Showing posts with the label Christian Worldview

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#NeverTrump: I'm One of Those Fools

Recently, during a Christian Post interview , Dr. Robert Jeffress, Senior Pastor of First Baptist Dallas, called Christians who refuse to vote for megalomaniac Donald Trump, "fools". I'm proud to say, I'm one of those fools Jeffress is talking about. I'm glad to be considered a fool by man, rather than be deemed a fool by God. #NeverTrump: Because I love Jesus One of the essential differences between Christians and unbelievers is that we are new creations in Christ, therefore, we love what He loves (righteousness) and hates what He hates (sin). We don't make decisions based on our fears or affinities like the world does, but we make our decisions based on God's Word, and desire His perfect precepts (Ps 19:7-9; Prov 14:8; Prov 16:2-3, 9)—even if that means we may have to suffer temporarily (Ps 119:67, Is 30:18, 20-21). We trust our lives wholly to our good, sovereign and loving God and Father (Rom 8:28-29). I've been voting for 29 years and a...

Dr. Everett Piper on 'Trumping Morality'

After a short hiatus from writing, I thought I'd kick off this new year by sharing an article from someone else. Before today, I'd never heard of Dr. Everett Piper,  President of  Oklahoma Wesleyan University  and author of  "Why I Am A Liberal and Other Conservative Ideas" . But after hearing Janet Mefferd read Dr. Piper's article about why he will not be sliding down the evangelical slippery slope of Jerry Falwell, Jr., President of Liberty University and Pastor Robert Jeffress, Senior Pastor of First Baptist Dallas (who also endorsed Donald Trump), I was greatly encouraged and am now following him on Twitter. Sometimes reading articles, tweets, and various social media posts about what "Christians" in America are saying and doing these days, often puts me in a somber mood. It seems our world is riddled with  a soft, man-centered, and emasculated false form of Jesus. A false Christ that's all "love", but not righteous, hol...

Voting My Faith, Not My Fears or Affinities

"The purpose of a man's heart is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out. Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find?...The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it where he will. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart. To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice."  -Proverbs 20:5-6; 21:1-3, ESV Too often when Christians talk about voting, we talk about having to vote for the lesser of two evils. This usually forces us to vote based on our fears (financial security, health, etc.) and affinities (worldly comforts), rather than simply and confidently voting our faith, in accordance with the Word and precepts of God. Throughout biblical history, when God’s people have waned from wholeheartedly following His Word, He lifted up pagan leaders (e.g., Pharaoh of Joseph’s time, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, King ...

Subliminal Self-Praise and Manipulating Praise from Others

Personality quizzes like, "What's Your Emotional Type?", "Which Famous Elizabeth Are You?", "What Does Your Eye Color Mean?", "Which State Do You Actually Belong In?" or worse, Christianized versions like, "Which Bible Character Are You?" not only clog many Facebook newsfeeds, but they're also the avenue in which many people subliminally praise themselves and invite others to join in. One of the biggest problems with these online personality quizzes is that there are a limited number of options of what your personality can be like, and they're largely generic so that your results can be somewhat true about everybody. "The quizzes are overwhelmingly upbeat and lighthearted in nature, a calculated decision by the people engineering them. After all, they’re designed to be an affirmation of how you see yourself, not an assessment of who you really are." - New York Post "People love knowing and talking...

Controversial New Movie on Homosexuality to be Advertised in the Skies over San Francisco

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 25, 2015 – San Francisco residents may look up to see a rainbow in the sky next week, but it won’t indicate the typical support for gay rights. A new movie that over 1,000 LGBT supporters have warned the public not to watch will be advertised on a banner for two days over San Francisco. While pro-LGBT viewers have slammed the film on online review sites, the film’s producer is not deterred. Ray Comfort, whose movies have been seen by millions, said, “Despite the calls for censorship and displays of intolerance, we’re hoping people will be open-minded enough to watch the film and come to their own conclusion.” As the best-selling author noted, not all perceive the movie to be heavy-handed. One viewer commented, “I have to say, as a gay woman who watched Audacity, I agree that the topic was handled with love and compassion which was refreshing to see…the message was clear (even if it was one I disagreed with as an atheist).” After flying the banner ove...

Virginia Shooting: A Christian's Response

Earlier today at 6:45 a.m., a horrifyingly sinful act was witnessed when three innocent people were gunned down in Moneta, Virginia during a live WDBJ-TV interview: a reporter (Alison Parker, 24), a cameraman (Adam Ward, 27), and a woman being interviewed (Vicki  Gardner). It is heartbreaking that both Alison and Adam were killed, but I'm grateful to the Lord that Vicki has already undergone surgery and is in stable condition. Though I'm aware of the evil in this world, I was still stunned by this act of violence by Bryce Williams (legal name: Vester Lee Flanagan) who was once a reporter and co-worker of both Alison and Adam at WDBJ. Two hours after the shooting, Williams faxed a 23-page manifesto to ABC News. In this manifesto, Williams claims that he was racially discriminated against and harassed by black men and white women because he was a homosexual black man. Williams also stated that he's  "been a human powder keg for a while…just waiting to go BOOM!!...

Pacemaker Surgery Update: Pain in My Flesh and Joy in the Lord

Though it's an icky thought to have an electronic device (pacemaker) in my chest and two electrical wires (leads) in two chambers of my heart (right atrium and ventricle), I'm grateful to the LORD for providing this medical intervention that's making my heart beat as often as it should and gradually elevate as necessary, with activity. I have a six week recovery that includes not being able to raise my left arm above my head, bear down on it, extend it back, etc. so as not to pull the leads out of my heart, which would require another surgery to put them back in. And for the first two weeks, I can't drive or do much of anything but rest, and possibly, some very light activity. Six weeks gives the tissue in my heart enough time to surround the leads and hold them in place. I never realized how many things I have to do that causes me to have to put my arms above my head (wash and brush my hair, getting dressed, reaching for a drinking glass, etc.), bear down o...

My Flesh and My Heart May Fail, But God...

"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." -Psalm 73:26, ESV Psalm 73:25 says, "Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you." Both verses 25 and 26 resonate the song of my literal and figurative heart; for God alone makes my physical heart beat, and He alone made my figurative heart alive in Christ. Without the LORD I wouldn't have physical or spiritual life...and neither would anyone else. This past Friday, my Cardiac Electrophysiologist confirmed that I have an uncommon heart arrhythmia called sick sinus syndrome (SSS) . What this means is that my heart can no longer keep a steady rhythm because it's "sick". The short version is that my natural pacemaker (sinus node) is no longer functioning properly so I have bradycardia (heart rate under 60 bpm) which causes me to be very lightheaded, dizzy and weak due to the lack of blood flow...

Same-Sex Marriage: The Supreme Court vs. The Supreme God

On Friday, June 26, 2015 five of the nine justices of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) vied themselves against the Supreme God of all creation with their calamitous decision to redefine a God-ordained institution—marriage—the union of one man and one woman—two becoming one flesh, by the declaration of God Almighty. The liberty that was fought for by valiant men and women, and once mandated by the Constitution of the United States; for each state to have the right to legislate their own laws in these matters, through their elected officials—by the people, for the people, has now be relegated by five unelected officials whose arrogance has reached the highest heavens.  Due to the supreme foolishness of these Supreme Court justices (Sotomayer, Kagan, Ginsburg, Bryer and Kennedy) same-sexed marriages have now been legalized in all 50 states of my country; the country which I love. There have been many news articles and blog posts about this sad day in Ame...

My 'Food' Should Be To Do The Will of God

"In John 4:34 Jesus said to them, 'My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.' I can't say that...I do so much for me. So much of my 'food' stinks. It's fodder. I'd be a hypocrite to stand before you and say those words are mine. But Jesus could always say, 'My food, my sustenance; the thing I live for, is to do the will of My Father.' That's why how a man prays will tell you more about him, than how a man preaches." -Paul Washer I concur with our brother Paul Washer. I want my "food", my sustenance, the  only  thing I live for, to be the same as Jesus—to do the will of my Father and to accomplish His work. But more often than I'd like, my "food" unfortunately, is my desires, my opinions, my creature comforts and my will. And at times, when this is my "food", my prayers are filled with the same carnality. Similar to many, I want to be liked and accepted. I ...

Another Mother's Day, Another Day To Exalt Christ

Tomorrow, we'll celebrate another Mother's Day. For some, it'll be a day in which we have the opportunity to honor our mothers who love the Lord and taught us to do the same. For others, it'll be a day when we miss our mothers who are no longer with us, but have entered eternity with Christ, or grievously, without Christ. And for others, this Mother's Day will be a day where we're tempted to send cards filled with untruthful, feel-good sentiments and share posts on social media that describe a godly mother we never had/have. Regardless of what kind of mother we had/have, we're called by God to love and honor her... biblically (read: Celebrating A Different Kind of Mother  to find out how to practically obey this biblical mandate). Some, like me and my husband, were raised by mothers who worked hard to put a roof over our heads and food on the table. But sadly, neither are/were believers (my mother-in-law entered eternity without Christ🥺) However,...

Angie's List, LGBTQIA and the Divided States of America

On March 26, 2015, a monumental act was signed in the beautiful and picturesque state of Indiana. Since the signing of this act, ugly and false accusations have been hurled at Governor Mike Pence by the bullies of the LGBTQIA . I know in the news, you'll only see the acronym LGBT used, but it's not accurate since all hands are on deck when it comes to trying to ring the neck of Governor Mike Pence and anyone else who stands with him. Before I continue, I want to clarify that I'm sure not everyone who is a lesbian, gay, transgender, etc. person, is part of this monstrous faction of LGBTQIA who, like bullies, purposely target and threaten those who are not like them. I'm sure there must be some who are a part of the LGBTQIA community who despise this hypocrisy, and truly aspire to allow all people to peaceably live as they choose, rather than impose their lifestyle choice on others. If you're not familiar with the acronyms, I'll give you a quick update...

What I Owe God and What He Owes Me

As Christians, we often say and easily acknowledge we owe God everything and deserve nothing good. We acknowledge this truth (Job 41:11), but rarely think specifically of what that means. So we live as entitled people of the world rather than grateful people of God when we're indignant that: we have to sit in traffic, there aren't enough lanes open in the grocery store and we have to wait, we have to repeat ourselves, someone doesn't do something we asked for—the first time, we get an illness or disease and we believe the lie that we don't deserve it and we're frustrated that no one can find a cure...and so on. "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth...Then God said, 'Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness...And God saw everything that He made, and behold, it was very good. "Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, that he sh...

Facebook: Whose Face Do You Display?

Ah, Facebook, our beloved friend and greatest foe. What are we, as Christians to do with Facebook? Whose face do we choose to display—ours, or Christ's? Whose life is magnified on our personal timeline and news feeds? What do we mostly share and who have we chosen to surround ourselves with by accepting or making friend requests? Are we enticed by the world and encumbered with its dealings (politics, our jobs, our personal rights, physical health, and beauty)? Are these worldly entanglements the prevalent "face" that everyone sees? I'm not suggesting that sharing pictures of us, our families, and the life God has given us is a bad thing. And I'm not suggesting we  never share anything about politics,  our jobs, religions freedoms, or healthy lifestyles. What I'm doing is questioning: Is it the things of God or the things of this world that mostly populate our personal timeline as well as our news feed where we're greatly influenced (whether we ...