Ok, so as of last week, my son was still not night weaned. You know what that means, right?....No sleep for Mommy! EVER!! That is, until now!
Benjamin was up at least 1 time per night on a good night, and as often as 10 times per night (Like when he was teething) on a bad one! He had a strong suck-to-sleep association that he developed when he was a very high needs infant. We co-slept and that meant breastfeeding on demand so that Mommy could get sleep, any sleep, as much as possible. Only the last few months he had been sleeping in his own bed and I in mine. Of course that meant me getting up out of bed several times per night to tend to his night waking. Talk about night of the LIVING DEAD!! Sometimes I would wake up not knowing where I was. Other times I would be so angry and frustrated. "Go night night!", I would say to him. But he did not know what that meant. He thought it meant I go to sleep when I get nay-nays (that's what we call it in my house).
So after much frustration and prayer, I began to discern that it is time....Benjamin is finally emotinally and developmentally ready to try a new approach (when he was younger, I did not think it right for him to cry for hours on end...the 'cry-it-out method; and La Leche League leaders made it seem like there was something wrong with ME for not wanting to martyr myself for the sake of my toddler's sleep- both extreme ends of the spectrum I was not willing to go for).
Then I thought about the "sleep separation technique" as featured on the tv show the Supernanny. And a light shone down from Heaven....
Yup! I said, "I think he is ready to try. " I certainly am and it does my son no good when Mommy is so frustrated and grumpy in the night. It can't possibly contribute to bonding, but rather hinder it. So I developed a plan.....
First off, I gradually encouraged Benjamin to nurse nutritively only during the night and I discouraged all wee hours feedings. Then I made what is called a "social story", which is a tool I used when working with students who have autism. It is a story you make up about how that particular child does something successfully, such as brush their teeth, initiate play with a friend, or solve a problem. Mine was very raw.... scribbled drawings on a few pieces of copy paper with the story line and the steps of going to sleep and staying asleep all night...LIKE A BIG BOY!! Benjamin is the main character in the story and he sleeps successfully all night long without (and this is the key) crying all night, whining for Mommy, or getting up to play. We read the story every night at his bedtime.
The next thing I did was change his bedtime routine. Usually, after bath time and story time, he would nurse to sleep. I now offer nay-nays on my lap, rather than in bed in sleeping position BEFORE laying him down to sleep. Once he is done, I say "Ok, it's time to go to sleep now; time to go night night". The first night after laying him down and shutting off the light, I sat right next to his bed facing to the side with my head down not making any eye contact whatsoever (and of course I am praying and interceding like mad!) If he got out of bed, I simply put him back with a kiss and a firm "It's time to go night night". Then reassumed my position. Each subsequent night, I moved a few inches closer to the door. (I had to go gradually because my son has quite high sepapration anxiety- I let his abilities determine my pace). The final end result was I was out the door!
If he woke up during the night (which he is notorious for doing), I would simply kiss him goodnight and tell him again it is time to go to sleep and assume my positon (wherever I had left off at bedtime). Then when he went back to sleep, I returned to my bed.
How it Worked
The first night Benjamin cried for only 1 or 2 minutes, and not boisterously. Then he fussed (complained) for a minute or 2, said, "Mama...mama...", then fell over and slept. The next night it was less and the night after that it was even less. I do not feel guilty because he didn't cry it out, as in be in distress for hours or even minutes on end. Did he complain? Oh yeah. That is my son's personality- he complains and is expressive. But he complains when I don't give him a toy fast enough either. He was not damaged one bit in the process. As I said....I knew through prayer and mommy's instinct that he was ready for this step toward independance. He was developmentally ready as well...he had already cut all his teeth and he was not sick.
We worked on naps at the same time during the day using the same method as at night. And I made sure he was neither hungry nor thirsty before time to sleep.
His complaints got less and less at bedtime. Last night, he did not make a sound. He lay down happily, cuddled his favorite bear, and drifted off. Even during the night he just would make a vocal noise, then go right back to sleep. He finally broke his suck-to-sleep association and not only puts himslef back to sleep, he doesn't fully wake up from light phase sleep during the night, thus having trained HIMSELF, to fall back into deep sleep! Now, to me, who has been sleep deprived for over a year and suffering, this is no small feat!! It is nothing short of a miracle.
Let me tell you what it means to me to have my toddler sleep thru the night:
I can focus and concentrate on any given task.
I do not have purple circles around my eyes that I try to cover with make-up.
I no longer take my plate to the bathroom instead of the kitchen sink (this really happened!)
I am a safer driver on the roads.. and all of you said, "AMEN!"
I can lose weight like any normal person (if I apply myself! Ha!)
I am less grumpy and snappy toward my husband and son (and they both said AMEN!)
I can start going to prayer group some evenings (and God said AMEN!)
My house stays cleaner.
I don't forget to pay the bills (and my creditors said AMEN!)
And I have more uninterrupted time in the evenings to write my blogs (and you readers said....Uggh!) Just kidding.
You get the point, and I get the shut eye!
**
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
Terms of Endearment and a Drink Offering
Yesterday my son said "Papa" easily. This after months of me calling him "Daddy". Who would have known Dr. Suess with his "Hop on Pop" would be such a powerful influence in a 1 year old's life? Oh, how much more so is his own precious Daddy..er..."Papa" to him.
This morning my son clearly said "cracker". I delighted with glee.
Then my son proceeded to pour his apple juice out as a drink offering before the Lord.
** :)
This morning my son clearly said "cracker". I delighted with glee.
Then my son proceeded to pour his apple juice out as a drink offering before the Lord.
** :)
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Lucy Moments
In my family, when something outrageous or funny happens, we call it a "Lucy Moment"- in refernce to all the zany things that happened to Lucille Ball on her show. Most of the time, they happen to my mother. But I AM her daughter, and the older I get, I find the MORE Lucy moments I have!!
This one grosses my husband out: last week, my son was having trouble breathing, so I got the aspirator out to suction his nose. Now, in my defense, when he was a preemie in the NICU, the nurse there showed me how to use it and in order to get rid of any substance that may have come out, she "flicked" it toward the floor. This was part of my training. Well, preemies must have smaller "substances" than 1 year olds...because once I suctioned his nose and "flicked" it away from me, his substance, which was about an inch and half long, flew across the room and landed on the side of his changing table!
I had another Lucy moment within days of this one. My mom was out of town speaking at a women's church retreat. I laugh and say I was filling in for her while she was gone, because just a day or two later, I was in the grocery store with my husband and my son when the next one happened:
We were at the deli ordering some food for dinner. My husband ordered his and I turned to the deli girl to order mine. Well, when I received my container of goodies, I turned back around and stuck it down in the shoppinng cart. Only it wasn't our cart!! I looked up at the strange man who was attached to the cart I had just put my food in and I exclaimed, "You're not my husband!" The deli girl was laughing and the polite stranger smiled obligingly. I looked down the counter a ways where my husband had wandered. I am sure the strange man was thinking "No, I'm not your husband, thank God! I would be married to Lucille Ball"....
Talk about embarrassing!
**
This one grosses my husband out: last week, my son was having trouble breathing, so I got the aspirator out to suction his nose. Now, in my defense, when he was a preemie in the NICU, the nurse there showed me how to use it and in order to get rid of any substance that may have come out, she "flicked" it toward the floor. This was part of my training. Well, preemies must have smaller "substances" than 1 year olds...because once I suctioned his nose and "flicked" it away from me, his substance, which was about an inch and half long, flew across the room and landed on the side of his changing table!
I had another Lucy moment within days of this one. My mom was out of town speaking at a women's church retreat. I laugh and say I was filling in for her while she was gone, because just a day or two later, I was in the grocery store with my husband and my son when the next one happened:
We were at the deli ordering some food for dinner. My husband ordered his and I turned to the deli girl to order mine. Well, when I received my container of goodies, I turned back around and stuck it down in the shoppinng cart. Only it wasn't our cart!! I looked up at the strange man who was attached to the cart I had just put my food in and I exclaimed, "You're not my husband!" The deli girl was laughing and the polite stranger smiled obligingly. I looked down the counter a ways where my husband had wandered. I am sure the strange man was thinking "No, I'm not your husband, thank God! I would be married to Lucille Ball"....
Talk about embarrassing!
**
Sunday, November 9, 2008
The Theatre...ahhh, I Miss It!
Today was my first true outing with the gals since my son was born! A friend from the Moms Club got a big part in a play put on by Patterson Repertory Theatre. So some of the moms from the club, including me, went to see it.
There I was, sitting with about 40-50 other people watching the Sunday matinee of "The Nerd". It felt good to just BE in a theatre again. To see the constructed set, the props sitting inanimately waiting for the tiny part in which they would become useful. The sounds of people talking during intermission..the smell of butter popcorn filling the air...well, you get the point.
It made me yearn for the days when I was behind the set, waiting for my entrance cue, the director calling out, "Scene 2..PLACES PEOPLE!!" Those seemingly endless hours of tech rehearsals, the impromptu line run-throughs with your scene mates while waiting for the light guy to learn his cues, and the excitement of looking over the precipice of that final dress rehearsal. The elation of looking forward to the cast party and wondering if you were ever going to get close to a another cast ever again like you have with the present one. Those were the days. The carefree "I'm a single gal expressing my creativity" days. It was so invigorating to the soul.
Ya see, the thing is, I haven't been to even a movie theatre since the early part of my pregnancy. That was 2 years ago. I watched movie after movie that I would otherwise be dying to see come and go. "We'll catch it on video" was the rallying cry at our house when we watched Ebert and Roper. (And even watching it on video wasn't the same, with all of the interruptions and pressing pause). Besides, as a nursing mom, you can't just nab a babysitter at the last minute and steal away with your husband to the Triplex for a few hours. When Benjamin was an infant, we had no family or close friends who lived nearby to watch him anyway. And we couldn't leave Benjamin with anyone for fear that he would be traumatized and scream bloody murder the whole time.
So to go to a real play where I knew one of the actors, was a real treat. It was second to being up on stage myself. The baby did quite well with his Daddy, too, playing at home on his jungle gym.
And it was nice to come home to 2 smiling faces, both eager to see me, and not just because I had washed their socks! This is invigorating to the soul...remembering who I am not just as a wife and a mom, which are without a doubt my most important and cherished roles. But also remembering who I am as a thinker, a writer, a patron of the arts.
**
There I was, sitting with about 40-50 other people watching the Sunday matinee of "The Nerd". It felt good to just BE in a theatre again. To see the constructed set, the props sitting inanimately waiting for the tiny part in which they would become useful. The sounds of people talking during intermission..the smell of butter popcorn filling the air...well, you get the point.
It made me yearn for the days when I was behind the set, waiting for my entrance cue, the director calling out, "Scene 2..PLACES PEOPLE!!" Those seemingly endless hours of tech rehearsals, the impromptu line run-throughs with your scene mates while waiting for the light guy to learn his cues, and the excitement of looking over the precipice of that final dress rehearsal. The elation of looking forward to the cast party and wondering if you were ever going to get close to a another cast ever again like you have with the present one. Those were the days. The carefree "I'm a single gal expressing my creativity" days. It was so invigorating to the soul.
Ya see, the thing is, I haven't been to even a movie theatre since the early part of my pregnancy. That was 2 years ago. I watched movie after movie that I would otherwise be dying to see come and go. "We'll catch it on video" was the rallying cry at our house when we watched Ebert and Roper. (And even watching it on video wasn't the same, with all of the interruptions and pressing pause). Besides, as a nursing mom, you can't just nab a babysitter at the last minute and steal away with your husband to the Triplex for a few hours. When Benjamin was an infant, we had no family or close friends who lived nearby to watch him anyway. And we couldn't leave Benjamin with anyone for fear that he would be traumatized and scream bloody murder the whole time.
So to go to a real play where I knew one of the actors, was a real treat. It was second to being up on stage myself. The baby did quite well with his Daddy, too, playing at home on his jungle gym.
And it was nice to come home to 2 smiling faces, both eager to see me, and not just because I had washed their socks! This is invigorating to the soul...remembering who I am not just as a wife and a mom, which are without a doubt my most important and cherished roles. But also remembering who I am as a thinker, a writer, a patron of the arts.
**
Friday, November 7, 2008
Church Deception in the Last Days
Today's blog is for all my friends and family who are Christians. If you are not a Christian..no offense, but this blog is not for you. You may read it, you may even agree with some of it, but most of it will assuredly go over your head. You may even call me insane. I do not care. I have been called worse. If you think you are a Christian, I entreat you to read on. For I will deal with the change in the paradigm of being a follower of CHRIST in the last days and what that definition entails.
Now that it is even more apparent to me the days we are living in, I plan on running the race set before me without looking back. I plan on exposing the root of my faith. That is what the word radical means. Exposing the root. If you were put on trial today for being a Christian, would you have enough evidence to convict you? Read on....
I had a very interesting chat this morning with a friend of mine on Facebook. She and I went to the same pentacostal church several years back and were involved in the church's single's ministry. We seem to be on the same wavelength concerning all that is going on in the world~according to a Christian worldview, that is.
But then I got to thinking: this is only a small fraction of the people I know who are concerned about the events in the last days. I would be hard pressed to find many Chrisitans left nowadays who believe we are living in the last days, much less being vigilant to be on the lookout for deception.
If you call yourself a Christian and do not hold fast ot the tenets of Jesus (as outlined in the New Testament AS WELL AS THE OLD), then you are deceived and you are not a follower of Christ at all. You may think you are. Your church may even think you are. You may even be a leader in your church. But if Jesus Christ is not the One who reigns over your life, involved in every decision you make, if you do not seek His face and will according to the holy scriptures and live a life that is albeit not perfect but seeks to be pleasing to God, then you are not a Christian. The Bible is clear that a Christian does not persist in sin. The Bible teaches that a Christian is one who follows his Savior and lives a life of death everyday, carrying his or her cross, in order to be more LIKE HIM.
When I used to work with emotionally disturbed children, there was one little girl, who when she would go into a rage, would scream at the top of her lungs, "You are NOT the BOSS of me!" I got to thinking: this little girl had a point. We each of us thinks we are our own boss. Self vies for position on the throne of autonomy and independence in our hearts. As a follower of Christ, I must NOT be the boss of me. Jesus must be. And everyday it is a decision of my will that He remain so. Only His grace can see me through this "boss struggle" I engage in every single moment of my life.
Regardless of how you voted in the presidential election, I am not bashing any particular candidate in the race in this blog. I have read many people who are into name-setting and date setting concerning events in the end times and I am not into that. I do not believe in saying any person is the anti-christ or not because the Lord has not shown me that. To do so would be arrogance on my part. I have and will continue to pray for Barak Obama and he will receive my respect as my president. I also maintain the right to disagree with him. This is still America. That being said, I would like to raise up a mindset that holds everyone, every value, up to the light of scripture. And I would like to focus on what Jesus told us, His followers, to focus on in the last days.
Jesus said regarding the end times, "Let no man deceive you. For many will come in my name saying I am he and will deceive many". Are many being deceived right now? I believe the biggest the grandest deception, my friends, is not going on in the voting polls, although the political arena is one that is frought with deception. No, I believe the grandest deception is happening in the churches.
Jesus also said, "Beware of the leaven of the pharisees". What He was talking about is religious pride. Most of the pharisees (religious leaders and teachers of the Law) of Jesus' time were puffed up in pride, thinking they were righteous and holy and on their way to receiving Heaven in the afterlife. They also believed they were God's chosen, God's elect. They probably believed there was no way under the sun THEY could be deceived. Ahh, but that is the nature of deception....is it not??- it tricks one into believeing a lie based upon his or her own pride and a refusal to be dependant upon God for everything.
Today, I see so much of the spirit of anti-christ in the church. The word "anti" means against, or instead of. I see exampes of both of the meanings of this word in the Amercian church today. Most of it is in regard to being against what God has made plain in His Word, elevating the traditions of man above God's standards. 1 John 2:18-19 says:
"Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the anti-christ is coming, even now many anti-christs have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us".
Who is John talking about? PEOPLE WHO WERE BELIEVED TO BE CHRISTIANS!!
Even now, the spirit of anit-christ is in the world. And those who have gone out from amongst the true believers are FALSE CONVERTS. The Bible says in the last days, the wheat shall be separated from the chaff and the weeds will be separated from the good fruit. There are those who are in the church who are teaching the way of anti-christ. They are as weeds set aside to be burned in the fire.
Paul warned in 2 Corinthians 11:4 against those who would come preaching "another Jesus" than the one that had been preached to the believers. In 1 Timothy 4:1-2 says that in the last days some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared, as with a hot iron. This makes it clear that there will be those who professed faith in Yeshua, and yet were led away by deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons. Some of these doctrines, which are of the spirit of anti-christ, teach that there are other ways to get closer to God than through Jesus. There are many practices in the church today that are rooted in these teachings.
Centering prayer, labyrinth walks, transendental meditation, and the like, are all attempts to reach God or a higher state of enlightenment. They are rooted in paganism, Eastern mysticism, which all goes back to the mystery religions of Babylon and sun god worship. And yet today, many are deceived into praciticing them and believing they are harmless practices.
Romans chapter 1 talks about those who suppress the truth of God. They neither give glory to Him as God and they approve of those who are sinning in the same way. They are vocal about it. The Bible teaches there is no excuse for not seeing the evidence of God in His creation. The creation points to a majestic and holy God. Have you ever watched the sunset at the ocean and been amazed? God is the one who created it for your enjoyment. The Bible doesn't set out to prove the existence of God. It assumes it. Those who deny God are supressing the truth. Those who deny the ways of God are in deception. They will be given over to their lusts and eventually over to final deception, the abased mind, rejecting Christ and accepting the anti-christ, the one whom the Bible calls THE LAWLESS ONE. (Remember the Law the Bible talks about is God and HIS LAW, His commandments).
The reason why I am very concerned about those who profess to be Christians is that most of them do not have the evidence of a life surrendered to Jesus. They are more interested in serving self. They are more interested in seeking a perfect earth- a utopia. Such ideology is rooted in anti-christ. One day it may be illegal to practice our faith in God. What will happen to those who are shallowly grounded in their faith right now? What will happen to those who have remained spiritual babies for far too long, refusing to grow up in God and instead follow after experiences and seducing spirits? I am speaking especially about those who come from the same background as me: charasmatic. We MUST be grounded in the Word in these last days. Only the things done for our Lord Jesus will have any lasting value. Wide is the road that leads to destruction, Jesus said, and many are on it. MANY IN THE CHURCH!!
Jesus said to WATCH THEREFORE and PRAY. Are we doing that? Are we being sober and vigilant? For we do not know in which day or which hour our Lord will come for us. Let's not fall asleep or remain in a drunken stupor. Let's get serious and wise.
For more topics of discussion and an excellent radio program designed to deal with end-times issues, check out Jan Markell's Understanding the Times.
http://www.olivetreeviews.org/radio_show.shtml
**
Now that it is even more apparent to me the days we are living in, I plan on running the race set before me without looking back. I plan on exposing the root of my faith. That is what the word radical means. Exposing the root. If you were put on trial today for being a Christian, would you have enough evidence to convict you? Read on....
I had a very interesting chat this morning with a friend of mine on Facebook. She and I went to the same pentacostal church several years back and were involved in the church's single's ministry. We seem to be on the same wavelength concerning all that is going on in the world~according to a Christian worldview, that is.
But then I got to thinking: this is only a small fraction of the people I know who are concerned about the events in the last days. I would be hard pressed to find many Chrisitans left nowadays who believe we are living in the last days, much less being vigilant to be on the lookout for deception.
If you call yourself a Christian and do not hold fast ot the tenets of Jesus (as outlined in the New Testament AS WELL AS THE OLD), then you are deceived and you are not a follower of Christ at all. You may think you are. Your church may even think you are. You may even be a leader in your church. But if Jesus Christ is not the One who reigns over your life, involved in every decision you make, if you do not seek His face and will according to the holy scriptures and live a life that is albeit not perfect but seeks to be pleasing to God, then you are not a Christian. The Bible is clear that a Christian does not persist in sin. The Bible teaches that a Christian is one who follows his Savior and lives a life of death everyday, carrying his or her cross, in order to be more LIKE HIM.
When I used to work with emotionally disturbed children, there was one little girl, who when she would go into a rage, would scream at the top of her lungs, "You are NOT the BOSS of me!" I got to thinking: this little girl had a point. We each of us thinks we are our own boss. Self vies for position on the throne of autonomy and independence in our hearts. As a follower of Christ, I must NOT be the boss of me. Jesus must be. And everyday it is a decision of my will that He remain so. Only His grace can see me through this "boss struggle" I engage in every single moment of my life.
Regardless of how you voted in the presidential election, I am not bashing any particular candidate in the race in this blog. I have read many people who are into name-setting and date setting concerning events in the end times and I am not into that. I do not believe in saying any person is the anti-christ or not because the Lord has not shown me that. To do so would be arrogance on my part. I have and will continue to pray for Barak Obama and he will receive my respect as my president. I also maintain the right to disagree with him. This is still America. That being said, I would like to raise up a mindset that holds everyone, every value, up to the light of scripture. And I would like to focus on what Jesus told us, His followers, to focus on in the last days.
Jesus said regarding the end times, "Let no man deceive you. For many will come in my name saying I am he and will deceive many". Are many being deceived right now? I believe the biggest the grandest deception, my friends, is not going on in the voting polls, although the political arena is one that is frought with deception. No, I believe the grandest deception is happening in the churches.
Jesus also said, "Beware of the leaven of the pharisees". What He was talking about is religious pride. Most of the pharisees (religious leaders and teachers of the Law) of Jesus' time were puffed up in pride, thinking they were righteous and holy and on their way to receiving Heaven in the afterlife. They also believed they were God's chosen, God's elect. They probably believed there was no way under the sun THEY could be deceived. Ahh, but that is the nature of deception....is it not??- it tricks one into believeing a lie based upon his or her own pride and a refusal to be dependant upon God for everything.
Today, I see so much of the spirit of anti-christ in the church. The word "anti" means against, or instead of. I see exampes of both of the meanings of this word in the Amercian church today. Most of it is in regard to being against what God has made plain in His Word, elevating the traditions of man above God's standards. 1 John 2:18-19 says:
"Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the anti-christ is coming, even now many anti-christs have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us".
Who is John talking about? PEOPLE WHO WERE BELIEVED TO BE CHRISTIANS!!
Even now, the spirit of anit-christ is in the world. And those who have gone out from amongst the true believers are FALSE CONVERTS. The Bible says in the last days, the wheat shall be separated from the chaff and the weeds will be separated from the good fruit. There are those who are in the church who are teaching the way of anti-christ. They are as weeds set aside to be burned in the fire.
Paul warned in 2 Corinthians 11:4 against those who would come preaching "another Jesus" than the one that had been preached to the believers. In 1 Timothy 4:1-2 says that in the last days some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared, as with a hot iron. This makes it clear that there will be those who professed faith in Yeshua, and yet were led away by deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons. Some of these doctrines, which are of the spirit of anti-christ, teach that there are other ways to get closer to God than through Jesus. There are many practices in the church today that are rooted in these teachings.
Centering prayer, labyrinth walks, transendental meditation, and the like, are all attempts to reach God or a higher state of enlightenment. They are rooted in paganism, Eastern mysticism, which all goes back to the mystery religions of Babylon and sun god worship. And yet today, many are deceived into praciticing them and believing they are harmless practices.
Romans chapter 1 talks about those who suppress the truth of God. They neither give glory to Him as God and they approve of those who are sinning in the same way. They are vocal about it. The Bible teaches there is no excuse for not seeing the evidence of God in His creation. The creation points to a majestic and holy God. Have you ever watched the sunset at the ocean and been amazed? God is the one who created it for your enjoyment. The Bible doesn't set out to prove the existence of God. It assumes it. Those who deny God are supressing the truth. Those who deny the ways of God are in deception. They will be given over to their lusts and eventually over to final deception, the abased mind, rejecting Christ and accepting the anti-christ, the one whom the Bible calls THE LAWLESS ONE. (Remember the Law the Bible talks about is God and HIS LAW, His commandments).
The reason why I am very concerned about those who profess to be Christians is that most of them do not have the evidence of a life surrendered to Jesus. They are more interested in serving self. They are more interested in seeking a perfect earth- a utopia. Such ideology is rooted in anti-christ. One day it may be illegal to practice our faith in God. What will happen to those who are shallowly grounded in their faith right now? What will happen to those who have remained spiritual babies for far too long, refusing to grow up in God and instead follow after experiences and seducing spirits? I am speaking especially about those who come from the same background as me: charasmatic. We MUST be grounded in the Word in these last days. Only the things done for our Lord Jesus will have any lasting value. Wide is the road that leads to destruction, Jesus said, and many are on it. MANY IN THE CHURCH!!
Jesus said to WATCH THEREFORE and PRAY. Are we doing that? Are we being sober and vigilant? For we do not know in which day or which hour our Lord will come for us. Let's not fall asleep or remain in a drunken stupor. Let's get serious and wise.
For more topics of discussion and an excellent radio program designed to deal with end-times issues, check out Jan Markell's Understanding the Times.
http://www.olivetreeviews.org/radio_show.shtml
**
Monday, November 3, 2008
Election
Tomorrow is election day in America. I for one, am very grateful to be living in a country where the people have a voice. We used to have a government of the people, for the people, by the people. But now, I think an argument could be made that we the people are left with merely a voice. Since the disintigration of the operation of our constitution in this country, via judges legislating from the bench, the eroding away of religious freedom, and the increasing power of a centralized national governement (ok, let's just call it what it is: a NANNY STATE), we are left with being thankful for merely having a voice. It is better than nothing. But sad to say, the America I once knew even just 2 decades ago is slowly fading away. Our soverignty has been chipped away at by the past several administrations (both Republican and Democratic presidents), and we are left vulnerable to other world economic powers as well as other military powers.
So at least we still have a voice. Many countries don't even have that. And the ones that give a voice to the people officially, sometimes persecute the people when they make their voices heard. I hope that we all exercise our right to vote tomorrow and make our voices heard.
Here is a link to a blog written by my friend Stephanie VanderWal Zlab. She is an excellent writer, prophet and intercessor in the Body of Messiah. Being newly married, she has written a fresh angle on the issue of marriage which is on the ballot again this year. I highly recommend that you read it.
http://from-thewall.blogspot.com/
Toodles!
**
So at least we still have a voice. Many countries don't even have that. And the ones that give a voice to the people officially, sometimes persecute the people when they make their voices heard. I hope that we all exercise our right to vote tomorrow and make our voices heard.
Here is a link to a blog written by my friend Stephanie VanderWal Zlab. She is an excellent writer, prophet and intercessor in the Body of Messiah. Being newly married, she has written a fresh angle on the issue of marriage which is on the ballot again this year. I highly recommend that you read it.
http://from-thewall.blogspot.com/
Toodles!
**
Saturday, November 1, 2008
The Standard
I just got done watching "The Great Debaters" starring Denzel Washington last night. Excellent movie. Stirring and inspirational. I loved that these young men and women stood up for what they believed was right during a time when in regards to civil rights in the South, justice was seldom carried out. My husband (who watched it with me) and I discussed the story after watching the movie. The thing that struck me the most was how the story set up its standard: Denzel Washington had the debaters chant a refrain which established the bottom line of truth for the rest of the movie. This mantra became the debaters standard of truth, the measure by which they argued all of their positions.
I got to thinking: everybody has such a standard. Everyone has a standard by which they evaluate the world and form their own opinions. For many, the standard is what their family and friends think. For others, it is a religious structure, such as church doctine, the Bible, or the Koran. And still for many others, especially in our culture in America, the standard by which people base their opinions and therefore their actions is pragmatism. Pragmatism is the notion or idea that what works best in a situation is the best determining factor for that situation. For example, I believe that a certain belief or behavior works for me, such as recycling. If I believe that recycling works for me and the future of my children, then I am more apt to recycle. If I do not believe it will work for me for whatever reason, I may choose not to recycle, but it will be MY choice, based upon what I think works for me. If I do not have time or patience to separate my garbage, it does not work for me. If I am idealistically passionate about the environment and what happens to it (I DO believe in recycling, by the way, if anything for good stewardship of the earth which God has given us to take care of), then I will be sure to recycle. Recycling works for me. Regardless of whether they make a law in the future to recycle or not, I will most likely continue my behavior based upon what works for me. This would be fine if the issue was as benign as whether or not to make good use of your garbage! Most other issues in our culture have to do with whether or not justice is carried out and also whether or not we defend those who are defenseless (two issues that were very important to God, in Israel's history, by the way).
What works for me is very popular in America. Problem with that is, it causes everyone to have different standards by which to measure right and wrong by, because what works for one person does not necessarily work for another. The foundation for pragmatism, by the way, is either hedonism (indulging in one's own pleasures), or humanism (the belief that humans are good and doing what is best for the human race as a whole, emphasis is on evolution and intellectualism) These two building blocks for pragmatism determine the motives for what works in any particular situation.
There is an interesting account in the Bible that chronicles the what works for me ideology in Israel's history. In Judges 21:25, it says, "In those days, there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes." There was no reigning authority. No final word. The people had abandoned Torah, the Law, so each person did what they thought was right in their own opinion. They did not believe in absolute truths. They did not believe in the plumbline of God and His word. Then there came a succession of judges to make decisions for the Israleites by which if they repented and returned to the word of the Lord (in that day it would have been either a prophecy, the Torah, or one of the writings), God blessed the land. But if they did what was right in their own eyes, forsaking the Lord's ways, the Lord would not bless them, they were given over to their enemies, and were led away into idolatry upon which God brought extreme judgement. (You remember the prophecies of being conquered by enemies, starved, even parents doing the unthinkable: eating members of their own household! No one likes to talk about those parts of the Bible. But I digress...) The point is that a culture can only use pragmatism as its standard for so long. Whether or not they believe they are accountable to a Higher being...they are.
I am more concerned with how Americans live their lives on Novemer 5th, than about how people vote in this election. I am more concerned with the prayers that are prayed over the next four years (or the lack of prayer) and how Americans, especially those who are Christians, live their lives. But most importantly, I am more concerned about the people in our society are sliding away from the standard that has been foundational in our country's past: the Judeo-Christian standard which has governed our laws, courts, as well as our personal lives, prior to this secular age of the rule of pragmatism.
The standard by which the debaters in the movie last night was not even the Bible. Although they mentioned God in their mantra, it was very nebulus as to what god and which truth was governing the basis for their arguments. But one thing is for sure if there is to be any honest debate in our culture and that is this: we have to be able to find some sort of common ground upon which to base our decisions upon. To evade the responsibility by acting pragmatically is both cowardly and unwise. The future of our generations, yea, even the very survival of our culture as we know it depends upon it.
**
I got to thinking: everybody has such a standard. Everyone has a standard by which they evaluate the world and form their own opinions. For many, the standard is what their family and friends think. For others, it is a religious structure, such as church doctine, the Bible, or the Koran. And still for many others, especially in our culture in America, the standard by which people base their opinions and therefore their actions is pragmatism. Pragmatism is the notion or idea that what works best in a situation is the best determining factor for that situation. For example, I believe that a certain belief or behavior works for me, such as recycling. If I believe that recycling works for me and the future of my children, then I am more apt to recycle. If I do not believe it will work for me for whatever reason, I may choose not to recycle, but it will be MY choice, based upon what I think works for me. If I do not have time or patience to separate my garbage, it does not work for me. If I am idealistically passionate about the environment and what happens to it (I DO believe in recycling, by the way, if anything for good stewardship of the earth which God has given us to take care of), then I will be sure to recycle. Recycling works for me. Regardless of whether they make a law in the future to recycle or not, I will most likely continue my behavior based upon what works for me. This would be fine if the issue was as benign as whether or not to make good use of your garbage! Most other issues in our culture have to do with whether or not justice is carried out and also whether or not we defend those who are defenseless (two issues that were very important to God, in Israel's history, by the way).
What works for me is very popular in America. Problem with that is, it causes everyone to have different standards by which to measure right and wrong by, because what works for one person does not necessarily work for another. The foundation for pragmatism, by the way, is either hedonism (indulging in one's own pleasures), or humanism (the belief that humans are good and doing what is best for the human race as a whole, emphasis is on evolution and intellectualism) These two building blocks for pragmatism determine the motives for what works in any particular situation.
There is an interesting account in the Bible that chronicles the what works for me ideology in Israel's history. In Judges 21:25, it says, "In those days, there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes." There was no reigning authority. No final word. The people had abandoned Torah, the Law, so each person did what they thought was right in their own opinion. They did not believe in absolute truths. They did not believe in the plumbline of God and His word. Then there came a succession of judges to make decisions for the Israleites by which if they repented and returned to the word of the Lord (in that day it would have been either a prophecy, the Torah, or one of the writings), God blessed the land. But if they did what was right in their own eyes, forsaking the Lord's ways, the Lord would not bless them, they were given over to their enemies, and were led away into idolatry upon which God brought extreme judgement. (You remember the prophecies of being conquered by enemies, starved, even parents doing the unthinkable: eating members of their own household! No one likes to talk about those parts of the Bible. But I digress...) The point is that a culture can only use pragmatism as its standard for so long. Whether or not they believe they are accountable to a Higher being...they are.
I am more concerned with how Americans live their lives on Novemer 5th, than about how people vote in this election. I am more concerned with the prayers that are prayed over the next four years (or the lack of prayer) and how Americans, especially those who are Christians, live their lives. But most importantly, I am more concerned about the people in our society are sliding away from the standard that has been foundational in our country's past: the Judeo-Christian standard which has governed our laws, courts, as well as our personal lives, prior to this secular age of the rule of pragmatism.
The standard by which the debaters in the movie last night was not even the Bible. Although they mentioned God in their mantra, it was very nebulus as to what god and which truth was governing the basis for their arguments. But one thing is for sure if there is to be any honest debate in our culture and that is this: we have to be able to find some sort of common ground upon which to base our decisions upon. To evade the responsibility by acting pragmatically is both cowardly and unwise. The future of our generations, yea, even the very survival of our culture as we know it depends upon it.
**
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