The Largest Church in the World....

Today I was blessed by being able to talk to a former pastor of mine. I went to his present church's website and listened to the very beggining of a sermon.... a video..... it haunted me in a way, and you are about to see why.

This might get controversial, but I promised this year to be open on here.... open about my struggles... and now I'm going to be very open about my beliefs.

You see it is dangerous to allow just "anything" into our home. We may think that it's ok because we "know" the truth and we "know" we wont be deceived. However many christians as they allow certain things into their minds..... are deceived.... slowly! Little by little..... right... seems to be wrong.... and wrong... doesn't seem so bad anymore.... soon black and white.... becomes ... grey.....

I'm soooo not perfect in this area.... infact these convictions I speak of... I am speaking to myself as well..... there are so many gifted speakers... comedians... singers.... and I find myself rationalizing and trying to justify how I can still enjoy them...... I think "I am strong"..... "I was brought up in the truth"...."why can't I just enjoy listening even if I don't agree with their lifestyle/choices"... I understand that.. I do.. because not everyone as they are on their shows... or singing their songs...... do they talk openly against God or scripture.... but as you will see in the video below.... maybe one of those shows will.... and it is one where maybe not only you are watching but your children as well....

I think about the scripture where it says Romans 14:21 "It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall." Well I put my children into that category. What are we allowing them to hear as their values... morals... character..... are developing.... we may "know" the truth... but they are just learning...and easily swayed....and we are their role models... they take their cues from us....

It's not about "supporting" someone who doesn't believe what I believe... it's more about allowing something into my mind... that could lead me astray.... the bible is clear. "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."Phillipians 4:8

As we turn on certain TV shows.... as we listen to certain music... does it enhance our relationship with God.... or does it cause questions.... and doubts on what he tells us is right and wrong? Does it make us see sin as "not that bad"....

Believe me... I am thinking to the answer to this question right along with hopefully anyone who reads this... I have some shows I watch right now... that I really need to pray and seek God's heart on whether I should be or not....

I know we can't bubble ourselves or our kids. Real life will hit them with more than they might even seen on T.V. or hear on the radio. I guess I feel that as much as we can guard our hearts and minds... the better..... personally as my children go to pre-school, school... outside events.. I know they are going to be bombarded with all kinds of things... so right now I am trying to give them the truth.... and limit their exposure to things that will not help them develop those character traits.... morals... and values.... and not only them.... but I still need to guard my own heart and mind.... to help me stay focused..... help me stay on the straight and narrow path as well....

Here's the video that inspired this blog..... I hope I don't sound "preachy" all the time... it's just as God speaks to me... I want to share that with others.. I know that not everyone believes the same as me, and the great thing about God is he gives us a choice. I am not going to shove my beliefs down anyone's throat... however I will share what I believe.... and I will respect other people.... as hopefully I will be respected...... please watch the video... and spend some time soul searching for yourself.....

Movie Monday

I know I haven't been consistent on my Movie Mondays... Sorry! Life can get hectic with three little boys and a husband!!

I know I shared a comedian Ken Davis with you all this past week, so this time I am going to share something a little deeper. Hope you all are inspired and encouraged. We need to remember always... Blessed be the name of the Lord! Watch it.. I promise you it will touch you!

When you feel God's leading....

Ever felt God tell you something... but it's something you didn't really want to do.... or you kept asking yourself... "Does God really want me to do this... is he really speaking to me"....

Sometimes when we feel God speaking to us and telling us to do something or say something it's not always easy. Sometimes it is..... but what I always tell myself is when you listen to God... follow his leading... even though the result is not what you are hoping for... trust that you obeyed his direction. Then you leave it in his capable hands... We wont' always know what the result of our God directed action will be, but we can always trust that when we obey God.... we can trust that he is taking care of it.... then we have to let it go......

There have been times where I did not listen to God..... his nudging at my heart... for one big reason.... fear.... fear of rejection.....what if I say the wrong thing.... what if it doesn't help.... but I am coming to realize..... it's not my job to know the answers all the time... or the outcomes.... my job... is to trust and obey.... no matther how hard it is sometimes..... no matter if rejection comes.... or acceptance...no matter if someone receives God's voice... or turns away from it....

"I trust you Jesus..... and I trust that as I hear your voice.... and try to do as you ask..... that I can have peace in that.... even when things don't go my way... or how I think they should....."

Uplifting moment for the day....

We could all use a pick me up sometimes, and today I was feeling like trying to find something that would give us a laugh and encourage us at the same time....

God is the author of joy... and sometimes to keep from feeling defeated.. we need to remember God gave us humor..... :-)

Hope you enjoy this.... His name is Ken Davis...... and he is a gifted comedian... He has been around since I was a kid.... Just a few short skits.... hopefully to bring a smile to your face today as they did me...

Feeling defeated......

Today I was sitting in church..... and I was thinking about my own struggle with sin... and how this world can make us feel defeated sometimes...... and my pastor was talking about how if we want to be on God's Team... the WINNING team... then we need to get serious about him. He asked the question to us... Are we more like Christ today than we were last week??... if not we need to get serious!!!

He talked about how he went shopping for potato chips.... and he thinks he's getting a full bag of chips but when he opens it up... he looks in to see mostly air... and very little of what looked so appealing on the outside.... he said sometimes we are "Potato Chip Christians"..... we make it look real good on the outside..... but if you open us up... it's a lot of air... and not much of a real relationship with Jesus Christ....

Then after leaving church I heard some very disheartening news.... I began to feel defeated..... I looked around and thought "this world... is SO far from God's law..... myself included sometimes..." but then something else the pastor said came to my mind...... we ARE on the WINNING team!!!! Yes we will struggle.... yes the world will obey their own law instead of God's..... and try to get others to believe that God's will is contradicting his word (which NEVER happens)....... yes we will fail sometimes..... yes others we trust and believe in will fail us....... but GOD NEVER WILL! and this is the best part..... we may lose the battles but GOD has already won the WAR!!! God has won!!!!!... HE is still on the throne......!!!! GOD is in control!!!

So I got on my knees.... and said "thank you God.... thank you that I can rest in knowing you have already won! " I prayed for those being deceived..... and I prayed that I keep my eyes open to the truth so that I wont' be deceived..... and I left my room feeling peace..... Please know that I know I'm not perfect!!!!.... and I hope I never pretend to be...... sometimes I am a potato chip christian.....and sometimes I need someone to look at me and say "it's time to get serious"..... today was that day... and I'm so thankful that God laid it on my pastor's heart to preach that sermon today.... not just tickle our ears and tell us what's easy.... but to really confront us... make us think.... and make us look up to our heavenly father..... and get serious about him!

They grow up sooo fast....

I remember when I had my first child Joseph..... and when I would tell someone that he was up all night crying...... or how happy I was he was crawling or walking.... people would tell me... "don't rush it away"..... "before you know it he'll be in school"...... and as I see my children growing I can see how right they are.... in the blink of an eye..... they change.... they grow..... what made me think of this is my 3rd son Jonathan turns 1 today.... Last year ..... April 12, 2009... Easter Morning.... I went into labor.... 5:30am we decided we need to go to the hospital.... and by that afternoon... I had a baby boy in my arms...... now as I look into his sweet little face..... he's already changed sooo much.... he's walking now.... talking some.... feeding himself some foods......














I look at my sammy..... he is almost 4 .. and sometimes he just acts so grown up..... and joseph.... he will be 6 this summer and will head off to kindergarten..... WOW....

















and michael!!! He's almost 13!!! AAAAHHHHH!!!!








I am going to try and heed all that advice I got a while back..... "cherish this time!"..... and I also got another great bit of advice from a great friend.... She told me... "when i'm up in the middle of the night... I don't get upset... I just realize.... this is what's happening right now... I accept it.... get through it... and realize that soon this will pass"...... and you know what.... pretty soon.... jonathan won't be up during the middle of the night.... (hopefully) ...... and another new phase of life will start..... the biggest thing I am learning is to be excited about "right now" and not try and rush them to the next thing..... children are amazing... they will learn..... they will grow.... we need not rush them.... or one day we will look back.... and wish we had slowed down a bit.....






So to all the people out there who have told me... "slow down"..... "this will pass".... "enjoy them.. it goes by to quickly"..... I am going to try and listen more to you.... :-)

In the living years.....

We traveled back to missouri for the Easter weekend and on the way home as I was searching the radio for something to listen too.... a familiar song came on.... and I just had to stop and listen. It's called "In The Living Years".... thoughts flooded my mind and I realized this was something I needed to blog about....

You see each day we get wrapped up in so much stuff...... and sometimes we forget to enjoy the things that are most important to us...

I lost my father when I was 9 years old..... had he known he only had 9 years with me I wondered what he would have done different... if anything.... if I had known I only had a short time with him... what would I have done different..... then I look around me... I see people lose people suddenly all the time....




The songs lyrics talk about how he had disagreements and instead of just admitting they didn't see eye to eye... they let bitterness get between them.... I see those around me doing that as well... and sometimes myself...... until one day.. they lose that person......



I think it's a daily struggle for us to stop.... take a breath... and really cherish the things most dear and precious to us..... to let things go that have hurt us.... or to realize not everyone is going to see it our way.... and to not let that get the best of us...

So take a listen.... then go and hug the people closest to you and let them know how much you love them... or maybe the dreaded words "i'm sorry" or "i forgive you"...... so that we won't have to say ... " I wish I could have told them... in the Living Years.....