.

Verse of the Day ~ May 18, 2012

Proverbs 4:12-13 ~ When you walk, your steps will not be hindered, And when you run you will not stumble. Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go; Keep her, for she is you life.

Verse of the Day ~ May 17, 2012

Proverbs 4:10-11 ~ Hear my son, and receive my sayings, And the years of your life will be many. I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in right paths

Verse of the Day ~ May 16, 2012

Proverbs 4:7 ~ Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.

Verse of the Day ~ May 15, 2012

Proverbs 4:5-6 ~ Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; Lover her, she will keep you.

Verse of the Day ~ May 14, 2012

Proverbs 4:1-4 ~ Hear, my children, the instruction of a father, And give attention to know understanding; For I give you good doctrine: Do not forsake my law. When I was my father's son, Tender and the only one in the sight of my mother, He also taught me, and said to me: "Let your heart retain my words; Keep my commandments and live.

Verse of the Day ~ May 10, 2012

1 Corinthians 13:11-12 ~ When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

Verse of the Day ~ May 9, 2012

1 Corinthians 13:9-10 ~ For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.