If you are looking for a lovely place to have a special celebration or a delightful afternoon tea with some friends, check out Belle Grove Plantation! It is beautiful and the tea service is wonderful. I recently looked to see if they were still having teas and went to the incorrect Belle Grove website. Here is the link for the B&B which hosts elegant tea services!
https://bellegroveplantation.com/afternoon-tea
In January they are doing a special drawing for a free TWO NIGHT stay! Check it out :
I can't think of the way the world responded to COVID-19 and not think of Rev 13 when the anti-Christ and false prophet are deceiving the world. My mind immediately goes to Catholics I know well and how utterly panic stricken they were. How they judged those who didn't jump in the Kool-Aid pool, losing the ability to reason and think clearly. It is ironic the people I'm thinking of are Roman Catholic since that false belief system is devastatingly wrought with members who will follow the anti-Christ because they do not know God. Just as people, even Christians, were led down wrong paths of thinking with the coronavirus, the false prophet will lead the native, lost--all who are unsaved... into a world of lies. Those who do not belong to God, through Christ, are slaves to sin, they are the unsaved. They cannot help but walk in the path of destruction. This path is the one everyone walks in if it has not been interrupted by the truth of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
All people are born with a sin nature. Sin is anything we think, say, or do that offends God, who is the creator of the world and all living things. Our sin is a serious problem. It must be remedied if we're to enter Heaven, a holy place, when we die-- whether our death is timely or untimely. Blood sacrifice is the only thing that can make our sin ok. It is the only thing that removes our sin. God set this system of forgiveness up. Jesus was a perfect man who was the payment, once and for all, for the sins of the lost who would be redeemed. Christ's death was not in vain. It accomplishes all God intends for it to accomplish. God calls and draws people to Himself and when a sinner responds in humble repentance, asking for God's forgiveness for their sin, the payment Jesus offered is added to that sinner's account. This is being born again, born spiritually into the family of God. God holds us for all eternity from that point on. God sees those who trust Christ to be their payment, or ransom, very differently from those who have not trusted Jesus. God sees repentant sinners as sons and daughters! No longer a slave or alien, but a member of the family!
If we think we do not sin, we simply do not understand what sin is. It is lying, purposefully misleading, or is stealing, murder, adultery, fornication, abusing substances that harm our bodies, gossip, slander.... our thoughts are sinful and so are our actions. We must be honest with ourselves and look at our lives as compared to the perfect standard God set up. There is one God, the Lord of all Heaven and earth.
Do not be like those in Rev 13 who are so deluded they fail to see the wretched evil we've been warned about for over 2000 years. Be free in Christ---forgiven and free to not sin.
I'm not sure if it is the overt wickedness of the culture, the shameless lying the left will engage in while everyone looks on, base movements such as BLM that are tearing at the fabric of what comprises a civilized society, or my ever-increasing age, but I find myself less concerned about being close to people who are only pretending to be Christians, or who give lip-service to being Christians, regardless of who they are. The gap between worldviews is just massive if we're looking at someone born again and someone not born again. The tricky thing is, we can't live in a bubble of only believers. We must get out and share the gospel, and be involved with the lost so that we get opportunities to explain who God is and how to be reconciled to Him.
I'm thankful that it is God who makes the dead come to life in being reborn; that is is He who draws and calls people to Himself. I'm thankful I'm to be praying and keeping my eyes on Him, while entrusting Him with the business of saving the lost. That requires me to pray for opportunities to be among those yet saved and to have the right words at the right time.
As we are reflecting on the goodness of God in sending Christ this Christmas season, how about learn some fun facts about the hymn Joy to the World? It turns out that it wasn't originally written as a song, and it wasn't originally intended to be a Christmas carol. :)
This subject has definitely been written about on this blog, but perhaps not exactly from this angle.
Pride....so many varied faces.
Oftentimes, when a person finds that they are more alone than they want, or are avoided by people to an extent, pride can be the culprit.
We can think more highly of ourselves than we ought, and people do not like this. We can encourage our offspring to think more highly of themselves than they ought as well. Beware, parent. You just may be your child's Achilles heel!
If we often give our unsolicited opinions, it is as if we are saying, "What I think is important, listen to me!" Maybe it is important, but wait for times that it is helpful or wanted. Trying to show your knowledge isn't always welcome. Prayer requests aren't open opportunities to give advice to someone. I'd say that is a time to NOT offer opinions or advice. People will ask if they want advice, usually from people they respect. If you are compelled, ask the person if they are interested in your thoughts on the matter. Be willing to be told no.
Not bettering ourselves can be a more subtle form of pride. For example, shunning college or failing to see the value in it for others because ultimately we think we know everything already...this is shockingly prideful. Failing to understand why some should go to college is insulting. Everyone should use the gifts God has given them to the maximum. God gifts some intellectually. We should all make the most of what God has gifted us with and cultivating our minds is part of that to varying degree. It should make sense that if the Lord has seriously blessed someone with a love of learning, the ability to learn and succeed at high levels, they should foster that to glorify Him. To be content to not better ourselves in ways that develop our minds, and thus open options for better work opportunities, is short-sighted and foolish. Men should consider this carefully. College is certainly not needed for many careers, so don't waste your time if it isn't. But the operative word there is CAREER. High school caliber work isn't going to provide for a family, and you want skills that transfer to multiple settings. For example, a skilled mechanic will have their pick of places to work. No college is needed and it is a good career. Taking special certification courses is often a smart move, and demonstrates planning for the future and humility. We don't know it all because we know some.
That last sentence really capitalizes on wrong, prideful thinking. Taking high school Biology merely introduces you to the subject matter. College Biology will begin with some basics that are repetitive, and only a fool would say, "I've already learned all of this; I'm dropping the class!" College Biology goes much farther and deeper, and the subsequent courses do as well. Introductory courses at the college level do not begin to plumb the depths of a subject. The humble person sees this and realizes the more they learn, the less they know. Exploring the depths of Biology takes years of advanced classes. This is true of all subjects.
Do not think you bring more to the table than you do. Assume you bring very little and you will find more friends and less people avoiding you. Quite simply, pride goeth before a fall.
Now that I have older kids, I would like to think my opinion has changed on how near to live to family when first married. After 24 years of marriage, and recalling how our first years went, my view has remained the same by and large.
It is best to live a bit away from family when first establishing your married life if it is clear that you as a couple need that to truly establish your own home. Observation has shown me that when this is not the case, new couples often overly complicate how to split their time with each side. This could be due to excess pressure from one side, or one mother-in-law. Regardless, distance would help this dynamic. Having some distance can help couples leave and cleave, particularly if the extended family is unsaved or particularly weird. If the new husband or wife cannot keep their strange family at bay, some distance can help as they work out how they want to do things within their new household.
