God is sovereign. We see unmovable obstacles, God sees the path on the other side. We see a problem that does not seem to have an answer, God sees the problem solved.
For God, ten plus ten is whatever he wants it to be, not always what we perceive it to be, by our human calculations.
I love His math.
jamiev
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Dairy Farm
This past summer, one of the best homeschool trips we took was to the dairy farm. It was about an hour from our house, so it was a pretty easy trip. They showed us the whole process of making cheese, from the cow to the refrigerator. The kids loved being able to feed and pet the calves. And their giant Morton building full of hay bales to play in was a treat for them also. The owners also took us on a hay ride, and gave us all ice cream. They have a nice general store on the farm that you are able to buy the products they sell, from specialty cheeses to ice cream. For me the most memorable part was their pet turkey. It was very friendly, and followed us everywhere and kept trying to sit on my lap. I think it truly thought it was a dog. The trip pictures are in the previous blog. Great trip//Great day!
jamiev
jamiev
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Fully man--Fully God
When life gets a bit tough, and the ride a bit rough, always remember that Jesus knows what you are experiencing, and he will get you through it. He can and will make the crooked path straight and the rough roads smooth. As I heard today today on the radio........"The Son of man got hungry, the Son of God fed five thousand,... the Son of man got thirsty, the Son of God walked on water, ....the Son of man got tired, The Son of God raised Lazarus from the dead" pastor Tony Evans from the Urban Alternative www.tonyevans.org............. The Son of man knows what your difficulties are, The Son of God will carry you through.
One might ask how does this happen? Firstly, the believer must yield their will, to the will of God. Otherwise we are taking out of the scenario, the power and the grace of God, leaving us on our own. We have to make room for the power of God to work in our lives, to give Him the latitude He requires. In most every situation, sin in our lives gets us into the problems we face. Why does that happen, because we are not yielding to Gods" will, but our own. We already have victory over all these sins in our lives by the price paid by Jesus at Calvary. But we will never, ever, be able to claim those victories without yielding to His will. Absolutely, we believers have salvation through the cross,every sin has been paid for,....paid in full. Yet victory from continuing in wrong patterns in life, breaking free from being still held captive by those sins, again only can be carried out through falling on our knees before The Lord, and subjecting ourselves to His will, His intentions for us. He needs to be the King of Kings in every aspect of our lives---Submission... Setting us captives free requires this, otherwise our captivity will be our lot on our time on this earth.
jamiev
One might ask how does this happen? Firstly, the believer must yield their will, to the will of God. Otherwise we are taking out of the scenario, the power and the grace of God, leaving us on our own. We have to make room for the power of God to work in our lives, to give Him the latitude He requires. In most every situation, sin in our lives gets us into the problems we face. Why does that happen, because we are not yielding to Gods" will, but our own. We already have victory over all these sins in our lives by the price paid by Jesus at Calvary. But we will never, ever, be able to claim those victories without yielding to His will. Absolutely, we believers have salvation through the cross,every sin has been paid for,....paid in full. Yet victory from continuing in wrong patterns in life, breaking free from being still held captive by those sins, again only can be carried out through falling on our knees before The Lord, and subjecting ourselves to His will, His intentions for us. He needs to be the King of Kings in every aspect of our lives---Submission... Setting us captives free requires this, otherwise our captivity will be our lot on our time on this earth.
jamiev
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Mystery Christmas tree
We did end up getting a tree on our search throughout the property. It was a brownish type of cedar/spruce... . .(we think). I would have taken some picture during our capture of that tree, but the camera I was using froze up and would not shoot anymore. My eldest son (age--almost 8) and I decided at the last moment not to cut the tree down, as we discussed we do not need a tree to to celebrate our Saviors birth and do not want The Lord to think it was an idol to us. But, my 5 year old daughter, whom is a prayer warrior and also knows the real reason for the season, began to cry at the thought of not taking the tree. She had taken her lumps on the 3 hour search for the tree,(we also split wood for an hour before we went out to searchfor a tree),and during my eagerness to get up a large hill on the 4-wheeler pulling them behind through the snow on a sled, I went through a briar patch. She got a large scratch across her face and nose,and it bleed pretty good. I stopped the 4-wheeler and ran back to check them as they both fell off. My daughter was stuck in the thorns, face bloody, and crying. I said "I am sorry honey, do you want to go back home?" She cried, "No, I want to get a tree."----------So, That in mind, my son and I were overruled in the decision to not take the tree when we finally found one.
We then took a minute to pray to The Lord out there in the still quietness of that cold, but beautiful day. We thanked God for the day and the time together out there. And we told him that we know the tree is not our reason for the season, Christ Jesus our Lord is, and I also know he already knows our hearts. What a Blessing to be able to pray with our children........a gift from God beyond measure.
jamiev
Thought for today
Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? Galatians 4:16 NASB
We are not called to make friends for ourselves, though friends some may become, we are called to preach His Truth, to make friends of Jesus.
jamiev
We are not called to make friends for ourselves, though friends some may become, we are called to preach His Truth, to make friends of Jesus.
jamiev
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Jumping Around!!!!!!!
Today I learned a valuable homeschooling lesson. That lesson is called jumping around! I like to try many different things while homeschooling, we study in different places, indoors, outdoors, in the woods, under tables, all over the place. But one thing that I usually demand is that everyone keeps still. Today my wife suggested as I was telling the children to sit in their chairs during math, that my son jump around and little bit, as he was having some problems sitting still. My wife continued on with the lesson and let Zeke get up. And my son got up and wiggled around a little, and hopped around on one foot for a moment and began to correctly and systematically do his lesson flawlessly. Needless to say, a light above my head went on and I saw that sometimes you need to get up and move around. Children have a lot of energy, and it can be torturous for a child to sit still during those times of excess energy. It also can be a great waste of time if if you're teaching and no one is listening. Some people work well on their feet and moving about. I should know this because I am one of these people, I even pray more fluidly when I'm moving around walking. In fact, weather permitting I love to take a walk in the mornings and pray, it is my prayer walk. Some people are more animated than others and express themselves better when they're able to move. Children are no different. School today concreted this into my brain now. Is it any wonder, that so many children in public schools these days are labeled with the disorders that children are labeled with these days,ADD,ADHD, and the like. Most definetly there are children whom have these disorders, but I can not believe it is the number that the medical community promotes. Back when I was a child, we had one if not two recesses that I can remember, and as soon as we got out those doors and into the playground we ran like crazy for the first few minutes until we were able to settle down and play a game. They're taking away recesses in many schools these days, and you combine that with the high sugar diets children are eating, and that spells disaster for trying to sit in a desk in school for seven or eight hours a day. So that's where the labeling comes in, and for various reasons many doctors today are more than ready to prescribe drugs to calm your children down. Hard work, a better diet, and a couple of recesses would work wonders, far better than any drug. Sometimes it is hard work to get the children to listen, sometimes it is not. We do have to learn to mix things up a bit and be perceptive on the child's needs that day. Again, that is the beauty of homeschooling, where we are able to take the time to discern the child's needs as it pertains to learning, so that they can learn more efficiently, effectively, with less of a struggle for the teacher and student. jamiev
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Search for a Christmas tree
Yesterday Zeke and Selah and I, one out to the woods to search for Christmas tree. We live on about 87 acres, so there's a lot of areas search for trees. It was a beautiful day, a little cold but very sunny, a great day to be out. And like a lot of activities, we used it as a learning experience for the children, part of their homeschooling for the day. It ended up taking us two days to find a tree that we wanted. A river winds around the property, and the river is the home to many beavers. This time of year they are "chewing" on a lot of trees and a few of them had fallen onto the path through the woods, we had to cut them up to get the four-wheeler through. We have a few pictures of this in the blog yesterday. This was a great thing for the kids to see, we also saw some bobcat/ferral cat footprints in he snow, and we tracked it for a distance. Selah reminded us that this was God's awesome creation. Amen.
We tramped through the woods for the afternoon, exploring, and having a great time. But we did not find a tree that day, we went back out this afternoon and found a brown colored cedar tree, and cut it down and brought it home. So was there were searching yesterday afternoon the kids did not have their formal school day, but we used all of the exploring and searching and observing the things out in the woods has a school day field trip. Another wonderful aspect of homeschooling. When I was in school not once did I ever get to track a bobcat or cut down and move trees that a beaver had chewed down. It was a great school day-----homeschool day. jamiev
We tramped through the woods for the afternoon, exploring, and having a great time. But we did not find a tree that day, we went back out this afternoon and found a brown colored cedar tree, and cut it down and brought it home. So was there were searching yesterday afternoon the kids did not have their formal school day, but we used all of the exploring and searching and observing the things out in the woods has a school day field trip. Another wonderful aspect of homeschooling. When I was in school not once did I ever get to track a bobcat or cut down and move trees that a beaver had chewed down. It was a great school day-----homeschool day. jamiev
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
thought for today
I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loves me and gave Himself up for me. GALATIANS 2:20
Glory to God!
You hear happy holidays all over the place, everywhere you go this time of the year........ People remember, there is no "happy" and there is no "holiday" without Christ Jesus our Lord......period.
Glory to God!
You hear happy holidays all over the place, everywhere you go this time of the year........ People remember, there is no "happy" and there is no "holiday" without Christ Jesus our Lord......period.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Thursday, December 13, 2007
The Nativity
Experiences in the everyday world are a cruicial part of learning. Yet, if you are a true born-again believer, you must watch what those experiences are in this fallen world we live in. As homeschooling parents we try to involve our children in activites that are meaningful and worthwhile, and yes, even guarded, untill our little ones are spiritually equiped to venture alone in this world without us. The building of the Nativity in an area city park was one of those experiences.
My six brothers in Christ and I, formed a coroporation this past June called the Streator Freedom Association. It was started by, a man whom became a friend of mine, the president of our group, read a newspaper article that a nine year old girl had written. The little girl wondered why there was no Nativity scene in the park during the Christmas season. This began to weigh on my friends heart, and he thought about a lot, and eventually he decided to do something about it. And that is how the Streator Freedom Association came into being. So this past June, we began work on the Nativity scene itself. We ordered some paper cutouts of all the characters in the nativity scene, I believe that ended up costing us about $50.00 total for the paper cutouts themselves. We then purchased ¾ inch plywood sheeting, some flat black paint and began to work. For most of June and July and part of August we worked in the basement of the Lighthouse, which is a church that one of our brothers pastors in. After we traced the paper cutouts onto the plywood sheeting, and we glued the paper cutouts onto the sheeting themselves. We painted them black on the sides and on the back. Eventually would put a clear finish on the fronts of them Nativity characters themselves were basically finished. It was wonderful to be able to work alongside my brothers on this project, and a couple of the days my son Zeke also helped out. In November, as all the work was finished to the nativity characters and to the manger scene, and fence, we then we're ready to assemble it in the park.
It was a beautiful blue sky sunny yet very cold day, and was a great blessing to be out there working again with my brothers in Christ, my son Zeke, and a few other helpers who did a great job. This day was a great experience I was speaking of the beginning of this blog, it is something I will remember for the rest of my days and I hope Zeke will also. Without going into a lot of detail, there was opposition to us to put the Nativity in the park. I will save that for another blog on another day God willing. When Zeke is a bit older I will explain to him in more detail why we had to get a lawyer to help us negotiate with the city. (This lawyer is also our brother in Christ, and a fine man.) Most importantly, we prayed, and prayed, and prayed some more, that God would open doors for us and shows the way. As a homeschooling dad, as a Christian, next to teaching the children the word of God, we want to teach the children to stand up for their faith regardless of the consequences. I hope the last few months working on the nativity, and the lengths we had to go to get it into the park, will help the children to see in some circumstances, in regards to our faith, we will not take "no" for an answer.
Have a great night. Jamiev
My six brothers in Christ and I, formed a coroporation this past June called the Streator Freedom Association. It was started by, a man whom became a friend of mine, the president of our group, read a newspaper article that a nine year old girl had written. The little girl wondered why there was no Nativity scene in the park during the Christmas season. This began to weigh on my friends heart, and he thought about a lot, and eventually he decided to do something about it. And that is how the Streator Freedom Association came into being. So this past June, we began work on the Nativity scene itself. We ordered some paper cutouts of all the characters in the nativity scene, I believe that ended up costing us about $50.00 total for the paper cutouts themselves. We then purchased ¾ inch plywood sheeting, some flat black paint and began to work. For most of June and July and part of August we worked in the basement of the Lighthouse, which is a church that one of our brothers pastors in. After we traced the paper cutouts onto the plywood sheeting, and we glued the paper cutouts onto the sheeting themselves. We painted them black on the sides and on the back. Eventually would put a clear finish on the fronts of them Nativity characters themselves were basically finished. It was wonderful to be able to work alongside my brothers on this project, and a couple of the days my son Zeke also helped out. In November, as all the work was finished to the nativity characters and to the manger scene, and fence, we then we're ready to assemble it in the park.
It was a beautiful blue sky sunny yet very cold day, and was a great blessing to be out there working again with my brothers in Christ, my son Zeke, and a few other helpers who did a great job. This day was a great experience I was speaking of the beginning of this blog, it is something I will remember for the rest of my days and I hope Zeke will also. Without going into a lot of detail, there was opposition to us to put the Nativity in the park. I will save that for another blog on another day God willing. When Zeke is a bit older I will explain to him in more detail why we had to get a lawyer to help us negotiate with the city. (This lawyer is also our brother in Christ, and a fine man.) Most importantly, we prayed, and prayed, and prayed some more, that God would open doors for us and shows the way. As a homeschooling dad, as a Christian, next to teaching the children the word of God, we want to teach the children to stand up for their faith regardless of the consequences. I hope the last few months working on the nativity, and the lengths we had to go to get it into the park, will help the children to see in some circumstances, in regards to our faith, we will not take "no" for an answer.
Have a great night. Jamiev
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
This is my first try, but posted a blog, using speech recognition. So far, it seems to be working well. I am not a quick typist, and this will help greatly in the amount of blogs that im able to write each week. It will take a while before the computer recognizes my voice as It Should, so each time I speak, the computer knows my voice just a little bit better. It is about 1:00 PM, and the children are already finished with their homework, and are finishing up their lunch. Today I helped Zeke and Selah was their math and spelling, and they did great. Selah reminded me that we also a did speech today, I had forgotten that. Hopefully up after all the bugs are worked out of this system, it will work as they said it does, and I will be able to dictate that approximately 160 words per minute. Which would normally take me about two weeks to type 160 words, ha ha. Right now I'm going to try to give a web site and see if the computer will actually entered in a way that will enable us to click onto it and go to that website. WWW.aboverubies.org, this is a wonderful site, and a wonderful magazine. We look forward to receiving this magazine each month. In March we will be going two a maple sryup farm, the children are really looking forward to going, and I am too. Amy will be nine months pregnant at that time, and it will be little bit hard for her to get around, but she is very tough, and I am sure she will be ready to go. Hadie, is destroying tapes so I have to end this blogs. Have a wonderful day. Jamiev
Sunday, December 9, 2007
How to Witness to a Jehovah's Witness
I rushed down the stairs to the sound of a barking dog and our doorbell. When I opened it, two well-dressed young men stood in front of me. I greeted them with a warm, "Hi," to which one of them asked in perfect English, "Do you know of any Spanish speaking families around here?"
"Next door there is a Spanish speaking family. Across the road there is an Indonesian family, then an India, then English, and I am Chinese. Do you want to see a picture of me on a cruise?"
They politely said they did, so I quickly opened my wallet and showed them a picture of Tom Cruise with the word, "ME," on his forehead. They laughed.
"So what are you guys selling?"
"Nothing."
"Are you Mormons?"
"No."
"Jehovah Witnesses?"
"Yes."
"Tell me this. I have a knife in my back. I have three minutes to live. My blood and life are draining from me. I know I'm dying. What are you going to say to me. How can I enter the Kingdom?"
They looked at each other. Then back at me. There was dead silence. It was obvious that they didn't know what to tell me.
"Come on guys. I'm dying. I have three minutes!"
One of them said, "I don't know. There's lots you have to do." The other one echoed, "Lots."
Then the first said, "You have to learn. You have to gain knowledge . . . "
"What about the thief on the cross? What knowledge did he get? How could he learn anything? He couldn't turn the pages of a book--he was nailed to a cross. He probably couldn't read anyway. Yet Jesus said to him, 'Today you will be with Me in Paradise.'"
"We have to go now."
"Come on guys. This is important. I want to know how to enter Jehovah's Kingdom. What are your names?"
"Jonathan."
"Javier."
"Do you consider yourself to be good people?"
"Um . . . yes."
"Have you ever told a lie?"
"Yes."
"What does that make you?"
"A liar."
Javier said he had stolen and then became very quiet. Jonathan said that he had never stolen, blasphemed, or even looked at a woman with lust. Never.
"Are you gay?"
"No."
"The reason I haven't done that is because I was born into the truth."
I explained, "We have to face a perfect Law of the Day of Judgment and nothing you and I do can save us. Only the blood of Jesus. He died for us. He took our punishment upon Himself, and now God can save us through His mercy. That's why the thief was saved. He didn't do anything to save himself because he couldn't. Only God's mercy and grace can save us. The Bible says, 'For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works least any man boast.' 'Not by works of righteousness that we have done has He saved, us, but according to His mercy.' Revelation 21:8 says that all liars will have their part in the lake of fire. That why you need Jesus Christ, to wash your sins away. The moment you repent and trust Him, God will forgive you and grant you everlasting life."
"But we are doing what Jesus did."
"Did He go door to door?"
"Yes. He went around preaching the gospel."
"But the gospel you are preaching is different than the one He preached. The Bible says that there's nothing you and I can do to merit Jehovah's favor--to earn everlasting life. We are saved by God's mercy. That's how the thief on the cross could be saved. We are not saved by doing anything."
"Does that mean I can believe in Jesus and then run around lying and stealing?"
"No. That's hypocrisy, and no hypocrite will enter the Kingdom. You have to repent and trust Jesus Christ alone for your salvation, and not try and bribe Jehovah. I do good works and preach the gospel not to be forgiven. I do it because I am forgiven, and the difference is life and death, Heaven and Hell. Thanks, guys, for talking to me."
"Thank you."
There were no arguments about the deity of Christ because I made sure the conversation didn't go in that direction. It's important to remember that Jehovah Witnesses see Christians as misguided "Trinitarians," while they see themselves as protectors of Jehovah's glory. So they are going to be incredibly stubborn about the issue of Jehovah sharing His glory with another.
When Peter said that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God, Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven," (Matthew 16:17). So I believe that the best way for anyone to find out who Jesus is, is for God to reveal it to them. If I had started quoting Bible verses to make some point about Jesus being God--"And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory" (1 Timothy 3:16, italics added) or "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God," (John 1:1, italics added) they would have started quoting back, and then they would have fallen back on the argument that they have the only true translation. Jehovah's Witnesses also deny the existence of Heaven and Hell. They believe in annihilation, and that the Kingdom of God will come to this earth and be set up for a thousand years. Christians can't even agree on issues of prophecy, so I deliberately stayed away from it.
All I did was hold up the truth against error and left the results in the hands of God. Charles Spurgeon said, "I have heard it said that if there is a crooked stick, and you want to show how crooked it is, you need not waste words in description. Place a straight one by the side of it, and the thing is done directly."
All religions have their roots in idolatry. They have a wrong understanding of the nature of God and His righteous requirements. When you look closely at their beliefs, it becomes evident they are made up of the fruitless branches of self-righteousness. They think that they can bribe God with their works. Like the Jews of whom Paul spoke--they go about to establish their own righteousness, being ignorant of the righteousness which is of God (see Romans 10:3). The Law puts the axe to the root. It reveals a perfect righteousness and kills hope of self-salvation. It shows the self-righteous person that the leap he is trying to make to Heaven is infinitely beyond his reach.
I had noticed that Javier had been nodding in agreement at what I was saying. When he asked for my name again, I looked directly at him and said that they could come back any time. We shook hands and we left on good terms. I came away feeling really good because I had avoided doing what the Bible says not to do--to argue:
"But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will." (2 Timothy 2:23-26)
(This article is from Ray Comfort, from the website www.wayofthemaster.com
I rushed down the stairs to the sound of a barking dog and our doorbell. When I opened it, two well-dressed young men stood in front of me. I greeted them with a warm, "Hi," to which one of them asked in perfect English, "Do you know of any Spanish speaking families around here?"
"Next door there is a Spanish speaking family. Across the road there is an Indonesian family, then an India, then English, and I am Chinese. Do you want to see a picture of me on a cruise?"
They politely said they did, so I quickly opened my wallet and showed them a picture of Tom Cruise with the word, "ME," on his forehead. They laughed.
"So what are you guys selling?"
"Nothing."
"Are you Mormons?"
"No."
"Jehovah Witnesses?"
"Yes."
"Tell me this. I have a knife in my back. I have three minutes to live. My blood and life are draining from me. I know I'm dying. What are you going to say to me. How can I enter the Kingdom?"
They looked at each other. Then back at me. There was dead silence. It was obvious that they didn't know what to tell me.
"Come on guys. I'm dying. I have three minutes!"
One of them said, "I don't know. There's lots you have to do." The other one echoed, "Lots."
Then the first said, "You have to learn. You have to gain knowledge . . . "
"What about the thief on the cross? What knowledge did he get? How could he learn anything? He couldn't turn the pages of a book--he was nailed to a cross. He probably couldn't read anyway. Yet Jesus said to him, 'Today you will be with Me in Paradise.'"
"We have to go now."
"Come on guys. This is important. I want to know how to enter Jehovah's Kingdom. What are your names?"
"Jonathan."
"Javier."
"Do you consider yourself to be good people?"
"Um . . . yes."
"Have you ever told a lie?"
"Yes."
"What does that make you?"
"A liar."
Javier said he had stolen and then became very quiet. Jonathan said that he had never stolen, blasphemed, or even looked at a woman with lust. Never.
"Are you gay?"
"No."
"The reason I haven't done that is because I was born into the truth."
I explained, "We have to face a perfect Law of the Day of Judgment and nothing you and I do can save us. Only the blood of Jesus. He died for us. He took our punishment upon Himself, and now God can save us through His mercy. That's why the thief was saved. He didn't do anything to save himself because he couldn't. Only God's mercy and grace can save us. The Bible says, 'For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works least any man boast.' 'Not by works of righteousness that we have done has He saved, us, but according to His mercy.' Revelation 21:8 says that all liars will have their part in the lake of fire. That why you need Jesus Christ, to wash your sins away. The moment you repent and trust Him, God will forgive you and grant you everlasting life."
"But we are doing what Jesus did."
"Did He go door to door?"
"Yes. He went around preaching the gospel."
"But the gospel you are preaching is different than the one He preached. The Bible says that there's nothing you and I can do to merit Jehovah's favor--to earn everlasting life. We are saved by God's mercy. That's how the thief on the cross could be saved. We are not saved by doing anything."
"Does that mean I can believe in Jesus and then run around lying and stealing?"
"No. That's hypocrisy, and no hypocrite will enter the Kingdom. You have to repent and trust Jesus Christ alone for your salvation, and not try and bribe Jehovah. I do good works and preach the gospel not to be forgiven. I do it because I am forgiven, and the difference is life and death, Heaven and Hell. Thanks, guys, for talking to me."
"Thank you."
There were no arguments about the deity of Christ because I made sure the conversation didn't go in that direction. It's important to remember that Jehovah Witnesses see Christians as misguided "Trinitarians," while they see themselves as protectors of Jehovah's glory. So they are going to be incredibly stubborn about the issue of Jehovah sharing His glory with another.
When Peter said that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God, Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven," (Matthew 16:17). So I believe that the best way for anyone to find out who Jesus is, is for God to reveal it to them. If I had started quoting Bible verses to make some point about Jesus being God--"And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory" (1 Timothy 3:16, italics added) or "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God," (John 1:1, italics added) they would have started quoting back, and then they would have fallen back on the argument that they have the only true translation. Jehovah's Witnesses also deny the existence of Heaven and Hell. They believe in annihilation, and that the Kingdom of God will come to this earth and be set up for a thousand years. Christians can't even agree on issues of prophecy, so I deliberately stayed away from it.
All I did was hold up the truth against error and left the results in the hands of God. Charles Spurgeon said, "I have heard it said that if there is a crooked stick, and you want to show how crooked it is, you need not waste words in description. Place a straight one by the side of it, and the thing is done directly."
All religions have their roots in idolatry. They have a wrong understanding of the nature of God and His righteous requirements. When you look closely at their beliefs, it becomes evident they are made up of the fruitless branches of self-righteousness. They think that they can bribe God with their works. Like the Jews of whom Paul spoke--they go about to establish their own righteousness, being ignorant of the righteousness which is of God (see Romans 10:3). The Law puts the axe to the root. It reveals a perfect righteousness and kills hope of self-salvation. It shows the self-righteous person that the leap he is trying to make to Heaven is infinitely beyond his reach.
I had noticed that Javier had been nodding in agreement at what I was saying. When he asked for my name again, I looked directly at him and said that they could come back any time. We shook hands and we left on good terms. I came away feeling really good because I had avoided doing what the Bible says not to do--to argue:
"But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will." (2 Timothy 2:23-26)
(This article is from Ray Comfort, from the website www.wayofthemaster.com
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
SNOW DAY!!!!!!!!!
As we were getting the kids to bed this evening, Zeke looked out the window and said, "Daddy, it is snowing!" Big beautiful snowflakes were quickly covering the ground, and we will probably get 2 to 3 or more inches. We continued to get things in order for bed, with each child doing their part to clean up. We said prayers, and Selah fell asleep immediately after them. I was tucking Zeke in and he said, "So tomorrow will be a snow day right Daddy?" I smiled and thought to myself, all we have to do is walk down stairs to get our books. I said, "Go to sleep quickly and get up early and do some studying and we will go outside. Zeke smiled widely, and soon he was asleep. We do need alot of wood split tomorrow, and Zeke is a huge help to me and his mother. And maybe, just maybe, there might be enough snow to go sledding!!!!!
Just another joy of homeschooling. jamie43
Just another joy of homeschooling. jamie43
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Real Life Review
On September 10, 2001, our family purchased a pewter Chevrolet Suburban 1500 for the price of 34,000. The next day, as I was feeding my at that time 19 month old son breakfast, we began to watch the horrible things happening that day on the television. We lived in rural north Georgia at that time, and as I looked out side to check our skies I saw that brand new SUV and thought to myself, "I am sure our economy will crash, I will lose my job and never to able to pay for that new Chevy, and probably lose the house also". Within two months we had put our house up for sale and hit the road in that Chevy Suburban for a three and a half years, during that time we lived all over this great country of ours, and were even homeless for a time.
Now starts the review. Firstly, the Suburban is very large as we all know, which is a good thing when you spend hundred of hours in one as we did. The first thing my wife said when she sat in the back seat was "It feels like I am sitting on a couch". Our Suburban seats nine, with two rear bench seats and the 60-40 front seats. We have the barn door option on our Suburban which is a huge help when storing things in the back of the vehicle. There are multiple power ports in the rear and front, which we used to run computers and dvd players on our long trips. Both of our children were in carseats, very large Britax carseats, and the suburban easily held both of them in the third bench seat.( We actually have three carseats in there now and another will need to be installed in March.)
This Suburban has a 5.3 litre engine with a 3:70 rear end. This engine and transmission, while not having the torque of a diesel, smoothly pulled a loaded twelve foot cargo trailer all over this country. This includes a trip over the Continental Divide and back, and thousands of miles in between. Throughout all of our travels the powertrain performed wonderfully, and most importantly, it ran reliably. The other aspects of the Suburban were equally well done. The paint has held up beautifully, even while never being garaged.
Our Suburban has close to 120,000 miles on it now and still runs strong. Remarkably, in 2003, it was hit by a truck resulting in about 5,000 dollars of front end repairs and still drives like new.
Now starts the review. Firstly, the Suburban is very large as we all know, which is a good thing when you spend hundred of hours in one as we did. The first thing my wife said when she sat in the back seat was "It feels like I am sitting on a couch". Our Suburban seats nine, with two rear bench seats and the 60-40 front seats. We have the barn door option on our Suburban which is a huge help when storing things in the back of the vehicle. There are multiple power ports in the rear and front, which we used to run computers and dvd players on our long trips. Both of our children were in carseats, very large Britax carseats, and the suburban easily held both of them in the third bench seat.( We actually have three carseats in there now and another will need to be installed in March.)
This Suburban has a 5.3 litre engine with a 3:70 rear end. This engine and transmission, while not having the torque of a diesel, smoothly pulled a loaded twelve foot cargo trailer all over this country. This includes a trip over the Continental Divide and back, and thousands of miles in between. Throughout all of our travels the powertrain performed wonderfully, and most importantly, it ran reliably. The other aspects of the Suburban were equally well done. The paint has held up beautifully, even while never being garaged.
Our Suburban has close to 120,000 miles on it now and still runs strong. Remarkably, in 2003, it was hit by a truck resulting in about 5,000 dollars of front end repairs and still drives like new.
I could go into great detail about the Suburban, down to nuts and bolts, but that is not the point of this review. You could read about all those things in any review magazine out there, and by experts in those areas. This review is about real life, over six years and thousands of miles we personally put on and in this vehicle. The bottom line is we pushed this Suburban hard, and it really took punishment and kept going, and still is going today.
In closing, I would like to say that I have no idea what the brand new Suburbans drive like, I have never been behind the wheel of one before. I would venture to say though, that if they are anything like ours, they are a great vehicle.
The other day my son said to me, "Daddy, are we going to get a new truck soon?" I said, "Someday we might, but we will drive this Suburban until it cannot go another mile, and then we will take a cab to the Chevy dealer to buy a new one."
jamiev
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Training Up Sons
Well yesterday I talked a little about raising up daughters, so today I decided to talk about training up sons, from a mom's perspective. I know my husband has a lot more insight than I do on this subject, but I will do my best.
Yesterday, my sister, who lives basically next door to us (across a horse pasture) came over for a visit. When she came in, I asked her if she had seen Zeke, our almost 8 year old. She said "yes" and that he had held the door open for her to come into the house. She stated that he is "such a gentleman". It occurred to me when she said that that he really is becoming a little gentleman. We are trying to instill certain values in him as to how he treats others, especially those of the opposite sex. Apparently it is working! I don't recall a time that I told him he should hold the door open for a lady, but because of us talking to him about how to be helpful and considerate of others, he did this to be kind and helpful. I have seen other glimpses of how his character as a man (wow-that's hard for me to say!) is growing. He helps me tremendously with his sisters. He helps his daddy anytime he can with projects around the house and outside. He offers to help me with chores when I am feeling tired and will even run and get me a snack if he thinks I've gone too long without eating (I'm 6 months pregnant). I see him growing as a kind and caring person and pray that God will continue to instill these values in him. What a beautiful and loving son we have. Praise be to God.
This is the wonderful thing about homeschooling. We are with our children basically 24/7. We are the teachers and molders of their character. God has ordained us to train up our children and we do not take this commitment lightly. God tells us in His word we are to teach our children day and night, wherever we are with them (please read Deuteronomy 6: 5-9). I pray that we continue to do so. ---Amy38
Yesterday, my sister, who lives basically next door to us (across a horse pasture) came over for a visit. When she came in, I asked her if she had seen Zeke, our almost 8 year old. She said "yes" and that he had held the door open for her to come into the house. She stated that he is "such a gentleman". It occurred to me when she said that that he really is becoming a little gentleman. We are trying to instill certain values in him as to how he treats others, especially those of the opposite sex. Apparently it is working! I don't recall a time that I told him he should hold the door open for a lady, but because of us talking to him about how to be helpful and considerate of others, he did this to be kind and helpful. I have seen other glimpses of how his character as a man (wow-that's hard for me to say!) is growing. He helps me tremendously with his sisters. He helps his daddy anytime he can with projects around the house and outside. He offers to help me with chores when I am feeling tired and will even run and get me a snack if he thinks I've gone too long without eating (I'm 6 months pregnant). I see him growing as a kind and caring person and pray that God will continue to instill these values in him. What a beautiful and loving son we have. Praise be to God.
This is the wonderful thing about homeschooling. We are with our children basically 24/7. We are the teachers and molders of their character. God has ordained us to train up our children and we do not take this commitment lightly. God tells us in His word we are to teach our children day and night, wherever we are with them (please read Deuteronomy 6: 5-9). I pray that we continue to do so. ---Amy38
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