The Hardest People to Minister To...

That would be our families. How is it the people we are closest to, we feel we cannot speak candidly about our faith? We love these people so much and we want to see them in the new kingdom.

I find it particularly difficult because it can cause rifts in a family when one segment is saved and others are not. My husband and I are experincing this right now. We both have a love for our family, but there is only a small portion that can truly understand.

We are the "crazy Christians" lol. I have felt called to pray for these people and pray for the lost in general. God is wanting me to cry out to Him about all the lost in all the nations. I have felt the deep desire He has for our family as well.

I want to seek His guidance in this issue and learn to discern where each member is at so that I can more effectively share The Word. I feel that in our flesh we want these members to love us and feel that they will no longer love us if we discuss our faith with them. I have seen it time and time again were one person is ousted because of their faith in Jesus Christ.

I have the wonderful privaledge of knowing several people who are in the same boat as the hubster and I. One good friend told about she has nothing to do with her family or her husband's because they are atheists and literally hate their transformation. This makes me weep.

Why is Jesus's name so offensive? The only answer that I can think of in my limited mind is the fact that people will hate us because they hate Him. This too makes me weep. How can anyone hate our Perfect Father in Heaven? He created us and knows our every hair on our heads.

Another thing that comes to mind is that they are so wrapped up in themselves that they cannot see what God wants for them. He wants the best becauce he only gives the best!

I spoke with a friend at church about this heart cry God has given me and she said that she prays Ephesians 1:17-19 17 (I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit[f] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength) for her son everyday. It made me want to hug her. I could not imagine the heartbreak she must feel as a mother who's child is lost.

I want to encourage you that you may join the cause. That you may pray in unity with me and others in the Body of Christ in our prayer for the lost.

Aint no party....

Like a TEA Party!  It was awesome I must say.  

I originally went to support our station KAFR 88.3 FM (heard in the North Houston area) because we are active in these issues.  (Nice plug huh!)    I do believe in what the TEA Party stands for, but was not ready for the impact it had on our community and nation.  

Final count when we left the Party, we asked how many people registered when they came in and it was 7,500!  And to think of the people that didn't register that just showed up and bypassed the tables altogether.  Sadly I was one of those people because I got there late and was frantically looking for our table.  

I do think we have been Taxed Enough Already.  I do believe that conservative opinions and media have been given a bum rap.  When did the word conservative become a four letter word?  Apparently we are considered "extremists".  How extreme is it to think that we should have fair taxes?  How extreme is it to believe that you are paid a fair wage for an honest days work instead of waiting for a government handout?  It seems like common sense to me and 7,500+ people in my area.  

I want my future children to grow up with a higher standard of living.  I fear the legacy being passed down to them will lower the bar.  Our government has been horribly flawed for years, but this new administration has spent more money in the first few months than other administrations did in 4 years. 

Our nation started out blessed and has gone away from the Bible's teachings over the years.  We have become a secular nation and for that I am sad.  Our nation needs to get back to the basics.  That we are governed both corporately and individually by an absolute Truth.  

I pray daily for our nation.  I pray for repentance and for our hearts to turn to Him.  

One sign that a young girl was carrying around that really hit home said  "The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."  Those prophetic words were spoken by Thomas Jefferson.   This is the same man that penned the Bill of Rights and Constitution.  He knew full well what a good government should be.  Something else he said that is especially true is "A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine. "

I encourage you to get involved with a stance, any stance.  I would prefer you choose my side (but then debate would never exist).  Because "if you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything."

I will leave you with one last Jefferson quote that spurs me more than ever to seek the Truth in all things political, spiritual, economic, etc.  "All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent."  

Here to tell the truth

I'm not here for you to like me, I'm here to tell the Truth! God calls us to tell the truth. His Truth. Which is Jesus Christ. And on this Resurrection Sunday, I am compelled to tell the truth.

My husband and I do not celebrate Easter or Christmas in the traditional sense. We love the Lord Our God with all our hearts, but these celebrations are not for Him. The Lord revealed to us over the last year and a few months of being born again that these celebrations are paganizations of what we believed were wholly Christian celebrations.

It has been a shock, but God has been gentle with us. Who doesn't love a jolly fat man and a guy dressed up as a bunny? Well, frankly me...now. I used to love these holidays, but after reading the facts, my spirit cannot reconcile the traditions together with the doctrine.

And the doctrine in The Word is thus:

2 Corinthians 6:14-16 (KJV): Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infedel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

I will celebrate however, the awesome power of God. The miracle of Jesus' birth, His sacrifice at the cross, and the glorious day He rose from the grave to give us life eternally. We have done away with pagan traditions and mass marketing ploys (Santa, Easter Bunny, Eggs, Trees, etc). We will be the most popular house on the block, lol.

But, we are not here for a popularity contest, we are here to obey God. Whatever He asks, we will do obediently.

I'm also not here to condemn anyone who participates. I'm just doing what God has called me to do. I know plenty of Christians who celebrate each of these holidays to varrying degrees because the Lord has led them to those conclusions (i.e. No Santa, but a tree. Santa and a Tree, but focus on Jesus. No Santa, no tree, etc. No bunny, but egg hunts. The list could go on).

I just felt compelled today to pour out my heart on these matters because it is so strong that I cannot shake it. I am thankful for this Sunday because it reminds me of what an awesome God we have. I love Resurrection Sunday, Good Friday and Maundy Thursday. All are wonderful to observe, but we will do it with less chocolate...

If you want to do some research of your own here are some helpful websites:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/easter1.htm

http://www.lasttrumpetministries.org/tracts/tract1.html

http://www.history.com/content/easter/pagan-origins