...and a time to speak...

I am so excited that my husband, Chris, recently made the decision to come and join me in the High School Ministry department at our church and is currently co-teaching a class for Juniors and Seniors. He and his co-teacher are doing a phenomenal job just being a sounding board for many of these young men who need solid, male mentors in their lives. Chris and I talked recently about a table conversation among his group where some of the guys were sharing how hard it is at school nowadays to really have a voice when you happen to be a conservative Christian who stands by the inerrancy of the Word of God. There is SO much "progressive" Christianity out there that has distorted God's truth and if you happen to disagree with it, your voice is immediately squashed and you might even be labeled as a hater. This breaks my heart for a number of reasons. High School is such a hard place socially as it is and then to add on top of that being made to feel like you have no place to s...

So, my 10 year old son often likes to drop spiritual bombs on me right around 8:00 p.m. What is happening around that time? Preparations for bed of course. So what better time to bring out the big guns than right before bedtime because he knows he can expect at least a short conversation to occur. A few nights ago, we were just getting home from sports practices and piano lessons and he was under strict instruction to take a quick shower and then get his book for nightly reading when... BOOM! "Mom, why didn't God just kill the snake if He  knew  it was Satan and that Adam and Eve would sin? Why doesn't He just get rid of Satan all together so we can all live perfectly and be happy all the time?" Now I have heard variations of this same question from both of my children at times, but this time the question was thought out and very specific. Why didn't He just kill that darn snake before Adam and Eve could even be temped by it? As I did my best to answer fully ...

"For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their  itching ears  want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." 2 Timothy 4:3-4 "I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ." Jude 1:4 "Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples...

As I was driving home the other day, I passed a local church whose marquee out front said "We support radical inclusivity." I read it and my first reaction honestly was one of utter annoyance. I know that sounds terrible, but let me explain. On this particular church's website, Inclusivity is listed as a core value and explained like this: "We embrace all as expressions of God." Hmmmm, where to even begin. I have to assume that this statement most likely reflects this church's stance on sexual orientation. So if that particular characteristic is covered as an "expression of God" then I also have to assume that someone's porn addiction, alcoholism, drug abuse, habitual gossiping and/or stealing are also just expressions of God in their personality, right? I mean, surely they are not saying that "all" includes only one thing? No, the word "all" means just that and if your stance is that one sin is okay, then ALL sins are okay....

Since the beginning of this year, I have really been enjoying reading through the bible in chronological order for the first time. One of the best things so far has been a series of Psalms written by David that have followed the accounts of David's life and reign in 1 Chronicles and 1 Kings. Many of these Psalms are already grouped together, but in the traditional bible format, I wouldn't read them directly after reading the account of his life. They were so much more meaningful to me this time around having just finished what can only be described as one of the most compelling biographies in all the bible. With Father's Day right around the corner, many times I would catch myself highlighting various passages of David's Psalms while thinking about the role of Godly men in general. I, clearly, am not a man, but I can glean a lot of things from David that I think would be of utmost importance to a man throughout his life. I can read the account of David's life a...