1 Thessalonians 5
Final Instructions
12 Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you.
13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.
14 And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.
15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.
16 Be joyful always;
17 pray continually;
18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
19 Do not put out the Spirit's fire;
20 do not treat prophecies with contempt.
21 Test everything. Hold on to the good.
22 Avoid every kind of evil.
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.
25 Brothers, pray for us.
26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss.
27 I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers.
28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
I am so thankful for the Christian people God has put in my path since wanting to truly follow him in a right manner in 1992. I grew up in the church, but I did not truly understand what it meant or was required to truly follow God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength. I always knew there was a God. In my adult years I lived more for myself than Him, and tried to please man, more than God. I have been so blessed, I cannot even begin to tell you the overflowing blessings from my heart. What a vast amount of witnesses. What an opportunity He has given me to meet so many wonderful Christians around the world. To use them to humble me, grow me, make me into being more like Him. I don't care that I'm not all the way there, but I know I'm on the right track. Everytime I see a video or movie that has to do with receiving salvation, I cannot help, but choke up at the opportunities Christ brought my way. For the wonderful body of Christ my husband and I hooked up with in CA. The Taylors, Cruz family, Yeeles, Smithson's, DeGuzman's, Ferretti's, for the softball ministry, promise keeper guys, the women of Seaview Baptist Church in Pacifica that started this whole snowball of holy fire. :) It has just blossomed from there, to AK. I can't imagine how much, and how far God pursued me not only for salvation, but for growth in Him. I am so blessed. Don't get me wrong, I'm not all spiritually knowing, etc., and I have my moments, but I think about how lost I was, and the depths of despair, and I am in awe at God's grace, work and glory over me. To turn what was lost and hopeless into something so HUGE (forgiven, adopted, loved in Him, secured, eternal in Him and more), and I am only one. Imagine all the others. I'm not all full of myself either. I am His and He is mine, and that is just one of the best things you can have in your life right now. A right relationship with God freely given at the highest cost of His holy Son, Jesus Christ resurrected in all glory and returning to claim us as His bride. Glory to God in the Highest! He is the greatest gift you can give anyone.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Thursday, July 27, 2006
I wanna love like you do, Chad. God bless you.
My Thoughts on the New X-Men Movie
Hey Guys!
The last time I blogged I promised you all that I would give you my thoughts on X-Men 3. I realize that was over a month ago, but I finally saw the movie and I wrote an article for Relevant Magazine about the many ways in which the movie parallels societies struggle to integrate with gay and lesbian people. Naturally, the role that ex-gay ministries play in all this comes to mind as well. To read the article Click Here.
In other news, I attended Des Moines' gay pride parade last month with a group of friends. The Des Moines Register Estimated that about 6,000 people participated in some aspect of Des Moines' gay pride celebration this year, (that's twice as many as last year). My friends and I passed out cold water on a hot day. It was great just getting to bless the people at the parade and make conversation, I even ran into a few people that I know. Tim Lucas from Liquid Church in New Jersey Did the Same Thing Last Year after reading about it in my book Loving Homosexuals as Jesus Would. Tim had a much bigger task than I did though, as gay pride events in New Jersey are much larger then they are in Des Moines. Liquid Church took about 200 volunteers (I took five) and they passed out over 10,000 bottles of water!
Here is short Video Clip that I took at the parade. If you look carefully you can see a beautiful view of Downtown Des Moines' skyscrapers in the background. At the end of the video you get to see our gold-plated Capitol Building! The parade was beautiful this year, as you can see they spare no expense on decorations, and there was very little overt sexuality in the parade itself. At least not like the type of stuff that happens in San Fransisco.
The Exodus International Conference was AMAZING this year, as always. If you weren’t able to make it to the conference you can buy the DVDs Here. Other random pieces of news, Derek Webb plans to make his music available for FREE starting in September. Haagen-Dazs has a New Flavor of ice cream that they claim was the original recipe for chocolate. Was it really? I don’t know but it sure is delicious. Jars of Clay has new CD coming out on Sept. 5th. The CD is titled Good Monsters and you can actually listen to audio clips Here on Christianbook.com. Also, new music from Dashboard and Sufjan released this month.
As a final note, I'm back in San Luis Obispo, California working on my next book and there are black widow spiders everywhere over here. I took pictures of a few of them which you can view on my Pictures Page, along with a few other pics.
Enjoy!
11:16 PM - 24 eprops - 13 comments - email it
My Thoughts on the New X-Men Movie
Hey Guys!
The last time I blogged I promised you all that I would give you my thoughts on X-Men 3. I realize that was over a month ago, but I finally saw the movie and I wrote an article for Relevant Magazine about the many ways in which the movie parallels societies struggle to integrate with gay and lesbian people. Naturally, the role that ex-gay ministries play in all this comes to mind as well. To read the article Click Here.
In other news, I attended Des Moines' gay pride parade last month with a group of friends. The Des Moines Register Estimated that about 6,000 people participated in some aspect of Des Moines' gay pride celebration this year, (that's twice as many as last year). My friends and I passed out cold water on a hot day. It was great just getting to bless the people at the parade and make conversation, I even ran into a few people that I know. Tim Lucas from Liquid Church in New Jersey Did the Same Thing Last Year after reading about it in my book Loving Homosexuals as Jesus Would. Tim had a much bigger task than I did though, as gay pride events in New Jersey are much larger then they are in Des Moines. Liquid Church took about 200 volunteers (I took five) and they passed out over 10,000 bottles of water!
Here is short Video Clip that I took at the parade. If you look carefully you can see a beautiful view of Downtown Des Moines' skyscrapers in the background. At the end of the video you get to see our gold-plated Capitol Building! The parade was beautiful this year, as you can see they spare no expense on decorations, and there was very little overt sexuality in the parade itself. At least not like the type of stuff that happens in San Fransisco.
The Exodus International Conference was AMAZING this year, as always. If you weren’t able to make it to the conference you can buy the DVDs Here. Other random pieces of news, Derek Webb plans to make his music available for FREE starting in September. Haagen-Dazs has a New Flavor of ice cream that they claim was the original recipe for chocolate. Was it really? I don’t know but it sure is delicious. Jars of Clay has new CD coming out on Sept. 5th. The CD is titled Good Monsters and you can actually listen to audio clips Here on Christianbook.com. Also, new music from Dashboard and Sufjan released this month.
As a final note, I'm back in San Luis Obispo, California working on my next book and there are black widow spiders everywhere over here. I took pictures of a few of them which you can view on my Pictures Page, along with a few other pics.
Enjoy!
11:16 PM - 24 eprops - 13 comments - email it
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
That still small voice
Don't you hate it when you don't listen to it? When I don't listen to it, the consequences frustrate me. A couple weeks before VBS we were having trouble with the crank handle to our vehicle's back window. We'd been having to lift it manually for it to stay in place. Obviously things were happening for us to ignore getting it fixed that it stopped working and the glass would fall down while driving, and we'd have to pull it back up each time. Well, one day from being tired, and just wanting to get in the house, I was pulling the window up to get it to the top as much as I could with the door open, that I pulled the door up to close it while holding something in my hand. While I was pulling it out something in my head said to watch out that I didn't pull it to far that it would hit the frame. The other part of me didn't care, and so you guessed it, I ended up shattering the entire thing. Duh! I went to estimate and order the window which was $294 and some change. I paid for the window. He said they'd have it tomorrow, but 10 days later I call and he doesn't recognize me, etc. They calls me back in 5 minutes and remembers the window is on it's way and to come in Tuesday at 10am. I get there at 9:15am today, and they say they're looking for the window. They say it's here, but don't know where. Then they said who told me to come in today? The very guy that told me to was he that was asking. They say to give them an hour, but they can still squeeze me in. Finally, 2 hours later, the window is in, but they cannot get the crank to work with the window, and refer me to someone else. That person says they would have to take the window out, and look at all the mechanics that move the window up and down, and that I either have to buy a new crank again. So, I have to pay for labor to take a window out that I had put in. They also didn't order the lining on the window so it rattles. They can fit me in Thursday at 9am. Oh thrill. I can just imagine how much the bill will be. I know. I know. This to shall pass. Like a gallstone.
Don't you hate it when you don't listen to it? When I don't listen to it, the consequences frustrate me. A couple weeks before VBS we were having trouble with the crank handle to our vehicle's back window. We'd been having to lift it manually for it to stay in place. Obviously things were happening for us to ignore getting it fixed that it stopped working and the glass would fall down while driving, and we'd have to pull it back up each time. Well, one day from being tired, and just wanting to get in the house, I was pulling the window up to get it to the top as much as I could with the door open, that I pulled the door up to close it while holding something in my hand. While I was pulling it out something in my head said to watch out that I didn't pull it to far that it would hit the frame. The other part of me didn't care, and so you guessed it, I ended up shattering the entire thing. Duh! I went to estimate and order the window which was $294 and some change. I paid for the window. He said they'd have it tomorrow, but 10 days later I call and he doesn't recognize me, etc. They calls me back in 5 minutes and remembers the window is on it's way and to come in Tuesday at 10am. I get there at 9:15am today, and they say they're looking for the window. They say it's here, but don't know where. Then they said who told me to come in today? The very guy that told me to was he that was asking. They say to give them an hour, but they can still squeeze me in. Finally, 2 hours later, the window is in, but they cannot get the crank to work with the window, and refer me to someone else. That person says they would have to take the window out, and look at all the mechanics that move the window up and down, and that I either have to buy a new crank again. So, I have to pay for labor to take a window out that I had put in. They also didn't order the lining on the window so it rattles. They can fit me in Thursday at 9am. Oh thrill. I can just imagine how much the bill will be. I know. I know. This to shall pass. Like a gallstone.
Monday, July 24, 2006
The Black Hole
Where is it? It took my hubbo's 49er jacket month's ago, my brown pants which I just loved, and now it has claimed hubbo's blue and green water trunks. I don't know where it takes these things, but I suppose they will end up somewhere on this earth. I usually feel somewhat responsible when hubbo can't find something he's looking for. Like the Peanut Butter yesterday. I couldn't remember if I threw it away, but the pressure of him asking and not getting an answer was to clue him in to look for it. We went to the lake today, and we found it in the cooler. We had brought it for snack during VBS week. That's one the black hole didn't get.;)
Why doesn't the black hole take messes you don't want to clean? Why does it have to take stuff you like? Hubbo calls the laundry the Abyss. Well, I've got a month to clean the garage out to fit our Suburban inside for winter. This is going to be one of my biggest projects this year since we just moved in Spring, and our lives are not slowing down. Now that I won't mind the black hole taking.;)
Saturday, July 22, 2006
Where does the time go?
Washed all my dishes this morning from a busy week in VBS, and headed to work, went grocery shopping, dumped the trash, and here I am back home, late. Ready to call it a day.
The grass in the yard is getting dangerously high. I'm afraid to walk in it, hahaha. I feel bad that my landlord's daughter called to cook dinner for us this week as she's training to be a base cook, but I was too busy and just out of it with the short sleep and a messy house. I know everything can't be perfect when you want to do something, but the house was a mess. Still is but in an organized fashion. I needed to take a nap from getting to bed so late, and getting up early. I think they call that age - ha!
Sometimes when I'm so busy I have to wonder is all this going to matter when I face God. Is He going to care about the care I put into the place, or my job? relationships? I think so. When we get spiritual pride that's not a good thing, but to work hard because you're doing the work for Him I can see that being pleasing to Him. But, to work so people will notice you? That doesn't seem pleasant at all as it will never be good enough. After I was done, I saw some vacuuming got missed, and something else could've been better, but I had to call it as I was tired, and the kids and hubbo were hungry. Details missed.
I'm glad we have a God that never misses the details. Thank you, God. You know all our needs and are always for our benefit. Thank you for the strength you gave to get through this week. Refresh those of us that need refreshment. Be glorified. Good Night.
Washed all my dishes this morning from a busy week in VBS, and headed to work, went grocery shopping, dumped the trash, and here I am back home, late. Ready to call it a day.
The grass in the yard is getting dangerously high. I'm afraid to walk in it, hahaha. I feel bad that my landlord's daughter called to cook dinner for us this week as she's training to be a base cook, but I was too busy and just out of it with the short sleep and a messy house. I know everything can't be perfect when you want to do something, but the house was a mess. Still is but in an organized fashion. I needed to take a nap from getting to bed so late, and getting up early. I think they call that age - ha!
Sometimes when I'm so busy I have to wonder is all this going to matter when I face God. Is He going to care about the care I put into the place, or my job? relationships? I think so. When we get spiritual pride that's not a good thing, but to work hard because you're doing the work for Him I can see that being pleasing to Him. But, to work so people will notice you? That doesn't seem pleasant at all as it will never be good enough. After I was done, I saw some vacuuming got missed, and something else could've been better, but I had to call it as I was tired, and the kids and hubbo were hungry. Details missed.
I'm glad we have a God that never misses the details. Thank you, God. You know all our needs and are always for our benefit. Thank you for the strength you gave to get through this week. Refresh those of us that need refreshment. Be glorified. Good Night.
Monday, July 17, 2006
No news is good news
I suppose. It's been a while since my last post (so much for trying to be regular). I'm up late because my brain is still thinking. Lots going on these past couple weeks with preps for Worship and VBS. The week is finally here and well, I could use a day or two more, but I don't have it, so here we go, ready or not. I'm pretty much ready and feel better about where I'm headed today than I was yesterday. Praise God! Looking forward to the first day so I better hit the sack. Thank you Lord for friends and family. Most of all thank you for showing me that You are more important than the busyness of life.
I suppose. It's been a while since my last post (so much for trying to be regular). I'm up late because my brain is still thinking. Lots going on these past couple weeks with preps for Worship and VBS. The week is finally here and well, I could use a day or two more, but I don't have it, so here we go, ready or not. I'm pretty much ready and feel better about where I'm headed today than I was yesterday. Praise God! Looking forward to the first day so I better hit the sack. Thank you Lord for friends and family. Most of all thank you for showing me that You are more important than the busyness of life.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
When is a lie still a lie?
I can understand why people lie to protect the life of others, but if we did not lie would God still protect them? For instance, if the midwives never lied about Moses, would God still have protected Moses? Was that lie used for good? I remember a couple other stories from the bible where people had lied. Here's an article from a pastor I trust. http://www.grace4u.org/Topical/landrum_ss/Lying.htm
Reason I ask is that, I heard a poll on the radio shared this morning:
IS IT EVER OK?
About four in 10 think lying is justified sometime.
Just over half, 52 percent, said it is never justified.
Asked whether lying is OK in a number of circumstances, 65 percent said it is at least sometimes OK to lie when trying to protect someone's feelings.
About four in 10 said it's OK at times to exaggerate a story to make it more interesting, and for a parent to lie to a child about the parent's past misbehavior.
About a third say it's OK at times to lie about one's age and to lie about being sick to take a day off work.
Very few thought it was OK to lie on a resume, lie about cheating on a spouse or cheat on your taxes.
WHO DEFENDS LYING
Those most likely to think lying is sometimes justified:
People 18-29 (57 percent), compared with adults 30 and over (about 40 percent), college graduates (51 percent), those with higher household incomes (a little more than half of those making at least $50,000) and unmarried women (53 percent).
Those more likely to say it's OK to lie to avoid hurting someone's feelings:
Those with college degrees (72 percent), household income greater than $50,000 (about 75 percent) and Democrats (82 percent).
The AP-Ipsos poll of 1,000 adults on their attitudes about lying was conducted June 23-27 by Ipsos, an international polling firm. The survey has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Interesting, 82% for democrats....
I can understand why people lie to protect the life of others, but if we did not lie would God still protect them? For instance, if the midwives never lied about Moses, would God still have protected Moses? Was that lie used for good? I remember a couple other stories from the bible where people had lied. Here's an article from a pastor I trust. http://www.grace4u.org/Topical/landrum_ss/Lying.htm
Reason I ask is that, I heard a poll on the radio shared this morning:
IS IT EVER OK?
About four in 10 think lying is justified sometime.
Just over half, 52 percent, said it is never justified.
Asked whether lying is OK in a number of circumstances, 65 percent said it is at least sometimes OK to lie when trying to protect someone's feelings.
About four in 10 said it's OK at times to exaggerate a story to make it more interesting, and for a parent to lie to a child about the parent's past misbehavior.
About a third say it's OK at times to lie about one's age and to lie about being sick to take a day off work.
Very few thought it was OK to lie on a resume, lie about cheating on a spouse or cheat on your taxes.
WHO DEFENDS LYING
Those most likely to think lying is sometimes justified:
People 18-29 (57 percent), compared with adults 30 and over (about 40 percent), college graduates (51 percent), those with higher household incomes (a little more than half of those making at least $50,000) and unmarried women (53 percent).
Those more likely to say it's OK to lie to avoid hurting someone's feelings:
Those with college degrees (72 percent), household income greater than $50,000 (about 75 percent) and Democrats (82 percent).
The AP-Ipsos poll of 1,000 adults on their attitudes about lying was conducted June 23-27 by Ipsos, an international polling firm. The survey has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Interesting, 82% for democrats....
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Blog Schmog
Ok, so a friend of mine earns substantial income, and I want to also, hehehe through having a website. He suggested blogger as it's free. I figure I might as well make the most of my time on the computer. So, here I am. I have been with the same guy http://richardramblingscom.blogspot.com/ I married since 1989. We have three kids in the middle of Alaska! We homeschool our kids, he works for the government, and for sanity I do custodial work part-time. We moved to AK in 1999 from living in CA, and we love it! We love God, and who He is and what He has done for us individually and as a family. An-Em-El comes from the names of our kids who are a challenge and a blessing everyday. I enjoy being wife, mom, my life, forum chat, singing, and just about anything. I'm currently reading Proverbs, Pursuit of Holiness, and Experiencing the Cross. I used to manage 32 apartments, and quit in May, so my life has changed drastically and I'm enjoying it. Still getting used to it, and enjoying life with the family.
The purpose of this blog is to share our life like a journal on the world-wide web (oh goodness!). Well, I really don't want to share it with the whole entire world, but it looks like I'm going to on this site.;) Hopefully, you will be inspired, think we're crazy or can relate to some of toils. I also hope to make some sort of income aside from the part time job I work to put food on the table or fuel in the car. I hope you don't mind, and appreciate my honesty. So, click those ads, and generate some traffic! And, if you don't want to do that, then pull up a chair, grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the reading. May God bless you abundantly!
Happy Reading and Posting!
Ok, so a friend of mine earns substantial income, and I want to also, hehehe through having a website. He suggested blogger as it's free. I figure I might as well make the most of my time on the computer. So, here I am. I have been with the same guy http://richardramblingscom.blogspot.com/ I married since 1989. We have three kids in the middle of Alaska! We homeschool our kids, he works for the government, and for sanity I do custodial work part-time. We moved to AK in 1999 from living in CA, and we love it! We love God, and who He is and what He has done for us individually and as a family. An-Em-El comes from the names of our kids who are a challenge and a blessing everyday. I enjoy being wife, mom, my life, forum chat, singing, and just about anything. I'm currently reading Proverbs, Pursuit of Holiness, and Experiencing the Cross. I used to manage 32 apartments, and quit in May, so my life has changed drastically and I'm enjoying it. Still getting used to it, and enjoying life with the family.
The purpose of this blog is to share our life like a journal on the world-wide web (oh goodness!). Well, I really don't want to share it with the whole entire world, but it looks like I'm going to on this site.;) Hopefully, you will be inspired, think we're crazy or can relate to some of toils. I also hope to make some sort of income aside from the part time job I work to put food on the table or fuel in the car. I hope you don't mind, and appreciate my honesty. So, click those ads, and generate some traffic! And, if you don't want to do that, then pull up a chair, grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the reading. May God bless you abundantly!
Happy Reading and Posting!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
