There was Swearin' Today!

Oh, sorry, that should be "There was a Swearing-IN Today!" I have always been a poor speller.

Well, we now have the most liberal, socialistic President ever! If this is not a call to Christians to wake up and take a stand, I don't know what would be! Although, it's staggering to me just how many Christians voted for him! My government teacher in high school said, "if you don't vote, you can't complain!" I have come to understand the truth in that statement more and more over the years. However, might I add something to that...instead of complaining, which by the way we could really get in to, why don't we pray. We are told in I Timothy 2:2 that we should pray for our leaders. And as hard as that may be for us to do, I believe we must! Now is the time for Christians to stand up and the best place for us to start is on our knees!

Let's remember that this election and the results of it, did not surprise God. I believe we are seeing God through the lifting of His great hand of protection over our country. And this I do know--that God is still on His throne and that seat is NOT up for grabs!

May God bless America!

How to Worry Less

As the kids get older, it seems that there is so much more to worry about. Or could it be that the worry changes? This, too, is coming from the fact that our oldest just got her driver's permit! (I'm sooooo not old enough for that!!) There are so many ways for them to get hurt, and not just physically. I guess this is where the rubber meets the road, did we do our job well? Did we train them up so that they will make wise choices?

I believe it was Mother's Day this past year that our pastor did a different type of service (now I must say that a lot of our services are different so this was not totally new), he and his wife shared about rasing their children. It was neat to hear from someone who had been there done that. One of the things that she said has really stuck with me, she said to "pray more and worry less." I like that, we have access to the God of the universe and yet we worry about things! Seems silly doesn't it when we look at it from that perspective!

So I am trying to pray more and worry less! And there is a wonderful peace that comes with it!

The Evaluator

Ok, this one may hurt a little...

This year we are doing a worldview curriculum from Summit Ministries called "Lightbearers." We have had incredible discussions about how the world thinks and what it is trying to get us to believe. The influences are everywhere. One assignment we did was called "The Evaluator" in which we analyzed things we allow into our minds that could influence us. We had to pick a book, movie, album or TV show to evaluate or put through the ringer so to speak. The discussion was wonderful!

Here are a few of the questions, are you ready?

* What attracts you to this form of entertainment? Why do you like it?

* How does it make you feel?

* What are the major messages being sent? Do you agree or disagree with them? What are the subtle messages?

* Does it reflect reality?

* How do the messages compare with your personal values?

* What might happen if you imitated the lifestyles and choices of the characters?

*How does it make you feel to know that by supporting this entertainment you are supporting the ideas it is promoting?

And this is the kicker--
* Would you feel comfortable if Jesus watched this with you? What would He say about it? Does the Bible say anything about entertainment like this?

So how did you do? What did you evaluate? One show that was brought up was Hannah Montana. One of the subtle messages we talked about in this show was the sissifying (is that a word?) of the men in this show. They are seen as weak and dopey, we are so inundated with feminism in our society that it is even seen in children's shows and the sad thing is most of us don't even realize it! No wonder girls (and boys) are growing up with wrong ideas of headship in their relationships!

There are good shows and movies our there, however, they are few and far between. What shows have you found that pass this test with flying colors?