Becoming Godly Maidens

Stressed Out and Overwhelmed?

2012-01-18T18:06:00.000-08:00

Well, the New Year (as well as the new semester) is underway! If you’re like me, you may feel a bit like an your mind is being slowly compressed in a flower-press. There is so much to do and think about— a list of assignments and homework that is literally as long as my arm, projects to finish, work to do, money to earn, promises to fulfill, friends and family to spend time with, lives to touch, souls to save, problems to solve, prayers to pray and the world to rescue! Who has time to do everything there is to do and experience? I’m wrestling with a thousand questions and trying to figure out my priorities. I’m trying to study for A’s but spend time with family, too. I’m trying to save money but be generous. I’m trying to plan for the future but follow God’s plans for my life. I’m trying to avoid wasting time and also avoid running myself to exhaustion. Can anyone relate?

Hopefully you, unlike me, have not yet dissolved into a useless mass of nerves and mush. Hopefully this will not happen to you at all this semester. Keep in mind the bigger picture of life. What is your purpose in life? Is it getting 100% instead of 92% on your history test? Of course not. At the same time, do not get so overwhelmed by your desire to save the planet and eradicate all forms of social injustice that you totally overwhelm yourself and render yourself incapable of doing anything efficiently. Take your opportunities as they come, and create opportunities for yourself, but realize that you can’t do anything single-handedly. Don’t miss the smaller pieces to the puzzle—you may not be able to go save an entire tribe of South American natives right now, but you can share your faith (and maybe a coffee date) with that lost person in your life. You can stop being busy in order to help someone move. You can look up from your computer or iPhone long enough to notice that someone is having a bad day, and take the opportunity to make it a good one for them.

And last but not least—make sure to take time every day to read the Bible and pray. To those of us who have been in the Chruch for a while, this advice starts to sound cliché, but it’s the best way to stave of stress and keep your spirit full and your mind clear. Drishat Shalom—Peace to you!

Inconvenient Christmas

2011-12-23T10:03:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuQFFCI1h34

I love this song. It’s funny and a little far fetched, but it’s also a reminder that even when this potentially stressful time of year comes around, we can just relax and remember what’s really important. How often do we really “have it bad?” Honestly, very rarely. I’m not saying that we don’t have our frustrations—in fact, I did write a new verse to this song that reflected our family’s mishaps! However (as this song reminded me on my most frustrating day this season), we can get through and over the road bumps in life and remember the incredible trouble that Jesus and his family went through in order to give us the ultimate Christmas gift—hope of eternal life. Don’t let the business and stress of the season distract you from the precious core of this holiday.

Among the bills that I received was a postcard marked, "Apology,

the Christmas gifts you ordered aren't in stock."

So I packed up the kids for grandpa's house,

then a blizzard blew in and the car broke down.

So, we shared a quart of eggnog at a truck stop.

And I said, "Now kids, this is unfortunate,

you think it's bad, well it's inconvenient.

But the most inconvenient Christmas ever was,

was the first one, when God came so far to give himself to us.

So when the stress hits each December

how it helps me to remember

God is with us most when things just can't get worse.

Ah, the most inconvenient Christmas ever was, was the first.

By the time we got to Grandpa's house

his Christmas lights had burned it down.

So we had to take him home to live with us.

But he couldn't stand to leave the farm, so now there's cattle in our yard,

sheep on the rug, pigs in the tub, and a rooster at dawn.

I said, "Now honey, this is unfortunate,

you think it's bad, well it's inconvenient.

But the most inconvenient Christmas ever was,

was the first one when God came so far to give himself to us.

So when the stress hits each December

how it helps me to remember

God is with us most when things just can't get worse.

Ah, the most inconvenient Christmas ever was, was the first.

A young girl expects a child she can't explain;

forced to walk a hundred miles just to give birth in the hay.

While the king in that same hour,

fearing challenge to his power,

sent his troops to track him down and wipe him out.

Hands down,

the most inconvenient Christmas ever was,

was the first one when God came so far to give himself to us.

So when the stress hits each December

how it helps me to remember

God is with us most when things just can't get worse.

Ah, the most inconvenient Christmas ever was, was the first.

DO.

2011-11-15T14:37:00.000-08:00

Today at chapel, we had a guest speaker who grew up as a missionaries’ kid in Liberia and now runs missions to the people there by providing practical needs, like shoes, and showing the love of Christ. He talked about the importance of doing something and being active to make a difference for the poor, the orphans, and other underprivileged. What he said was just tearing my heart out, and I wanted to scream, because meanwhile I was sitting on my rear in a newly refurbished gym at an expensive private university—I was wearing shoes and clothes with plenty of wear in them, I had a nutritious meal in my lunch bag, and I was going home to a functional family, a roof, several hundred dollars worth of electronics, and WHAT AM I DOING ABOUT POVERTY? A little. I do a little. But it’s not on the forefront of my mind, especially since school started. And I know that every one of us college students got out of our plastic folding chairs and went about our business, and probably most of us will not make any life changes based on that sermon.

I am just getting really sick of doing things for the kingdom, but focusing primarily on myself. I am getting really sick of complaining about eating yams instead of tacos. And I am getting sick of our society as a whole. Opulence disgusts me. There is more to life than this. There is more to life than self.

WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT THIS?

Remembering

2011-11-11T21:47:00.000-08:00

To all those who have laid down their lives
To those who have lost a loved one

To the wounded

To the soldiers who have healed
To those who did not

To fathers and mothers who had to leave their children
To sons and daughters who had to leave their parents
To the men and women who are far away
To the ones who may leave at any time

To those who have returned

To those who direct them
To those who train them
To those who treat them
To those who feed them
To those who minister to them
To those who love them
To those who pray over them

Thank you

Let us never forget.

Maybe It's YOUR Problem

2011-09-28T17:16:00.000-07:00

~Romans 2:1 “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.” ~

Yikes.

There are times when I read a passage of scripture and something jumps off the page and hits me between the eyes. Romans 2:1 is one of those passages. I have found that what it says is entirely too true. Have you ever noticed that the things that bother you most about other people are the things that YOU have a problem with? I have. One of my biggest struggles is my pride problem. I have been trying to kill it for years, but it just doesn’t want to go away. As a side note, I think this is an appropriate place to thank God for the demolition work that He has done on my pride. Pride is one of those obnoxious mental problems that sneak up on you and increase exponentially as you think you are beating it. The moment you believe yourself to be humble, you have regained your pride. This is why only God can beat pride. I’m not saying that mine is gone and that I’m now a humble person, but when I look back at the person I was four years ago, I am absolutely disgusted. I am grateful for those horrible times and embarrassing situations I experienced while God was working on my pride. If you pray earnestly for God to take away your pride, boy, will he get busy! Maybe I’m crazy, but I keep on praying that prayer and I keep on experiencing the pain. It is worth it to get closer to the person God wants me to be.

In light of this verse, then, it will probably not surprise you to read that my pet peeve in other people is arrogance. A few days ago, I ran into someone who made it a point to prove that she is better than I am. She virtually destroyed all possibility of civil conversation because she was determined to prove her superiority. I hate conflict, so I let it slide and ended the conversation on a good note as quickly as possible. However, inside, I was really, really irritated. I passed judgment on this girl for her pride. It ate at me for hours before I prayed about it and remembered that the things that bug me the most are the things that I have a problem with. Ouch. I can always tell when I really need to work on something. The more someone else’s attitude bugs me, the more I need to pay attention to my own attitudes and actions.

Let me challenge you. Next time someone’s fault get on your nerves, stop focusing on them and their problems. You can’t change them. Instead, try a little introspection. Discover why you are so irritated. Get to the root of the problem. Find out what parasite living inside you is causing you to be upset, and pray for its removal. It might hurt for a while; I’ll be honest. But in the long run, it’s going to make your life sweeter and bring you closer to becoming the person God created you to become.

Your Mutual What?

2011-08-19T16:49:00.000-07:00

Before I begin, I want to warn you about the content of this post. I know some of my readers probably would rather not be exposed to very adult topics, and I’d rather not subject you to reading something that you don’t want to or should not read. This is something for high schoolers on up! That being said, you may read on at your own risk.

This week was a milestone for me—I started college! One of my classes is on Biblical Interpretation. For our first assignment, we have to read this article, http://thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2008/12/05/our-mutual-joy.print.html/ , which we certainly don’t agree with, and identify the biblical arguments that the author uses to present her case. After reading this article, I wish the assignment were to write a very long essay to argue against the article. I suppose I’ll have to settle for a blog post. I’d really like to post the entire article here and then attack it and tear it apart, paragraph by paragraph. However, that would become a very long blog post, and it would most likely end up sounding angry. So I’ll simply address the main issues I see with this article, assuming my reader has read it. Right now, I am extremely annoyed, offended, disgusted, and altogether horrified by the way that the author, Lisa Miller, mutilates the Holy word of my God.

In this article, Miller addresses the topic of the Biblical view of homosexuality. I really don’t know why she even bothers. Obviously, she regard the Bible as myth; she denies the virgin birth and refers to the account of Esther as “legend.” In addition, she discards large portions of scripture and reinterprets other parts. She claims that Old Testament sections of law (such as Leviticus 18, which describes gay sex as detestible) as “throwaway lines.” Throwaway lines! Since when is any part of the Bible disposable? Second Timothy 3:16 says that “all scripture is God-breathed.” That includes Leviticus. It includes all of the law, for that matter.

As far as I can tell, from my viewpoint as a relatively well-studied but and yet young and inexperienced individual, there are two parts to the Law. There are the sections that deal with the forgiveness of sin, sacrifices, ceremonial cleanliness, and all things temple-related. These sections were fulfilled in Christ Jesus (Matthew 5:17), and we no longer go about cleansing our souls in the same way. This would be an excellent discussion for another blog post. There are also the sections that deal with public order, disciplinary action, et cetera; the case laws and related items. Modern society rarely, if ever, follows the biblical laws that God gave the Israelites. There are a few reasons for this. First of all, we a Westerners see democracy, republicanism, or some form of both or either as the only proper way to run a country. Secondly, a theocratic government seems preposterous in this modern age. Thirdly, as much as we like to bash leftists, our society is, unfortunately, very heavily influenced by Marxist thought, which is anti-God in nature*. However, a careful study of the Law (through the lens of cultural context in regards to the Israelite definitions of “slavery” and other seemingly horrible ideas) will show that God really is a lot smarter that people when it comes to designing government. Yes, capital punishment is inflicted on adulterers. Yes, slavery is allowed. Yes, high fines are imposed on criminals who cannot afford them. But stop-- instead of looking at it through the eyes of a Romanized, Westernized, faulty and failing modern system, look at it how God mean for you to view it. Immorality would be nearly nonexistent if the penalty were death, families would be whole, single teen mothers wouldn’t struggle to raise children. Slavery in Israel was nothing like slavery in early America or in ancient Egypt. The high fines on criminals often drove them to be under servitude to the benefit of whomever they had wronged. Is that a bad idea? I don’t think so. The Law never mentioned prisons. In America, a criminal is locked up, the victim, though his taxes, pays for the criminal’s room and board, and the criminal often leaves the prison with a PHD! In ancient Israel, the criminal pays what he can to cover the cost of what he stole, and then covers the rest by working without pay. The criminal’s sin toward the victim is atoned for. He has paid back what he owes. The victim receives compensation. The state doesn’t spend millions. The system works (Ex. 22). In the Law, God says not to beat up your servant. He says not to exact usury. He says not to kill other people, steal their stuff or have sexual relations with someone of your same gender. It’s there in black and white, and it is as relevant today as it was then. Matthew 2:35, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.”

Another thing that I find very odd about Miller’s arguments is that while she disregards the Law on grounds of cultural context, she clings to Paul’s statements on the value of celibacy without really looking at any context at all. Paul says in 1 Corinthians that it is good to remain single and not marry. Looking at this through the lens of cultural context, I can see two reasons for this: first, the obvious reason, that it is much easier to serve God when you don’t have a family to support and be distracted by. Second, at the time of Paul’s writing, Christianity wasn’t exactly a popular religion with the general public and the government. It’s a lot easier to pick up and flee when you’re flying solo.

I could go on for pages, but I want to address only one more thing about Miller’s article that really killed me. Allow me to paraphrase her words: “Society has abandoned most of the other traditional aspects of marriage; why not the one-man, one-woman definition? Let’s get with the times.” Ah. So now we are supposed to condone the departure from the “traditions” that held society together for centuries! I’m an extreme conservative—I believe that a woman should submit to her husband. There was a time, not so very long ago, when I would not have been labeled a “weirdo” for believing this way. Most Christians don’t hold this view, despite what the Bible teaches (Eph 5:22, 24; Col 3:18). As a whole, we no longer believe that a woman should submit to and obey her husband. That is an example of backsliding (sorry if that offends you—don’t talk to me about it. I didn’t write the book, I just read it). According to Miller, because we are backslidden, we ought to become more so! The logic of this idea escapes me completely.

Miller says that “we cannot look to the Bible as a marriage manual.” I say, why not? Isn’t the Bible supposed to be at the center of every aspect of our lives? Any married person will tell you that their marriage is a huge part of who they are and what they do. Marriage is a contract that binds two people together, hopefully for life. I don’t want to try to figure out how to make it work on my own! I need help from the One who designed marriage and who created me and whoever I’ll marry. Miller got a lot of things wrong in her article. Her logic is senseless, her argument is full of holes, her quotes are out of context. However, the biggest mistake she made was to claim that the Bible cannot be an authority on marriage. The Bible is the final authority on everything, and God promises that those who obey Him will receive blessings. I don’t know about you, but that sounds pretty good to me. I think I’ll stick with my old-fashioned traditions.

*As a side note, Marxism or Marxist-like ideas can probably be blamed for the gay rights movement. It is quite simple to trace the high divorce rate, increase of immorality in the 20^th century, abortion and gay rights to the feminist movement. Feminist thought is essentially Marxist.

Out with the Demon and In with the Spirit

2011-07-27T11:15:00.000-07:00

Today in my Bible reading, one verse flashed neon lights at me while I was reading. I’m not really sure why, because it really doesn’t have anything to do with my life at the moment, but I thought that it would make a good blog post.

Today’s post deals with a topic that many of my readers may be uncomfortable with— exorcism. From what I can gather, a majority of Western Christians prefer not to think about demons. We want to believe that demons do not inhabit people in this part of the world, or at this modern time in history. We want to say that belief in demon activity is antiquated and unscientific. We want to tip-toe around the issue, close our ears and our eyes to anything but the material world, and we want to label Christians who regard demons as a very real threat as “weird,” “ungodly,” “fanatical,” etc. This can be expected in a society like ours. America is extremely materialistic, as is most of the Westernized world. We like to consider ourselves extremely scientific and above such “superstitions.” We don’t like it when Christians talk too much about supernatural events like miracle healings and the casting out of demons (which, by the way, go hand in hand—physical problems are often really demonic presences; check out Luke 13:11). However, the reality is that demons are very real and very present. If you don’t like what I’m saying, too bad. I’ve never been one to apologize for what I believe or cater to the watered-down worldview of modern Christendom. I don’t plan on doing so now. If you have a problem with this, don’t complain to me, go open your Bible.

That being said, let us get to the point of this post.

Luke 11:24-26 reads (NASB): “When the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there, and the state of the man becomes worse than the first.”

An unclean spirit is, of course a demon. To paraphrase: When a demon leaves a person, it looks for a place to settle. When it doesn’t find one, it returns to the person it left. It finds the person empty and clean. So, it moves back in with some of its fellow demons.

The point of the parable is that when a demon is cast out of a person, the person should not be left empty. The void left by the demon must be filled. Filled by what? The Holy Spirit. If the demon tried to return, it will find that the person is totally occupied. God is in the house; there’s no room for the evil. So, if you perform an exorcism, don’t just cast out the demon. Save the soul as well. Remove the evil and share the word of Christ. Chances are, if you just cast out a troublesome spirit in Christ’s name, the person will be very likely to embrace Christ. They have seen His power.

You might be wondering where I am going with this. Chances are, you have never performed and exorcism, and you never will. That is not to say that you can’t, that you won’t have an opportunity, but that it in this part of the world Christians generally do not. I never have. If I were writing to an audience of Christians in India, China, Bengal, or another such country, it would be different. But most of my readers are American, and for us this just doesn’t really apply to us.

Or does it?

Let us replace the words “unclean spirit” with “bad habit.” If you are a recovering Facebook, alcohol, porn, cigarette or drug addict, you can’t just quit the habit and leave the time and energy you spent on your habit empty. You have to fill it with something. You can read, paint, or play golf when you used to get on Facebook. You can chew gum when you used to smoke. You get the idea. A lot of prayer, a lot of effort, and a lot of replacement. It will help the habit from returning. Or suppose you have a friend who is accustomed to hanging around with a bad crowd. If you help him or her to get away from the bad influences, but do not teach him or her how to live for God, he or she will eventually go back to the bad friends to find acceptance and fulfillment. To sum it up: out with the bad, and in with the good.

Hopefully, you have gathered a few things from this post. First off, the principle “out with the bad, in with the good.” Secondly, that Westerners do not often experience heavy and obvious spiritual occurrences simply because we are in Western society. Perhaps I will write more about this later. Thirdly, don’t take for granted what culture, society, and even churches teach or imply. Always search your scriptures with prayer before coming up with conclusions about the truth.

Acts 17:11

Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.

Books to Ashes

2011-07-09T15:17:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wonder, what is the point of reading fiction? I enjoy it, but is there a purpose beyond entertainment? I’ve come to the conclusion that novels have their place in one’s life. A well-written piece of work gives you a window into the world beyond your own life. You gain a new understanding of the world according to someone else, and a new appreciation of other times and places. You can travel to France or Vietnam with your library card as your passport. The cover of a book is an instant time machine or teleporter. Sail the seas with Ishmael and come away with a rudimentary knowledge of ships and whaling. You may never have been on a boat, but as soon as you step aboard the Hispaniola en route to Treasure Island, you almost believe that you have watched the sun rise from the top of a mast, scoured a deck, and braved a tempest. You’ve drifted down an African river into the heart of darkness. You’ve journeyed to the center of the earth. You’ve been to Boston, London, Uganda, and Berlin. You can tell all about the palace of Cleopatra, you can describe the Crystal Palace, you are familiar with the untainted plains full of American Buffalo. You can give report on the sewers of Paris, describe the slaughterhouses of early 20^th Century Chicago, detail of barracks of Auswitch.

Reading a novel is wasted time if you get nothing out of it. At the very least, you ought to be able to learn something about the world, past or present. But is should be more than that. Novel reading should color your world, should make it brighter and more vivid. You ought to be able to leave the black and white of the pages and perceive the real world colored in shades of scarlet, gold, vermillion, magenta, ultramarine. The words on the pages should paint your world and teach you to FEEL, to laugh brighter, grieve deeper, love sweeter. To cry poignantly, care passionately. A novel should steal your shoes and place you in someone else’s. And when you close your book, the characters in its pages should stay in front of your eyes. In the faces of orphans, you will see Oliver Twist and Sarah Crew. In the eyes of young woman who has ruined her life, you see the eyes of Fantine. The bitter woman whose love has been frozen begins to look like Miss Havasham, and the tears of the man who lost everything are the tears of Jurgis Rudkis. You wept for Robert Jordan’s Maria, for Phineas, for Ona. Your heart went out to Heidi and Mary Lennox’s Colin. So be Dicken. Be Jean Valjean Robin Hood and Percy Blakeney. Let your heart be awakened. Care more deeply than you dare, and do something. The whole world is a nonfiction novel. Be the hero; help the helpless. You always wished that someone had saved Piggy or helped the Joads. Your heart cried, “Why? Why didn’t anyone pay attention and make it right?” But these stories are only imagination. They go away when you put the book on the shelf. The cries of pain that sound all around you are real. So find yourself caring. Find yourself seeing and understanding. Otherwise, the time spent reading is wasted; the pages of your books are ash in the wind.

Wish You Could Go Back and Tell Yourself What You Know Now

2011-07-06T15:15:00.000-07:00

I want to cry every time I hear Taylor Swift’s song “Fifteen.” The first time I heard this song, I was babysitting an eleven-year-old and her six-year-old sister who only likes to listen to Taylor Swift songs. I took the opportunity as a teaching tool.

“Fifteen” really is a very good song, as far as secular songs go. Unfortunately, the only words that my six-year-old friend really picked out and understood were the words to the chorus- “When you’re fifteen and someone tells you he loves you, you’re gonna believe it.” I brought her attention to the other lyrics, and explained them in a child-friendly way. She was surprised. After about a thousand episodes of Disney channel shows about teen love, her idea of the world was that it’s all about dating boys and kissing them, and that such things make life happy and rosy. How sad. How absolutely sad that the world of children’s entertainment pounds the chain-dating lie into young kids’ brains. The truth is, fifteen-year-old couples rarely stay together. It happens, but it’s rare. Relationships built solely on physical attraction are doomed. Giving everything you have will make him like you less, not more. I wish more wildly popular singers would write songs like “Fifteen.” I wish more people would turn off the TV. It takes a lot to undo the damage done by the media.

Take every opportunity to undo.

You take a deep breath and you walk through the doors
It's the morning of your very first day
And you say hi to your friends you ain't seen in a while
Try and stay out of everybody's way

It's your freshman year and you're gonna be here
For the next four years in this town
Hoping one of those senior boys will wink at you and say
"You know, I haven't seen you around before"

'Cause when you're fifteen and somebody tells you they love you
You're gonna believe them
And when you're fifteen feeling like there's nothing to figure out
Well, count to ten, take it in
This is life before you know who you're gonna be
Fifteen

You sit in class next to a redhead named Abigail
And soon enough you're best friends
Laughing at the other girls who think they're so cool
We'll be outta here as soon as we can

And then you're on your very first date and he's got a car
And you're feeling like flying
And you're momma's waiting up and you're thinking he's the one
And you're dancing 'round your room when the night ends
When the night ends

'Cause when you're fifteen and somebody tells you they love you
You're gonna believe them
When you're fifteen and your first kiss
Makes your head spin 'round
But in your life you'll do things greater than
Dating the boy on the football team
But I didn't know it at fifteen

When all you wanted was to be wanted
Wish you could go back and tell yourself what you know now

Back then I swore I was gonna marry him someday
But I realized some bigger dreams of mine
And Abigail gave everything she had to a boy
Who changed his mind and we both cried

'Cause when you're fifteen and somebody tells you they love you
You're gonna believe them
And when you're fifteen, don't forget to look before you fall
I've found time can heal most anything
And you just might find who you're supposed to be
I didn't know who I was supposed to be at fifteen

Your very first day
Take a deep breath girl
Take a deep breath as you walk through the doors

Today

2011-06-07T10:57:00.000-07:00

Today is National Jelly Filled Doughnut Day. It is the anniversary of the patent of the vacuum cleaner and the building of the first indoor swimming pool. It is the second day of Headache Awareness Week. It is the birthday of Barbara Bush, Johnny Depp, Francis Crick, and Frank Lloyd Wright. It is part of National Superman Week. It is Best Friends Day. It is the day that Andrew Jackson and Mohammed died. In 2007, the space shuttle Atlantis began its mission, and in 1998 Nippon announced that painting eyeballs on jets decreased bird collisions by 20%. The US and Saudi Arabia signed a military-economic contract on June 8, 1974. It is the anniversary of Bermuda’s constitution and the day that Siam changed its name to Thailand. Walt Disney graduated this day, and the element neptunium was discovered. In 452, Italy was invaded by Attila the Hun.

Why am I telling you this? Most likely, you couldn’t care less about Headache awareness week, you haven’t the faintest idea who Francis Crick is, and you never see eyeballs painted on jets. So what’s the point?

The point is, today is a very special day because of many people and events. But the biggest reason that today is import is because today is TODAY. Today is the only day you can use to do anything. Today is the only day you can make a difference. Yesterday is only a memory, and Tomorrow never comes. I challenge you to take Today and do something that honors God. Do something to make someone smile. Use your Today well!

This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

Just in Case You Never Knew

2011-05-23T15:24:00.000-07:00

Last week, I was talking to a friend who has grown up in the church all her life and was surprised to discover that she was completely unaware of the most beautiful truth of Christianity. I realized that perhaps some of you also might not know, and I thought I’d take a moment to share with you.

You will all agree that everyone one of us has done bad things at some point. God is a perfect being, and our wrong doings (sins) separate us from God and from the hope of living in Heaven with him after we die. The problem now is that we must find a way to get rid of the sins (become righteous). This can only happen if we find forgiveness from God, and our sins must be completely “wiped off” of us. The only way sins can be wiped out is if someone perfect took our punishment for us.

(Ephesians 2:1-3)

Jesus Christ is the son of God. He is fully God, and fully man. He came to earth to live a perfect life and to take our sins. Good news! He took the punishment for your sins. YOU ARE FORGIVEN! All you have to do is believe this and let Jesus take charge of your life. The book of Romans in the Bible says, “Because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heat that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9).” Once you do this, you become a Christian you are “saved;” your sins are forgiven. All of them. Forever. Period. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DO ANYTHING. The Bible says in the book of Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 and 9, “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one can boast.” In other words, because God had mercy on you, he allowed you to be saved, and all you have to do is trust Him and believe that you are forgiven.

Nothing you do will make you more or less saved. If you could do something to save yourself, you would have a right to boast. No matter how big your sins are, A SIN IS A SIN, and they are all forgiven. Not just the sins that were made before Christ died or before you became saved. ALL YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN, even the ones you haven’t made yet. Hebrews 9:26 says, “He has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself.” The Bible is very clear when it says that salvation comes through Grace by faith alone (Heb 9:24-26; Heb 10:10,14; Eph 2:1-10; Rom 10:5-11; Acts 11:15; Rom 3:24; Rom 11:6; Rom 1:17; Gal 3:22….). The Bible also says that true faith ought to and will be accompanied by good deeds (James 2:26), but it never mentions formal confession and memorized prayers, and it never says that good deeds help to save you. You can’t try to outweigh your bad deeds by your good deeds; it doesn’t work that way. Actions don’t cancel each other out. You can’t “help” God to make you righteous. You literally can do nothing to save yourself. Only God can. And He did! Sound simple? That’s because it is.

If you have questions, comments or you want to know more about how God can forgive you, don’t hesitate to email me breezie@becominggodlymaidens.com

http://www.blueletterbible.com/

A Letter to the Girls

2011-05-11T12:45:00.001-07:00

A letter

To a girl who will soon enter high school from a girl who has recently exited:

Dear you,

You have a new chapter ahead of you. It can be the best time of your life, or it can be the worst. It will be whatever you make it. Make it wonderful! The next four years of your life will be the fullest years you have experienced to date. You have so many things to look forward to: learning new things, making new friends, a chance at your driver’s license, new opportunities. Your brain is still young enough to soak up information almost effortlessly, but you are mature enough to be responsible and make a difference.

The next four years are designed to make you learn. So learn! Learn to teach yourself and to learn from others. Learn to love to learn! Studying can be enjoyable, I promise. You will need to study, and make sure that you do. Learn facts, and learn lots of them. Learn things that appeal to you as often as you can. It makes life more interesting. Learn life lessons, too. Over and over again in Proverbs, Solomon states that those who are wise are able to become more so, because such people are willing to take advice. Become wise, and behave wise. Listen closely when you are given sound teaching.

Now is the season of life when one’s character becomes more pronounced. You will begin to see those around you for what they are. To your sorrow, you will have to let old some friendships die. But if you ask God for godly friends, He will send you dear friends to grow in faith with. You will discover that you can relate to all ages now; your friends may range from eight years old to ninety. You will have to be discerning, however. It is inevitable that you will meet people who are not interested in being a true friend. Never grow too close to someone. You cannot trust anyone on earth except your parents. They should be your confidants. You can trust them to keep your words to themselves, and you can confidently act on their advice. You cannot trust your friends completely; even the most pure-hearted friend will let you down. You cannot even trust me, much to my sorrow. I am quite certain that although I will try to always build you up and bring you joy, someday I may unintentionally hurt you or disappoint you. I, like anyone else, am only human. No, do not grow too close to anyone. Be on your guard, for there will be girls who pretend to be your friend to their own ends and who may discard your feelings and your reputation like so much trash. There will be boys who pretend to be your friend because they find you attractive, and then forget all about you when someone else catches their eye.

Ah, yes the boys. Let me tell you about the boys. You may discover that boys find you interesting, but don’t let it flatter you. It is very flattering to receive attention, but you are still too young to think about boys and marriage. Don’t base your security and self-image on boys and their flighty fancies. Make sure that the way you behave and dress reflects a girl who tries to please her God, not the boys. Any boy who likes you only because you are physically attractive should be avoided. This kind of boy will only hurt you in the long run, even if he never means to. He is selfish if he tries to persuade you to have anything more than a friendship with him. The kind of man you want to marry begins with a boy who does not constantly focus on girls. The kind of man you want to marry wants a modest, godly wife who has character. Don’t flirt, and do your best to reign in your crushes. A little prayer goes a long way when it comes to this! I could write all day about this subject, but suffice to say that your high school years are not the time to engage in romantic relationships with boys. Wait until later. Your life will be far more pleasant, this I promise.

The standards for teenage success are incredibly low. You don’t have to live according to the world’s expectation that you will be silly, flighty, and care only about the short-term. You can make a difference now. You can do big things! Don’t be afraid to try. Remember, with God, all things are possible. If you want to create a new charity, organize a concert, write a book, start a website, manage a campaign, receive your associate’s degree, whatever, you can do it! It will be work and you may have to jump through a few hoops and scale a few walls to get there, but if it is God’s will that you do it, you will succeed. Maturity, success and godliness do not have to begin once you hit the magic age of eighteen. It can, and should, begin before that. Keep your ideas and dreams in sight.

Listen to advice and accept instruction and in the end, you will be wise. This is Proverbs 19:20, and it should be tattooed on your forehead. Not really, but you know what I’m getting at! You know more than you ever have before, but you know the least that you will ever know from now on. Your parents have been around the block a few times and you have barely made it to the corner. They are smarter than you are, and listening to their advice will save you a lot of trouble. Trust me, I know. I tell my dad that I should buy a t-shirt that says, “MY DAD IS ALWAYS RIGHT!” because every time I ignore his advice, I run into problems. In the same way, I know that I can trust my mom and talk to her about things because at one time, she was my age and she understands the way I think. The book of Proverbs is very clear when it repeatedly states that scoffers and fools ignore advice from wise people, but smart people heed advice, rebukes, and learning. Don’t be a silly foolish scoffer, be smart and learn from people who are wise and knowledgeable. Be respectful. Someday you are going to be thirty or forty or eighty, and I can guarantee you will want to be treated with respect.

Get ready, high school is just around the corner! It will go faster than you expect, so grab these years as hard as you can and squeeze them for all they are worth. Good luck, and have fun!

Love,

Breana

Empty Grave, New Hope

2011-04-23T17:10:00.000-07:00

He has risen, He has risen indeed!

Hallelujah! Praise God for His gift of eternal life. This is a day to celebrate!

Maundy Thursday?! I thought Monday was three days ago, and why is it spelled like that?

2011-04-21T11:06:00.000-07:00

Today is the Thursday before Easter, the day we call Maundy Thursday. If you are like me, you have always wondered what “Maundy” means and what it has to do with Jesus. Today I learned what this word means, and that it has a lot to do with Jesus! It is actually quite profound.

“Maundy” is derived from the Latin word for “command,” “Mandatum.” Mandatum the first word of John 13:34 in the Latin Vulgate Bible. John 13:34 reads,

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

On the Thursday before Easter, Christ celebrated the Passover (also known as the Last Supper) with his disciples. He knew that later that night, Judas would betray Him, and in the next two days He would be given a trial, be flayed with bits of bone or glass tied to leather straps, be mocked and ridiculed, have a circle of briars jammed into his head, and finally be slain on an ingeniously torturous killing device with the agony of all the world’s sin on his shoulders. He did all of that for one reason: L O V E. He loves you. He loves me. He loves your annoying neighbor and that person who always tries to get your goat. And what is His command? Love one another. Love them the same way I loved you. Love them enough to be willing to give up your life for them. Chances are, you will never have to give up your life for someone else. But in order to love someone enough to be willing to give them your life, you naturally have to be willing to give up lesser things; the best piece of pie, an afternoon in front of the TV, winning the argument. Your time, your plans, your dreams.

Today is Maundy Thursday. Command Thursday. The command is to love. Find a way to show Christ-like love today… and every day.

Becoming Like Francis

2011-04-08T16:32:00.000-07:00

Today I am inspired by Francis of Assisi. I used to see St. Francis as the chubby monk statue that my grandma has in her garden… a man poor by choice who loved animals. That might be true, but there is so much more to him!

I recently read a Catholic book on the Crusades, called The Crusaders by Regine Pernoud, that my friend loaned to me. It was interesting because it was told from a very different perspective than secular and even Protestant history books. The Crusades surely is a multi-faceted subject filled with heroes and villains on both sides. It is so confusing and I really don’t know what stance to take on the subject! I came to a chapter on Francis of Assisi. In the middle of a bloody war against the Muslims, this brave man walked unarmed across Christian borders and into Muslim territory. He asked to be taken to the Sultan of Egypt. He was. This is a miracle for two reasons: firstly, because he was not killed on the spot, and secondly, because he was actually allowed to see the sultan. He witnessed to the Sultan, and the Sultan actually said that he would like to become a Christian, yet could not because of politics and fear of assassination (oh, how our human affairs cloud out the glow of eternity! It is tragic). In the darkness of warfare and bloodshed, St Francis was a shining example of how God wants us to deal with our enemies; with love and concern. This man risked his life to bring Christianity to the Muslims, while many of his fellow Christians were only interested in killing and fighting them over a single city.

Application: What in your life seems so important that you neglect what really is important? Are you fighting a personal “crusade” over your “Jerusalem?” In other words, are you so focused on something (even if it is something good) that you neglect to fulfill the Great Commission? Be a Francis of Assisi and not a Richard Coeur de Leon!

A New Creation

2011-04-05T10:07:00.000-07:00

Olive Swan, an employee of AWANA, has written her first book, A New Creation. This is the story of Sean, a self-centered employer, who has a week to get a story on an embezzler by spending time with the embezzler’s daughter. Esmeralda is like no one he has ever met. He is attracted to her kindness, her resolve, and her forgiveness, but he can’t understand how anyone with her intelligence can really believe in a loving, almighty God. Sean has seven days to get the story. Essy has seven days to share the gospel with Sean. The result is quite interesting.

Find it here

Read more bookish posts In The Bookcase!

WOAH!

2011-04-01T12:00:00.000-07:00

This is really cool! It is a new app for the Android... even if you don't own one, you will want to see all about this new app.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I24bSteJpw

A Fire Kindled Inside

2011-03-26T16:26:00.000-07:00

I have a wonderful missionary friend who told me all about the years she spent with her husband ministering to the people of Thailand. A few months ago, she told me about her time in Asia and allowed me to write about it! I learned a lot from the interview. She also has godly wisdom to impart as someone who has walked with the Lord for many decades. Click to read "A Fire Kindled Inside."

It's a Thaiger!

Porcelain Doll

2011-03-21T11:46:00.000-07:00

I'm porcelain

And I chip easily.

It's happened-- again

And you can clearly see

My roots go deep

But up top, I'm weak.

Awake and asleep

I'm liable to break

So hold me fast

Secure my heart

When today is past,

It's just one part

Of a great big story

That you will write

All for your glory.

So I won't fight

These plans you've made

And write my own.

I've always played

The part you wrote for me alone

And I won't alter

The course you set

For I would falter

And I won't forget.

Your love is all I need;

Despite my weakness,

I will succeed.

For you seek to bless my every way

And I will follow you

Each and every day.

Despite my foolishness I can do

Everything you ask.

Despite my fickle heart;

So peel away my mask

And set me apart,

Set me free to bask

In your love

And your love alone.

Saint Paddy's Day

2011-03-17T18:16:00.001-07:00

Happy Saint Paddy’s Day to ya! I be hopin’ that she finds ya in good healt and that ta luck o’ ta Irish be on ya.

As you probably know, Saint Patrick was the first missionary to the Irish. I want to take this chance to tell you modern day mission to the Irish.

Ireland has the lowest percentage of evangelical Christians of all the English-speaking countries in the world! Only 30,000 (that’s less than 1%) are evangelical Christians. For every believer, there are 133 unbelievers! That's a ratio of 133:1

Ireland ranks in the top of the European lists in reference to teenage suicide, drinking alcohol and unwed mother rates. Cocaine and heroin use is rapidly on the rise amongst all socio-economic levels. Divorce (previously illegal until 1997) is a new difficulty for families, with a 70% increase over just four years.

Many evangelical churches today in Ireland consist of just 20 people, most of which meet in homes.

Please pray for Cross Ireland Ministries!

http://www.crossirelandministries.com/

And just because I’m a fan of Ireland, here are a few links to Irish music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWTYt_-jafg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpSZefCKC6U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpMGWOAAKs4

An Irish Blessing for You :)

May the blessing of Light be on you -

light without and light within,

May the blessed sunlight shine on you

and warm your heart till it glows like

a great peat fire, so that the stranger

may come and warm himself at it, and

also a friend.

And may the light shine out of the two

eyes of you, like a candle set in two

windows of a house, bidding the wanderer

to come in out of the storm.

And may the blessing of the Rain be on you -
the soft sweet rain. May it fall upon your
spirit so that all the little flowers may
spring up, and shed their sweetness on the air.
And may the blessing of the Great Rains be on
you, may they beat upon your spirit and wash
it fair and clean, and leave there many a
shining pool where the blue of heaven shines,
and sometimes a star.

And may the blessing of the Earth be on you -
the great round earth; may you ever have a
kindly greeting for them you pass as you're
going along the roads.
May the earth be soft under you when you
rest upon it, tired at the end of the day, and may
it rest easy over you when, at the last, you lay
out under it;
May it rest so lightly over you, that your soul
may be out from under it quickly, and up, and
off, and on its way to God.

2011-02-17T11:58:00.000-08:00

Hello blog friends, I want to tell you about a wonderful new book that a friend of mine has written. It is Postscript: I’ve Changed!, a poetry book filled with the thoughts and prayers of a young woman pouring out her heart to God. This book was incredibly encouraging to me and has prompted me to deepen my walk with the Lord. Not only is it great to have on YOUR bookshelf, it would make a delightful gift! Please check it out at the Becoming Godly Maidens bookstore, http://www.becominggodlymaidens.com/bookstore or at http://pocketfullofsoul.weebly.com/purchase.html

Lord, What Kind of World is This?

2011-01-13T11:33:00.000-08:00

On the shooting in Tucson, Az

What kind of world is this?

Lord, you said it was good,

But sin’s bite stings

In every street, every neighborhood.

What kind of world is this?

Why would a person

Kill another human being

With a gun?

What kind of world is this?

Why aren’t we

Our brothers’ keepers,

Why can’t anyone see?

What kind of world is this?

In a nation so free,

A man use violence just because

It’s not exactly the way he wanted it to be.

What kind of world is this?

Is it really so important

That he must take a life?

I can’t understand; I can’t.

What kind of world is this?

It was only an innocent crowd

And he fired into it;

Oh, God, it shouldn’t be allowed!

What kind of world is this?

You know they’ll let him free.

He’ll plead insanity—

Well then, locked up he SHOULD be!

What kind of world is this?

A child had to die.

A Child of Hope—

Hope itself seems a lie.

And I cry.

God, where is hope?

When your beloved creature

Kills another of his own,

Hope has disappeared for sure.

God, where is justice?

As loved ones mourn,

Killers go free

When the courts adjourn.

God, where is care?

When someone can shoot

The faceless people in a crowd

No care is afoot.

God, where is sense?

When he can only

See his own way

Sense is abandoned and lonely.

God, where is peace?

When human kind

Comes to this, Peace seems

Only an idea in my mind

God, where is love?

I can only see hate

Everywhere I look,

Love comes too late.

God, where is mercy?

Does anybody even care

About his fellow man?

There is no mercy there.

But Lord, through my tears

I know in my heart

A very great truth

That was here from the start.

God, you are caring

And Sense personified.

You are Prince of Peace and Love,

Mercy that will never hide.

God will fix

The broken heart

He’ll send fresh hope

And a new start.

The answer is God.

So though we cry,

We know that despite death,

With Christ, we’ll never die.

Virgin Mary Through the Ages

2010-12-13T15:57:00.000-08:00

Today I did some research on religious art through history for an illustrating job I have. The purpose of this was to study the culture and clothing of the first century as portrayed by various artists. As I scrolled through over one hundred of the most famous paintings, it struck me as funny how each artist’s culture changed his perception of different scenes. There were many that contained historically correct clothing and realistic scenes, but there were many others that did not. I couldn’t help cracking a grin when I saw Caravaggio’s Calling of Saint Matthew. This painting was done in 1600 and the persons in the picture were dressed in styles belonging to that century.

I think Mary would laugh if she could sit next to me and see all these paintings. Roughly half of them depicted her. She was painted with everything from blonde and red to brown and jet-black hair, dressed in the plainest frocks and the most elaborate garments from the fashions of the first century to the Regency period.

Sometimes, she was a small young girl, other times a full-figured woman. She sat in barns, caves, thrones, clouds, temples, rocks, and even floated above the clear waters at the edge of a tropical island.

Her waist contracted and expanded and her skin darkened and lightened with the fads through the centuries.

I wonder what she was thinking while she was laboring in a smelly animal cave in the dark and cold night. I wonder if, as she held her newborn baby close to keep him warm and comforted, she knew that what had passed would be recorded and celebrated for millenniums by people all over the world.

Did she understand the significance of that moment? As she lay down, exhausted and sore, on a pile of straw, could she foresee what lay ahead?

Did she dare to imagine that millions would veneer and even worship her? Her hair was matted and messy. She was weary and sore from riding on a donkey all day and giving birth. Her clothes were dirty and old. She and her husband were almost penniless.

There was no floating above the ground in a gold throne while she rocked her baby. He was red, wrinkled, and floppy—and oh, so tiny! He did not sit up gracefully and observe the world with wise eyes.

When the shepherds, stinky and unpolished, came trooping through the entrance, what did she think? When she heard the hosts of Heaven break out into song, did she tremble? These weren’t little fair-haired children with stubby wings, after all. These were mighty spiritual beings like nothing she had ever seen!

What was it like? I always wonder what life is or was like in places and times I’ll never be in. What was it like? The paintings aren’t any help whatsoever. Even the scriptures skim the details. What was it like for Mary? I wonder.

Cute Mitten Ornament

2010-12-03T12:14:00.000-08:00

Isn't this fun? Directions at http://the-feathered-nest.blogspot.com/2007/10/mitten-ornament-tutorial.html

My Own Little World

2010-12-01T16:03:00.000-08:00

Here's a great video to the amazing song, "My Own Little World." Please watch it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP5mYOzOvCs

Meet the CEDAW

2010-11-22T08:33:00.000-08:00

I just read the scariest thing I have read in a very long time. No, it’s not another Frank Peretti novel. I’ve learned my lesson in regards to those. Actually, I just finished reading the text of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The purpose of this treaty is to end discrimination and degredation of women. The problem is that it is being dealt with in a very humanistic manner and that legal force will be used to ensure the equality of both sexes in all spheres. Translation: governments will force man and women to abandon traditional roles. This is stated very clearly in the Preamble: “A change in the traditional role of men as well as the role of women in society and in the family is needed to achieve full equality between men and women (CEDAW, Preamble, par 16).” What does this mean? I will allow the CEDAW to explain:

States Parties shall take all appropriate measures:

(a) To modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women, with a view to achieving the elimination of prejudices and customary and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes or on stereotyped roles for men and women;

(b) To ensure that family education includes a proper understanding of maternity as a social function and the recognition of the common responsibility of men and women in the upbringing and development of their children, it being understood that the interest of the children is the primordial consideration in all cases (CEDAW, Article 5).
     In other words, the goal of the CEDAW is to abolish traditional roles. How will this affect you and me? I plan to eventually marry, have children, and stay at home to raise and educate them while my husband acts as the head of household and primary breadwinner. According to CEDAW, my husband would be treating me as an inferior being, taking advantage, of me, and discriminating against me. I would be a victim of a tyrannical spouse, and my children would be labeled as “abused,” and probably removed from our home (most certainly, if the Convention on the Rights of the Child passes). I don’t know about you, but the freedom to embrace my femininity is more important to me than this so-called equality. I feel more degraded at the thought of being forced to follow a humanistic pattern for my life than I do at the thought of staying at home.
     What makes me seriously offended by the CEDAW is the concept that I will be forced to follow what the United Nations thinks is a good plan for my life. I don’t even have any say! It will be illegal for me to say that I am submissive to my husband. Yet it will be permissible and even condoned for a woman to badmouth her husband at every opportunity. I really don’t care if some other woman wants to pursue a career, run the household, and give her husband no say in family planning. Really! It’s no skin off my nose. So why on earth does that woman care whether or not I stay home and raise my kids? It’s none of her business, it’s none of Hilary Clinton’s, and it’s none of the United Nation’s business what I do in my personal life.
     Indoctrination of children is written into this treaty. You are probably already aware that the feminist movement is highly lauded and thoroughly covered in public school text books. The CEDAW wants to go one step further:
“The elimination of any stereotyped concept of the roles of men and women at all levels and in all forms of education by encouraging coeducation and other types of education which will help to achieve this aim and, in particular, by the revision of textbooks and school programmes and the adaptation of teaching methods (Article 10, section c. Emphasis added).”
     Yet another reason to homeschool. However, I have reason to suspect that homeschooling will not be sanctioned under the CEDAW, as a woman’s place will no longer be in the home, but in the office.
     What does the Bible have to say about this? We know that to God, men and women are already equal. We are different, but we are equal, as stated in Galatians 3:28 – “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” God has different plans for men and women. The head of the woman is the man (1 Cor. 11:3), or as the New Living Translation puts it, “A woman is responsible to her husband.” This does not mean that a man is better, more important, superior to a woman (as anti-Christian disputers proclaim), it is simple the God-appointed way to keep order in the home, the church, and in the world. Pastor, Bible commentator, and writer Chuck Smith writes,

“I do not believe that the Bible has ever taught that God favors the man over the woman. The Bible does teach that God made man first, and then from man formed the woman. When God looked at man and said, ‘It is not good that man should live alone,’ and so He made the woman from man that she might be a helpmeet for him.

Now, some people misinterpret that. The helpmeet, the word meet is an old English word fit, a help that is fit for him, created for him. No way does it signify a subservient position. God saw that man by himself could never make it, and thus, the woman created, as God said, ‘for the man.’”

We don’t need any new laws to make men and women equal. Do you want to feel worth and purpose? Follow God’s plan for your life. Not the United Nations’.

Find out more from Michael Farris

Remembering

2010-11-11T11:00:00.000-08:00

To all those who have laid down their lives
To those who have lost a loved one
To the wounded

To the soldiers who have healed
To those who did not
To fathers and mothers who had to leave their children
To sons and daughters who had to leave their parents
To the men and women who are far away
To the ones who may leave at any time
To those who have returned
To those who direct them
To those who train them
To those who treat them
To those who feed them
To those who minister to them
To those who love them
To those who pray over them

Thank you

Let us never forget.

God Still Works Literal Miracles

2010-10-31T10:17:00.001-07:00

Mat 15:29 - Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down.

Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them.

The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

Some of you may know that my dad has been experiencing health issues with his heart, thyroid, adrenals, and ear. It’s been hard, especially since his blood pressure went whack and he was unable to run. This has been difficult, because he has been an athlete since grade school. We’ve been asking a lot of people for prayer and have been praying ourselves, as well. Hallelujah glory be, God answers prayer! Yesterday, he woke up for the first time with normalized blood pressure. He was able to run around at my sister’s cross country meet. He felt better and more energetic and the pain was virtually gone. Lat night, we went to a healing crusade at my friend’s church. In our area, there is a man who has the spiritual gift of healing and he was going to be giving a service at this church. (Sound a little weird? Sure, but we only think so because of the faithless society we live in. Why are we even surprised, I asked myself. God can heal now just as He did in Bible times. Mark 9:23. He does all the time in third-world countries. Besides, if I can’t believe that God will heal a physical deformity, how can I believe that He saved my soul?) Last night at the service, a girl who had sprained her ankle while praying soccer went up to be healed. She was in a cast and on crutches. A while ago, my friend had told me about this girl and how she was going to be unable to play soccer for the rest of the season. She hobbled up to the stage. The healing pastor prayed for her and then told her to remove her cast. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. What if? What if? What if it didn’t work? My heart beat faster as she removed her cast. She left her crutches on the stage, picked up the cast, and walked back to her seat. She was not limping. I thought I was going to faint.

I saw a man limp to the stage and run back to his seat. I saw a woman who could not lift her arms raise them above her head and praise God. I saw an asthmatic take deep, long breaths. I saw a woman with bad knees bend them and walk painlessly. Dozens of people were healed from internal issues and headaches. I SAW it. I SAW it. You can’t argue with that. God is good! If I didn’t already believe in God, I would now. Toward the end of the service, my dad went up. God had already answered so many of our healing prayers that morning (when I asked God to heal him on Saturday, I had no idea the prayer would be answered in the morning.). But he was still experiencing a ringing ear-- tinnitus. This had been going on for two years. Once he found the frequency on a medical site and showed us what it was like to have his ear. It almost made me cry. How miserable to live with a screeching wail perpetually in one’s ear! After he was prayed over, the ear ringing dropped steeply. Immediately! Apparently, the spirit of tinnitus (I know, I know, these terms are new for me, too!) is stubborn and often takes time to vanish completely.

Some of you may be skeptical. Believe me, I was, too, before I went. But I saw it with my own eyes. I heard the prayers, and I saw the healing. You can’t reason that away.

God is good! God is a healer! He is Rapha El, the Healer God. Hallelujah!

National Socialism?

2010-10-30T16:12:00.000-07:00

For a school project, I have to define about a dozen forms of what Gary North refers to as “philosophies of organized envy.” Good description.

While doing research on National Socialism (Nazism), I stumbled across a National Socialist forum. Here I got the best definition of what National Socialism is and began to watch a very screwy video about why Nazism is great and the Holocaust was a lie and a bunch of cruddy bologna like that. It took me about 2 minutes to see that the video was not going to profit me in the least. As I scrolled up to click out of this messed-up site full of ethnocentric weirdoes, I caught site of the site’s slogan:

“White Pride, World-Wide.”

I felt tears stinging my eyes. These people are missing the whole point of humanity! I believe in one race: the human race. Who cares about pigment? Why does that even matter to people? It shouldn’t; to use a wise quote, “Our blood runs the same red.”

Don’t get caught up in racism, bigotry and ethnocentricism. Don’t be a fool.

My Dog Stalks Ceramic Bunnies

2010-10-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

...But don’t we all do the same thing? At one time or another, haven’t we all chased after an illusion? The world presents so many things that are unattainable. It shows us the “American Dream,” flawless skin, perfect friendships, happily-ever-afters. These things are plastered all over television, the internet, books, magazines… you name it. We sing about true teenage love in songs. We read all of Demi Lovato’s skin-care tips. We watch Mr. Rich Marries Miss Gorgeous. And yet we know we will never attain this perfection. We know that high-school dating normally ends in heartbreak after a few weeks. We know Demi’s pretty photo is electronically airbrushed. We know that every marriage has ups and downs and that the guy who dies with the most toys… still dies. Even with this knowledge of the facts, we still spend way too much time and brainpower trying to catch the eye of that cute guy or girl. We still stand in Wal-Mart trying to decide if we’re ivory or light peach, or if Miracle Cream will really get rid of that dad-gum red bump. We still overspend on the latest electronic device and shoes and covet all the cool stuff we can’t afford.

I was puzzling over this. I wonder why I often trust advertisements over common sense? Why I stress out in front of the mirror? Why I get bummed whenever I see the Joneses drive by with their speedboat? I’m reminded of a quote that’s on the wall where I get my hair trimmed: “A beautiful thing is never perfect.” It’s true. A beautiful life is never perfect. A beautiful painting is never perfect. A beautiful person is never perfect. If we could achieve perfection… well, somebody in advertising would come up with the “new perfection” so we’d still have to buy the Overpricedandoverrated Brand of whatever to feel adequate. Maybe it’s time to be content with what we have and focus on God’s bigger picture instead.

Beautiful YOU

2010-10-07T16:49:00.000-07:00

I just felt like I ought to post this video. Hope it makes someone's day. It sure makes mine!
For some reason, the video does not want to play on this website. It's too good a video to pass up, though, so go ahead and watch it on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXSkd8apbWM

A Monkey Ain't My Uncle: Chinks in the "Theory" of evolution part 4

2010-09-23T17:17:00.000-07:00

Why should Creationism be taught beside Evolution in public schools? I have done some research on this and quite frankly, I have to say that any evidence for Evolution is either dubious or completely faked. In fact, if you look at one of the major illustrations used in science textbooks today, you will find that it is completely inaccurate. This illustration is the well-known picture of the ape-to-man timeline which begins with a picture of an unassuming ape and continues with more human-like primates until we finally see a hairy cave-man. The artist’s perception is probably very unlike the actual organism looked. Why? Because the skeletons are hopelessly incomplete. Look at Lucy (Australopithecus)- she has very few bones about her and only six shards make up her skull! Another one of the “link” skeletons is but a broken skull, which could be placed together in a plethora of ways to make it appear either more human-like or more ape-like. The rest follow this pattern. And yet we are teaching our children that these are without a doubt our ancestors. Very sad.

It is not just this way with homo sapiens. It is this way with every genus. Why are all the missing links still missing? How come the fossil record isn’t showing any evidence for evolution? And why don’t we teach Evolution as a hypothesis, which is what it is?

Much to the chagrin of Evolutionists, the geological record follows the Creation theory much more closely. In addition, a worldwide flood is the only explanation for many inexplicable findings. The Cambrian Explosion shows many fossils together which shouldn’t belong together, according to Evolution. So why don’t we teach Creationism? Why don’t we encourage school kids to think for themselves and choose what makes the most sense to them? Cramming only one idea down their throats (not just in science, but also in History classes) makes for TV watchers and passive bystanders, not critical thinkers, avid readers and enthusiastic, active citizens.

Sources:

Mike Snavely (http://www.natureofcreation.org/)

http://www.answersingenesis.org/

http://www.natureofcreation.org/articles/aunt_lucy_revisited.htm

I recently had the privilege to hear Mike Snavely speak at a seminar for three or four sessions. One of his sessions was called “Aunt Lucy?” and part of what he spoke about is featured in this article. If you ever have the chance to hear Mike Snavely speak, I encourage you to do so. His sessions and the Aunt Lucy one in particular are extremely infomative, well-researched, and interesting.

Support Parental Rights

2010-09-21T15:00:00.000-07:00

I decided to follow President Obama on Twitter ( I follow my senator, representative and governor as well. It's good to know what's going on in the political arena even if I disagree with some of their politics). Today, our President said, "Each time we’ve made epic change, it's come from the grassroots rallying around a cause. That's what we need again." For once, I couldn't agree more. Although what I have in mind is probably a bit different than what he has in mind. We need people to rally around the grassroots movement of the Parental Rights Amendment. Yes, I know, I've dedicated my last few posts to either that or some other political topic! But this is so important and I refuse to let the issue go. Please get on http://www.ParentalRights.Org/ to get aquainted with the issue and sign the petition... this is too important for even those of you who are less politically minded to pass up.
And this Parentl Rights Amendment will not promote an "epic change" that will cost you as a taxpayer billions of dollars... you can keep your change, Mr. President, thanks.

Constitution Day

2010-09-17T16:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Constitution Day!

This year for Constitution Day, I want to tell you about something exciting going on with your Constitution. So listen up and don’t click that little red “x,” because this concerns YOU.

This spring, a new amendment is going to be pushed through the House of Representatives. The amendment is called the Parental Rights Amendment and it reads:

Why do we need this, you ask? Isn't it OBVIOUS that parents have the right to raise their own children how they like? maybe not. Right now, those rights are being threatened internationally. The United Nations is pushing a treaty called "Convention on the Rights of the Child." This will, among other things, prevent parents from homeschooling, teaching their children to follow any particular religion (ie Christianity) or use nearly any form of punishment. Why are they doing this? Isn't it going to break up families and create monsters out of children and government? Of course it will. The reason they are doing it is because the government thinks it can raise your children better than you can. And they can pass the CRC. You bet they can, and they probably will. But if the Parental Right Amendment passes first, the CRC won't be effective in the USA. So, please visit http://www.parentalrights.org/ and sign the petition!

You won't get any spam, I promise. Just a newsletter. Trust me, I've been getting it for months. Anyone over 12 ca sign it. Please tell you friends and family about this.

2010-09-16T10:23:00.000-07:00

This year, I have been studying the case laws of Exodus. It is interesting (Yes, it is frequently interesting!) to see how God’s plan for government covers all the bases. It provides for everyone and everything and makes a whole lot more sense than the structure of government in our country today… whether you’re reading this from the US, Canada, Japan, South Africa, Romania, or Australia, it makes more sense! It just WORKS. If it is followed. Problem is, it often wasn’t. That’s when the problems began for Israel.

After one of their “falling away” times, Israel was taken captive in Babylon. (There’s a whole interesting sequence of events involving prophesies and maybe I’ll post about that later.) Nehemiah was allowed to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall, and after it was built, the Law was found. They read the Law, realized their errors and came up with a “Magna Charta” or constitution of sorts. Here it is http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Neh&c=10&v=1&t=NIV

Read it there or crack open your Bible to Nehemiah 10. Please don’t just bypass this, it won’t take you that long. I think you will enjoy it anyway.

Having just finished dissecting the US constitution last week, I dissected this rather shorter piece of legislation and summarized it. Here is what I came up with:

(signers names and seals)

“We the people do solemnly swear to be a people pure and distinct, to follow God’s plan for our property and time, to pay “taxes” in the form of a simple tithe (that is, ten percent), to give a contribution to the House of God, as is our duty, to give the Lord our first and our best, to provide for our leaders, to provide for the poor, and to remember our God.”

Don’t you think that sounds like a good law-of-the-land? I mean, it’s simple. And welfare is built in, but nobody is discriminated against. And taxes are low and simple! No crazy paperwork for them to fill out. We see, though, that just 3 chapters later, the Israelites had totally discarded the document! Isn’t that sad? After all God had done for them... made the King agree to Nehemiah’s request (1:4-6), gave them faith and strength (2:20), gave them protection (4:14), gave them financial relief (5:12), thwarted plans of the opposition (6:10-13), gave them success in rebuilding the wall (7:1), brought exiles home (7:5), gave them the Book of the Law (8:1-2), and forgave them and gave them joy (8:11-12). Let’s not be like them, so ungrateful and unfaithful!

The good news is that God still forgave them and gave them a second chance. 2 Titus 2:13 says, “When we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot disown Himself.”

Lord, make us like Nehemiah, who had faith, patience, and perseverance. Let us live for you alone and stay at the center of your will. Let us bless you that you will bless us and the work of our hands. Amen.

September 11

2010-09-10T07:49:00.000-07:00

Dear Americans and Friends of the US,
September 11, 2001 is a day, like December 7 1941, that will live in our memories forever. Will any of us ever forget the horror of the video footage and the mourning for loved ones? Will we ever cease to think of the lives destoryed by the flames? Will any one of us ever travel to New York for DC again without remembering the ugly scar across its face? Let's all take a moment to bow our heads and say a prayer for those still recovering. Let us pray that our nation will turn back to God.

PRESIDENT BUSH: Today, our fellow citizens, our way of life, our very freedom came under attack in a series of deliberate and deadly terrorist acts. The victims were in airplanes or in their offices. Secretaries, business men and women, military and federal workers. Moms and dads. Friends and neighbors.

Thousands of lives were suddenly ended by evil, despicable acts of terror.

The pictures of airplanes flying into buildings, fires burning, huge structures collapsing, have filled us with disbelief, terrible sadness and a quiet, unyielding anger.

These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos and retreat. But they have failed. Our country is strong. A great people has been moved to defend a great nation.

Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve.

America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from shining.

Today, our nation saw evil, the very worst of human nature, and we responded with the best of America, with the daring of our rescue workers, with the caring for strangers and neighbors who came to give blood and help in any way they could.

Immediately following the first attack, I implemented our government's emergency response plans. Our military is powerful, and it's prepared. Our emergency teams are working in New York City and Washington, D.C., to help with local rescue efforts.

Our first priority is to get help to those who have been injured and to take every precaution to protect our citizens at home and around the world from further attacks.

The functions of our government continue without interruption. Federal agencies in Washington, which had to be evacuated today, are reopening for essential personnel tonight and will be open for business tomorrow.

Our financial institutions remain strong, and the American economy will be open for business as well.

The search is under way for those who are behind these evil acts. I've directed the full resources for our intelligence and law enforcement communities to find those responsible and bring them to justice. We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them.

I appreciate so very much the members of Congress who have joined me in strongly condemning these attacks. And on behalf of the American people, I thank the many world leaders who have called to offer their condolences and assistance.

America and our friends and allies join with all those who want peace and security in the world and we stand together to win the war against terrorism.

Tonight I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened. And I pray they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us spoken through the ages in Psalm 23: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for
you are with me."

This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace. America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time.

None of us will ever forget this day, yet we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world.

Thank you. Good night and God bless America.

America the Beautiful?

2010-09-04T12:04:00.001-07:00

O Beautiful, for polluted skies,
For grayish strips of asphalt,
For mammoth buildings majesties,
Above the city streets!
America! America!
God has no place in thee
Let’s crown the stars, rich and popular
From beach to crowded beach!

O beautiful for government
Whose stern agendas pressed
To take away our freedom, and said
It was for our best!
America! America!
God’s name is thought a flaw.
Confirm thy happiness with self in mind
Thy demands in law!

O beautiful for idols proved
In televised strife.
Who more than self nothing loved
And money more than life!
America! America!
May the Fed thy paper bills refine
Till all success be selfishness
And every gain be mine!

O beautiful for American dream
That lusts beyond what’s yours
Thine chrome and glass cities gleam
Wells Fargo Tower and Sears!
America! America!
God? Ancient myth is he!
Let’s crown the stars, rich and popular
From beach to crowded beach!

O beautiful for jet-filled skies,
For imported, modified grain,
For Oprah, her majesty
Who makes her politics plain!
America! America!
God has no place in thee
Let’s save the bears and earth and air
And kill our own babies!

O beautiful for pedicured feet,
And busy moms who stress
Woman’s lib and freedom meet
Sadness no one could have guessed!
America! America!
God, if I like, is ME
I’ll base my life’s path on
My wild thoughts
Don’t need to hit my knees!

O beautiful for gory tale
Of murderous strife
With constant vice,
for man's avail
Men destroyed precious life!
America! America!
God’s blessings all will flee!
Till selfish gain ceases to stain
The hearts of you and me!

O beautiful for children’s dreams
That sees no hope, just fears
Thine crowded, starving cities gleam
Awash by human tears!
America! America!
God won’t be mocked by thee!
Pray nobler men keep once again
His plan for this country!

(c) 2010 Becoming Godly Maidens

Och, Then, for All the Piper Holds Dear!

2010-09-03T15:37:00.001-07:00

Do want to know something I love? I love Scottish poetry. I could live and breath Scottish poetry. I enjoy poetry in general, and am the proud possessor of several volumes, the majority of which is Robert Frost. American poems and English poems are lovely. But Scottish poetry is the most beautiful thing I have ever read! When I read it, I seem to find myself sitting on a grassy hillside with a cool breeze blowing the fragrance of wildflowers around. Call me a nerd, but I’d rather read a Scottish poem than a popular novel any day.

The Return (A Piper's Vaunting)
Och hey! for the splendour of tartans!
And hey for the dirk and the targe!
The race that was hard as the Spartans
Shall return again to the charge:
Shall come back again to the heather,
Like eagles, with beak and with claws
To take and to scatter for ever
The Sasennach thieves and their laws.
Och, then, for the bonnet and feather!
The pipe and its vaunting clear:
Och, then, for the glens and the heather!
And all that the Gael holds dear.

The Fairy Dance
The fairies are dancing — how nimbly they bound!
They flit o'er the grass tops, they touch not the ground;
Their kirtles of green are with diamonds bedight,
All glittering and sparkling beneath the moonlight.
Hark, hark to their music! how silvery and clear —
'Tis surely the flower-bells that ringing I hear, —
The lazy-wing'd moth, with the grasshopper wakes,
And the field-mouse peeps out, and their revels partakes.
How featly they trip it! how happy are they
Who pass all their moments in frolic and play,
Who rove where they list, without sorrows or cares,
And laugh at the fetters mortality wears!
But where have they vanish'd? — a cloud 's o'er the moon,
I'll hie to the spot, — they'll be seen again soon —
I hasten — 'tis lighter, — and what do I view? —
The fairies were grasses, the diamonds were dew.
And thus do the sparkling illusions of youth
Deceive and allure, and we take them for truth;
Too happy are they who the juggle unshroud,
Ere the hint to inspect them be brought by a cloud.

23rd. Psalm in Scots
The Lord is my Shepherd in nocht am I wantin'
In the haugh's green girse does He mak me lie doon
While mony puir straiglers are bleatin' and pantin'
By saft-flowin' burnies He leads me at noon.
When aince I had strayed far awa in the bracken,
And daidled till gloamin' cam ower a' the hills,
Nae dribble o' water my sair drooth to slacken,
And dark grow'd the nicht wi' its haars and its chills.
Awa frae the fauld, strayin' fit-sair and weary,
I thocht I had naethin' tae dae but tae dee.
He socht me and fand me in mountain hechts dreary,
He gangs by fell paths which He kens best for me.
And noo, for His name's sake, I'm dune wi' a' fearin'
Though cloods may aft gaither and soughin' win's blaw.
"Hoo this?" or "Hoo that?" -- oh, prevent me frae spearin'
His will is aye best, and I daurna say "Na".
The valley o' death winna fleg me to thread it,
Through awfu' the darkness, I weel can foresee.
Wi' His rod and His staff He wull help me to tread it,
Then wull its shadows, sae gruesome, a' flee.
Forfochen in presence o' foes that surround me,
My Shepherd a table wi' denties has spread.
The Thyme and the Myrtle blaw fragrant aroond me,
He brims a fu' cup and poors oil on my head.
Surely guidness an' mercy, despite a' my roamin'
Wull gang wi' me doon tae the brink o' the river.
Ayont it nae mair o' the eerie an' gloamin'
I wull bide in the Hame o' my Faither for ever.

8-4-10 "Can You BELIEVE This!?"

2010-09-03T15:36:00.001-07:00

KANSAS CITY, MO - A blind couple who had a baby two months ago say that the State of Missouri violated their constitutional rights by taking their newborn away, and now their attorney says that she's working to make sure it doesn't happen again to another blind family.

Erika Johnson and Blake Sinnett say they were not able to bond or care for their baby girl for 57 days because social workers were blinded by ignorance. The couple says that when their child, Mikaela, was born on May 21 they were filled with joy, but social workers then refused to let them take her home.

"I didn't think that was appropriate at all, we are just as capable as our sighted peers," said Sinnett.

Johnson says that their nightmare began when she was trying to nurse her baby in the hospital.

"There was some breast tissue blocking her nose," said Johnson. "But the nurses across the room at the time, I asked them was she okay and she said, 'No, she was beginning to turn blue, but it's fine it could have happened to anybody'."

Johnson says instead of the lactation nurse teaching her how to breast-feed her baby, she reported the incident to the state and for the next 57 days they were not able to care for their child because little Mikaela was in a foster home.

"I'm the one that should have been waking up at 1 o'clock in the morning, feeding her, I missed bonding with her," said Johnson.

The couple's attorney, Amy Coopman, says while the state dismissed the case and returned the baby this week, the state should be held liable for violating the couple's constitutional rights.

"A lawsuit doesn't take that time and give it back to them, but we want to make sure some other blind person that walks into the hospital to have their baby doesn't have this happen to them," said Coopman.

The Missouri Department of Social Services says it can't comment on the case because of privacy laws. But a spokesperson says children aren't taken from their parents unless abuse, neglect or the welfare of the child is in imminent danger.

"We are visually impaired, not mentally impaired," said Johnson. "We are just like everybody else, we just can't see as well."

Wow. Can you believe that? That is insane. Help stop this sort of thing- support the Parental Rights Amendment. I do! http://www.parentalrights.org/

-me

http://www.fox4kc.com/news/wdaf-story-blind-parents-child-072210,0,6427253.story

8-2-10 "Stuff You Don't Learn in a Classroom"

2010-09-03T15:35:00.001-07:00

I just spent a lovely weekend with my family out-of-town. In true homeschooler fashion, I will list some of the things that I learned this weekend:

1) Crawdads like papaya. They like shaved ham even better.

2) Raccoons travel in fuzzy clumps, whether they are climbing trees or on the ground.

3) As long as you are careful, the canoe will not tip. It’s fun to troll!

4) Catfish are hard to kill. They can survive an entire night after being hooked and they still wiggle after they are decapitated.

5) Preparing a fresh-caught trout to be cooked is actually less gross than dissecting a shark.

6) It is possible to catch a lizard while standing on an ant-ridden log over a lake and holding a fishing pole in one’s dominant hand.

7) The quickest way to make your stuffy, crowded garage look like the scene of a murder is to have your garage freezer full of elk meat die while you are gone for four days, and then accidently dump all the blood onto the floor.

6-27-10 "Books: Best of the Best"

2010-09-03T15:34:00.001-07:00

There are a few books that I really think everyone ought to read. Actually, I have a list as long as my arm (literally) of books that I highly recommend. I plan to publish that on http://www.becominggodlymaidens.com/ sometime in the near future. For now, though, here’s a short list of nonfiction books that, in my opinion, make life complete. Please comment and give me titles of books that you recommend! I’d appreciate it. Even if you do not belong to HSB, you can still comment without giving your name or email address.

& Do Hard Things- the book to transform the life of anybody between the ages of twelve and twenty-five and the mindset of all other parties. Stop what you are doing and read this book!

& Rachel’s Tears- this book takes you through the spiritual journey of Rachel Scot, one of the Columbine High School tragedy victims. This was an extremely inspirational book for me. You may find yourself wanting to journal through your Christian walk, too!

& Lies My Teacher Told Me- want to know what you history books got wrong? Curious as to what REALLY happened? Great book – I’ll give it an A for content! Unfortunately, it gets a D for worldview… the author is not interested in following God.

& More than a Carpenter- A great apologetics book. Who was Jesus, and what did he do?

& Kingdom of the Cults- Important for Christians to read. This book lists every cult of the Christian faith, why it is a cult, and what they believe. An important book to at least skim through. Christians need to be informed so they do not get confused.

& What He Must Be (if he wants to marry my daughter)- Homeschool dad, speaker and pastor Voddie Baucham wrote this. I cannot emphasize enough how IMPORTANT this book is to anyone- fathers, daughters, young men, and all other people. This is an non-apologetic guide to doing engagement and marriage God’s way. But don’t wait to read it… if you are in high school or above, this book is for you.

& I Kissed Dating Goodbye and Boy Meets Girl- Why wait to date? After reading this book, you may not want to date at all! This is the classic book that tells how to please God with romantic relationships in this modern-day world.

& For Young Women only and For Women Only- great way to find out how to relate to guys better. May revolutionize your current or future marriage! Written from a Christian perspective but please note- the first listed recognizes dating vs. courtship as the normal course of things. But don’t let that stop you from reading it. The latter listed is written for married women.

& For Men Only- same as above, only written for guys to understand the female set. I have not personally read it, but as it is the same as the one for women, I would recommend it. I’m not sure if there is one for teens guys out currently and this is written for adults, but I assume it is still very good.

& Good biographies written before 1920, such as The Life of Patrick Henry by William Wirt

& Bible studies and devotional books. I already put some of my favorite feminine Bible study titles online at http://www.becominggodlymaidens.com/homeschool.html/ You guys will have to figure out your own for this one… guy studies are not exactly my area of expertise.

That’s just a few of the cream of the crop!

7-17-10 "Miss Bush? I Do!"

2010-09-03T15:33:00.001-07:00

7-7-10 "Demonic Origins of Twilight"

2010-09-03T15:32:00.001-07:00

The Darkness of Twilight

Demonic Origin of Twilight?

Written by Sue Bohlin

The Twilight saga is a publishing and movie phenomenon that sweeps tween and teen girls (and a whole lot of

other people) off their feet with an obsessive kind of following. Millions of Christian girls are huge fans of this

series about love between a teenage girl and her vampire boyfriend-then-husband. But it’s not just a love story

made exciting by the danger of vampires’ blood-lust. I believe the Twilight saga, all four books and their

corresponding movies, is spiritually dangerous. I believe there is a demonic origin to the series, and the occult

themes that permeate the books are a dangerous open door to Satan and his hordes of unholy angels.

I was stunned to learn about how the idea for Twilight came to the author, Stephenie Meyer. She tells this story:

I woke up . . . from a very vivid dream. In my dream, two people were having an intense conversation

in a meadow in the woods. One of these people was just your average girl. The other person was

fantastically beautiful, sparkly, and a vampire. They were discussing the difficulties inherent in the

facts that A) they were falling in love with each other while B) the vampire was particularly attracted

to the scent of her blood, and was having a difficult time restraining himself from killing her

immediately.{1}

“Fantastically beautiful, sparkly, and a vampire”? Consider what vampires are, in the

vampire genre that arose in the 1800s: demon-possessed, undead, former human

beings who suck blood from their victims to sustain themselves. A vampire is evil. And

the vampire who came to Stephenie Meyer in a dream is not only supernaturally

beautiful and sparkly, but when she awoke she was deeply in love with this being who

virtually moved into her head, creating conversations for months that she typed out

until Twilight was written.

When I heard this part of the story, it gave me chills. Scripture tells us that Satan

disguises himself as an angel of light, which is a perfect description of the Edward

Cullen character.

Then I learned that “Edward” came to Meyer in a second dream that frightened her.

She said, “I had this dream that Edward actually showed up and told me that I got it all wrong and like he exists

and everything but he couldn't live off animals . . . and I kind of got the sense he was going to kill me. It was

really terrifying and bizarrely different from every other time I've thought about his character.”{2}

I suggest that if the Twilight saga is demonic in origin, it is dangerous, to Christians and non-Christians alike.

Vampires, Blood, and Salvation

I explained above how the Twilight saga was birthed in an unusually vivid dream that I believe was demonic in

origin. So it’s really no surprise that the books are permeated with the occult.

The Twilight vampires all have various kinds of powers that don’t come from God. They are supernaturally fast,

supernaturally strong, able to read others’ minds and control others’ feelings. Some can tell the future, others can

see things at great distances. These aspects of the occult are an important part of what makes Twilight so

successful.

In both the Old and New Testaments, God strongly warns us not to have anything to do with the occult, which is

part of the “domain of darkness” (Col. 1:13) where demons reign. He calls occult practices “detestable,” which tells

us that He is passionate about protecting us. One of the reasons Twilight is so dangerous is that readers can long

for these kinds of supernatural but ungodly powers; if not in real life, then in their imagination. And this is a

doorway to the demonic, which is all about gaining power from a source other than God. Twilight glorifies the

occult, the very thing God calls detestable (Deut. 18:9). This is reason enough for Christ-followers to stay away

from it!

For a growing number of people, vampirism is not make-believe. In a special report on the Fox News Channel,

Sean Hannity reported, “there’s actually a vampire subculture that exists in the United States right now and

spreads into almost every community in this country.”{3} Joseph Laylock, the author of a book on modern

vampires, explains that there are three general categories of people who “believe they have an ‘energy deficit,’

and need to feed on blood or energy to maintain their wellbeing.”{4} Some drink real blood, others feed only on

“energy” they draw from other humans, and “hybrids” who are a bit of both.{5}

My Probe colleague Todd Kappelman, a philosopher and literature critic, observed that Stephenie Meyer took

unwarranted liberties with the genre. Vampires are evil, and you can’t just turn them “good” by writing them that

way.

You can’t have vampires strolling around in the daytime. You can’t make evil good and good evil,

putting light for darkness and darkness for light [Is. 5:20]. It’s a law of physics: light always dispels

the darkness. You can’t have the bad guys win. There is no system in the world where evil is rewarded

with “happily ever after”; it violates our sensibilities too much. Either the extremely ignorant or the

extremely childish would fall for it. And apart from the moral aspect, it’s doing violence to the genre—

like putting Darth Vader in a Jane Austen novel.{6}

Writer Michael O’Brien comments,

In the Twilight series we have a cultural work that converts a traditional archetype of evil into a

morally neutral one. Vampires are no longer the “un-dead,” no longer possessed by demons. There are

“good” vampires and “bad” vampires, and because the good vampire is incredibly handsome and

possesses all the other qualities of an adolescent girl’s idealized dreamboat, everything is forgivable.

{7}

Closely connected to the occult is drinking blood, which is a focus of the vampire literary genre; vampires feed on

the blood of humans. In Twilight, we are supposed to embrace the “good” vampires who have learned to feed on

the blood of animals, calling themselves vegetarians (which is an insult to all vegetarians!). Interestingly, in Lev.

19:26 God connected the occult with ingesting blood 3200 years before the vampire genre was invented.

God understands the importance of blood; in both the Old and New Testaments, He forbids eating or drinking it.

Not only did this separate His followers from the surrounding pagan cultures, but it also separated out the

importance of blood because it atones for sin. In the Old Testament, animals were sacrificed as a picture of how

the spotless Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, would pour out His sacred blood to pay for our sins. God doesn’t

want people to focus on the wrong blood!{8}

A Love Story on Steroids: Emotional Dependency

Twilight is also spiritually dangerous in the way it presents salvation. When Daddy Vampire Carlisle turns Edward

into a vampire, it is described as saving him.{9} He ended a 17-year-old boy’s physical life and turned him into an

undead, stone cold superbeing, which Edward describes as a “new birth.”{10} Vampire Alice describes the process

as the venom spreading through the body, healing it, changing it, until the heart stops and the conversion is

finished.{11} Poison heals, and changes, and converts to lifelessness? Healing poison? This is spiritually dangerous

thinking. Isaiah warns us (5:20), “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for

light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”

This upside-down, inside-out way of thinking is rooted in Stephenie Meyer’s strong Mormon beliefs. Twilight’s

cover photo of a woman’s hands offering an apple is an intentional reference to the way Mormonism reinvents the

Genesis story of the Fall. LDS (Latter Day Saints) doctrine makes the Fall a necessary step, called a “fall up.”{12}

At the beginning of the book you will find, alone on a page, Genesis 2: 17—”But of the tree of the knowledge of

good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

Stephenie Meyer explains:

The apple on the cover of Twilight represents “forbidden fruit.” I used the scripture from Genesis

(located just after the table of contents) because I loved the phrase “the fruit of the knowledge of

good and evil.” Isn't this exactly what Bella ends up with? A working knowledge of what good is, and

what evil is. . . . In the end, I love the beautiful simplicity of the picture. To me it says: choice.{13}

Echoing Satan’s deception of Eve with the temptation to become like God on her own terms, the heroine Bella

eventually becomes a god-like vampire, glorying in her perfection, her beauty, her infallibility. She transcends her

detested humanity and becomes a goddess. This is basic Mormon doctrine, not surprising since the author is a

Mormon.{14}

One of the messages of Twilight is that there is a way to have immortal life, eternal life, apart from a relationship

with God through Jesus Christ; that there is a way to live forever without dealing with the obstacle of our sin

problem by confessing that we are sinners and we need the forgiveness and grace of a loving Savior.

This is a spiritually dangerous series.

Why are girls of all ages, but especially tweens and teens, so passionately and obsessively in love with Edward, the

vampire in Twilight?

Edward is very different from the vast majority of young men today. He is chivalrous, sensitive, self-sacrificing and

honorable. He wants the best for Bella, his teenage girlfriend and eventual wife. He is able to keep his impulses in

check, which is a good thing since he lusts after her scent and wants to kill her so he can drain her blood. No

wonder girls and women declare they’re in love with Edward Cullen!

But one of the troubling aspects of the Twilight saga is Edward and Bella’s unhealthy and dysfunctional

relationship. Yet millions of female readers can’t stop thinking about this “love story on steroids,” which means it is

shaping their hopes and expectations for their own relationships. That’s scary.

The best way to describe their relationship is emotional dependency. This is when you have to have a constant

connection to another person in order for you to be okay. Emotional dependency is characterized by a desperate

neediness. You put all your relational eggs in one basket, engaging in an intense one-on-one relationship that

renders other relationships unnecessary. In fact, there is often a resentment of not only the people that used to be

your friends, but you resent anyone in the other person’s world who could pull their attention and devotion away

from you.

When things are going well, it’s like emotional crack cocaine. The intensity is addictive and exhilarating. When

Emotional Pornography

things aren’t going well, it’s an absolute nightmare. Emotionally dependent relationships strap people into an

emotional roller coaster full of drama, manipulation, and a constant need for reassurance from the other.

When Edward leaves Bella for a time, she becomes an emotional zombie. The book New Moon is full of descriptions

of the pain of the hole in her chest because when he left, he took her heart with him. She had withdrawn from all

her friends to make Edward into her whole world, so she had no support network in place when he left. All of her

emotional eggs were in his basket. Many readers see this as highly romantic rather than breathtakingly

dysfunctional.

One or both people are looking to another to meet their basic needs for love and security, instead of to God. So

emotional dependency is a form of relational idolatry. People put their loved one or the relationship on a pedestal

and worship them or it as a false god. When you look to another person to give you worth and make you feel loved

and valued, they become inordinately essential. When we worship the creature rather than the Creator as in

Romans 1, what results is a desperate neediness that puts us and keeps us at the mercy of the one we worship.

They have a lot of power over us, which is one reason why God wants to protect us from idolatry.

Twilight is like an emotional dependency how-to manual. At one point, Bella’s mother tells her, “The way you

move—you orient yourself around him without even thinking about it. When he moves, even a little bit, you adjust

your position at the same time—like magnets . . . or gravity. You’re like a . . . satellite, or something.”{15} The

power of story, especially this story, is that it can set up readers to mistake emotional dependency and relational

idolatry for what a love story should look and feel like.

On the Credenda blog, Douglas Wilson makes a powerful case for Twilight also serving as a manual for how to

become an abused girlfriend and then an abused wife. Edward’s moods are mercurial and unpredictable, and Bella

just goes along with it, making excuses and justifying his actions.{16}

Twilight is spiritually dangerous because of its demonic origin and its occult themes, both of which God commands

us to stay away from. But it’s emotionally dangerous too.

The Twilight series is touted as pro-abstinence and pro-chastity because the main characters don’t “go all the way”

before they get married. A lot of parents hear that and give a green light for their daughters to read the books and

see the movies. But the Twilight books are a lust-filled series, so embedded with writing intended to arouse the

emotions, that it is legitimately considered emotional pornography.

Marcia Montenegro writes,

Much has been made of the alleged message of Twilight, that it is one of abstinence and shows control

over desire. In truth, Edward is controlling himself because he does not want to kill Bella; her life is

truly in danger from a ferocious vampire attack from the one who loves her. Aside from that, a

vibrant sensuality of attraction lies just beneath the surface. A TIME reporter who interviewed Meyer

wrote, “It's never quite clear whether Edward wants to sleep with Bella or rip her throat out or both,

but he wants something, and he wants it bad, and you feel it all the more because he never gets it.

That's the power of the Twilight books: they're squeaky, geeky clean on the surface, but right below it,

they are absolutely, deliciously filthy.”{17}

The struggle with self-control is saturated with eroticism and lust. It’s so sensual that teenage boys and young

men will read it simply for that reason. The protest, “They don’t have sex” is lame; the relationship is extremely

sensual. One very insightful blogger writes,

To claim that the Twilight saga is based on the virtue of chastity is like calling the Sports Illustrated

Swimsuit Edition pro-chastity because the girls are clothed.

The (Rotten) Fruit of Twilight

Bella gives detailed first person accounts of her “make out” encounters with Edward—everything from

trying to unbutton clothing, to how loud her breathing is and how this or that feels . . . these detailed

first person descriptions are designed to arouse young girls—like a gateway drug to full blown romance

novels or vampire lore. How can books in which the author has written detailed first person

descriptions of actions leading to arousal help readers to be chaste? The words on the page defy

chastity. Anyone who claims that the books promote chastity has to explain how a young girl can read

detailed first-person descriptions of “making out” as a tool to preserving her innocence.{18}

The sensuality of Twilight is not lost on even the youngest readers and movie-goers. Robert Pattinson, the actor

who plays Edward Cullen in the Twilight movies, was asked in a Rolling Stone interview, “Is it weird to have girls

that are so young have this incredibly sexualized thing around you?” He answered, “It’s weird that you get 8-yearold

girls coming up to you saying, ‘Can you just bite me? I want you to bite me.’ It is really strange how young the

girls are, considering the book is based on the virtues of chastity, but I think it has the opposite effect on its

readers though. [Laughs]”{19}

God’s word says, “Flee youthful lusts” (2 Tim. 2:22). Without a strong discernment filter in place, and without a

strong determination to guard one’s heart (Prov. 4:23), it will very hard to obey that protective command when

reading the Twilight books or watching the movies.

Recently at a youth discipleship camp, I asked the young men how they felt about Twilight. They booed. Real men

don’t stand a chance to be enough compared to the too-good-to-be-true Edward Cullen. When girls use the

emotional porn of romance novels or movies, they are setting up impossible expectations that have no hope of

being fulfilled by limited, fallible, all-too-human beings. It’s a cruel twist on the way men can sabotage their

relationships with real women by their use of internet porn. Is there much of a difference between using sexual

porn or emotional porn? In both cases, fantasy creates unrealistic expectations that reality cannot satisfy.

Apart from the problem of unrealistic expectations, it is unhealthy to make such an intense heart connection with a

fictional character. Some people choose getting lost in reading and re-reading the books over having connections

with real human beings in community. One lady told me that she called a friend about going out to a movie, but

her friend begged off: “Oh, I’m going to stay in with Edward tonight.” A nail technician had one 60-year-old client

who confided, “Don’t tell my husband, but I’m in love with Edward.”

In the first Twilight book, Edward sweeps Bella off her feet with the intoxicating description of his intense desire for

her and why she desires him: “I’m the world’s most dangerous predator. Everything about me invites you in. My

voice, my face, even my smell. . . I’m designed to kill. . . I’ve wanted to kill you. I’ve never wanted a human’s

blood so much in my life. . . Your scent, it’s like a drug to me. You’re like my own personal brand of heroin.”{20}

I believe there is a spirit of seduction in the Twilight saga. Something supernatural draws millions of readers to

fantasize about being desired, pursued and falling in love with a character that I believe has a deeply demonic

component. It’s dangerous on several levels.

Twilight is one of the most successful series ever published. Readers don’t just read the books; many of them reread

them, multiple times. In order to be discerning, we need to examine the fruit of this series to see its effect on

readers. I believe that there is a spiritual reality of evil behind Twilight that explains three kinds of fruit I see.

First is the fruit of obsession. Literally millions of fans can’t stop thinking and talking about the books, the

characters, the minutia of the Twilight world. There is an addictive element of the series for many people.

Addiction is bondage; why willingly submit yourself to bondage?

Some girls talk about their daily reading and study of “The Book,” and they’re talking about the whole saga—not

the Bible.{21} With social networking and digital media, fans have access to an ever-growing community of other

Twilight-obsessed people, which allows them to connect with their God-given desire to be part of something bigger

than themselves. But the transcendence of connecting to the Twilight world is so much less than God intends for

us to experience!

The second fruit is the spiritual warfare reported by Christians, especially those who disobeyed God’s leading to

get rid of the books—night sweats, hearing voices and other unusual noises, being gripped by a spirit of fear, loss

of intimacy with God. Some thoughtful people have reported what one woman called “a stronghold I didn’t want

and couldn’t seem to overcome. I became uncontrollably obsessed over this make-believe world. And fell into a pit

of manic-depressive-suicidal state.”{22}

One Christian teenager, clearly under conviction, wrote this comment on a blog:

As a 15-year-old, reading those books was a . . . strange experience for me.

I didn’t think they were too bad or morally lacking until I heard my old high-school chaplain [a thirtysomething

woman, I think. Never dared to ask :-) ] praise them. And then something inside me

clicked, because it struck me as wrong that a Godly woman would find this series good. . . .

Another problem with Twilight that I had is that it drives girls to think of love before they are

emotionally and mentally ready for the idea. It pretty much skews their ideas of love up. I know it’s

done that to me. Because what this series has done is stick Edward Cullen in one category (i.e. “pure

perfection”) and “everyone else” lumped together in another as a portrayal of pure “ocker”ness. I am

now not sure to what percentage *gentlemanliness* exists in a normal, TANNED boy. So it’s not really

fair to guys, or girls, because of skewed expectations. . . .

Otherwise, I enjoyed the Twilight series, but I don’t feel that I should have, so I’m going to pray about

that one.{23}

The third fruit is a spirit of divisiveness. Some Christians are inordinately defensive about Twilight, choosing the

books over relationships with other believers who take a negative view of the series. One Christian speaker who

shared her deep concerns over Twilight at a church conference was verbally attacked at the break by supposedly

mature women. Some of them still refuse to speak to her.

Of course, we hear the refrain, “Oh come on. It’s just a book. It’s just fiction.” But all forms of entertainment are a

wrapper for values and a message, and we need to be aware of what it is. Remember, what we take into our

imaginations is really like food for our souls. If something has poison in it, it shouldn’t be eaten. Saying “It’s just a

book, who cares what it is as long as we’re reading,” is equivalent to saying, “If you can put it in your mouth and

swallow it, it must be food.” What are you feeding your soul? Goodness or poison?

Readers resonate with the important themes of life and literature: romantic love, family love and loyalty, beauty,

sacrifice, fear, danger, overcoming, conflict, resolution. But these themes are laced with spiritual deception: “You,

too, can be like God.” You hear that Twilight is a love story on steroids, and people—especially young girls—are

drawn to God’s design for a woman to be cherished, protected, and provided for. They are drawn to the way Bella

responds to Edward with love, respect and submission, which is also God’s design. So it is especially devious that

the elements that resonate with our God-given desires for love are poisoned as occult principles are interwoven

with the story.{24}

One teenage girl made this comment on a blog: “I never thought of [the books] as arousing or erotic in any way.

Like many other girls, I found myself falling for Edward as I delved into the story. Before I knew it, my heart was

beating faster during the mushier scenes.” Like millions of others, she is unable to discern the line between

emotional and sexual arousal. Swooning because you are in love with a fictional character, when you long for this

character when you’re not reading the book, means you’ve been taken captive (Col. 2:8). And God does not want

us in bondage to anything except Him!

Twilight is dangerous because it subtly stretches us into accommodating that which God calls sin. People don’t leap

from embracing good to embracing evil in one giant step; it’s a series of small, incremental allowances. Readers

Addendum: Should I Let My Children/Grandchildren/Students Read

Twilight?

easily accept unthinkingly an unmarried couple spending every single night together when the Word says to avoid

every form of evil and to flee temptation, not lie there cuddling with it! Readers are led to accept as heroes and

friends vampires who murder human beings to drink their blood.

Commentator Michael O’Brien makes a stunning analysis of Twilight:

In the Twilight series, vampirism is not identified as the root cause of all the carnage; instead the evil

is attributed to the way a person lives out his vampirism. Though Bella is at first shocked by the truth

about the family’s old ways (murder, dismemberment, sucking the blood from victims), she is

nevertheless overwhelmed by her “feelings” for Edward, and her yearning to believe that he is truly

capable of noble self-sacrifice. So much so that her natural feminine instinct for submission to the

masculine suitor increases to the degree that she desires to offer her life to her conqueror. She trusts

that he will not kill her; she wants him to drink her essence and infect her. This will give her a

magnificent unending romance and an historical role in creating with her lover a new kind of human

being. They will have superhuman powers. They will be moral vampires—and they will be immortal.

Here, then, is the embedded spiritual narrative (probably invisible to the author and her audience

alike): You shall be as gods. You will overcome death on your own terms. You will be master over

death. Good and evil are not necessarily what Western civilization has, until now, called good and evil.

You will define the meaning of symbols and morals and human identity. And all of this is subsumed in

the ultimate message: The image and likeness of God in you can be the image and likeness of a god

whose characteristics are satanic, as long as you are a “basically good person.”

In this way, coasting on a tsunami of intoxicating visuals and emotions, the image of supernatural evil

is transformed into an image of supernatural good.{25}

Twilight is not dangerous because people will literally want to become vampires. Twilight is dangerous because,

through the powerful medium of storytelling, dangerous ideas and messages go straight to the heart like a

poisoned-tipped arrow, without being passed through a biblical filter. Beware the darkness of Twilight.

I have read all four books in the Twilight series. I strongly recommend against reading these books.

But I also understand that it’s a cultural phenomenon, and lots of people are going to read the books no matter

what anyone says. So allow me to attempt to redeem the cultural pressure inherent in these books’ popularity by

suggesting how you can help the tender, untaught minds of your loved ones to think critically as they read.

If your teen or tween expresses a desire to read the books, give an explanation for why you think they shouldn’t.

(“Just say no” just doesn’t work with most kids. They need to know why, and that’s fair.) I would suggest

something along the lines of, “I love you and I want what is best for you, and that means protecting you from

dangers you are not aware of. This series is steeped in the occult and in demonic influence, both of which God

strongly warns us against in His word. There is also a powerful emotional draw into unhealthy fantasy which could

sabotage future relationships with real people. There are spiritual dangers and emotional dangers that I want to

protect you from.”

If you receive pushback, then you might respond by saying, “If you want to read the books, then I’ll read them

with you. We’ll talk about them, a chapter or a scene at a time. The choice is yours.” This gives your loved one the

power of choice, but you remain involved in the process. What would be especially powerful for young girls is for

Dad to read the books as well and talk to his daughter(s) about what’s in them. Men would have a very different

take on the emotional lust in these books, as well as a sensitivity to the unfair expectations of a lover that would

be formed in their daughters’ hearts. Girls need their father’s input in this adolescent time of emotional and sexual

confusion, and Twilight is almost guaranteed to add to the confusion.

Question 1 – Me and God

Question 2 – Me and the People Around Me

Question 3 – The Bible

Talk about the books’ content frankly and openly; if they are embarrassed for you to know what they are reading,

their well-placed shame will make a powerful statement about the wisdom of reading this kind of book. Make sure

they know that you are completely aware of what they are taking into their minds and spirits, just as you would

want to know if they were taking drugs into their bodies. Reframe the book’s content in terms of what the Bible

says, and ask questions: Does this agree with the Bible’s explanation of life and reality? Does this help you draw

near to God, or does it make you want to avoid Him and His Word? How do the descriptions of Bella's, Edward's

and Jacob’s thoughts and feelings make you think about the people in your real life? Are you tempted to look down

your nose at the “mere humans” you do life with?

Even though this work is fiction, it is still making statements about reality. What is it saying about life on earth?

About God? About sin? About love? About the soul? About heaven and hell? About biblical truth?

How does the book compare to what the Bible says? For example, look together at the Ephesians 5 passage about

marriage and why it is important. (Marriage is an earthbound illustration of the union of Christ and the church.)

And what Jesus said about the nature of the marriage relationship in heaven in Matthew 22:30. (The marriage

relationship is ended by death.) How does it compare with the ideas about marriage in Twilight? Look for the ways

Bella relates to her father. Is it according to God’s command to children to obey their parents (Eph. 6:1; Col.

3:20)? Does she get away with her deceptions and repeated acts of disobedience? (Yes.) Is this consistent with the

Bible’s teaching on the consequences of sin (Gal. 6:7)?

Talk about the gold standard for what God wants us to expose ourselves to: “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” (Phil. 4:8). Look for what is true and not true, noble and not

noble, right and not right, etc. The books are not without statements and ideas that are true, noble, and right; the

problem is that they are mixed in with even more compelling ideas that are false, ignoble, wrong, impure,

unlovely, and shameful.

“As a man thinks in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 7:23). The things we think about by filling our minds and hearts will

shape us. What are you filling your mind and heart with? Longing for the perfect lover that no human being can

fulfill? Discontent with being human and wishing you could have supernatural powers? Will that serve you well?

Lia Carlile, a teacher at a Christian school in Washington State, offered these excellent critical thinking questions to

help students think through Twilight or any other cultural phenomenon. Lia cites many Scriptures in her notes,

which I highly recommend.{26}

• How is this thing building my relationship with the Lord?

• How does my interest in this area compare with my time invested in my relationship with the Lord?

• Is this creating conflict in my family or with others?

• Does it offend other believers or is it confusing them in their faith?

• What am I saying to my non-Christian friends or what example am I setting for others?

• What does the Bible have to say about this? Who does it glorify—God or Satan? Jesus or the things

of the World?

Question 4 – Me and Twilight (or whatever applies)

• How is this affecting what I think about; my attitude, heart, and mind?

• Does it help me to do what is right according to God? Or, does it promote things of the world?

• Does it distract me from the Lord and my relationships with others? Serving, praying, reading Bible,

ministry, etc.

• Does it cause me to say, think, or do things that are contrary to Jesus and his life?

Notes

1. www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilight.html

2. www.Twilightgear.net/Twilight-news-and-gossip/stephenie-meyer-reveals-details-of-new-dream-about-edwardcullen/

2493, March 29, 2009.

3. Steve Wohlberg, "The Menace Behind Twilight," SCP Journal: Vol. 32:2-33:3 (2009), p. 27.

4. Ibid., 28.

5. Ibid.

6. Personal conversation with the author, May 2010.

7. Michael O'Brien, "Twilight of the West,"www.studiobrien.com/writings_on_fantasy/Twilight-of-the-west.html

8. I am indebted to Steve Wohlberg's article cited above for this insight.

9. Stephenie Meyer, Twilight (New York: Little, Brown and Co., 2005), 288.

10. Meyer, Twilight, 342.

11. Meyer, Twilight, 414.

12. http://www.truthinlovetomormons.com/basic_mormon_doctrine/doctrine/theo/fall.htm

13. www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilight_faq.html

14. "As God now is, man can become. As man now is, God once was." James E. Talmadge, Articles of Faith (Salt

Lake City, UT: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1976). See also Oscar W. McConkie, Jr., God and

Man (Salt Lake City, UT: The Corporation of the Presiding Bishop, 1963), 5. Cited in Russ Wise, "Mormon Beliefs

About the Bible and Salvation," www.probe.org/mormon-beliefs-about-bible-salvation.

15. Stephenie Meyer, Eclipse (New York: Little, Brown and Co., 2007), 68.

16. Douglas Wilson has written a series of insightful reviews of Twilight at Credenda:

www.credenda.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=author&id=64&Itemid=127

17. Lev Grossman, "Stephenie Meyer: A New JK Rowling?" TIME Magazine, April 24, 2008,

www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1734838,00.html). Cited in Marcia Montenegro, "A Girl and Her

Vampire: The Frenzy Over Twilight." www.christiananswersforthenewage.org/Articles_Twilight.html

18. spesunica.wordpress.com/

19. bit.ly/9m4Nje

20. Meyer, Twilight, 268.

21. www.radicalparenting.com/2009/05/14/the-new-bible-Twilight-mini-article/

22. spesunica.wordpress.com/is-Twilight-anti-christian-yes/

23. bit.ly/aSKdWl/

24. I am indebted to the wisdom shown in the comment by Jae Stellari on spesunica.wordpress.com.

25. O'Brien, "Twilight of the West."

26. www.ericbarger.com/twilight.carlile.pdf

© 2010 Probe Ministries

About the Author

Sue Bohlin is an associate speaker with Probe Ministries. She attended the University of

Illinois, and has been a Bible teacher and conference speaker for over 30 years. She is a

What is Probe?

frequent speaker for MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) and Stonecroft Ministries (Christian

Women's Connections), and serves on the board and as a small group leader of Living Hope Ministries, a Christ

centered outreach to those dealing with unwanted homosexuality. Sue is on the Bible.org Women's Leadership

Team and is a regular contributor to TheTapestryBlog.com. She is also a professional calligrapher and the

webmistress for Probe Ministries; but most importantly, she is the wife of Dr. Ray Bohlin and the mother of their

two grown sons. Her personal website is suebohlin.com.

Probe Ministries is a non-profit ministry whose mission is to assist the church in renewing the minds of believers

with a Christian worldview and to equip the church to engage the world for Christ. Probe fulfills this mission

through our Mind Games conferences for youth and adults, our 3-minute daily radio program, and our extensive

Web site at www.probe.org.

Further information about Probe's materials and ministry may be obtained by contacting us at:

Probe Ministries

2001 W. Plano Parkway, Suite 2000

Plano TX 75075

(972) 941-4565

info@probe.org

www.probe.org

Copyright information

6-28-10 "Obama Said WHAT?! and How to Fight It

2010-09-03T15:31:00.001-07:00

On Fathers Day, President Obama proclaimed, "...nurturing families come in many forms, and children may be raised by a father and mother, a single father, two fathers, a step-father, a grandfather, or caring guardian."

Two fathers? The presidents proclamation was yet another calculated endorsement of same-sex marriage, as he continues the surgical dismantling of the institution of marriage and family weve been sharing with you for weeks now. With the Elena Kagan confirmation hearings set to begin next week, we expect the issue of marriage -- and her support of same-sex marriage -- to be a key issue.

If you have not yet signed our Stand for Marriage petition, I encourage you to stand with all of us and tens of thousands of other pro-family Americans as we defend marriage in this crucial debate.

This is for those 18 and older to sign. If you are not old enough, email this link to your parents and adult friends. This is important!

http://www.focuspetitions.com/225/petition.asp?Ref_ID=3613&CID=225&RID=24402438

6-19-10 "Pray for Gao"

2010-09-03T15:30:00.001-07:00

Supporters around the world were shocked on March 27, 2010, when Gao Zhisheng spoke with his family for the first time since he was abducted on February 4 last year. Media buzzed with news of his reappearance, as Gao Zhisheng connected with friends, family, reporters and colleagues. But even this brief reprieve from silence was not free.

"Gao was being held under tight security during the time he spoke with his family," says President of ChinaAid Bob Fu. "When I spoke with him on the phone in March, he was being closely monitored, not at liberty to give details about his location or condition."

On April 15 and 16, Gao Zhisheng visited his in-laws in Xinjiang, telling them he would be flying home to Beijing at 10 AM on April 20. Gao never arrived home at his apartment, and has not been seen or heard from in more than 8 weeks. See the media reports on Gao Zhisheng's forced "Re-Disappearance."

Now that he has disappeared again, it is clear that Gao's life is in danger as long as he is in the custody of the Chinese government. During this complex and difficult time, efforts are already in progress to push for Gao's release from China and for a safe reunion with his family in the United States.

"We continue to denounce the Chinese Government's brutal and unjust treatment of Gao Zhisheng!" says Bob Fu. "We will not rest until Gao is released and allowed to reunite with his wife and children in peace."

Please urge more of your friends to Sign the Petition and let the Chinese Government know that Gao Zhisheng is not forgotten. We must show them that the world will not allow this defender of truth and justice to fade from our hearts and minds. We will not rest until he is united with his family.

ChinaAid also humbly asks for your continued financial support. Long-term projects like Gao's case can be costly, and we cannot afford to lose momentum now. Please help Free Gao with a financial contribution today.

Share the Petition.

Donate Now.

www.FreeGao.com

(Taken from Voice of the Martyrs newsletter)

6-14-10 "YOU Can Dress a Girl Around the World"

2010-09-03T15:29:00.001-07:00

Dress a Girl Around the World is a sub-organization of Hope4Kids International. Dress a Girl’s purpose is to provide impoverished girls with dresses, and thus give them more dignity. The dresses are made by people in the United States, Canada, Uganda and Malawi and are sent to a variety of countries across the world. The dresses are easy to make- the simple pattern, which uses a pillowcase, is easily and quickly created.
Yesterday I made my first dresses for Dress a Girl! Here they are:

They were “sew” easy, too! If you know how to stitch a straight seam, you are ready to go. And, as I pointed out to my friend a few days ago, I am not exactly Miss Sewing Queen of America, so if I say it’s easy……

It is.
So why don’t you make a couple, too? Here’s the link to the website: http://dressagirlaroundtheworld.webs.com/

I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?
When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?
When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Matthew 25:36-40

PS if you join the site, send me a message! I’m Becoming Godly Maidens :)

6-7-10 "The Oil Spill Solution! It Really Works!"

2010-09-03T15:28:00.001-07:00

This is a perfect, enviromentally-friendly solution to the oil geyser in the Gulf of Mexico. Please watch:
Oil Spill Solution

5-25-10 "Chinks in Evolution 3"

2010-09-03T15:26:00.001-07:00

What do you think of when you think of blood? Sticky red stuff that comes when you cut yourself? The liquid substance that runs in your veins? Maybe you take a more scientific approach and words like red blood cells or corpuscles come to mind.

What is blood? Blood is a complex compound that is made up of a yellow fluid called “plasma” or “liquor sanguinis,” gasses, and various types of blood corpuscles. There are three types of corpuscles: “colored” or “red” corpuscles (Erithrocytes), “colorless” corpuscles (Leucocytes), and Blood-platelets.
The red corpuscles are circular discs. These disc, do not adhere to each other or to the walls of blood vessels while in the body. Once removed, however, they clump together readily. They are also quite elastic and will change a bit in order to pass unobstructed through a vessel if need be.
Colorless corpuscles come in five varieties, each type with its own makeup. Eosinophile cells have course granules and a horse-shoe shaped nucleus. The smallest of the leucocytes is the Lymphocyte. The most common leucocyte is the Polynuclear cell, which gets its name from the tendancy of its nucleus to have two or three identical and attatched parts. The Hyaline cell is spherical and has a spherical nucleus. The last variety is a finely granular leucocyte with a lobed nucleus. Ineach millimeter of blood, there are over ten thousand leucocytes!
Blood-related (cardiac) organs begin to develop in human embryos at day 16 or 17 after conception. Blood cells form at day 21. From that day, the heart continues to pump blood through the body until the day that person dies.
Inside the normal human body, the blood is 96.8*F, has a specific gravity of 1’060, and flows easily. If there is a mistake in the genetic code, red blood cells may become sickle-shaped and cause anemia. When exposed to air, blood clumps together to form a clot. Were it not for the clot, a person could bleed to death from a small cut.
Do you see the amazing balance of God’s creation of blood? I have not even touched on how blood interacts with body tissue and organs! I have barely scratched the surface of what blood is and what it does! I have not described the differences between human blood and the various types of animal blood! How can anyone believe that such a delicately balanced, life-sustaining compound could have simply evolved? If just one aspect of blood were altered, life could not continue. People who have blood disorders have to live with extreme caution and have medical help in order to survive- how could “primitive” man survive in such a state? If only people would take the time to learn the complexity of God’s creation, there would be no question for his existence. The very blood that redeemed our souls on Calvary was a testimony to God’s creation.
Source:
Gray, Henry. Gray’s Anatomy, 15th Edition. Barns and Noble, 2010. New York, New York. Print.
Merk Manuals, Online Medical Library. Merk and Company. 2010. Web.

5-21-10 "A Mount Vernon Horror Story"

2010-09-03T15:25:00.001-07:00

It was twilight on Mount Vernon. The sun’s last rays were fast disappearing behind the northeast hills. The lake was dark and the estate was bathed in grays and blues. I walked up the path to get a last look at the fields and trees. I shivered as evening wind blew past me and rattled the autumn leaves above.
“Almost closing time, kid,” said a man as I walked past. He was one of the two surveyors who are employed at Mount Vernon. George Washington himself was a surveyor, and these two men display colonial surveying equipment and talk to visitors at a table beside the path.
“I know,” I said, “just finishing up.” I knew that I was walking the opposite way of the exit, but I wanted to be here as long as possible. The cool air was refreshing, and without the throngs of other tourists, it was easy to imagine that George Washington himself might ride out from between the tall trees at any moment. The surveyor shrugged and carefully placed an old, curiously shaped metal object into a padded case. I walked a little further up the path, into a stone-paved clearing. Here was the final resting place of the body of George Washington—an unburied casket viewable behind locked bars in his tomb. The casket of Martha Washington, his wife, was beside it. I was too old to be afraid of dead people and sensible enough to disregard superstition, but here, in the gloom of imminent night with owls hooting mournfully above me, it was just a little creepy. The chill wind moaned and wound itself around the tomb. I pulled my jacket closer to me. Then I froze. I heard a sound. I had always read in novels and mystery books that bones rattle when they move—was that what I was hearing? No, of course not. This was real life, not a thrilling story. Maybe it was a bad idea to venture so far from the visitor center alone after dark. I turned to go. But I had not taken three steps when I heard the sound again. I turned, slowly, heart thumping wildly. There was a dim light that lit the caskets after dark, and by it, I could see into the tomb. What was the movement—a shadow, perhaps? There it was again. No, it was not a shadow; I was sure of it. One of the caskets was moving ever so slightly. My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. I felt like vomiting. Was I dreaming? This was like a terrible nightmare—the kind where you can’t run and you can’t scream. The casket shifted slightly and groaned, scraping on its pedestal with the movement. Was the body going to burst out? Dozens of terrible thoughts flooded my mind. There was something moving inside the coffin. Were the bones of George going to escape? Then, to my absolute horror, a wraith-like figure appeared out of the trees and moved toward me. My tongue unstuck itself from my palate. I screamed.
The figure spoke. “What on earth? It’s after closing time. What are you doing here?” He looked at me expectantly. I stuttered and fumbled for words. The figure put up a hand. “Stop that gasping! What do I look like to you, a ghost?” No, he looked like a groundkeeper. There was his ordinary blue jeans, his “Mount Vernon” shirt, and dirty sneakers. I swallowed.
“Sorry. I was just… looking.”
“Saying goodbye to George and Martha?” He was not angry. Thank goodness.
“Uh-huh,” I was still uneasy. I began to move away. Then I heard the rattling sound and the casket began to shake. I felt like I was going to faint. “What… is… oh, my… how…?” I choked.
“That’s George turning over.” The groundkeeper seemed unconcerned but a little sad. “Every time congress or a government official does something against what this country was founded on, George turns over in his grave.”
“That’s ridiculous,” I sputtered.
“But true.”
I moved to stand beside him. He was looking at the casket, hands in pockets.
“What I would give to have lived under American government the way it was designed,” he sighed.
“Does it happen a lot— Washington turning over, I mean?”
“Nearly every day; often multiple times each night. It’s disheartening.”
“Yeah.” I sighed. A bat circled overhead, catching bugs. An owl hooted. For some minutes we stood in silence, listening to the sounds of the night.
“Well,” the groundskeeper snapped out of his own thoughts. I started. “It’s after closing time,” he said, glancing at his watch “You better head out.”

5-20-10 "An Accidental Chemistry 'Experiment'... and How to Make Play Dough"

2010-09-03T15:24:00.001-07:00

Today I learned something new. It is possible for water to explode! Apparently, it is a very bad idea to try to boil water in the microwave. I’m sure there is some chemistry formula that explains why this can happen, and if you happen to be the kind of person who knows that sort of thing, please enlighten the rest of us in a “comment.”
What was I making that caused me to boil water, you ask? Play Dough, actually (yes, I usually cook real food and no, I usually don’t use the microwave to try to cut corners). Here’s the recipe:
• 4 cups flour
• 4 Tbsp oil
• 4 Tbsp alum
• 4 Tbsp salt
• 2 cups water
Boil water (on the STOVE in a POT)- add food coloring. Mix flour, alum, salt; oil, water. Do not use a mixer. You may need extra flour. Let cool before giving to kids. Provide them with plastic cookie cutters. This is a great way to keep kids happy and busy 

5-13-10 "Ode on the Death of a Favorite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes"

2010-09-03T15:23:00.000-07:00

'Twas on a lofty vase's side,

Where China's gayest art had dyed

    The azure flowers that blow;

Demurest of the tabby kind,

The pensive Selima, reclined,

    Gazed on the lake below.

Her conscious tail her joy declared;

The fair round face, the snowy beard,

    The velvet of her paws,

Her coat, that with the tortoise vies,

Her ears of jet, and emerald eyes,

    She saw: and purred applause.

Still had she gazed; but 'midst the tide

Two angel forms were seen to glide,

    The Genii of the stream;

Their scaly armour's Tyrian hue

Thro' richest purple to the view

    Betrayed a golden gleam.

The hapless nymph with wonder saw:

A whisker first and then a claw,

    With many an ardent wish,

She stretched in vain to reach the prize.

What female heart can gold despise?

    What cat's averse to fish?

Presumptuous maid! with looks intent

Again she stretched, again she bent,

    Nor knew the gulf between.

(Malignant Fate sat by, and smiled)

The slippery verge her feet beguiled,

    She tumbled headlong in.

Eight times emerging from the flood

She mewed to every watery god,

    Some speedy aid to send.

No Dolphin came, no Nereid stirred;

Nor cruel Tom, nor Susan heard.

    A favorite has no friend!

From hence, ye beauties, undeceived,

Know, one false step is ne'er retrieved,

    And be with caution bold.

Not all that tempts your wandering eyes

And heedless hearts is lawful prize,

    Nor all, that glisters, gold.

Thomas Gray- 18th Century

5-6-10 "National Day of Prayer"

2010-09-03T15:22:00.000-07:00

Today is the National Day of Prayer! Say a prayer today for our country. Even if you don’t live in the US, take advantage of this and pray for your country. Remember what God said in 2 Chronicles 7:14:

“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 will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

I keep this verse on my bulletin board in my room to remind me that there is hope. Today is the day! Say a prayer for our leaders that they will be wise and turn to God, for they people that they will recognize truth and lies and turn to God, and for our troops for their safety.

http://www.nationaldayofprayer.org

5-4-10 "articles"

2010-09-03T15:21:00.001-07:00

Hello, everyone! I've added a new "articles" section to www.becominggodlymaidens.com. Two of the articles are written by homeschoolbloggers NathanatBJU and Kaylee! Come read at http://www.becominggodlymaidens.com/articles.html .

*If you are interested in writing for Becoming Godly Maidens, please contact me at breezie@becominggodlymaidens.com

5-3-10 "The Time to Protect Parental Rights is NOW"

2010-09-03T15:20:00.001-07:00

Great, good, and fantastic! Today I got my ParentalRights.org membership kit in the mail. I’ve been waiting for a while, and it’s finally here! I can’t wait to start handing out flyers and bookmarks to spread the news and tell people why we need an amendment to protect parental rights. Want to find out for yourself? http://www.parentalrights.org

This is too important to pass by, even –no, especially- if you are not a parent yet. Kiddos and peers, its our generation that is going to be affected negatively if Convention on the Rights of the Child is ratified. Want to Homeschool, raise your kids to be Christians, and have access to their medical records? You won’t be able to if CRC passes. The Parental Rights Amendment will prevent this. So, while I climb off my soap box and carry it off, go check out http://parentalrights.org to find out how you can help.

5-2-10 "Creationists Cannot be Racist"

2010-09-03T15:19:00.001-07:00

Creationists can't be racist- that would just be stupid.

Read on!

5-29-10 "When I was Naked, You Clothed Me, When I was Hungry, You Gave Me Food..."

2010-09-03T15:18:00.001-07:00

Hello! J

I’ve joined “Dress A Girl Around the World.” This organization is a sub-organization of Hope 4 Kids International, an missions organization which helps Americans sponsor the education of foreign impoverished children. Dress A Girl is an organization which sends home sewn pillowcase dresses to impoverished girls in other countries. If you like to sew (or can sew J ) and if you’d like to help a girl in need, get involved! You don’t have to join the site to help out, but if you do join, look BGM up.

Happy stitching :)

5-23-10 "Sidewalk Prophets"

2010-09-03T15:17:00.000-07:00

Have you heard of Sidewalk Prophets the Christian band? They sing such songs as "The Words I Would Say," which happens to be one of my favorite songs. You can listen to it in the Theatre if you scroll down to the bottom of this page.

They have a really cool website- visit it and join the community! BecomingGodlyMaidens has joined. Click on the link "Sidewalk Prophets" under "Becoming Godly Maidens" to visit BGM's account.

Happy Listening!

5-20-10 "Broken Dreams and Living Nighmares"

2010-09-03T15:16:00.000-07:00

Here is a true story about a little Austrian boy born in 1889.

Cute kid, huh? Well, aside from the bad haircut. This baby boy lived in Europe a while back. He grew up to be an artist. Art was his passion. Here are a couple of his pieces. Not bad at all! Quite impressive, actually.

Mr. Heidler wanted his son to go into government. The boy himself did not. Perhaps this was because his father did. You see, Mr. Heidler was quite abusive and had not had a very good life himself. Here is his picture, taken in 1901:

The boy, Adolphus, fought with his father repeatedly and begged to go to a classical high school. It wasn’t allowed, and Adophus’ grades went down in his conventional high school. At age 15, he dropped out of school.

But there was still college.

Adolphus applied to an art school, but dropouts were turned down. Adolphus presented his art, thinking that perhaps they would change their minds when they saw his talent.

He was wrong. So Adolphus lived like a waif and ate at soup kitchens.

But his life was not to stay that way! As an adult, Adolphus moved into this gorgeous estate with his true love.

But the story does not end happily ever after. On April 30, 1945, Adolfus shot himself. There were comparatively few mourners for his death. In fact, most of the world celebrated. The evil genious of the Third Riech, the mastermind behind the holocaust, the Fuhrer of Nazi Germany, was dead.

What would have happened, I wonder, if Adolf Hitler’s life had been different? What would the history of the 40’s be like had Alois Hiedler been a kind father? How many old men would be unscarred by war today had he allowed his son to go to art school? How many Jews would be alive today had a relative supported the impovereshed Adolf? How many Japanese would be whole instead of maimed by nuclear fallout had Hitler been accepted into art school? Would the name "Hitler" fill art class instead of history textbooks? Would we learn about “Adolf Hitler, the great artist- granted, he had some strange ideas, but, hey, his art was awesome!” instead of "Adolf Hitler- the murderous Nazi leader who tried to wipe out an entire race and caused a World War."

How much can one kind and merciful action change a life… a generation… a race…..the world…the course of history… for the better? People aren't born evil. The baby at the top of this page did not have anti-semetic sentiments. That came later, after a deep wound pierced his heart. The Devil doesn't get newborns- but if they are not cared for and shown the love of God, anyone, even a poor orphaned teen, can become a human monster. Show god's love to everyone, even outcasts. They are the ones who need it the most.

5-14-10 "Stop Pork-Barrel Spending"

2010-09-03T15:15:00.000-07:00

5-11-10 "Carpe Dium"

2010-09-03T15:14:00.000-07:00

Always live in the moment- never for the moment. Seize the day now to make a better day for then. Don’t live for this moment- live for the next moment, and for tomorrow, next week, next year, twenty years in the future, and Eternity. It’s when you master this mindset that you begin to create the kind of legacy that you dream of leaving behind.

5-9-10 "The Daily Devo Challenge"

2010-09-03T15:13:00.000-07:00

Want a great way to do devotions? Visit Godsgurl93's blog to find out how to take the Daily Devo Challenge. I'm taking it- hope you'll take it,too!

4-31-10 "Forget it, Lizzy Stanton"

2010-09-03T15:11:00.001-07:00

I just found a delightful website- Ladies Against Feminism. Come on, sisters, let's fight feminism and show the world that we want to be respected for our feminity and appreciated for the womanliness that God gave us!

Feminism is unbiblical- just check out the epistles. And Feminist attitudes won't go away without FEMALES fighting it. By giving "rights" they took away our dignity. Let's take it back for the glory of God!

When we do this, we not only help ourselves, we help our Christian brothers by allowing them to be masculine. The world laughs at feminine women and masculine men, but that is SO backward! Men can't behave chivelrously if we don't let them. Give the gift of manhood to the boys in your life and the gift of womanhood to the girls and take your place in the role God intended for you!

Nathan has thoughts on this matter, too... please read his post here

4-27-10 "I'm a Native American, too! For Cryin' Out Loud, It's Not My Fault Columbus Didn't Use GPS..."

2010-09-03T15:10:00.001-07:00

Most of you would look at me and say that I am “white.” I am a mixture of Czech, Norwegian, German, English, French, etc… yes, you would say that I am white. However, I am not really white. To comprehend my meaning, I suggest you conduct a conclusive experiment: Take a piece of computer paper. Find the nearest white person. Hold paper against skin of white person. Compare. Do the paper and the skin match? Is there more than an infinitesimal difference in pigment? Of course there is. You will discover that while the paper is decidedly white, the flesh will range anywhere from pale ivory to beige, or reddish if it is swimming season. Not white. Therefore, using the term “white” to describe this particular race is derogatory and racist. I take great offence! Therefore, allow me to suggest a few more politically correct terms:

· People of European Descent

· European Americans

· People of No Color

Better yet, how about we all forget about the whole “race” thing. As Carl Kerby of Answers In Genesis says, there is only one race- the HUMAN race. We all came from one couple in the beginning, and they probably had a light, warm brown for skin tone. As people spread out all over the earth, genetic mutations changed the skin tones to darker or lighter colors, and as time went on, those in Africa passed on dark pigments, those in Europe passed down a deficit of pigment, and those on other continents had various different skin tones. Makes sense, right? We’re all related by Adam and Noah, and God loves everyone the same. So what the heck is all this to-do about “races” for? We are all people- can’t we just be color-blind?

4-23-10 "Some Thoughts from Henry"

2010-09-03T15:09:00.000-07:00

I am reading Henry David Thoreau’s Walden and Civil Disobedience currently. Walden was interesting enough, to a point; I have never heard of a person leaving civil life and going out to live in the middle of nowhere before. However, I was a bit disillusioned by the fact that Thoreau began a fire in the woods and could not be bothered to clear away the brush around the fire, and thus started a great forest fire, which he barely apologized for. Besides that, some of his ideas are rather odd. I thought to myself, “What decent things can such a person have to say about government?” I was particularly unexcited about reading Civil Disobedience.

However, beginning on the first page of said essay, I found several bits and pieces of Thoreau’s writing that we would do well to think on- here are a few.

“Yet this government never of itself furthered any enterprise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way. It does not keep the country free. It does not settle the West. It does not educate. The character inherent in the American people has done all that it has accomplished; and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way.”

“Law never made men a whit more just; and by means of their respect for it, even the well-disposed are made daily made agents of injustice.”

“I heartily accept this motto- ‘That government is best which governs least’.”

“This American government, --what is it but a tradition, though a very recent one, endeavoring to transmit itself unimpaired to posterity, but each instant losing some of its integrity? It has not the vitality and force of a single living man; for a single man can bend it to his will.” (A bit prophetic, don’t you think?)

“A very few, as heroes patriots, martyrs, reformers in the great sense, men, serve the state with their consciences also, and they are commonly treated as enemies by it.”

“But when friction comes to have its machine [that is, its government], and oppression and robbery are organized, I say, let us not have such a machine any longer.”

“There are thousands who are in opinion against slavery and war, who yet in effect do nothing to put an end to them; who, esteeming themselves children of Washington and Franklin, sit down with their hands in their pockets, and say they do not know what to do, and do nothing... they hesitate, they regret, and sometimes, they petition; but they do nothing in earnest and with effect.”

“O for a man who is a man, and, as my neighbor says, has a bone in his back which you cannot pass your hand through!”

“How can a man be satisfied to entertain an opinion merely, and to enjoy it?

“For it matters not how small the beginning may seem to be: what is once well done is done forever.”

“A minority is powerless while is conforms to the majority; it is not even a minority then; but it is irresistible when it clogs by its whole weight.” (Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world… You are not of the world even as I am not of the world… be a light unto the world…)

“No man with a genius for legislation has appeared in America. They are rare in the history of the world. There are orators, politicians, and eloquent men, by the thousand; but the speaker has not yet opened his mouth to speak, who is capable of settling the much-vexed questions of the day. We love eloquence for its own sake, and not for any truth which it may utter, or heroism it may inspire.”

“If we were left solely to the wordy wit of legislators in Congress for our guidance, uncorrected by the seasonal experience and the effectual complaints of the people, America would not long retain her rank among the nations.” (I think we saw this phenomenon last weekend- that is, of eloquent speakers on the house floor getting other representatives by their “wordy wit” to vote one way, while the enraged people watched on their television sets, their complains ineffectual. So what follows? Presumably, America loses her rank. To whom? China? Russia? Yikes. Scary thought!)

4-21-10 "Dear Mr. President... Signed, We the People"

2010-09-03T15:08:00.000-07:00

Psalm 21:1-2 "The Lord is my Light and my Salvation- whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stornghold of my life- of whom shall I be afraid?

Psalm 2:1-2 and 10-11 " Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together agaisnt the Lord and against His Anointed One. "Let us break their chains, " they say, "Let us throw off their fetters." The One enthroned in Heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them... Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling."

4-9-10 "How are Christian Young People Supposed to View the Opposite Sex?"

2010-09-03T15:07:00.000-07:00

I’ve seen it. You’ve seen it. Most likely, you have either been on the receiving or the giving end of it. Flirting. It’s a disease that is slowly weakening our lives, our social circles, and (dare I sound so eccentric?) our culture. Flirting fills our television sets as shows for both kids and adults portray the heroes and heroines of comedies and drama flirt with, fight over, and smooch on members of the opposite gender. Flirtatious songs fill iPods, CD players, the airwaves, and the minds of college kids, teens, pre-teens, and even young children. Even Barbie, as she enjoys her itty-bitty pink karaoke machine, sings about the dreamy boy she likes. Pre-teen girls giggle and chatter about the boys they like, and high-school boys make off-color comments as they check out cheerleaders in the school hall. Youth groups across the country have become contaminated with godless thoughts as guys and girls pair off during “Church events.” I’ve heard girls talk about flirting as if it were a pastime or a hobby. Even to grown-ups, flirtatious behavior seems perfectly innocuous. But how harmless is it, really? What are the long-term consequences of flirting?

What does God say about the matter? Ask your average church-going teen or pre-teen, and they will probably reply, “Nothing!” Although God never said outright, “thou shall not flirt,” he has indeed addressed the matter in His word.

· 1 Timothy 5:1-2 “Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if her were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.”

Treat younger men as brothers, and younger women as sisters. Treat members of the opposite sex with absolute purity. Treat them as siblings? Easier said than done! How on earth are we to do that? First of all, stop looking at members of the opposite gender as potential boyfriend/ girlfriends or husbands/wives. Realize that God has your future spouse in mind already and it’s up to Him, not you, to get the ball rolling. Begin to think of them as friends, not “romantic interests.” The easiest way to begin changing the way you think is to a) pray that God will give you a change of heart b) behave as if you already consider them as brothers or sisters. What does that mean? You respect them as a person, love them with agape, or brotherly love, and cease the flirting. Your attitude will eventually follow your actions.

· Colossians 3:1-2 “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

I realize that this does not really seem to fit this topic at first glance. However, is perfectly germane! When you find yourself attracted to someone of the opposite gender, you begin to think about them more and more. Then, once they are at the forefront of your mind, you begin to want to be around them more and more. What usually follows is flirtatious behavior, ansd then you begin to think about them still more. The result? God is shoved to the back burner of your mind. If you are not careful, you may find yourself completely removing Him from the stove, sealing Him in a Tupperware container, and putting Him in the fridge to refer to later. And that is when you slip out of His will. The result? Life starts to stink like last week’s leftovers. The preventative? Keep God at the forefront of your mind. When you start to dream about that cute person you like, push away the thought. Don’t let it distract you. Think about something else- focus on God! Start to pray. Prayer usually kicks that thought out of your head faster than anything else. Praying for another person takes the focus off yourself (did you realize that daydreaming about a crush is a self-centered action?) and onto that person and God.

· Titus 2: 11-12 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “no” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age.”

What is a “worldly passion”? It is anything That absorbs your thoughts that is defiantly not of God, but instead of the world. An all-consuming crush fits nicely in this category. That’s not to say that you won’t have crushes- you will, and it doesn’t make you heathen! When it becomes ungodly is when you allow it to take over your mind or even your life. Self-control must come into play when you find yourself having a crush. If you look around you, you will find that many people give into their crushes- or leap into them head-first! You may even find that you do this. Use self-control- divert your thoughts from this person, resist the urge to flirt, treat them like your brother or sister. Does it seem like less fun? Sure. But is it more pleasant in the long-run? Absolutely. When you look back a year from now, what do you want to remember – that you focused on school and made good grades, witnessed to people about the Lord, had carefree fun with friends, worked hard at your sport, and wrote uplifting journal entries? Or that you wasted time daydreaming about a crush, told a friend about your crush and were gossiped about, and made a complete fool out of yourself as you did your best to grab that person’s attention?

· 1 Timothy 2:9a “I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety…”

· Job 31:1-2 “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at any girl, for what is man’s lot from God above, his heritage from the Lord Almighty?”

These two verses, one for the girls and one for the guys, are hopelessly intertwined with each other. While everyone has a different idea of just exactly what is modest, girls, there are some obvious guidelines that you need to follow. A good place to find these guidelines is The Modesty Survey at www.threbelution.com. Why be modest? So that the guys you are around will be able to follow Job 31:1-2 without serious struggles. It may seem as though you will get more attention from guys when you wear flirtatious clothing, but trust me- you do not want that kind of attention from that sort of guy! The kind of guy you want to attract (i.e., a godly man who will respect your modesty and your body) will not be attracted by immodest dress. A lot of girls- even Christian girls- could care less about modesty and the consequences of immodesty because they are glad to get male attention. Don’t be one of those girls. Sure, for many of you, it may be a while before you actually want to get a husband, and it doesn’t seem like it really matters WHO you attract at this point. However, let your track record be clean and godly. Your husband will be appreciative, trust me, and you won’t have guilt or regrets.

Guys, I think this verse pretty much says it about as plainly as it possibly can. As a member of the feminine order, it is not my place to write to you on matters such as these. If you would like a commentary on this subject, find one that is written by a guy- a good one is I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris. I encourage you to take the time to read this book.

Why avoid flirting? As the verses above show, flirting is not in God’s will. In addition, as I have discussed, it will damage your reputation as a godly young person, it will repel godly potential-spouses, it will cause you grief and regret. In addition, if you never flirt in the first place, chances are, you will never find yourself going “too far.” Don’t ever begin creating a potentially dangerous guy-girl relationship. I will even go so far as to encourage you to avoid dating or any type of courtship until you are old enough to be married. Why? You will be able to grow closer to the Lord, not to one, three or seven guys/girls whom it will not have benefited you in the least to have known; you will have time get a job, get good grades, or have a hobby; and you will never have a chance to “make mistakes”. As you can see, flirting leads to only heartache and regrets! Do not get caught up in it- live for the Lord, not for yourself.

3-4-10 "Please Peel Your Vocab Words Off the Tub

2010-09-03T15:05:00.001-07:00

...Is probably not something that you ever expected to hear your mother tell you. But it may become a regular phrase in your house with this new study technique! This is a perfect study idea, especially for long-haired girls. It sounds completely wacky and kind of strange, but it works very well. Have you ever wished that taking a shower did not seem like a total waste of time? Well, notw, instead of singing off-tune oldies, you can study in the shower. That's right- IN the SHOWER! And all for less than a quarter! All you have to do is slip whatever you are trying to study into a zip-loc bag, close it tightly, hold it under the water, and stick it to the shower wall. Now, for you girls who have 32-inch locks that take at least a half hour to wash (trust me- I know how frusterating this is!), you have another half hour to study. Thanks to my friend who gave me this tip!

1-27-10 "Chag Purim Semeach!

2010-08-31T20:47:00.000-07:00

Chag Purim Semeach! This Sunday, February 28, is the Jewish festival of Purim. I’m not Jewish, but since Christianity has its roots in Judaism, I think that it is important that we have a basic knowledge of Judaism. Then we can more fully understand the culture, and where Jesus was coming from when He said the things that He said.

Purim is the traditional celebration of the salvation of the Jews from the hands of the Medes and Persians. You can read about this story in the Old Testament book of Esther.

Recognize Purim! At dinner time, read the story of Esther. For desert, eat Haman’s ears. Don’t let the name scare you! They are actually yummy cookies.

· 4 eggs

· 1 cup oil

· 1 ½ cups sugar

· 2 tsp vanilla

· 1 tbsp baking powder

· ½ tsp salt

· 4 cups flour

· Pinch of lemon rind

· Beat eggs, add remaining ingredients, beating well after each ingredient. (I suggest that you mix the flour by hand to avoid excessive stickiness)

· Roll out dough and cut out circles

· Put a tsp of jelly in center

· Fold over edges in three section

· Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes.

· Makes about 5 doz. cookies

The story runs thus:

Xerxes, king of the Medes and the Persians was having a drunken party one evening, as kings were accustomed to do on occasion in ancient times. He ordered his wife to flaunt her beauty in front of his buddies, and she, having some sense of propriety, refused. The king wrote a declaration against her and sealed it with his signet ring. The declaration said that the king’s wife was banished from his presence forever. The next morning, as the king was recovering from a terrific hangover, he remembered what he had done. He felt terrible; however, in the law of the Medes and the Persians, once the king sealed something with his signet ring, it stood forever. Whoever wrote these laws were obviously not quite as intelligent, as, say, Thomas Jefferson and the guy who wrote the Magna Charta. So, God save the Queen, and out she went.

Xerxes was seriously bumming. His officials suggested that he find a new wife. So, Xerxes held a beauty pageant to find a new wife. Ah! Xerxes- haven’t you heard? Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting!

Apparently, Xerxes had never read the sayings of King Lemuel, and went ahead with his pageant. He was really serious about finding the biggest cutie on the planet- ok, the biggest cutie in Media and Persia- for it took an entire year of beauty treatments for each girl before she could be introduced to the king! All the girls were gorgeous, but Xerxes turned down one girl after another, seriously damaging their self-esteem. Finally, he saw the woman he wanted- a girl named Hadassah! Hadassah had another name, too- Esther. Xerxes found it much easier to say Esther (perhaps he had a terrible lisp), so that was what everyone began to call her.

Esther missed her cousin (and legal guardian) terribly, so she got him a job at the palace. This man, Mordechai, overheard a couple of losers plotting to kill the king. Mordechai snitched on them, and they were killed. Then the king promptly forgot all about Mordechai. Around this time, the king appointed a right-hand man. The guy that he picked was Haman and was a real snake. It was another one of Xerxes’ bad decisions, and at this point I’m sure a lot of people thought that perhaps it would have been better if Mordechai had never overheard the assassination plot. The King, of course, did not think Haman was a snake at all. If fact, he worshipped the ground Haman walked on, and wanted everyone else to do so, too. Literally. Mordechai, a devout Jew, did not take kindly to this and thereby refused to pay homage to Haman.

Well, this really made Haman mad. So, he convinced the King to write a decree to kill on the Jews. The King agreed. He wrote that on a particular day, the Medes and Persians could go slaughter any Jew they found and take all the plunder they liked. It would be like 99₵ day at Savers! Xerxes sealed it with his signet ring. Haman clicked his heals together and went out to build a gallows on which to hang Mordechai.

Mordechai heard about the proclamation, went home, and dressed himself in a burlap bag. Then he went to the palace, sat in the courtyard, and began to bawl. Esther looked out her window and sent a servant to find out what the problem was. Mordechai filled the servant in on the proclamation, and the servant filled Esther in. Mordechai also begged Esther to go to the King and ask for a reprieve.

Another weird law of the Medes and the Persians was that if you entered the King’s presence without being invited, you were going to be killed- that is, unless the king stuck his golden scepter in your face and let you touch the gold ball on the end. Esther knew about Xerxes mood swings, and she knew what happened to the King’s ex when she went against the King. She was petrified at the thought of going to him. Nevertheless, she fasted and prayed for three days, dressed up in her best clothes, and marched right in to the throne room. The King was bored that day, and he was delighted to see Esther. He stuck the gold scepter in her face, and she touched the gold ball. He made a comment about how cute she was when she touched gold scepter balls, and she smiled halfheartedly. He, feeling generous, told her that she could have anything she wanted, up to half of his kingdom. Now, tempting as that was, Esther meekly invited he and Haman to a dinner party. The King was pleased and Haman gloated. His good mood was ruined when he went outside and saw Mordechai sitting by the palace gate ignoring him.

That night the King and Haman went to Esther’s party. The King, showing a bit more intelligence than he had in the past, figured out that there was something on Esther’s mind, and he asked her what it was that she REALLY wanted. She got nervous and told him that she would tell him the next day at another dinner party.

That night, the king had a hard time sleeping. So he asked for a bedtime story. Of course, since he was a selfish individual, he wanted the story to be about himself. So, his scribe went to get the royal records and began to read them. When he came to the part about the assassination plot, the king, still suffering from insomnia, asked the scribe what had been done to reward Mordechai. The scribe riffled through his scrolls and finally told the King that nothing had ever been done for Mordechai. Just then, Haman burst into the bedroom, wearing his nightgown and bunny slippers. The King did not ask Haman why in the world was he bursting into the palace dressed like that at that time of night. Had he done so, Haman would have answered that he was getting real sick of Mordechai and could he please kill him RIGHT THEN. However, the King did not ask that- instead, he asked Haman what he thought would be the best way to honor someone the King thought highly of. Well, Haman could only think of one person whom the King thought highly of, and that was himself. So, he told the king to dress up this person in the King’s clothes, set him on a steed, and have someone lead him around. Xerxes congratulated Haman on his brilliance and told him to go do all those things for Mordechai. Haman had no choice but to acquiesce. After he finished honoring Mordechai, Haman headed home among snickers from his friends and got washed up to go to Esther’s party.

At her party, Esther told the King about a great enemy of her people who was bent set on destroying she and her family. Xerxes was highly offended that anyone would want to kill his beautiful queen, and demanded to know who the man was. Esther took a deep breath and pointed at Haman. The King stormed out in a rage. Haman grabbed the queen and begged her for his life. She was petrified by his violent shaking and weeping. Xerxes, who had finally composed himself a bit, came back in during this scene. He became angry all over again and began to shout at Haman. Just then, a servant form Haman’s house told him that the gallows for Mordechai was ready. The King became more angry and told the servant to hang Haman on the gallows. Then, we went and wrote a new proclamation, stating that the Jews could defend themselves on the day that they were supposed to be slaughtered, and he sealed it with his ring. That day, not one Jew died. Mordechai took Haman’s place and the Jews began a tradition that is continued to this day- the festival of Purim.

2-18-10 "well...I never heard of that happening before..."

2010-08-31T20:46:00.000-07:00

There’s always something fascinating going on at my house. Last week, my sister and I began a shrimp farm in our fish tank. A few years ago, a pet frog got loose in the dining room- we never did find it. A while back, we raised snails and tadpoles in my dad’s office. Last month, our freezer quit and my mom, my sister and I spent the afternoon making two weeks worth of meatloaf, spaghetti, and chicken meals from all of the meat. We didn’t have to make any new dinners for a while! Last year, I painted a gigantic mural on the bathroom wall during the commercials of a TV special on the Phoenix Lander. Once, a hive of bees decided to make its home in our tree and everyone rushed inside the house to avoid the swarm- everyone except our guinea pig. This morning, a CD-Rom exploded in the computer’s disk drive! I had never heard of that happening before. Unfortunately, the CD was a $65 Apologia Biology digital textbook CD- ouch! My sister and I were both in the computer room when the heard a gigantic cracking noise come from the computer. We were afraid that the actual computer had crashed, but I opened up the drive, we saw shards of the CD were wedged in every possible position. So, I spent a few minutes picking out most the shards with tweezers. I also tried to vacuum out the pieces that were stuck far back in the drive cavity. As you might expect, that did not work at all.

We looked online to discover if this was a common occurrence. Apparently, one out of every ten thousand CDs explodes in the drive. Sometimes bits of compact disk shrapnel go flying all over the room! Luckily, all enemy ammunition stayed inside our drive cavity.

Sooo… if anyone has any advice on how to remove bits of CD from deep within the bowels of a computer, let me know!

Oh, by the way, you will be pleased to hear that we were able to find an inexpensive washing machine to replace our deceased one. Thank you, God!

2-11-10 "Ten Easy Steps to Doing Great on the SAT's"

2010-08-31T20:45:00.000-07:00

It’s SAT season! I just got my results today- I was one of the “crazy people” who opted to take the test in January. My logic was that if I did not do as well as expected on the test, I could take again in March. Fortunately, it appears as though I will not have to do that.

I have some SAT tips for you Junior, Seniors, and precocious “Froshes” and “Sophs” who plan to take the SAT.

1) Study. Study! Study! Study! Don’t put it off- start as early as two months in advance. I only studied for two weeks beforehand, but I studied for hours every day. How should you study? Well, for starters,

2) Get a SAT study guide. I liked the one from Princeton Review. However, I did find several typographical errors, including one algebraic error (In an example, they gave the answer for 3⁶ instead of the problem they were showing how to solve, which was 6³). I found major errors on the answer page of the “11 Tests for the SAT” that Princeton Review also has. They somehow gave the answers in the wrong order, so instead of giving “a,b,d,c,a,b,d” as a sequence of answers, they would mistakenly put “a,b,b,d,c,a,b,d” and completely throw off the score. Other than that, however, the books are excellent. Cracking the SAT shows how to solve virtually every type of problem that you will run into on the SAT! I finished Algebra and Geometry last year, so I was a little rusty on both subjects. Luckily, the Princeton Review book gave me a much-needed and easily understood crash course! You can find these books at the bookstore or library. Also, you can sign up to receive the Official SAT Question of the Day in your inbox. This is great way to spend a minute and a half daily improving your test taking ability. Another way to improve your scores is to improve your vocabulary. Study the vocab list in an SAT prep book, and constantly

3)Read. Read what? Classics, dictionaries, high school vocabulary textbooks- whatever it takes. Books such as The Scarlet Letter, Dickens classics, Frankenstein, and other fine literature are filled to the bursting point with words you may come across. Keep a notebook and a dictionary with you as you read. Write down any new words in your notebook and look them up in the dictionary once you are done reading. Find the memorizing technique that works best for you- try keeping a list of words and definitions in your notebook, or create flash cards. You don’t have to memorize the definitions verbatim, just know what the words mean. Also, as you read books and articles, try to make a habit of absorbing the information. Do your best to find it interesting. It may take a complete attitude change in some cases. Also, try to think about what the attitude of the author and/ or characters are. Try to get inside their minds and analyze their motives. If you can train yourself to do this automatically as you read, you will find it mush easier to complete the Critical Reading sections of the SAT. One of the scariest sounding parts of the SAT is the essay. But it’s not so hard if you

4) Practice writing. Write an SAT style essay every day. Sure, its no fun, but it takes less than 30 minutes, and it is worth it. Many SAT prep books have sample essay subjects. Just sit down with a timer, a notebook, a sharp pencil, and begin. Start by reading the subject. Jot down your initial reaction to it. Brainstorm ideas for your essay. Spend no more that five minutes brainstorming. Then create a thesis and write as fast as you legibly can and do your best to avoid errors. An unreadable essay will not get a high score! An ideal essay will have a “hook,” meaning that is sounds interesting from the start. It will have an introduction with a thesis, three supporting body paragraphs (Two is OK, but you may get a better score with three body paragraphs) and a good conclusion. Look up essay helps online if you are clueless on how to write an essay. Your SAT prep book should also be of some help. When you are writing your essay, try to leave a little time for correcting mistakes in your essay at the end, but don’t sweat it. An error or two should not detract from your score. In your body paragraphs, use examples from history or literature to support your thesis. Unfortunately, chances are that biblical examples will not be understood and/or taken seriously by the essay grader, so keep that in mind. The only sections that I have not yet mentioned are the reading, grammar, and mathematics sections. For these, simply

5) Practice! Make sure you understand how to perform algebraic and geometrical problems and that you understand the way that the English Language is properly spoken. Know your commas! Know whether “is” or “are” is correct, which of “They’re,” There, or “Their” is correct, and whether or not a grammarian would say “I saw her holding a pig in a prom dress.” (Hint: He would not, unless the pig was the one wearing the dress.) Your SAT prep book will also help with this. Don’t just assume you have it all down. Make sure you practice the critical reading sections, too. This will help you to be less nervous on test day, giving you a chance to relax as you read the passages. Then you will be able to process more information. You should

6) Take a few practice tests. Get a practice test book and go for it. Most books will help you to calculate your scores. More practice tests means better SAT scores. But it’s not all drudgery, you can also

7)Play games. Say what? Yes, there are actually games that will help you improve your scores. “Rummy Roots” is a card games that improves vocabulary by helping you learn Greek and Latin roots and their meanings. “Mind Trap” enhances critical thinking skills. Another very important thing is to

8) Sleep well, eat healthy, and become hydrated before the test. The day before the test, avoid unhealthy foods and make sure you drink plenty of WATER. Not soda. No, no, no. Also, get to bed at a decent hour (Yes, I do know that it is a Friday night and yes, 9) Bring a calculator, two pencils, a snack, and an ID to the test. Check on the College Board website to make sure that your calculator is approved. Bring number 2 pencils only. No mechanical pencils allowed. Try to

10) Relax! This is a big day for sure, but it won’t affect the outcome of your life. And you won’t have your SAT scores branded on your forehead. It’s just a test- seriously! All it is testing is how well you take tests, a skill that is easily improved. It is not an IQ test.

Good Luck! J

2-7-10 "I won't forget the men who died who gave that right to me"

2010-08-31T20:43:00.001-07:00

I think we all have something that really tears us up inside. For me, it’s young men at war. Whenever I see a photo of a soldier in action, I never fail to get all teary. I guess its just the thought of a life potentially cut short by war. Last month, I saw a black-and-white photo of an American soldier in Viet Nam. The photo showed the soldier’s head. It was almost a profile shot, but taken a little above the soldier. His face was partially shaded, and for a moment- just a split second- the face of the soldier was the face of a guy I know. My heart stopped for a moment. My breath caught painfully in the back of my throat. Then the features rearranged themselves and the face became the face of a stranger. But it occurred to me that the soldier might have well have been a person with whom I am acquainted. Many people have gone to war in generation past, and many more will go from our generation and generations to follow. Some of them will have their lives ended just almost before they have really begun by a bullet in his strong heart. It seems so far away from all of us at home, unless we have a part of the family at war. I started when I thought of this.

Do you remember the fallen soldier who gave you freedom in the Revolutionary War? Do you remember the teenage drummer who died in the Civil War? Do you remember the man in the First World War who was shot while rescuing others? Do you remember the amputee who lost his limb in World War Two? Do you remember the boy in the helmet whose picture I found in my history book? Do you remember the soldier who died in 2002, last year, yesterday, and today in Iraq? Do you remember the fallen soldier? Do you remember? Do you remember? Fill in the empty faces under the helmets with the face of your brother, your father, your husband, your brother, your cousin, your uncle, your friend. Can you feel for them now? Can you weep for the soldiers, your brothers, whom you never met? Can you cry for their mothers and fathers, for their lovers and friends, their children, and for their newborn babies whom they never knew? Can you cry? Can you cry with me? Oh, cry! Weep! Weep for the lives ended so untimely! When your heart is softened and swollen with tears, pray- pray for the families of fallen soldiers, pray for the veterans, and most of all, pray for the soldiers who are far from home.

1-30-10 "Recovering from State of the Union: Step one: print up target symbol. Step two: tape to wall. Step three: bang forehead on target until migrane goes away."

2010-08-31T20:42:00.001-07:00

Last week, President Obama gave his State of the Union Address. During this, we watched Nancy Pelosi lead the audience in an aerobic exercise as Obama spoke by sitting down and standing up and over and over again. Obama gave a very long and eloquent speech- I don’t even think he had any notes. In said speech, he identified some very real problems, such as the fact that America has become a nation of consumers instead of producers, and brought up a nonexistent problem, Global Warming (I thought Washington had finally figured out that it’s not a crisis?). He has some great ideas, too- the only problem is that many of these ideas are completely quixotic. They sound great, but can they work? The health care reform bill is a good idea, really it is. Medical care is very expensive, and it’s hard to pay the bills. Trust me, I understand that completely! It’s a great idea to help people out. However, government-funded health care won’t work for the nation’s benefit. There will be some people who benefit, but in the end, it will turn into more taxes for everyone else and just be another thing that the government has it’s nose in. It will be like welfare - good idea, but completely disastrous!

I’m not going to go into political issues too much, but I just wanted to say that Obama is a very good speaker (I must say I have to be impressed with a person who can talk for 80 minutes straight without notes!) and very eloquent. But in order for you to be a good, informed citizen, please, please listen to what the meaning of the words are, not just how nice and eloquent they sound. Often, I find that a lovely sounding bit of our president’s speeches really don’t mean anything at all! Listen, and analyze. Don’t just hear.

Please leave a comment about YOUR opinion on obama's speech.

1-26-10 "Sometimes it can be HARD-- that's good

2010-08-31T20:41:00.001-07:00

A couple weeks ago, I was browsing through one of my favorite bookstores with, happily, $20 to spend. I don’t know about you, but it takes me forever to decide with books to purchase. My mom found me after we had been there for about a half hour and was surprised to see me with about $80 worth of hardback books stacked in my arms. I was having a very hard time deciding which of the several books I chose, including The Last Mohican, Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes, Two Histories of England (Dickens and Austin- yum!) The Count of Monte Cristo, and a few others.

My personal opinion on books is that classics cannot be beat and the older the publication date, the better! That’s part of the reason that I avoid the “teen lit” section. The other part of the reason that I avoid the said category is because I am thoroughly disgusted with the cruddy books offered there. Nearly every book is written well below a high school reading level and contains a weak romance, a gory murder, a nasty hero, or all three. Books for modern teenagers are goopy junk compared to what young people of past eras spent their time reading. However, there is one book written for teens that I find to be one of the best books ever written.

Many of you, I am sure, have read the popular book by Brett and Alex Harris, Do Hard Things. Hopefully, you’ve also read it, and if you haven’t I encourage you to do so. It’ll be the best eighteen bucks you’ve ever spent on a book. I’ve been loaning my copy out to other teens I know because I think they should read it, too. One on the major points that the Harris twins make in their book is that we should find hard things that we can do for God and them DO them- thus the title of the book.

Rewind five days form the day I was in the bookstore. It was Christmas Eve, and I was visiting my grandpa, who was in the rehabilitation wing of a nursing home after having surgery (He’s out now and home- thank the Lord for that!). My sister and I were going to play a couple of pieces on the piano for him. As he was taken into the dining hall, where the piano was, another gentleman who is a permanent resident of the home expressed a desire to listen also. We went into the dining room and my sister opened her music and played a breathtaking piece.

My sister is one of those people to whom music comes as naturally as breathing. For me, it's a different story. I love to play- by myself. I get extremely nervous when I have to play for other people. I don't know why. I can stand up and give a speech in front of people easy as pie, but playing the piano stresses me out.

In the middle of my sister's piece I realized- Uh-oh, I had left my sheet music at home. Ah, well. I knew a few pieces from memory. But I needed to use the pedal on the piano for those… and it appeared that the out-of-tune player piano had no working pedal. I only know two and one-half songs that do not take pedal. I decided that I really did not want to play- it was not going to sound very good at all, and I didn’t want to follow my sister’s precise Chopin (although a bit clunky without a pedal) with my rusty memorized tunes. Then as she got up form the piano bench and I saw the joy that it brought to my grandpa and especially to the other gentleman- a lonely man whose family he had not seen in many years, I later found out- I realized that it didn’t matter what the playing sounded like to this man. Right then, he was receiving his Christmas gift and this was the closest thing to family that he was going to experience that season. The realized that this was a Do Hard Things moment.

What is the next hard thing YOU can do? It could be a simple as playing the piano when you don’t want to, or it could be far more difficult. Whatever it is, take a deep breath and DO it.

1-18-10 "Our Brothers in Asia"

2010-08-31T20:40:00.000-07:00

As Christians, we must expect to face some level of persecution. Jesus himself said that we would. I’m sure you’ve encountered a bit of this or at least have seen it happen- maybe someone you know ridicules you for following Christ. Maybe your friend or brother got a bad grade on his English class in college because the professor was angry at the way he spoke openly about his faith. However, there are very few cases in the US where persecution has risen to level that we can see in other countries. Persecution is particularly bad in northern Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

Here is the story of one event:

Before dawn on Sunday, September 13, 2009, a band of 400 government officials, police and hired ruffians launched an attack on Linfen-Fushan Church in Shanxi. With no warning, members who were sleeping at the church construction site were mercilessly beaten, with more than 30 left in critical condition. Bulldozers razed the factory and church building to the ground, and the mob looted any valuables and smashed the remaining property. Following the brutal attack, the Fushan governing officials arrested more than ten Linfen church leaders.

Esther, the daughter of two Linfen pastors, called home frantically in October, after learning about the attack on Fushan Church over the internet. The phone rang and rang, but no one answered. She later learned from a relative that her father and mother had been arrested in a sweeping backlash against house church leaders on October 11, 2009.

In the trial held on November 25th, Esther's father Yang Xuan was convicted of "unlawfully occupying agricultural land" and sentenced to 3 1/2 years with a 20,000 Yuan fine. Her Aunt Yang Rongli received a maximum sentence of 7 years in prison and 30,000 Yuan fine, and her Uncle Wang Xiaoguang received 3 years in prison with a 10,000 Yuan fine. Esther's mother, Yang Caizhen, was arbitrarily sentenced to two years Re-education through Labor in the brutal Laogai (labor-camp) system. Already fearing for their safety and health, Esther learned in December that her mother had been severely beaten in prison.

Thank the Lord for religious freedom in North America and Europe! Let us fight to keep that liberty and defend it above all other rights.

But let’s not forget the persecuted. This is a huge problem! How can YOU help? You can donate, and it will be a great help. But the most important thing for you to do is PRAY! Here are a couple of sites to keep you informed as to what the greatest prayer needs are:

Persecution blog from Voice of the Martyrs

China Aid- the site from which the above story is taken

1-15-50 "Haiti"

2010-08-31T20:39:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you've all heard about the Haiti earthquake and the havoc wreaked on that island. There are tons of orphaned, widowed, and injured people in Haiti right now who need your help- you could SAVE A LIFE by donating a few dollars. Literally, you could feed a child for a month by giving $5. That's as much as a footlong at Subway costs. So, give up one lunch out and feed a kid for a month! Maybe you could feed a few people. Do you really need another t-shirt or a new soccer ball? Do you need it more than these people need to live?

Couple of sites:

https://www.fmsc.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=416

http://www.fh.org/

1-6-10 "Twilight"

2010-08-31T20:38:00.000-07:00

Guest post by Kaylee

I don't know about any of you, but I'm getting a little tired of seeing "Twilight" all over everything, and everywhere. At this age, many of you have probably read or seen Twilight. If not, good for you. I highly reccomend that you don't. Even though I haven't ever read or seen Twilight, I know enough about it to know that it's something that I don't want to spend my time watching/reading. In Phillipians 4:8, it says:

"Finally brothers whatever is true, whatever is right, whatever is noble, whatever is admirable, -if anything is excellent or praisworthy- think about such things."

Let's put Twilight through the criteria for a moment. Is Twilight true? NO! There are no such things as vampires.... certainly not 17 year old girls who fall in love with them! is Twlight right??? NO!!!!! 17 year old girls should not be having romances at such a young age, not to mention... It's definitely not right for young girls to fall in love with mythical creatures. Is Twilight noble? No. there is nothing noble about not getting along with your parents and running off with a vampire. Is Twilight admirable? NO! What is admirable about Twilight? You can't admire a 17 year old girl for running off with a vampire. You can't admire a vampire for running off with her. Is Twilight excellent? Definitely not. It may be well written, and the actors may be talented... but that doesn't matter. Finally; is Twilight praiseworthy? Once again, what can be praised about this movie? There is nothing God-honoring about it. If you still don't agree with me, read about Twlight yourself in the Christian movie review website below; with Phillipians 4:8 in mind. You will find that what I write is true. Keep in mind this website talks quite openly about Twilight. I suggest nobody but teens (and adults) read it. Some of the content is rather PG or above.

http://www.pluggedin.com/videos/2008/Q4/Twilight.aspx

I don't mean to offend you Twilight fans, but this is a Biblical perspective. Sure, Twilight is full of action and intrigue, but so are other books/movies. Many of these are God-honoring. Why spend your time reading/watching the latest new book/movie when there is so much better stuff out there? Please comment and tell me what you think.

1-1-10 "it's not an option. It's obedience"

2010-08-31T20:36:00.001-07:00

Happy New Years to You!

I found this video on Godsgurl93's blog and thought it was pretty good. Please watch it and take it to heart. And please check out the modesty survey at www.therebelution.com . Modesty is SO IMPORTANT! I cannot stress that enough. We live in a world where extreme immodestly is socially normal, and unfortunately many Christian girls fall into the trap of immodesty. We need to stand out- that doesn't necessarily mean we have to wear muumuus and headscarves 24/7, but it does mean we need to (excuse me for indelicacy) make sure body parts that are mean to concealed stay concealed. Believe it or not, this is actually commanded in the Bible! I Titus 2:9 says, “I want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety…” I daresay you can’t get much plainer than that.

Let me explain something real quick…. When the modesty survey and this video says that a girls choice of clothing is a ‘stumbling block” to guys it means that it makes them think things about you that you don’t want them thinking about… and it actually causes them to sin. Don’t adopt the “I should be able to wear what I want, and they should resist the temptation” attitude, girls. It is extremely difficult for guys to resist the temptation because it’s completely against they way their minds naturally work. It takes a lot of work for a guy to resist sinning in his heart when he sees you dressing in a way that you ought not. Remember, guys and girls are wired differently and you can really cause an internal war in a guy’s mind if you dress inappropriately.

What is modest? How far is too far, and how modest do you need to be? Find out what the guys think is OK and what causes them to stumble… right here at the modesty survey. Please keep in mind that this is meant for teens and young adults.

This may come as a surprise to you, and I am fully aware that I am crossing into an awkward zone right now. But I think that this is a very important thing for you girls to understand! Please think of those around you when you are dressing and not just what you like and what you think looks “cute.”

12-30-09 "illustrations"

2010-08-31T20:35:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! My blog is officially a year old! If you have a favorite entry from the last year, please comment to tell me about it. :)

I want to let you know that www.becominggodlymaidens.com has a new section! Click HERE to see my portfolio for my illustrating business. Also visit my illutration blog HERE. Thanks guys!

Hope you all had a spectacular Christmas!