God's Providence

Mark has been teaching a series of lessons to the youth on Wednesday nights about how everything in the Bible is there to show God's glory. He is teaching one-two lessons from each book. Some stories (like Joshua and the Battle of Jericho) are easy to quickly read through and see God's glory and triumph shining. Others are easy to just skim over and hardly notice the big picture.

A couple of weeks ago he taught on Ruth. I have read Ruth several times, but never really studied it. Just a quick look at the meaning of some of the names in Ruth is fascinating. Elimelech (My God is King) is married to Naomi (pleasant). They have two sons, Mahlon (sick) and Chilion (pining). {Great names for the kiddos, huh?} There is a famine. I think, for me anyway, it is hard to imagine what these people would go through in a time of famine. I mean think about it, here if there is a bad season and crops we can always go to the grocery store that has fresh produce available year round. We can go to restaurants anytime we please and get anything we want. These people suffered greatly if there was a time of famine. To keep their sickly kids from starving Elimelech and Naomi had to leave their home and go to a far away place. They left Bethlehem and settled in Moab.

This is another one of those things that I have at times just read over and not really thought much about. Moab. The people of Moab are descended from the incestuous union of Lot and his daughter. {side note here: Mark taught a lesson about the effects of alcohol to the youth over a year ago titled I love my Family...But Not That Way! . He used the story of Lot to teach that alcohol can make you do weird things and make you so out of it that others can do bad things to you. The youth still remember almost every detail of the story. As soon as he said the Moabites were descended from Lot they all started saying things like "EEWWW, Yuck!!!"} So the Moabites as a people had a less than desirable beginning. Not only that, but they worshiped some pretty horrible gods. One of which (Chemosh) was a god of child sacrifice. Could you imagine something so terrible that you had to take your family away from everything safe and comfortable and put them in a place like that? It would be horrible!

They were not there for just a little while. They were there long enough that the boys became men and found someone to marry. I feel pretty sure that the parents would have liked for them to marry nice Jewish girls. Guess what? They were in Moab, surrounded by Moabite girls! Who did they marry? Moabites. I always assumed that was a bad thing. I mean. God had said not to marry foreign women, right? Not exactly.

Deuteronomy 7:1-3: 1"When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than yourselves, 2 and when the LORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. 3 You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons,

Hmmm... They were told not to marry women of the lands they were conquering. Moab was not on the list. So these guys were doing nothing wrong. They married girls named Orpah (stubborn) and Ruth (friendship).

During the ten year stay in Moab Elimelech died. Then Mahlon and Chilion died. Naomi had some really hard things in her life. If this were happening to someone today (had to move far away, lost her husband and children) we would feel sorry for them. It would be very sad. In that time however, she could not just run out and get a job someone to support herself. Plus, she had two daughters-in-law to look after.

Naomi hears that there is once again food in Bethlehem. Or as the Bible puts it "The Lord had visited His people". These people may have had their faults in many ways, but they were right on in giving God His glory when he blessed them. They understood that goodness comes from God. So Naomi is going to head back to Bethlehem. She tells the girls to go back to their families since she has no more sons for them. See, God had made a law to take take of young widows.

Deuteronomy 25:5-6- If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel.

There were no more sons. No one to take care of or provide for these women. Naomi tells them twice to go back to their families and to their gods. So these women must have been worshiping the true God while they were married to the Israelite men. Orpah leaves, but Ruth stays with Naomi.

Ruth 1:16-17:16But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. 17Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you."

Wow. She was willing to leave everything behind and follow the true God. She was willing to stay with Naomi, even though it meant not living a life of ease. As they departed for Bethlehem, somewhere along the way Naomi changed her name to Mara (bitter). Very fitting since her life over the last ten years had been very bitter.

Going back had to be hard. They were two widows. No means of support. More or less, they were beggars at the mercy of others. God's providence was at work again. You see, many years before in the law God had given commandments to take care of the poor.

Leviticus 19:9-10- When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. 10And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God.

When they returned to Bethlehem it *happened* to be right at the beginning of the barley harvest. Ruth volunteered to go out and reap for herself and Naomi. She *happened* to end up in a field belonging to a wealthy relative. That relative (Boaz) *happened* to notice her in the fields. He asked someone who she was and found out that she had come from Moab with Naomi. Boaz tells her to stay in his field, with his people so that she will be protected. Can you imagine being a woman in a foreign country, with no way to support yourself, no family other than an elderly mother-in-law, and some kind stranger offer to protect you? In chapter 2 verse 8 he says to her, "Now listen, my daughter...". He offers her his protection and kindness because of the love she showed to Naomi.

Ruth 2:11-12-11But Boaz answered her, "All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. 12 The LORD repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!"

He even fed her lunch. Then he told his servants to drop a few sheaves so that she would have more to take home.

So Ruth get home with her big load of grain. Naomi is, of course, happy to see how much she brought home, but even happier to hear where Ruth has been. Boaz is a close relative. According to the law the closest male relative has certain responsibilities for those left behind after a death. They could include a). avenging a death. We see no evidence of foul play at hand in this story. b.) buying back family property that was sold to pay debts. This does come into play here. c.) buying back a family member that had sold himself into slavery. Fortunately no selling of humans in this story. d.) marrying the deceased's widow. Older women (historically) have always thought being married was best, and you can get a glimpse of Naomi scheming when she says "This man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers." (Verse 20.)

The time comes to thresh the grains. Naomi tells Ruth to take a bath, put on her best clothes, anoint herself and go to meet Boaz on the threshing floor. Naomi tells her to go and lay at his feet when he goes to sleep. (Yuck, she got all prettied up for THAT?!?!?!) Ruth does what Naomi tells her, even goes a step further. When Boaz wakes up and sees a person he asked who it was. Ruth told him who she was and even asks him to "cover her", which is basically saying that she is proposing to him. He is happy about it and says yes. He sends her away in the morning with 60-80 POUNDS of barley!!! The only snag in the plan is that there is another man, who is a closer relative that could make this whole thing not happen like they are wanting.

So Boaz gets this other relative (we really do not know the relationship, they could be cousins or even brothers, we are just not sure from the Bible texts) in the presence of some friends who are in the village. He tells him that Naomi is back and is going to sell a piece of land if he wants to redeem it. He throws in that there is also a widow of one of Naomi's sons that needs to be redeemed. The other relative does not want to have to split his children's inheritances with someone else so he tells Boaz no. This clears the way for Boaz to marry Ruth.

So many times we look at sad situations and wonder why God would allow such terrible things to happen. Why was there this famine that drove a family to a far land? Why did the father and BOTH sons have to die leaving Naomi a widow in a far away land with no one to take care of her? Why did her daughter in law have to tag along giving Naomi someone else to have to care for? The book of Ruth ends with the very reason why:

Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David.

The plan seems even clearer when you flip to Matthew and read the genealogy of Christ. This was all a part of God's plan for redemptive history. God used this Moabitess to be in the bloodline of HIS Son. With out Ruth and Boaz being married, there would have been no great-grandson David. Which would have meant no Davidic covenant. See, God knows the story from end to beginning. We can often see the here and now. If some of bad stuff had not happened, the good stuff would have not been able to happen. I pray that God helps me to remember this when something I am going through gives me the tendency to think why me. My I take Romans 5:3-4 to heart:

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,

Don't ever give up on hope

Mark Says I'm Not Allowed To Homeschool Anymore......

.....because it is apparently making making me stooopid. Last week, I walked into a men's room by mistake. How embarrassing!! What makes it even worse is there was a man in there!!! His back was to me. I'm not sure is he was at a urinal or a sink. Aaahh! That was Thursday.

On Friday we had to go to Birmingham. Mmmmm, Krispy Kreme is in Birmingham. On the same street we took to go home. So we stopped. Samuel showed me the doughnut he wanted. It was a powdered doughnut with a sign that said "Feathered Doughnut" (or so I thought) Granted, "Feathered" is a strange way to describe a doughnut, but hey, who am I to argue with the sign?? So I place the order. The lady behind the counter looks at me blankly and says, "Excuse me?" So I pointed and repeated it. Mark looks at me like I am crazy and says, "Do you mean FEATURED ?!?!?!" Once again, my face is blushing. A LOT. We laughed most of the way home.

On Saturday we went to McDonald's. Mark asked if I would mind doing the ordering. (Given my recent track record, he was taking a risk) I managed to get the boys' orders right. I managed to get Mark's order right. When I went to order my double cheeseburger, things got a little weird. Instead of DOUBLE cheeseburger, I said BACON cheeseburger. What makes it even worse is that I did not notice what I had done. Mark commented that he had not seen me order that before. I was thinking he was crazy, I order double cheeseburgers all the time. But no, there it was on the receipt, "cheeseburger, add bacon". Did you know that McDonald's does not have a bacon cheeseburger on their menu?? The reason is probably because their bacon does not mix well with burger meat. Bleh!!

Do any other homeschool moms suffer from brain melt??? Is this typical? My kids are getting smarter, but I'm getting dumber.

Marriage Advice Part 1- For the Unmarrieds

Lately it seems like marriages all around me are falling apart. I found out from Facebook that a couple in my church have divorced. (I knew I had not seen him lately, but he has a job that takes him out of town some) Mark and I both have people who ask our advice on things. Please understand, I am not saying that we are perfect. Sometimes he makes me so mad I could spit in his eye! (The same could be said the other way) Yet, in spite of being married to someone who is less than perfect, we do have a strong marriage. It is built on more than faith, trust, and a little pixie dust. It is heavily grounded in God's word and what HE says about how we are to treat each other.

**Disclaimer**
The few people that read this blog are all married. Hopefully their marriages are not in trouble. But alas, if I am going to give this advice that I am commonly asked, I need to start at the beginning. And that would be the time BEFORE the "I dos" are said.

I am a lady, so obviously I am giving this advice to the girls, not the guys. So, here we go: The number one thing you need to ask yourself about a potential mate is this- "Is he a man?" Yes, I can hear your eyes rolling. Not is he male-is he a MAN?

Genesis 2:24-Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Is he responsible enough to take on a marriage? When you meet a fellow that catches your eye, observe a few things about him. Does he have a job? Is it a job that can support a family? If not is he working on getting that good job? Let me clarify: Say the object of your affection works at a grocery store as a stock boy. Say he still lives with his parents. This could potentially go either way. Is he the stock boy because it does not cut too much into his video game time? Or is he working as a stock boy to make some extra money while he is still in school learning to be a ______? When Mark and I first started dating, he was a 16 year old Ace Hardware salesman. Not a glamorous or high paying job. But, when you consider the fact that he had been working at that job since he was 14 it casts a different light on the subject. Ace Hardware was not his life's ambition. It was a way for him not to sponge off his parents. We have a friend that is my age (let's just say old enough to be giving out advice and leave it at that). This guy, at last count a few years ago has had 45 jobs. 45!!! When he first told Mark that, Mark did not believe him. So he actually emailed Mark a list of all the jobs he had quit and or been fired from. BIG red flag there girls!!!! If your Mr. Cutie Pie jumps ship every time something happens at his job, he is probably not going to be dependable husband material.

So, say he has a job. His job is great, or at least he has the potential of greatness. Is he a Christian?

2 Corinthians 6:14-Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

If you are a Christian, you should not consider a non-Christian as a marriage partner. It will open up sooooo many cans of worms. I do not have a complete listing of what would happen. To be honest, that list would be infinite. But here goes a few things I could see happening. Easter morning-you want to go to a Sonrise service, he wants to sleep in. Well, that brings up another good point-Sunday mornings in general, you want to go to church, he wants to sleep in.

Ephesians 5:23-A husband is the head of his wife, as Christ is the head and the Savior of the church, which is his own body.

So, your head, your spiritual leader, is not doing a good job of leading you. You have the choice of going alone, or staying home with your husband. What if he does not want to sleep in; what if he wants to go to the lake, or the flea market, or where ever he thinks is best. Do you go with him or go to church. This is just a small part. We could go into details about ethics (such as would you go along with him if he cheated on his taxes), morals (could you marry someone who supported something you were against such as abortion, or Democrats? {just kidding about the democrats, who would marry one of them??!?!?} kidding, again)If you are a Christian, why would you marry someone who was not like you? If someone does not share the same core values that you do, it makes for one tough journey. If he is a non Christian, do not get involved. Do not give your heart to someone who does not share your values.

This next part is a little tricky to say without sound Pharisaical. If he claims to BE a Christian, does he LIVE like a Christian? Does he seem bored if you bring up spiritual things in conversation? Red flag! Does he seem to zone out during church? Red flag! This is especially important if he suddenly becomes a Christian when he finds out you are only interested in Christians. On the flip side, if he is a fairly new convert and you have been a Christian for a while, do not expect him to be at the same place in his spiritual walk as yourself. If you can observe a gradual change happening in him that is a good sign. If he seems to not have improved or even seems worse than before, you would be wise to to pursue other interests.

Galations 519-23-Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

What fruit seems to be in his life?

Matthew 7:16-You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

This goes along with what we just looked at above, but what kind of stuff does he try to get you to participate in? I saw a movie once (sorry, can't remember the name) where a woman started dating this guy who seemed perfect. He was charming, romantic, just an all around dreamy guy. One he says he wants to do something "fun". So the woman is all for fun. He takes her to a convenience store....TO STEAL BEER!!! The woman does not want to steal beer. They man shoves some in her coat. On the way out of the store, a can falls out. The store owner jumps the counter, and chases her with a bat!!! She jumps into the car as her "dream guy" is already pulling away. Needless to say, that was not her idea of FUN. So, is this wonderful guy you have met asking (or succeeding) in getting you to participate in things that are ungodly?

1 Corintians 13:5-7Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Notice the part I emphasized-it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
A Godly man will not expect you to do things that in violation to God.

So, now that you have seen a rough outline of what a man is supposed to look like you can look forward to what is expected of you. (Don't be scared-I promise not to be excessively mean)

Killing the cockroach of sin

How to Kill Sin in Your Life

John MacArthur


Killing the Sin in Your Life

The question is, “How do I kill sin in my life? How do I do it?” Let me give you some little principles — very basic and straightforward.

If you live by the Spirit and are headed towards eternal life because of your salvation, the Spirit in you gives the power to be killing the deeds of the flesh.

The question is, “All right, how do I do that? I agree that the power is there, that’s the bent of my life, that’s the way I am going. I want to see the Spirit do more and more of it. How do I get to that point? How do I gain that victory? How do I establish that habitual pattern? What do I do?”

1. Recognize the Presence of Sin in Your Flesh.

Do you know why most Christians are most commonly defeated by sin? I believe it is because their sin has so totally deceived them, that they never really get to the point where they honestly evaluate its reality. They are not dealing with the issue.

They spend so much of their lives justifying their sin as a personality quirk or a product of their environment. They sugar-coat their habitual sins as simply idiosyncrasies of individuality, or some prenatal predilection that their mother had, or whatever. People can become so good at denying the reality of sin that they don’t see it. As a result, they don’t deal with it because they don’t even recognize it for what it is.

Any kind of spiritual victory begins by identifying the enemy. It is the same old story, ”If you don’t know what you are shooting at, how are you going to hit it?” How am I going to eliminate from my life what I don’t even identify as needing to be eliminated?

Sin is not only wicked, it is deceitful. And it’s there inside each of us. Believe me it is there. John Owen was right, he says of sin:

It has no doors to open. It needs no engine by which to work. It lies in the mind and in the understanding. It is found in the will. It is in the inclinations of the affections. It has such intimacy in the soul.

It’s there! But inevitably it’s covered up. As the Psalmist prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me” (Psalm 139:22). We must ask God to help us see our sinfulness, if we want to recognize it for what it is.

Don’t be deceived about how good you are. Believe me, your sin is there, and it is wretched and it spurts forth between the cracks of your supposed righteousness. It comes out in anger and bitter words, unkind thoughts, criticisms, self-conceit, lack of understanding, impatience, weak prayers, immoral thoughts, and even overt sins. You need to know your weaknesses.

Haggai the prophet, in chapter one of his prophecy, repeats the command, “Consider your ways! Consider your ways!” (vv. 5, 7). In other words, take a good deep look at yourself. First Kings 8:38 says, “Know the plague in your own heart.” And Paul in Ephesians 4:22 talks about deceitful lusts. From these and many other passages, the Bible makes the point: If you want to kill sin in your life, you must begin by examining your own heart to see the reality of what is there.

2. A Heart Fixed on God.

Second step. In order to gain this victory, its triumph, and to see the power of the Spirit of God begin to give you the power over the unredeemed flesh that you desire, that God desires, you must have a heart fixed on God. A heart fixed on God. The Psalmist said in Psalm 57:7, "My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed." What do I mean by that? Undivided devotion to God! That's that wholeness in spiritual life where I am given wholly to God. What do I mean by that? What I am really saying in this context is, you can't have sin in one area. You can't just sort of clean up a lot of it but leave it in one area. You can't starve it out and kill it in one spot and feed it so it lives in another spot. If it lives anywhere it will crawl all over everywhere. It is the most noxious, fastest growing weed in existence. It will not confine itself to one flower bed, it'll be everywhere. The Psalmist said in Psalm 119, verse 6, "Then shall I not be ashamed." When? When will you not be ashamed? "When I have respect unto all thy
commandments." My life isn't going to be right, my life isn't going to be without shame until I give proper respect to every command of God. And that is to deal with every issue of sin in my life. The only unashamed life is the life of one who is totally fixed on God; everything has been dealt with.

3. Meditate on the Word.

Meditate on the Word. The filling of the Spirit is equated in Colossians 3, to letting the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. When the Word controls you, when it controls your thinking, when it is there as the Psalmist said, "To meditate on day and night," when it is there hidden that "I might not sin against God," then you have a control factor in your life. The way to kill sin in your life is to feed it Scripture. It's a poison. It'll poison sin. Just feed a sinful life Scripture--it will poison it! Whatever really controls your mind, controls your behavior; so you learn to close out the garbage and you feed the sin, the remaining sin, in your life a steady diet of God's glorious truth and it poisons sin. And so you must give yourself to the Word. You must saturate yourself in the Word. You must hear the Word preached and taught. You must learn it yourself and you must meditate on it day and night.

4. Commune with God in Prayer.

These are so very basic. Fourthly, and very important, commune with God in prayer. Commune with God in prayer. This sort of circles back around to the first point that I gave you. True prayer gives the heart a sense of its own vile character and renews the hatred of sin. True prayer does that. John Owens said, "He who pleads with God for the remission of sin also pleads with his own heart to detest it." Somewhere along the line, in your own prayer life you need to get honest. You need to get honest. And you need to begin to say to God, "I want you to reveal my sin, I want you to stir it up in me. I want you to show it to me. I want you to blow away the dust that is covering it. I want you to peel off the things that have been hiding it away in my life, so that it becomes manifest and visible to me. I want to see the reality of my sin. I want you to show it to me just the way it is." That's part of your communion with God.

When you pray to God--that is an honest confession. You can say you confess your sins, but until you pray, "God show me all the sins of my life, reveal all of them, uncover every little corner of my life. Bring it up and may it become as detestable to me as it is to you, and may you give me the strength to see it go away." Those are the kind of prayers that are the true prayers of repentance. I have always believed that when you really confess your sins there is a little P.S. that you add to the end of it, when you say, "Lord please forgive me for that sin," and you always add, if your confession is true, "and Lord may I never do that again." That's my heart's cry. And then prayer exposes secret sins. Prayer weakens prevailing sins. Prayer finds strength in fellowship with the Holy God to kill sin in our lives.

What must I do if I am to know victory over sin? First, I have to recognize the sin in my life. Don't kid yourself, don't gloss over yourself, don't underestimate your wretched condition as Paul didn't in Romans, chapter 7. And then fix your gaze wholly on God and become totally devoted to Him, so that everything in life, center and circumference, is Him. As the Psalmist said in Psalm 16, "I have set the Lord always before me," and that is the only way to live. And then it is also equally essential that you cultivate a knowledge and understanding, and a deep comprehension and application of Biblical truth, and that you spend time in honest prayer before God, bringing the truth to life in His presence. And in those kinds of simple spiritual exercises comes the death of sin. Then there is a fifth and last in this little pattern of victory.

5. Cultivate Obedience.

Now we go out of that private place, where you looked for your sin and where you fixed you gaze on God. And where you meditated on the Word, and where you communed with God in prayer, and we move into the public place and now the pattern of your life is set on a course of obedience. Paul said, "I haven't attained," I love this, "but," he said, "I press towards the mark." I haven't reached the goal but I am on the path. What path was he on? The path of obedience. Peter said, "Our lives should be characterized," 1 Peter 1:22, "by obedience to the truth." And we walk a path of obedience. If you want to engage yourself with a real battle with sin, just set your course, day-by-day, moment-by-moment, one step at a time, on a path of obedience. At first it seems hard, at first the progress seems slow, but you stay with it and eventually you become habitually obedient. Habitually obedient. It becomes a habit! You stay on the path that God has laid out in His Word. That path will lead you to grow in grace, to perfect holiness, to renew the inward man day-by-day, and you'll train yourself towards godliness.

Now, it would be fair, I think, to ask a final question, and that is, "How am I doing on this?" How can I do a little inventory and say to myself, "Soul, Soul, how are you doing? How's this working out? Are you doing these things?" Just ask yourself some simple questions.


A. How's my zeal for God?

Is my heart cold towards God? Has sin made me indifferent to times of communion with Him? Do I have little or no interest in His presence? In the glory of His name? Do I love His Word? Do I love His law? Can I understand what the Psalmist meant in Psalm 119:136, when he said, "Rivers of water run down my eyes, because they keep not thy law." Do I have such a love for God's law that I am devastated when His law is disregarded? Do I earnestly contend for the faith? Do I live to uphold truth? To live it? To proclaim it? What level is my zeal at?

B. Do I love the Word?

Do I find myself drawn to the Word? Almost pinned to it by some divine wrestler who has me on the canvas and I can't get up until its truths have become my own convictions. Do I find myself indulging in the deep things of the Word? Ask myself this, "Self, do you love the time of prayer? Do you love the place of confession? Do you eagerly rush into the place where you can confess your sin and ask God to do the self-examining process by the light of the Holy Spirit, so that every dirty thing can be brought to light. Do you seek that? Do you delight in worship? Is it your great longing to be here with God's redeemed people? Is it precious to you to spend the Lord's Day in the church? Is it your soul's highest delight to sing His praise and know Him better, that you might offer Him honor?" Or do you say with the Jews of Malachi's day, "What a weariness worship is!"

Ask yourself this, "Are you sensitive to sin in the church? Are you sensitive to sin in the world? Does it tear your heart up when you see sin around you any where? In your own life?"

You see those are just the basic principles I gave you, just flipped around and turned into self-examining questions. Spiritual victory is there if you recognize that you are not under any obligation to sin. If you recognize that the Spirit of God has already bent you towards life, and so He's already killing sin in your life, and the power to kill all of it is there. Then all you need to do is tap into the means, and I gave you simple principles by which you can begin to do that in your life, and a little test by which you can examine where you are.

I don't know about you but I want to have a life of virtue. I want to have a life of joy. I want to have a life of peace, and I want to have a life of usefulness to God, and this is the path to that life. And may God give you the strength to walk it; and may through you walking it faithfully, God bring glory to His own name. That's the purpose of everything.

Latin, Greek, Both???? Am I Crazy????

We are going to be studying ancient history next year. It seems the perfect time to introduce the study of ancient languages. I am struggling on what to do. Latin, Greek or both. I am thinking that maybe the boys and I should do Latin during week, then as a whole family we should all study Koine Greek. Here are my reasons for studying Latin:
1. Almost half of the English language is derived from Latin. Studying Latin helps students to have a better grasp on English.
2. It serves as a Rosetta Stone to unlocking French, Spanish and Italian. Being multi-lingual is a major plus when trying to enter the job market.
3. Every one of our Science books says how Latin is useful to someone studying science due to the fact that so many scientific terms come from Latin. The same is true for medicine, law, politics (although I really do NOT want to see my kids going into politics), music and literature.
4. Learning Latin helps with critical thinking skills. My kids need to think about something other than video games.

Here is why my kids want to study Latin:


The reason I would like to study Greek is because well, I have become the kind of person who gets tired of being told that even though something is interpreted one way in the Bible, in the original Greek it really means...... something a little bit different. I would like to read it for myself. I could even see my family making up a goofy song like this:


August is quickly approaching. We need to decide.


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edited to add this neat link

All in All, I Can Handle His Sauce

Marriage. It is something that should be wonderful. It should be a picture of how Christ loves the church. But, alas, it involves real people. You know, those flawed things that happen to think only of themselves instead of other people or God. If every married person would think of their spouse instead of themselves, things might go a little more smoothly.

Let me be clear, this is not a rant against my husband. As a matter of fact, this is more the result of multiple instances of people either blasting their husbands in person, over the phone or on the internet for all the world to see. It so irks me to see how many women dog their husbands like they are the scum of the earth, then expect the husband to treat her like a princess in return. I am actually a bit glad that being in Children's Church I was not present during the sermon on Mother's Day. Most churches really play up the wonderful mother scenario on Mother's Day. Which would be fine if we were surrounded by good mothers. However, that is sadly not the case.

I blame feminism. Feminism tells women that there is more to life than staying home and raising children. Feminism tells women that they are not servants to their husbands so the husband should do equal housework and childrearing. Feminism tells women that there is no difference in men and women, so it is okay to give little boys dolls and tell girls they can do anything boys can do.

Don't misunderstand me. I do not want to sound like I am off my rocker and all women should be barefoot, pregnant, in the kitchen jumping at the husband's every beck and call. All I am saying is that we are different. Rather than trying to change those differences and raising effeminate boys and masculine girls we should embrace those differences. I want my boys to grow up to be strong, masculine, and confident. Not He-Man Woman Haters, just manly men.

So this brings me back to my original point. So many women are believing this lie that they are supposed to wear the pants in the family. Which leaves a bunch of broken spirited, brow beaten men. Some men really do take it for a long time. Others rebel against it from the get-go. But regardless, it is not the way families are supposed to operate. Eventually things come to a head. Fighting, yelling, the silent treatment, all these things that couples use against each other come into play. If left on its own, that is the path leading to divorce.

But what can we do? I can give advice to someone. I can tell them right from wrong. I cannot, however, make them put that advice into practice. What I can do is raise my kids to know what type of Godly principals to look for in a woman to marry. I can raise them to realize what marriage is supposed to be. The only way to this is model a healthy marriage. Sure, we have our disagreements. I mean, we have never agreed on what is the best barbecue sauce. But if that is our only issue, I think we are doing something right.

Celebrations

Finally getting around to posting the pictures from the end of our year. Hope you enjoy!!

Painting their last day of school rocks


on the couch with their model of the ISS


Singing this. Nathaniel did the speaking part.



Samuel entertained the crowd by singing the Battle of New Orleans, complete with a tennis racket banjo


Then he decided that he needed a microphone


We also went to Susan Moore High School's graduation recently. It was probably the best graduation ceremony I know of recently. Instead of a bunch of adults tooting their own horns the whole focus was on the class and their achievements. The salutatorian was a babbling idiot(let's just say she made a good advertisement for homeschooling!), but the valedictorian was well spoken enough to more than make up for it.




The boys with Uncle Jonathan


Amanda, Jonathan, and Anna Claire


Maybe I enjoyed the graduation since I got to hold Anna Claire during the whole thing!

Thirteen years ago today........

I was a happy little bride!!!!


So much has happened since then. Babies have been born. Family members have died. We made the change from two people with two incomes to a family living on one income. We were so young! One thing that has not changed has been that we still love each other more and more. Through the years we have had certain songs that describe us and are thus "our song" So in honor of us through the years here is a list of "our songs" and the time period it represents.
Wouldn't it Be Nice by the Beach Boys~I'd like to point out that this is the first Beach Boys that did not get on my nerves!!


That was "our song while we were dating. After we got married it changed to I Got You, Babe. Gotta love the Sonny and Cher!!


Well, the honey moon phase eventually ended. Sure, we loved each other, but sometimes it was best not ask if we liked each other. Hence the Celine Dion and Pavarotti phase. Notice her mannerisms in this song. They are alot like some of mine. Which is why I do not sing in public. I do occasionally like to embarrass the fam by singing in the car, along with expressive motions, of course.

ps on this song, we have always said if we renew our vows we are singing this song at the ceremony to each other!!

Okay now to more modern times. We have grown up. Our kids are quickly growing up. When this song first came out, I did not think it was anything too special. Mark on the other hand thought it was just wonderful. He did not wait for Reuben Studdard to come out with a full CD. No sir, he went out and bout the single as soon as it was released. And he played it. A lot. Well, in the past year or so, I have really listened to the words and they are sweet. The song makes think of my sweet hubby. So it has become "our song" I never thought that I Hate You Then I Love You could be replaced. But it has.