Parent’s Rights in Danger

^{This in just today:  Senator Barbara Boxer of California is hoping to strip parents of more of their rights over their children.  She is asking the Obama administration to ratify the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child.  This treaty would ensure that the government has a say in how you parent your child, even to the point of allowing your children “to seek governmental review of every parental decision with which the child disagreed” (www.parentalrights.org).  This is government interference at its worst; an assault on our basic rights as parents.}

^{“This poses a serious threat both to parental rights and to U.S. sovereignty, as the UNCRC dictates not only that the federal government must intrude into the family sphere to an unprecedented degree, but also how the federal government is to monitor and govern the actions of our families.  Parental rights would be replaced by “the best interests of the child” as defined, ultimately, by an international committee of 18 people in Switzerland” (Parentalrights.org)}

^{Read “20 Things You Need to Know” on the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child on the front page at the link below and let’s get involved in any way we can to prevent this treaty from being forced upon us as parents.}

http://www.parentalrights.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={B56D7393-E583-4658-85E6-C1974B1A57F8}

The Search

From the earliest moments of time, we have been in search of a journey, an adventure to call our own, and a pilgrimage to make even the least glamorous moments of life meaningful.  We have been in search of a love, one that fulfills us, one that completes us, and one that holds us close and whispers all the worries of the world away.  We long to love, to be loved, to be worth something to someone, to discover the very mix of tender and triumphant sounds of our heart and how we fit into the world’s symphony.  At times, we get so deeply involved in that search for love and meaning that things get a little blurry.  Instead of security, we find our lives filled with enough valleys to absolve many of the peaks, enough cries to challenge the laughs, and enough questions to outnumber the answers.

Could this be all that there is?  No rest for the weary?  No love for the lonely?  Are we meant to wander in search of something so real only to be mocked with misery, left starving, all in vain?

We walk the path of life and try to make the most of the fear and changing degrees of emptiness, but before too long, you notice weeks choking the path, the songbirds have stopped singing, and your feet are losing their footing.  Can we really find our way and all that we long for amidst all of this chaos?  Can we find that meaningful love that fills the longing inside?

There is One who loves us with a love that cannot be measured. ”I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness” (Jeremiah 31:3).  His love is neverending, perfect, and unfailing.  When we come to Him for love, He knows not how to reject us.  When we let Him down, it is against His nature not to forgive.  When the world hurts so terribly that we fear we will never be whole again, He heals us with a loving-kindness that is unmatched in all the world, and He fills us with a hope that will not disappoint (Romans 5:5).

We take chances every day. . .on the roads, in our jobs, with a new relationship that may not work out.  God is asking us to take a chance on Him.  He does not know how to fail us.  We were created for a relationship with Him, and because of Jesus’ death on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins–for we all have sinned, no matter how “good” we are–we can have a restored relationship with our Creator, and fill that longing inside us.  Our life can have meaning again.  Our hope can “soar on wings like eagles” again and we will “run and not grow weary; walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31).  Our emptiness can be replaced with a fullness in Christ Jesus.

Our search leads us here, to Him.  Will we choose to accept this adventure?

“Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be.”

Do you know for sure that you are going to be with God in heaven?

http://heargoodnews.com/gospel/doyouknow.html

How to know God personally:

http://www.ccci.org/wij/index.aspx

A great video presentation on how to share the gospel with someone:

http://www.btbf.org/templates/System/details.asp?id=33300&PID=459399

An astouding video of Laminin. . .and how every one of us is God’s creation:

Your Health Matters: 10 Simple Things We Can Do

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your body.”  1 Corinthians 6:19-20

I have been convicted lately that I am not doing much lately to take care of my temple of the Holy Spirit.  It’s easy to get swept up in the daily grind of life and lose the discipline it takes to really care for ourselves.  We stop doing what we should be doing and start eating what we should not be eating.  I’m ready to return to some of the basics.  Here are 10 simple things that we can do, starting today, to make a difference in our health and to honor God with our bodies.

1.      Cut back on refined sugar.  Sugar has been shown to cause depression, feed certain types of cancer, and adversely affect digestion.  http://rheumatic.org/sugar.htm

2.      Add garlic to your diet.  Garlic is antibacterial, antiviral and anti-fungal.

http://articles.mercola.com//sites/articles/archive/2009/02/17/Chemists-Shed-Light-on-the-Health-Benefits-of-Garlic.aspx

3.      Invest in organic fruits and vegetables.  They taste better, are free of dangerous pesticides, and although they cost more, we can invest in our health now, or pay for it later.  A great way to clean your conventional fruits and vegetables (if you don’t want to pay the price for organic):  Soak them in a solution of apple cider vinegar and water (1/4 cup to one gallon) for 15 minutes, drain, then soak in clean, purified water for 10 minutes, then enjoy.

4.      If nothing else, drink 64 ounces of purified drinking water a day.  It goes a long way to clean your body of toxins, revive you when you are fatigued, and helps us cut back on drinking other things that are not healthy (coffee, cola).

5.      Set aside time each week to serve someone else.  Getting the focus off of ourselves not only helps our mental health, it helps our spiritual health as well.  Some great organizations to get involved with locally:

Habitat for Humanity—help build homes for others (www.habitat.org)

Salvation Army—organize a clothing drive (www.salvationarmyusa.org)

Meals on Wheels—deliver hot meals to seniors (www.mowaa.org)

6.      Forgive daily.  Unforgiveness is a poison and will cause division in your relationship with God as well as others.  It will also wreak havoc on your health.  (Matthew 6:14-15)

7.      Get 15 minutes of sunshine every day.  Vitamin D from the sun is essential to our health.

8.      Set aside time every day, no matter what it takes, to take in God’s Word, pray, and listen to God’s leading.  This will do wonders for the direction your thoughts take, as well as your actions.  God’s Word is a “lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105).

9.      Add as many antioxidants to your diet as possible (blueberries, raspberries, broccoli, red grapes, spinach, tomatoes).  Oxidation is a chemical reaction that happens in cells that produces what’s called free radicals which damage cells (and cause diseases), and antioxidants naturally fight that reaction. 

10.   Take a digestive enzyme with each meal.  Many of us do not have the adequate enzymes to break down our food enough to get all the necessary nutrients from what we eat.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.  Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.  This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones” (Proverbs 3:5-8).

The American Idol is. . .Oprah!

Something in our human nature longs for someone to look up to.  Kids write book reports on their heros.  Adults buy gadgets, books, or apparel from athletes, movie stars, or other famous people simply because they sponsor or endorse a product.

Oprah is everywhere. . .magazine covers, tabloids, discussion groups, book clubs, and even cable news websites.  CNN has a link to Oprah’s website on their front page.  MSNBC has a sponsor link called “Oprah’s Flat Stomach Rule.”  Type in “Oprah” for a Google search and it will yield 22 million hits.

She has made big names of Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, Eckhert Tolle, and made barely known authors hundreds of thousands of dollars simply by having them as a part of her Book Club.  Some even say that she, at least moderately, influenced the presidential election this past November, all because she threw her name (and money) behind Barack Obama.

Is this too much power for one human to have?  She has “experts” on everything and an opinion on it all as well.  Shouldn’t we know the worldview from which she operates before we blindly follow her?  We are idolizing another person to the point that we buy what she buys, wear what she wears, eat what she eats, read what she reads, and now, the most dangerous part, we are worshipping what she worships.

Do we really know what we are doing, and who we are following?  Shouldn’t we compare everything we allow into our minds and hearts to what God’s Word says and see if it matches, and when it doesn’t, stay far away from it?  Much of what Oprah teaches from her stage is steeped heavily in the New Age Movement.

Oprah frequently uses words like “force” to describe God and has shows that help the viewer connect to their higher or awakened self.  Her guests have included authors such as Eckhart Tolle and Marianne Williamson, both of whom teach philosophies in stark contrast to biblical truth; her show teaching the principles behind “The Secret” (law of attraction) last year was one of her most popular; and probably the most clear evidence that Oprah is misled is found in this You Tube video taken at one of her shows.  In this clip, she denies that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven.  “Jesus can’t be the only way!” she says, but just as an audience member points out, just because Oprah says He can’t be the only way, doesn’t mean He isn’t.

2 Peter 2:1  “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.”

The sad truth is that many, many Americans, looking for truth and purpose and something (or someone) to believe in, are believing her.  Let’s be careful out there.  Let’s protect our minds from falsehood and be on guard against being deceived in a way that brings “swift destruction.”

(For further reading on Oprah’s religious beliefs and philosophies, go to www.watchman.org and read “The Gospel According to Oprah” or check out Erwin Lutzer’s book, Oprah, Miracles, and the New Earth:  A Critique)

Stimulus or Socialism?

So the Senate passed the President’s Stimulus bill about an hour ago.  Don’t you feel better now?  The dow is scared out of it’s mind, down nearly 400 points with another hour until closing for the day.  Maybe we should be too.  Is it just me or is there very little stimulus in the nearly 1,000 page stimulus bill? 

“The so-called American Recovery and Reinvestment Act amounts to nothing more than an $825 billion earmark designed to expand government on the backs of the American taxpayers using money we do not have. There is little guarantee of any short-term gain, but there is no question of the irreparable harm we can expect by saddling our children and grandchildren with trillions of dollars of additional debt.”  (Source:  Politico.com)

Here are just a few things meant to stimulate our suffering economy:

$650 million for digital-TV coupons, so the government can control even more of what we do, what we watch, and how we watch it.

$600 million to convert the federal auto fleet to hybrids.  This is to appease the go-green environmentalists, but will it stimulate the economy?

$20 billion for food stamps, or is this redistributing wealth?

$87 million for a polar icebreaking ship.  I’m sorry, but what?

$246 million in tax breaks for Hollywood production companies got taken out of the bill, according to Washingtonpost.com, but what was it doing in there in the first place?  What did pass is $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts.  So Hollywood did get a bailout after all!

(source:  National Review Online)

Is this stimulus?  The subtle start of nationalize healthcare in this bill?  The fact that much of the stimulus doesn’t even begin until 2010 or beyond?  Why does so much of this bill seem to be benefitting the governement, not the American people?  I’m concerned that socialism is on it’s way (I’m sure that I’m not the only one) and it began with a man who promised change.  Are we sure we wanted THIS change?

~~~ The late Dr. Adrian Rogers , 1931 to 2005

For an excellent breakdown of this monstrous stimulus, check out this link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2009/02/01/GR2009020100154.html

 

A Tribute to President George W. Bush

Dear Mr. President,

When I think back over the last eight years, a few things stand out to me quite strongly.  While I do not agree with everything you did or how you did it, I believe those things pale in comparison to the leadership, courage, and steadfast faith that you showed all Americans while you were in office.  I respect you and honor you as our 43^rd president and want to say thank you.

Thank you for keeping us safe.  My son was born into a safer world while you were president.  Our enemies knew that you were not someone that would passively step aside while they terrorized our nation.  They knew that America would not come to the table for a cup of tea and negotiations with ruthless people who murdered over 3,000 of our loved ones on September 11^th.  You kept us safe for nearly 8 years and, together with the national security team with whom you surrounded yourself, thwarted many potentially deadly attacks.

Thank you for protecting the unborn.  From the Unborn Victims of Violence Act of 2004 to the Supreme Court justices who you appointed and were confirmed, you showed a respect for life and held to that conviction despite opposition.  Justices Roberts and Alito want to uphold the Constitution, not legislate their feelings, change law with the ebb and flow of public opinion, or cower due to people’s perception.  Thank you for selecting two strongly pro-life judges who believe that Roe v. Wade was a mistake.

Thank you for protecting our freedom by leading the war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan, rather than on our own soil.  Although this has been such a source of heated passion on both sides, I, as you do, believe that freedom is something that all human beings should experience, and that no one deserves to be tortured and raped because of the whims of a ruthless monster like Saddam Hussein.  I firmly believe that history will show you to be a true leader and hero.  Humanity deserves to be protected.

Thank you most of all, Mr. President, for your witness for the Lord Jesus Christ.   You demonstrated to the world valuable Scriptural principles amidst some of the fiercest persecution . . . persecution that, I believe, had much to do with the very fact that you profess to love Jesus.  You showed us all how to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:43-45), stand firm in the faith (Matthew 10:22 and 1 Corinthians 15:58), and to not be ashamed of the Lord your God (Luke 9:26).  “Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man” (Luke 6:22). The name that is above all names is also the name that people love to hate and blaspheme.  You stood up for Jesus and you did it without apology.  Many times throughout your presidency, I thought of this verse:  “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first” (John 15:18).  I know you will be blessed because of what you faced.

I will spend much of my prayer time over the next 4 to 8 years lifting up our nation to God and asking for his protection over her.  I refuse to live in fear over what may happen, although it is a struggle many days when I see the news.  Thank you for all you did.  Your service to this nation is appreciated by many more than you may know.