Open Letter to Christian Leaders

Open Letter to Christian Leaders.

I received this from Christian Liberty Press today and thought it worthwhile to share. It really is sad and disturbing how many so-called Christians endorse the sin of homosexuality, whether personally, through TV shows they watch, or simply turning a blind eye to it in conversation. I do not think this is what our Lord has called us to in saying we are to be SALT and LIGHT in this world. Our lives are not our own, and what we subscribe to directly impacts our Christian witness...our effectiveness as people called out and set apart (supposedly). We may be the only interaction someone lost has with the saving Gospel--are we tainting this critical message through a lifestyle that is contrary to God's holy standard? I'll stop for now, but read on--Ann

---------------------------

Christian Educator An Open Letter to Christian Leaders in America August 26, 2014 Dear Christian Liberty Family, Greetings to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to share with you all an important letter written by Pastor Scott Lively of Springfield, Massachusetts. Pastor Lively is one of the most courageous men I know in standing for the truth of God's Word. I met Pastor Lively about three years ago when he came to our building to receive an award given by another organization that was using our facility here in Arlington Heights. His visit will not be forgotten, because our ministry was attacked due to his visit. Early in the morning on October 15, 2011, at least one person smashed several windows and a glass entrance door. The paving brick that was used to do some of the damage was directed against Pastor Lively as you will see in the photos below. Threats against our ministry were also made in e-mails and an online forum. Below the two photos, you will find an important letter written by Pastor Lively. The message he shares is vital for all Christians to hear, especially Christian leaders. Please share this information with others and also learn more about how you can support the brave ministry of Scott Lively. In Christ, Pastor Calvin Lindstrom

On June 28, 1969 the homosexual political movement, which had previously defined its goal as “the right to be left alone,” took a militant turn. At the Stonewall Bar on Christopher Street in New York City, “gay” activists rioted against police who tried to arrest an underage “drag queen” prostitute. That episode of violent rebellion is now commemorated annually as “Gay Pride Day.” Their inspiration was Herbert Marcuse, the German-born philosopher and political strategist who headed the “Frankfort School” of Cultural Marxism. From a perch in the highest branches of American academia Marcuse railed against “the repressive order of procreative sexuality” and called for the “disintegration of the…monogamic and patriarchal family.”* In 1972, two hundred homosexual organizations, representing the entire LGBT movement, met in Chicago to outline their Marcusian agenda: a blueprint for supplanting Biblical morality with sexual anarchy — in essence, the overthrow of family-centered Christian civilization. In 1973, their “long march through the institutions” began with the political takeover of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) to redefine homosexuality as psychologically healthy. In 2013, after just forty years, the last secular institution to resist LGBT bullying was finally subdued: the Boy Scouts of America. One last barrier to “gay“ cultural hegemony remains: the Christian church. All of the battle-hardened “gay rights” activists with all of their formidable resources are mobilized for an assault on Christianity itself under the hijacked rainbow banner of “Gay Theology.” Indeed, the process has already begun, like the retreat of the tide before the tsunami. Recently I debated a young Christian pop star named Vicky Beeching on a British news program. Beeching, an attractive and charismatic woman with a large following among young people, has “come out” as a lesbian to tremendous fanfare by the secular media. She will undoubtedly lead many astray, but, importantly, she is only one agent among tens of thousands poised to lay siege to Biblical truth both from without and within the church walls. In late 2013 I began working on a simple tool to warn and equip the church to resist the impending onslaught. That finished tool is a brochure titled “NOT Just Another Sin” which succinctly summarizes the Biblical case against homosexuality from Genesis to Revelation. In short, the Bible identifies rampant homosexuality in society as the harbinger of God’s wrath. It is decidedly Not “just another sin.” This is not a marketing campaign. We are not offering the brochure for sale. We simply want your help to quickly disseminate the brochure to every Christian leader in America. We will provide as many copies of this brochure as you can use at our cost of $.07 per piece plus shipping and whatever donation you feel led to offer.** Alternatively, if you provide us an up-to-date list of pastors or other leaders we will send it to them ourselves (but please provide help with postage). Or if you desire to print your own supply, we will send you the artwork. If for any reason you dislike the brochure, we exhort you to take action in your own way to spread the warning and rally believers against this dangerous modern heresy called “gay theology.” Finally, if you have the courage to risk slander and persecution for associating with us, I am one of a small group of highly educated and experienced pro-family advocates available on a limited basis for speaking, seminars and Christian media interviews at sdllaw@gmail.com. The “perilous times” of II Timothy 3 have come. Let us stand together in Truth as His remnant, Pastor Scott Lively, J.D., Th.D. * Facts cited in this letter are documented in my article “Gay Agenda? What Gay Agenda?” at www.scottlively.net ** Donations should be made out to Abiding Truth Ministries, PO Box 2373, Springfield, MA 01101 or online at www.defendthefamily.com/help/donate.php

Reliving Memories

One benefit of getting older and having older children, meaning those who are well beyond the baby years but not ready to leave the nest (thankfully), is the profound appreciation of special times together. Opportunities to serve the Lord together, vacation, family pizza and movie night...

When you can look out over the next 5 or so years and realize your family landscape is going to be quite different, it puts a lot in to perspective. You try not to count down to when the kids will leave home, but it is difficult not to when the goal is to prepare them to leave. When they are at a point of knowing a lot of what mom and dad know about the world, it's impossible to think of them in the same way as when they were small.

What is strange are the times the sadness rushes up on you as a mom, and you desperately want to turn back the clock just one more time. You want to peek in their room and see young bodies strewn about in sweaty, sleepy, childishness...

I loved making my girls doll cakes for their birthdays and watching them in dress-up clothes day in and day out. My one daughter wore a little white veil for 2 years; it was utterly tattered at the end, but she felt so pretty in it. Her soft little hands and arms would carefully place it upon her sweet little head and wherever we went, she had it on. My son would want to hug me continually and all the kids would ask for stories every night...but no more. No one asks for a story in my house at night. No one wants to get in bed with us in the middle of the night anymore. To think I was against that practice when we started our child rearing years--how thankful I am for a husband who understood the preciousness of children calling upon mom and dad in the wee hours for comfort!

In many ways times were so much easier back then. Growing women and men is not the work of a sprinter, any parent knows that. These are the days of Cross Country running. Over hills and in to valleys, navigating long stretches of sometimes flat and sometimes bumpy emotions. My son yearns to be a man like his father, taking on habits of his dad but resisting the reality he is a little mini of the man I adore. I sometimes can't bear the thought of that still-smallish boy having the frame and countenance of a man. I see it in his sisters and I keep wondering where my little girls went and how it passed so quickly. I thought I had more time...

Oh! If only we never had to tell our sweet children the realities of this world! If we could always be concerned with table manners and cleaning one's room. But I must recall, there are those who perpetually live in the world of a child with their fully grown babes...and give thanks for this opportunity to walk through the reality of life with my own children.
God help me slow down and listen, hear, connect, care, and have wisdom with how I use my time and words. Help me cull what is irrelevant and live as the woman I want them to emulate or marry.

Preparing,

Difficulty-

I know Christian women often struggle with how to proceed if their husband is abusive toward them. Trying meekness and mildness, they hope he will respond as he ought, especially if they think he is a Christian. But the sad truth is, sometimes a person is determined to sin against another, and no matter how unselfish or godly they are treated, they continue to pound away at the very person they are supposed to treat with love and gentleness.

I'm very hesitant to encourage just any Christian woman to be bold and tell her husband she's had enough and his treatment of her must stop, because some women really have not tried the gentle path first. But you know your situation and how you've acted, and if you have tried to be supportive and gentle to the best of your ability and he is still a domineering tyrant who lacks self-control over his emotions, putting you and your children in despicable situations, you have to stand firm and tell him he must stop treating you as he is. Do not waver in telling him you are finished with the situation and he must change or get help, every time he starts laying in to you. Don't stand there and take it, tell him to stop talking to you like that. If you are persistent, he will either change, go get help with you, or leave.

If you find yourself separated, get a lawyer asap to avoid missteps. I know for a fact from a friend in my state that this is very important. You can get a spouse to sign a paper you write up giving you custody and financial support and that can help. She did this before they met with lawyers because even though he'd cheated on her, he was remorseful for a short time and in that time, she got him to sign off on some things. Pretty much everyone goes through certain stages of emotions when a marriage is ending, and during the early remorse, before the anger, you can often take steps to get custody. Better yet, if you do make it clear YOU are done being talked to abusively and it's not changing, talk to a lawyer privately before you leave your spouse or say you want a separation so you can get advice on how to proceed so you have a better chance at custody. I would think anyone 18 or over in your house could offer helpful testimony in a court of law.

Some people will treat us as badly as WE allow. They certainly don't treat others that way,  so you know they CAN control themselves if they want to. People with domineering personalities often have very little respect for those they can control and run around, so if you start standing firm in how you will let them talk to you, they will curb their behavior or get frustrated and leave.

You are a child of God, and if this is what is needed for to last another day in your marriage, do it. Don't just walk away without a fight, which means, making it crystal clear that you have value and will not be treated like a dog. You are no one's property but God's. Bear in mind it's not fair to the person with whom you are married to not openly communicate you are at the breaking point and will no longer tolerate being mistreated.

In the end, if a marriage is going to be over, it's better for the other person to do the leaving. But if you must leave, at least make sure you give the other person the truth about how you are fed up and can't take it anymore so they have a chance to change. For a sin cycle to stop, SOMEONE has to change direction. Let it be you.

After reading all this, only you know where you are and how much you and the kids can keep taking. It may be you've made it clear he needs to stop talking to you as he has been and it's not changing, so you are beyond the scope of much of this note.

With love,

Ice Cream Cake (peanut free)

If you have a child with a nut allergy, it pretty well eliminates purchasing an ice cream cake for their birthday. At least around here, DQ and Carvel carry a risk. Here is an easy way to make your own. You'll need several hours but the labor is easy, it's mostly time in the freezer. I decorated this one while it was in the freezer since the Turkey Hill ice cream was melting fast. The flavors were great though--Homemade Vanilla and Dutch Chocolate.

Supplies:

offset knife or flat spatula
spring form pan
spatula
two 1/2 gallons of ice cream (I prefer vanilla and chocolate)
8 oz (or more to taste) Nabisco chocolate grahams (Teddy Grahams or just regular small graham crackers that give you more and are cheaper are fine, too. I imagine you could use Vanilla Wafers for a child who doesn't like chocolate but check for a nut risk)
Magic Shell (can eliminate for a non-chocolate lover)
Cool Whip (2-3 containers, regular size)
optional but nice--piping equipment, even just a bag and a coupler without a tip can look good, but I used a large star tip

Many of today's ice creams have gums (like tara) which keep the ice cream from hardening. If your product isn't rock solid, no need to set it out while you pop the spring form pan in the freezer. Otherwise, while your pan is getting chilled, take out the ice cream to soften on the counter.

How to:
Place spring form pan in the freezer for at least 15 minutes. I put it in and go do lots of other things. Pull it out and spread vanilla ice cream on bottom and up the sides of the pan. Return to freezer for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, put chocolate grahams in a food processor and process until pretty small but not dust. Use a rolling pin/bag if you don't have a food processor.

Take pan out of freezer and cover vanilla ice cream layer to your desired thickness of crushed crackers. Drizzle Magic Shell over the crackers. NOTE-some recipes tell you to completely mix Magic Shell with the cookies, but be prepared to crack a tooth and need a chain saw to cut through the cake unless you go VERY THIN with this layer.

Return to freezer for 30 minutes or until very firm. Take out and cover with chocolate ice cream, about 1/2 the container. Top with more crushed grahams and Magic Shell if you prefer, or just do grahams here and pop back in freezer for 30 minutes.

Take out and cover with vanilla ice cream, you should use the rest of the 1/2 gallon of vanilla. You can stop here with the layers for now. Put in freezer for an hour. You want this to all really harden up together.

Get a plate big enough for your cake, run warm water over outside edge of pan carefully or take a hot sponge around the edge to help it release. Once you've released the cake, flip it over on to a plate and carefully take off the bottom. An offset knife works well here or any long, thin, evenly graded spatula. Work fast so it doesn't melt too much.

Return to freezer for 30 minutes.

Here you have some flex--you can cover the entire cake with Magic Shell if you are worried about melting, but realize you'll have to use a chop stick to boar little holes for candles if this is a birthday cake. You could do a lattice type design with Magic Shell, or you can just cover completely with Cool Whip and smooth it out. Let this freeze again, and then pipe a nice design on the top. You can use colored non-pariels and sprinkles for a pretty finish.

NOTE-I do not recommend using a full gallon of ice cream, it is really thick and kind of difficult to work with when it comes time to cut and eat. We like it with one and a half gallons more. I used only one container of Cool Whip and was wanting...it really freezes up nicely to mimic whatever Carvel and DQ have on top of their cakes.

*You can put icing as a layer inside the cake as well, just spread on to frozen graham/Magic Shell layer.

Please comment with questions. I know I don't write recipes like a pro!

The Importance of Being Earnest

I don't know that I ever saw the movie with the same title as this blog post, but the statement holds true nonetheless. Dis-ingenuousness is so deplorable. You know how some people just feel slimy? You can tell when they are patronizing or smooth talking, and it is maddening when others turn a blind eye or truly just do not see it.

It is so important to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and ask God for wisdom and discernment--particularly with our affiliations. I've found that when I've done this, in due time He often shows me concrete reasons why He lead as He did.

Investigate and go in to situations not as a naive person, but as a shrewd person realizing all that glitters is not gold. Ask questions--do not assume because you believe something and think one way about a paper you sign that everyone else does. If someone is teaching your child, ask them what church they belong to if you care whether or not they belong to a church and regularly attend. Do not make assumptions about who you are friends with or who you entrust your children to. Too many times we mothers worry about offending people, but we need to worry about our kids' sensibilities BEING offended. We need to be loving and kind, but exercise discernment and not assume that someone else is looking out for our best interests or our children's, because everyone is busy and people have different opinions of what is important.

~Ann

Children Under 2 Understand

Not long ago I wrote a post entitled "Expectations" which runs in a similar vein to this one, but just to expound a little more.

You know how parents will talk about their kids' faults openly, in front of them?

"He is out of control."

"She never stops talking."

"That's our wild child."

"Well, if anyone is going to have a fit, that one will."

"He's a terrible eater and his father doesn't help the situation AT ALL."

I could go on and on, and I'm sure you can think of a few negative comments you've heard thrown around by well-intentioned parents lamenting their 'difficult' child/ren. It is hard to raise children well. It takes intentional parenting. It takes keeping our negative thoughts about them to ourselves or to a time where a constructive discussion can take place. It takes realizing saying negative things about them in public is NOT parenting, nor is it a valid excuse for their ill behavior. No one has to have any special insight to realize kids don't magically modify their behavior because everyone hears how bad/mean/undisciplined/smart-mouthed they are.

Likewise, children don't modify their behavior when a parent turns a blind eye to their actions continually, or expects others to 'mind their children' for them. It doesn't matter the setting: home, school, church, the mall. The only people ultimately responsible for our children's behavior is us, and we're not fooling anyone if they are out of line. We may not waste oodles of time living a narcissistic life on Facebook, or Tweeting our every thought, or Pinning our way in to a stupor, but we can ignore our kids all the same. It may be in the name of SERVICE (gasp, to God, even) or the, "It's the only time I really get with other people" reason...it may be we're selfish and even while at home all day with them we don't keep them close so we see and hear how they act.  We may make ourselves too available to others (be it in real life or on the Internet) to the detriment of taking care of our kid's basic needs of a routine (children who don't sleep or eat regularly, and well, don't behave as well typically).

Lest I digress, here is a story of how well children hear and understand. Now, I am talking about a GENIUS of a little girl, but I seriously doubt she is the only one capable of this...

Said brilliant child is 14 months old. Her mom was telling a funny story about how little daughter goes to her for shoe putting-on. Mom explained how daughter puts her hand on her shoulder and then lifts her foot in the air, but for Dad, little daughter sits down and lifts up her foot. Most would think the playing wee one wasn't listening, didn't understand, didn't care...whatever.

But do you know what she did? As soon as her mom stopped talking, little one imitated her gestures by reaching in to the air as if she were holding on to her sitting mother's shoulder, then lifted her foot up in the air as if a shoe were being put on. THEN she spun around and sat down to lift her foot as though Papa were putting on the shoe.

This was a tired child who was not in her element, and I share it to be a reminder to the tired, young parents out there.

Your children are listening. They hear you. They will do what you expect and what you expect, you'll keep saying.

Take the time to put your kids on a schedule, put them to bed at the same time each night--bearing in mind the best sleep happens prior to midnight so a lot of sleep should be happening before then. Feed them healthy meals at the same time each day, watch their sugar and water intake, and by all means, please watch over them carefully. Neglect is inexcusable, regardless of where you are standing or what you are doing.

~Ann

Definition: Like-minded

Full Definition of LIKE-MINDED

:  having a like disposition or purpose :  of the same mind or habit of thought

--------------------------------------------------------------------

I am not like-minded with evolutionists because they deny God and lie about the nature of man. I am not like-minded with Mormons because they believe untruths about God and Christ, they do not follow the truth of the Holy word of God. I'm not like-minded with those who support seeker sensitive preaching and teaching, or the emergent church--it promotes a false or watered down gospel that denies the sin nature of man as man's ultimate problem, and seeks to placate people by meeting their 'felt needs' in a psychological way--it acts as though the gospel is not sufficient to save any longer. When anecdotes replace sound preaching and the pastor tries to entertain and not offend, often using humor to have people 'enjoy' the sermon, so much opportunity is lost to truly love the people of God. The Bible is not front and center when this is the case, so believers are not taught what they need to be taught. 

Is this the model we see in the Bible of what a church is to be? Was Jesus an entertainer?

-------------------------
Does the Bible tell us to seek community or to promote unity, and how do those things differ? Are they mutually exclusive?

The Scriptures teach us to have Christian unity which means we bond on the truth of the Word--which means we have to  know it. We cannot have unity with people who believe lies about God and Jesus. We can, however, have community with all manner of people because it's not based on truth of God's word. COMMUNITY is often about being moral and having common interests like serving others or educating in a similar fashion. People can join with different ideas in mind, the problem is that the undiscerning Christian thinks it is a group of people like them, and the unbeliever thinks it's a group like them. In churches that seek to bring in all manner of people because that is their measure of success, pastors learn to speak in a way that reaches both, very carefully, and so do other group leaders and marketers.

Do our kids have to be overtly taught wrong ways of ministry and thinking, or do they catch it by what is around them?

What is the mission statement of any groups we're in? If they are Christian, what does that mean? How about if it's a Christian group that claims like-minded members? This would seem to imply people have to agree on some specific things in order to join...

Question--Should we promote and/or seek out community, or should we seek out Christian unity? By doing the latter, will we naturally find what God has in mind for the community we interact with?