I Support the Duggar's

     Many have probably heard all about what Josh Duggar has done. I will probably upset many people, and many people might disagree with me on this, but these are my personal convictions. I only watched a couple episodes of the Duggar's "19 kids and counting" TV show. Before I re-post an article, I would like to state that, yes... Josh Duggar was wrong! He sinned greatly! And, yes, I agree that sometimes us Christians can be a little too relax on sin issues. However, this sin that Josh Duggar did was so long ago. It was in the past. He's since repented and turned from his wicked ways. We're making a huge deal out of what Josh Duggar did, which is still wrong. However, if we could read each others mind, and know every little sin that everyone's done as an individual, we'd be judging each other right and left.
     Molestation is wrong. I'm not stating that Josh Duggar is perfect. He was very wrong in what he did. He repented. Love doesn't keep record of wrongs. (1st Corinthians 13:4-5) Because Josh repented and turned from his wicked ways, God says, "If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then i will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." ~2nd Chronicles 7:14 The Bible also says in Psalm 103:12, "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." What Josh Duggar did was inexcusable. He's guilty under the same law that we're all guilty of. God will judge him when the time comes, but for now, let's put the past behind us, and learn to forgive. Josh Duggar has repented of his sins, and as far as we know, turned from his wicked ways.
     I've copied and pasted a couple links below of some links that might be useful, and helpful. I stand with the Duggar's. I will pray that God will work in their lives in the midst of this. Please keep this family in your prayers.
http://todaychristian.net/jessa-duggars-father-in-law-michael-seewald-responds-to-feeding-frenzy-grace-greater-than-our-sin/

http://www.duggarfamilyblog.com/2015/05/matt-walsh-supports-duggars.html

http://wherejoyis.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-most-important-thing-we-can-learn.html#.VWR24FxVhBc

http://louderwithcrowder.com/cast-the-first-stone-josh-duggar/

http://m.blogs.christianpost.com/wretched/the-duggar-disaster-25658/

http://splash4ripples.com/2015/05/23/josh-duggar-who-will-join-the-crucifixion-march/

Giveaway, modesty, and Virtue!

    I'm doing a Blog Giveaway for a $5.00 Gift Card to Starbucks!!!! Please enter below.

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This is an extremely great article, and I thought I'd share it. :)

This is getting ridiculous.
When did we decide to be the kind of society that mocks virtue? When did we turn into the pudgy, freckle faced bully in all of the 90′s teen sitcoms who points and laughs at the studious kid just because he’s well behaved and does his homework? Maybe it’s always been this way. I don’t know. What I do know is that, these days, we are lost. It’s not that we do terrible things (although we do), it’s that we either don’t know or pretend we don’t know what we should be doing.

We run around like decapitated poultry, colliding with each other and bumping into walls. And when someone with their head on straight, or with their head on at all, suggests a clear direction, a course of action, or a change of behavior, we descend upon them like crazed hyenas. When someone simply says, “hey, that there is not good, but this here is good, so we should probably do this rather than that,” we pounce on them and rip their guts out, then hang their entrails from a bridge as a warning to anyone else who might get a little bold one day and think about developing a moral compass.

Take the case of Veronica Partridge, for example. She’s a Christian wife and blogger who recently wrote a post called “Why I Chose to No Longer Wear Leggings.” Her message is very simple. Really, in a country not populated by headless chickens, it wouldn't even be noteworthy. She merely says that people ought to be modest, and that women, particularly married women, shouldn't go out in attire that is specifically designed to spark the attention of other men. She relates it all to herself, and says that she has resolved to be more mindful about what she wears. That’s it.

To finish reading, go to:http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/hey-look-that-woman-is-trying-to-be-modest-lets-all-laugh-at-her-and-call-her-names/

Matt Walsh and what America loves

Many of heard of Matt Walsh. He recently wrote this article which was really great and quite the eye-opener. I thought I'd share that with ya'll today:

http://themattwalshblog.com/2014/09/04/joel-osteen-wife-heretics-thats-america-loves/

Video surfaced a few days ago of Victoria Osteen, wife of famed “pastor” Joel Osteen, saying some rather heretical things to the “congregation” at Lakewood “Church.”

Sidebar: I’m only one sentence into this post and already I've been forced to use sarcastic quotes three times. For simplicity’s sake, I will, from here on out, drop the quotes with the understanding that the quotes are implied. Joel Osteen is only a pastor because anyone can call themselves a pastor these days, and his church is only a church because anything can call itself a church these days. I happen to be of the old fashioned school of thought that believes a pastor should be, in some ways, distinguishable from Tony Robbins or Oprah, and a church should be, in some ways, distinguishable from a basketball arena on game day. I’m not saying that all churches need to be adorned with stained glass windows and incense (although I’m a fan of both), but I am saying that maybe all churches should have, like, a cross or something somewhere, maybe. God forbid a house of worship be arranged in such a way as to
 make it clear that we are specifically worshiping Jesus Christ and not the smiley fellow on stage giving
the vaguely spiritual pep talk.

In the clip, Mrs. Osteen implores the audience to “realize that when we obey God, we’re not doing it for God… we’re doing it for ourselves.” As her proud husband nods approvingly, Osteen continues. “Do good for your own self. Do it because God wants you to be happy. When you come to church, when you worship Him, you’re not doing it for God, really — you’re doing it for yourself, because that’s what makes God happy. Amen?”

Amen! What wonderful blasphemy! Worship God for yourself. Do good works for yourself. Take up your cross, suffer the slings and arrows of the Enemy, and die with Christ for yourself. (OK, she didn't say that last part, but only because the Osteen's have a strict “don’t talk about Jesus” preaching policy).

In more primitive times they burned heretics at the stake. Now we greet the blasphemers with applause and multi-million dollar book deals. I’m not sure if the latter response is any more enlightened than the former, but both are wrong.

This is obviously an indefensible teaching, and one that does not require more “context” to be understood. “Do good for your own self.” A definitive, complete, profoundly disordered statement. Rooted in the Idolatry of Self, it betrays a pagan attitude which positions the Self as the Ultimate Good, the Final Purpose. All things — even God Himself — must revolve around the great and powerful Me. In the Osteens’ version of things, God exists to serve us, just as we exist to serve ourselves. You act virtuously for your own sake, because it brings you happiness. Never mind what Christ said in Matthew, when He told us to “let our light shine before others, so that they may see our good works and give glory to our Father who is in heaven.” Here, He seems to state that we act with righteousness and virtue in order to glorify God, but Mrs. Osteen thinks that Jesus is complicating the equation. Just shine your light for your own sake. Forget about God. Keep it simple, folks.

And even when you pay honor and homage to the Lord — do it because it makes you feel good. Your feelings are the end all and be all. Again, we are a far cry from what Scripture has to say on the matter, where Paul exhorts us to “present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is our spiritual worship.” [Romans 12:1]

Read the rest of the article at: 

http://themattwalshblog.com/2014/09/04/joel-osteen-wife-heretics-thats-america-loves/

Pro-life Christian

Every Friday some friends from church, and I go down to a Planned Parenthood. We're there to encourage and edify others that children are a blessing. And we're there to pray over the innocent lives that have been lost, and continue to be lost. We've had many police and security men walk up to us, and tell us that we're too close to the building, or that we're doing something illegal. But we're called to pray.
Let’s begin with the Bible’s constant and consistent message condemning the taking of innocent life. Exodus, Deuteronomy, Psalms, Revelation, Matthew — all of these books engrave this truth into stone. Psalms, in particular, has a very relevant verse: “They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons, and they shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and their daughters… desecrating the land with bloodshed.” Question: is abortion the taking of a life? Yes. Call it a fetus, call it an embryo, call it a moose if you like. What you can’t call it is inanimate matter. Therefore, it is a life. Another question: is that life innocent? Yes. And I shudder to think that anyone would suggest otherwise.

The Bible repeatedly condemns the killing of innocents, but abortion kills the innocent.

Who is still confused?

My favorite pro-life verse is that obscure passage that reads: “Thou shalt not kill.”

Yes, “kill” must be understood as “murder,” and murder can’t be understood to include justified and righteous killing like self-defense, or the defense of a loved one. It is not hard for me to understand “thou shalt not kill (except in matters of self-defense and just warfare). But it is a little difficult to comprehend this version: “thou shalt not kill (unless you’re killing your young child).”

The Bible also teaches that God specifically commanded the human race to “be fruitful and multiply.” Abortion would seem to fall short of that directive.

Scripture says that life is sacred (“I came that they may have life” – John 10 “There shall be no more death” – Revelation 21 “Thanks be to God who gives us victory” over death – 1 Corinthians 15 “He will destroy death forever” – Isaiah 25) and that children are a “gift from God” (Psalm 127).

Most compellingly, the Bible repeatedly says that God creates and forms every human being (“God created man in His image” – Genesis “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” – Jeremiah). Unless you believe in a flawed and clumsy Lord, you must not think that any life can be accidental, or that God wishes for any of the beings made in His image to be exterminated before they even emerge from the womb.
 God has a plan for all of us, and our job as parents is to guide our children in following
and understanding that plan.

Further, Jesus makes it clear that whatever we do or fail to do for “the least of His brothers” we did or failed to do for Him (Matthew 25). When we abort a child, we are therefore aborting Christ.

I feel sick even typing that sentence, but there is no other way to interpret the matter.

But the most shocking Biblical attacks against abortion cannot be boiled down to one or two sentences. The central point — the Ultimate Moment — of Christianity is, among other things, a stunning rebuke against abortion. Indeed, if there is one issue today that most offends and
desecrates the Christian Message, it is abortion.

Think about it: Jesus was miraculously conceived in the womb. He spent his first nine months on Earth as a “fetus.” If abortion wasn't a grave sin up until that point (even though it was), it would have become the gravest of sins afterwards. Jesus elevated all of mankind when he became one of us. And He became one of us through every stage, so every stage was elevated and sanctified.

Let me repeat this: if you are a Christian then you believe that CHRIST HIMSELF was a “fetus.” How can the “fetus” be anything other than sacred life after such an event?

Just a glob of cells? Is that what a Christian would say of his Savior?

We don’t know what Christ looked like exactly, ("He has no form or comeliness;
and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him." ~Isaiah 53: 2)
but we know he once looked something like this:

And how did Jesus’ life end? He sacrificed Himself for the our sake.

Sacrifice.

Christianity is a religion of sacrifice, while abortion is a sacrament for those who wish to avoid it.

Sacrifice. Love. Life.

Abortion stands opposed to all of these things, and so it stands opposed to God, and so it stands opposed to Christianity.

That doesn't mean that pro-choice people can never be Christian, and it certainly doesn't mean that post-abortive mothers aren't welcome. Far from it. Christianity is also a religion of forgiveness, and thank God for that, because I am in constant need of God’s eternal mercy.

Christianity is a faith for all people, but it is not a faith for all notions and ideas. You cannot simultaneously profess the Faith while also defending the murder of the innocent.
I pray that whether or not you're pro-life or pro-choice, that Christ will convict you to pray for our nation.