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!

No Excuses ~ 2013

As we come to the end of another year, we naturally meditate on this past year. We think about what we've done and what haven't done. What we should've done better and what we shouldn't have done at all. This has been a hard year for a lot of people but we can still keep moving forward. 2013 is going to be the year of NO EXCUSES. No excuses spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally, etc. The most important thing is to make sure that you are walking with God the way that you should be. There is always room for improvement. It's not going to be easy. You will have weak moments, temptations, trials... but you have no excuses. With God ALL things are possible. Mentally you have to break down those walls that keep you from doing and being your absolute best. Emotionally you have to be stable. You can't be wishy washy. You have to learn to control your emotions but at the same time don't be afraid to let them show. Physically you have to push yourself. Push yourself harder than you ever have before. This is the time for you to become what you've always wanted to be... what you've been striving for your whole life. You have to break down your walls. Don't be afraid of failure... because no matter how slow you're going, you're lapping everyone on the couch. In 2013, we are going to start a revolution. A revolution where people start conquering their mountains. A revolution where we as a people can become what we were intended to be. We know it's not going to be easy but it's not impossible. This year we will make a difference. We will make sure that people remember what we did. We should want God to work so much in us that people talk about what He did. This year we will make it count. 

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.

Because We Have to Remember

As we approach the eleventh anniversary of 9/11, I am reminded of the events that took place on September 11, 2001. But I'm not just reminded of the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, Flight 93. When I think of 9/11 I think of people hanging out of windows trying to decide whether they should fall to their death or go down with the building if fire didn't get them first. I'm reminded of people on Flight 93 doing everything in their power to make sure that their plane crashed before more innocent people could get killed. Now remembering the awful terrorist attacks of 9/11 is all fine and good but if that's the only reason that we remember then we've got it all wrong. It was never about knocking over buildings and crashing planes. We have to remember for those people who were killed. We have to remember for their families. We have to remember for our country.

Somebody has to tell the story. Somebody has to make sure that people remember what happened. And that somebody is you. If we don't, then who will? If not now, when? Remembering isn't just changing your profile picture on Facebook and posting a status saying you remember what happened. We have to take action to make sure that their legacies live on. We have to remember because if not us, who?

Why not you? Why not now?

Have you ever thought about the direction our country is headed? Really thing about it. Our churches are going liberal. Our government is going communist. Our people are getting more and more immature and frankly stupid. Why? Because there are entirely too many people saying, "Let someone else do that." or, "I'm just a kid." etc. Well I think it's about time that we all stop making excuses for why we can't do something and start making reasons why. Change doesn't happen by someone just talking about a good idea or telling someone what they should be doing. Change starts with an action which causes other actions. For example: Kids used to be expected to do chores, say yes ma'am and yes sir, be respectful, hold the doors for people... now we aren't expected to do anything. We have to rise above all those low expectations and start making a difference. Change always starts with one person. Someone has to have enough nerver to stand up for what they believe in and fight for their faith and their country. People are trying to take away those freedoms that your ancestors fought for. I'm not about to let their sacrifice be in vain. I'm not about to watch people push God out of everything. I'm not about to watch our freedoms being taken away and this country turning into what our founding fathers feared. We have to start standing up for what's right. We were founded as ONE NATION UNDER GOD. So what are you waiting for? We all have a mission in front of us... the question is, who will accept 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.

Here I sit

Here I sit on my bed in our beach house. Well, the beach house we're renting for the week. It's our seventh day on vacation and I worn myself out with fun. Well, fun and my Dad but they're kind of one and the same. I am looking forward to getting back home although I'm not ready for vacation to end. It will be fun hanging out with friends, doing stuff with church, writing new music, organizing, etc. I am excited for what this summer has to offer. At church we have lots of pontential for new families and kids that will be greatly welcomed. It's all really exciting. I will be working on my music more intently. I will be doing extra work ahead (and behind) on school to make sure my high school years count. I will spending time with God studying His word and seeking His will. I will be organizing my room, the gym, the den, etc. because I'm just so OCD. I will training more significantly and hopefully work on strengthening my knee. I will start running again no matter how bad my knee hurts. I'm gonna get more tan than I already am. I going to spend most of my time outside, at the pool, or on the river... of course with some of my most favorite people. I am looking forward to the rest of my life. This is the first day of the rest of my life and I'm going to make it count. Make it stand out. Make it mine.

Memorial Day Weekend

I'm doing post for Memorial Day early because I don't know if I will have time this weekend.

Why do we celebrate Memorial Day? I mean really think about it. The first thing that comes to my mind is my Daddy and my grandpa. All the people in my family that have served and some even given the ultimate sacrifice. I think of all the soldiers who never came home, and those left to carry on and finish what they started. A soldier's honor is not about who wins the war... it's about how they fought. Bravely, self-lessly, courageously. That is how you earn honor. They fight for our freedom without expecting anything in return. And look at us, praising singers and actors for their great talents. Have any of them ever been willing to die for you? I'm not trying to degrade any of those people or offend them or anything like that... I'm just trying to make a point. Millions of people are dying to meet a certain sing/celebrity but how many people are dying to shake hands and say 'thank you' to a soldier? This is not something that I take lightly... there's enough people doing that already. It's time for us to stand up and honor those who have fallen, honor those who have fought, honor those who have been willing to give their life for you. Don't let that be in vain. Memorials are great but if there's no heart in them, no respect, no gratitude don't do anything at all. They put their heart and life into saving your freedom can't you at least say thanks?

Pray for those who are still fighting... and the families of those who are now resting. God bless America.

Apathy

Let me first start off by apologizing for neglecting my blog. Hopefully I'll start getting better. But what I really want to talk about is apathy. I am so sick of the apathy that is literally everywhere. It's in schools, churches, homes, etc. This includes me. Everybody just has this attitude of "I'm going to do what I want no matter what anyone else says." There's no consideration of other people and there's certainly not any consideration for God. We treat our language like it's nothing. I absolutely can't stand how people cuss and think it's cool. We need to start understanding that we were not put on this earth to "get glory, make money, and die." We're here to bring glory to God. And contrary to popular belief, it not suck all the fun out of life. It also doesn't mean that you can't do anything fun. We need to start changing this apathy. This previously unacceptable way that is now acceptable. When people lower their standards to get what they want or do what they want they're actually hurting themselves. So, why don't you let the change start with you? How you dress, talk, who you hang out with, etc. is who you are. Change the status quo... don't just follow the crowd... especially when that means lowering your standards.

Verse of the Day

Colossians 3:5-7 ~ Therefore put to death your members which are on earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming up the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.


Are you willing to put to death those things that are bringing wrath upon you? Those things are what separate us from God. We must strive daily to walk in the Lord and ask His help to do so. Have a great day! :)

Verse of the Day ~ April 6, 2012

Ephesians 4:29 ~ Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

How much of our speech builds up and gives grace to others? I doesn't even have to be talking bad about someone.... if you use 'questionable' words that doesn't build up or give grace to others. The Bible says that the tongue is sharper than any two-edged sword. Think about how careful you are with a loaded gun... you don't just aim at anyone. You have a certain way you hold it and you don't aim at anyone because that gun could off. Why don't we start treating our tongue like that? Not aiming at anyone. Making sure you're using it correctly so nobody gets hurt. Have a great day! :)

Verse of the Day ~ April 5, 2012

John 3:16 ~ "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

I think verse is one of the most over-looked verses in the Bible. Why do I say that? Well, because almost everyone (who goes to church regurarly or grew up in a Christian home) has the verse memorized. We can say it without thinking about it. This verse has the most amazing message in the world and we just say it like it's not big deal. I think we all need start memorizing Scripture but not to the point we miss the message. No matter how well you know something, you still need to be thinking about what the point is. Have a great day!

"I'm not done with you yet."

Have you ever thought about why you're still here? Why you're where you are? Why you're doing what you're still doing? I mean, really think about your life. Have you ever wondered why God has put you in a situation? Recently I've been wondering why God has put my in certain situations. Why He has allowed certain things to happen that affect me. I've wondered why it doesn't stop. I've wondered why I haven't got a break. Tonight it finally hit me... almost literally. God isn't done with me yet. I've asked Him several times, "why does this keep happening? I can't take it anymore." But He's telling me, "No, Breanna I'm not done with you yet." He's gonna give me the strength I need. Something that has been really convicting to me is that when God was being beaten and spat on and being treated worse than dirt He didn't say, "Ok. That's it. I'm done. I can't do this anymore." He certainly could have, but He didn't. But now think about us. How many times do we say, "Ok. That's it. I'm done. I can't do this anymore."? Honestly, we all do that a lot. Why do we do that? Because we're weak. Why are we weak? Because we're looking for strength that comes from ourselves. We keep lookin' and lookin' and we never find it. You wanna know something? It's really, really hard to find something that isn't there. We have absolutely no strength in us. How dare we try and handle things on our own. How dare we try and play God. And you wanna know the saddest part about it all? We don't even know that we're doing it. We just think that we can do it. We can stand on our own two feet. But we really can't. So, when God says that He's not done with you yet don't say I don't care or I can't do this anymore. When He tells you that He's not done with you yet He doesn't tell you that you have to do it on your own. God never leaves you. He never tells you to do something in your own strength. Y'all remember my favorite verse? Matthew 19:26 says, "...With man this is impossible, But with God all things are possible." Don't get discouraged when it seems like it doesn't let up. You don't get a break. Because God's not done with you yet and He will give you the strength you need.

Verse of the Day ~ February 29, 2012 (Leap Day:D)

Psalm 25:1-3 ~ To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in You; Let me not be ashamed; Let not my enemies triumph over me. Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed; Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.

Are you ashamed of God? Do you let God take care of your enemies? Do wait on God? We should all answer yes to those questions. But honestly can we all say yes? I doubt it. Especially about the enemies part. When someone does something wrong to us we want to get them back. We don't want just say ok I forgive you. But what does God want us to do? He wants us to do our part (by being nice and forgiving) and let Him do the rest. You don't have to be best friends with your enemies just be nice. Trying "killing them with kindness." Don't be ashamed of our God. He can do great and mighty things. All things happen in His perfect timing so we don't need to worry about it. In conclusion, this is what we learned:
1.Lift up your soul to God.
2.Trust in God.
3.Do not be ashamed.
4.Let God take care of your enemies.

this is what homework does to me...

I am seriously considering whether homework is healthy or not... It creates stress (most of the time) and that's not healthy is it? It also messes with brain. Like the other day while I was doing algebra homework I wrote -0... and today one of the questions on my geography hw was "What are the 4 presidents whose heads are carved on Mount Rushmore?" I wrote, "George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, and Thomas Edison." Oh wait... Thomas Edison wasn't a president. See what I mean? But homework is still being forced on all kids ages 4 to 18. Guess it's just a neccessary evil... kinda going to the dentist and getting shots. ;)