Specialized Divorce Lawyers - God Hates Divorce

God hates divorce. Yet, we see so much of this in the church today. What is the difficulty here?

We have a billboard in our area. On the top of this billboard are the words, 'Men's Divorce Law Firm'. It is advertising a local legal firm that assists men in divorce.

OK, I need to be gracious here, just a little. I do understand that there are men who have been ripped off by their wives. They didn't ask for the divorce, and the ex wife is now trying to twist the legal system so the ex husband will not have custody of the children that were born to them in the marriage.

Why do we have so many divorces in our country today? Before the late '60s, divorce was rare. Although it happened, there was usually a logical reason if a divorce had to take place. Not so today.

I have heard that a well known Christian artist wanted our of her marriage, simply because she didn't love her husband any more. Another well known Christian artist went to counseling where she was told that God created marriage for 2 people to enjoy each other to the fullest. If you are not happy in your marriage, then you need to get out of it. She got out and married someone else. Her first marriage was too hard because she was not happy in it. There were problems there, much like most people have in their marriages. She deserved someone better.

What happened to the word of God, concerning marriage? Does God tell us to get out of our marriage because we are not happy or we do not love our spouse anymore? The problem goes way deeper from the depths of our hearts.

Today, society tells us to do whatever makes us happy. Society does not teach us to work through hard issues and situations that are handed to us in life. If something is too hard, then we are encouraged to take the easy way out. We are also taught that we are entitled to a good life. We deserve better than a marriage we are not happy with.

Sadly, some churches today have bought into the lie that says, "When culture and Scripture do not agree, then Scripture must bow to culture." I have a hard time believing that professing Christians would believe this, but sadly it is true.

Both concepts of seeking happiness and the easy way out, and the idea of entitlement are not from God, and you will not find them in the Scriptures. God loves His people too much to allow them to live a cushioned, self-centered life.

Children from divorced homes do suffer. The parents are suffering the consequences of divorce in their own lives, that they are struggling to work through. Children are often neglected because of the parents preoccupation with themselves trying to work through their own issues. Don't let anyone fool you into thinking that children do ok even when their parents divorce. They don't do ok. They may be quiet or even unwilling to talk about it, but they will feel the affects sooner or later. Some of those affects could be serious, like wanting to commit suicide, or blaming themselves for their parents inability to stay together as a family.

What is the answer to all this? First, we have to fear God. Without the fear of the Lord, we will never want to be changed. We will try to control our own lives, they way we think is best. Second, we have to learn that we are not born in order to live self-centered lives. We were born to be worshipers of the true and living God. The problem is, we can't worship God or even get to know Him until we are born again. We are not born again until we are willing to give up the 'rights' to ourselves and let go of our selfishness and pride. God must be the foundation of our lives. We must be Christ centered. Jesus is on the throne. We have to come to the place where we can acknowledge His rule in our lives. Third, we have to take the difficult situations in life and work through them. In some ways, it seems like when we come to know the Lord, we are given puzzles to put together. We have to figure out where the pieces go. When it is finished, it makes a beautiful picture. So many times, we just have these pieces of the puzzle, and have no idea that they are to be put together to make a bigger picture. We have to learn to do hard things! But we have to learn to do them by living in the grace of God, with the power of God in our lives. We can never live a productive life, spiritually speaking, unless we are empowered by God and living in His grace.

There was a saying on the back of a Power magazine, that I had received years ago. I don't remember much about the article, but it was on marriage. The last words of the article were this; Lord, change my marriage and let it begin with me. (The words were similar, but I can't remember the exact phrase).

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What Will God Do When His People Pray? God Is On The Move!

I don't know if it is just me, but, it seems like I am seeing some major answers to serious problems that I have prayed about. I am writing this, not to brag on my praying, but to make the observation that God really does listen to our prayers and He does want to intervene.

I sense that there is a defeatist attitude in some Christians. Maybe it is more like fatalism. Not sure. I see a lot of anger going on because of what is happening in the political realm. I have joined in with this as well. But I am wondering if we spent more time praying for the situations at hand, what would God do? Do we really believe Him for the impossible? Do we think that life's situations are too hard for Him to handle, or do we think that He just really doesn't care? Maybe we take the attitude that says that we are in the end times, so it really doesn't matter what we do anymore because the world will end quickly, and Jesus will come right back to earth when that happens.

Of course, we know that Jesus could come back any second, and we need to be ready. But until then, Jesus wants us to occupy. He doesn't want us sitting around waiting for the rapture. We need to be ready for His return, and we need to be preparing others to be ready for His return.
Anyway, I am impressed with the idea of praying and fasting. The Bible mentions fasting and seems to be related with breaking the bonds that people are stuck in. I wonder what would happen if we all fasted and prayed, or even if we just sought God on what He wants us to do.
Praying can become like a ritual, if we are not careful. We pray because we know that is what we are supposed to do. God wants to have a relationship with us. He will make His word alive in our hearts as we seek Him.

The term 'prayer warriors' makes sense. We are in a spiritual battle, and praying is one of the weapons we use (see Ephesians 5). The Enemy of our souls hates it when we pray. I am sure he really hates it when we fast and pray.

I am just a nobody who prays (not even perfectly). Imagine if 100s of people who love God, prayed. Mountains would be moved. The Enemy would be displaced. God would be glorified.
Let's take up the armor God has given us, and be diligent and vigilant in fighting in this spiritual battle today!
heart emoticon

A long time ago, I saw this book that came out. I have to admit, I have not read it, but, the title of it has been so inspiring to me. One day, I should take the time to read this book. It has a pretty good recommendation as well.

 Book with good reviews

I have read this book
and it is very good!

My favorite book
outside of the Bible

                                                       And last, but definitely not least!

If you ever need inspiration
to pray, watch this video!

The books listed above are affiliate links. Thanks for your support!

On Losing Our Dignity - What Can We Do To Restore It?

This week's lesson in class has to do with the pressure of the media on Teenagers. The target of the Media today is the teens, and if they market them right, they will make a lot of money, at least that is what they hope for.

The sad thing is that 1. There is very little parental intervention in the lives of their teens today, and 2. The media is not respecting the boundaries that God has placed around us. As a result, we have a lot of lost teens, who go around aimlessly, and who have never been taught the basics of life or how to interpret life properly.

Here is a short note I wrote on Facebook today. It was with this thought in mind.

God created us in His image, and we were created with dignity. When we go outside of the boundaries that He has established, we lose the dignity that God placed in us. When this happens, we are covered in shame and guilt. Then the devil lies to us and tells us that we need to tell ourselves how great we are. We can't deny the shame and guilt that is there. But we can take it to the Cross of Jesus Christ and be cleansed of our filth and we can be given the chance to start all over again. We will have the power to live a new life in a new way, not in our own strength but in the power of Almighty God.

Here is an insightful video for those interested in watching. The video describes the work of the media and what they are doing to make money off the desires of the teenagers in our society today.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/view/

Common Lies People Assume Are True Today

I will write a short list of things I hear that people are saying today, that they believe are true.


1. The Holocaust never happened


2. Planned Parenthood is a helpful organization in family planning


3. The fetus is just a piece of tissue


4. If I believe in Jesus, I can do anything I want and still go to heaven


5. Genetically modified food is not harmful


6. (Here is one I saw recently in a book review) When babies are aborted, they are not thrown in the trash


7. A woman has to submit to her husband even if he is abusing her


More info on some of these subjects:

http://www.deathcamps.info/Auschwitz/Album1.htm

                                                        Here is a baby at 10 weeks old

By drsuparna http://www.flickr.com/photos/74896762@N00/ - http://www.flickr.com/photos/74896762@N00/3167352760/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5658338

(Some of the links are associate links on this page).

The Story of the Red Beetle - God Works In Mysterious Ways, His Wonders To Perform

Here is a neat story telling how God works in remote countries to save those who are His. People complain about the fact that there are people who are going to hell who have never heard the Gospel message. Well, God is at work and many wonderful things happen because He is faithful to bring His word to people, even in remote countries where Bibles are scarce.
Source: http://www.rubysemporium.org/red_beetle.html

Could this be the 'beetle' that was
found inside the coconut?

The Red Beetle

by Tom Baird, as told by Dr. William Lovick
I shall try to relate the experience of the red beetle as it was told to us by Dr. Lovick at a Sunday service in the little Alaskan frontier church of Willow Chapel.  Early in Dr. Lovick's missionary experience in Zaire, Africa, the Lord's hand so plainly worked in this experience of the Red Beetle that I pass it on to you that you too may be as greatly encouraged as I. And now the story by Dr. Lovick:
While back in the United States on furlough, my wife and I were speaking in a little Kentucky Mountain church. After the morning service an obviously very poor, aged beyond years, share cropper came up to me and said, "The Lord told me to give you my pickup so that you can use it to get the kind of vehicle you need in your work in the jungles of Africa. It isn't much but it's all I got."
I thanked him and he insisted I come over to his place to see the pickup. This I did, and later in the evening service he again emphasized that I was to take the old rundown pickup on the morrow before I left.
After the service, the pastor was beside himself as he explained to me that the farmer had that pickup as his sole possession. He owned nothing else. He worked all his life on his landlord's land and couldn't even afford a Sunday suit of clothes. He had been a particular heathen up until just a few weeks ago when he had gotten saved. The pastor continued, "You shouldn't accept this gift, he is just an overjoyed new Christian and doesn't have good sense. Without the pickup, his wife and he will have to cart their groceries miles to their place. It will work a terrible hardship on the family."
I told the pastor I hadn't planned on taking the pickup and that I was planning to leave very early in the morning and would simply 'miss' him.
Early the next morning at 4:30 AM, I went out to leave, only to run into the farmer. He said, "I figured you would try to get away without the pickup. God said, he has need of it and so here are the keys and the title signed over to you."
With that, I took the old worn pickup and drove on home to the Norfolk, VA area, where we were packing everything to ship to Africa.
A couple of weeks later, having shopped for the last groceries, we were in a left turn lane in heavy traffic when the old pickup died and wouldn't start.   Right across the street was a car dealership and out in front was this bright red Jeep. My wife exclaimed, "The Lord said that is our Jeep."
I tried to discourage her, explaining my doubt that the Lord wanted that Jeep, and that we needed to get going. All this time the pickup wouldn't start. Finally, I agreed to just 'look' at it, and with that the pickup started up and traffic opened up for us to pull over to the side of the road and enter the dealer's parking lot. My wife insisted I bargain for the red Jeep, so to keep peace in the family I asked, "How much do you want for the red Jeep?" I expected he would give me a ridiculously high number which we wouldn't have and that would be the end of it.
He said, "Well, there hasn't been much call for these red Jeeps. It's the first year they have come out in that color. We have reduced the price to $2,000.00. What do you have to offer?"
We were in his office and I said, "We have that pickup over there and $1,400.00." The salesman shook his head and was about to refuse the offer when I noticed the owner's name on a plaque above him. I interrupted him and asked, "Is that the owner?"
The salesman said, "Yes, but he is in New York right now."
I replied, "He and I went to college together. Give him a call and see if he'll accept the offer."
The salesman did, only to find the owner was out and would return in a couple of hours. I said, "We'll go get a bite to eat and finish packing and be back at 4 PM."
As we pulled back up into the dealer parking lot, the salesman came out wagging his head. I remarked to my wife, Martha, "See, he can't even wait to tell me we can't have the Jeep. Look how he's shaking his head."  As we got out of the car the salesman said, "Now I know there are TWO crazy people in the world. The owner just accepted your offer. The Jeep is yours."
We picked up the Jeep and drove it right to the dock to be loaded on the ship and we left the next day for Africa.
Several months later the Lord impressed on me that I was to go to the far reaches of the jungle in Zaire to the Motombo-Mukulu tribe. In great excitement, I went to one of the native pastors and told him what the Lord had told me. His immediate reaction was, "No way! The Lord may have told you, but He hasn't told me. Those are the dirtiest, most savage people alive. They wipe themselves with their hands on their bodies. They never wash, and they torture their enemies. No! I'll not go! You can go alone!"
I replied, "Before we make that decision, let's go pray together." We entered the church reluctantly and after several hours, he emerged so on fire to go that even the preparations to go seemed a hindrance.
We set off through the jungle with the red Jeep through trails that were hardly discernible. The third night, we were settling down to sleep in the Jeep, when we heard a movement out in front. I turned on the flashlight and saw a large male lion coming up the trail toward us. He stopped when I turned on the flashlight. I turned to my now nearly pale, black African pastor and asked him what we should do. He replied that he didn't know but we should pray that the Lord not let them be the lion's meal. So, as we prayed, I flashed the car lights. The lion took another step toward us. The now trembling pastor said, "Don't do anything else or he might come closer." I, also trembling, shouted and finally the lion backed off the trail and disappeared in the jungle. We didn't sleep that night.
After traveling five days, we came to a large river crossing and drove down the muddy bank. On the opposite shore, stood the savage warriors of the Motombo-Mukulu tribe with their spears and arrows ready.
The Lord said, "Take off your pistol and leave it in the Jeep." This I did, and I told my pastor to stay very still as we got out of the Jeep. AS I got out, I picked up my bible and held it in my hand. The fierce leader approached us and looked back and forth at the two of us. We were prepared to die for our Lord and almost expected to momentarily, when the leader brushed past us to stand beside the Jeep. He took out a long machete knife and with one blow chopped a coconut in two. He dug into the center of that nut and pulled out a beetle. He then wiped away the caked mud from the fender of the red Jeep and placed that beetle on the fender.
He put his hands to his mouth and called out loudly to the right, to the left, and straight forward in his language, "It is them! It is them! It is them!"
At that moment, men, women, and children rushed across the river toward us. As they surrounded us, we asked what was going on. The chief than stated, "Three years ago an old woman was visited by the living God who told her He would send messengers to us to tell us about Him. They would be two men, one black and one white carrying a little black book that told about Him. And that they would come on a four wheeled bicycle that was the color of the red beetle found in the center of the coconut. See, look at the beetle."  As we looked, the color of the Jeep and the beetle were so matched you could not tell where the beetle stopped and the Jeep began!
The chief continued, "Tell us about the Living God."
We, being very tired and the day nearly over said, "Please let us get a night's rest and then we will tell you, for we have been traveling many days and are tired."
The chief replied, "No, you tell us now! We have waited three years. You must tell us now!"
So--for three days we read the bible to them nonstop, changing off between us as one's voice would get hoarse. At the end of the reading, we gave an invitation, "All who would like to receive Jesus as their Savior and be baptized, please step forward."
The entire tribe stepped forward. We told them to stand back and explained, "No! Only those who believe in Jesus as the Son of God are to step forward."
Again, every man, woman, and child stepped forward. We pleaded, "No, you don't understand..."
At which the chief raised his hand for silence and said, "We do understand, and we all believe and wish to be baptized."
And so -- through the faithful, selfless gift given by an old poor farmer and the faithfulness of the Lord, the entire tribe came to the Lord. But the Lord's work did not stop there. After several years, we were back in that Kentucky Mountain church and the farmer's widow came up to us with the following testimony:
"After George gave away our only possession, the pickup, I knew it would be hard, but I was grateful for the Lord's work in my husband's life as a new Christian. I resolved not to discourage him. Shortly after you left, he walked into town to get a haircut. While waiting, a couple of guys were poking fun at him declaring the stupidity of a guy to give all that he had to the Lord and put himself out on the street walking everywhere. The fellow in the chair getting his hair cut said, 'Where is this fellow? I'd like to meet him.' They all laughed, and the barber said, 'That's him right there.' The fellow took my husband with him to the largest dealership in Virginia, which he owned, and had him pick out the pickup he wanted. He gave it to him for free! Next, the Lord would just bless everything my husband's hand would touch. We became so prosperous that we bought the farm, free and clear, that we had sharecropped all our lives. The Lord caused enough income to come in that we had a lot of money laid aside in the bank before the Lord came and took my husband to be with Him in Heaven. And now I am taken care of here in my old age by the faithfulness of our Lord."And so ends the testimony of the Red Beetle. The facts are true and the names are as close as I can recall. How awesome is our God!

How To Defend The Faith - The Wrong Way

    I see this trend, not only in Christian circles, but also in politics, as well as other areas. It is under the guise of 'warning' people about the bad guy, or the deceiver.

   In apologetics, there are some rules. One of them is that the apologist, or Christian who is defending the faith, does not personally attack the opponent.

   I watched a debate one time, between Christopher Hitchens and Dinesh D'Souza. It was interesting in that the rules were being followed fairly well, at least at the beginning. Eventually though, I noticed the Atheist, Christopher Hitchens, attacking the person of his opponent, Dinesh.

   The Bible is very clear that we are not to speak evil of someone, and that means, even if he or she is doing wrong. I do understand that we need to 'warn' people, at times, of someone who has come into the church who will end up leading people astray. There is a way to approach this and still be God honoring.

We actually had a time in our church where we had to address a situation with a false teacher. Many were flocking to this 'church' or whatever it was. Some even left us to join this 'church'. We listened to some messages given by the pastor or whoever it was that ran this group. He believed in 'antinomianism' which is a belief that you can do whatever you want to and still be a genuine Christian. Our pastor got up and explained what was going on to the people. I don't know how many more would have left if that situation did not get taken care of.

   I also know that many will disagree with me on this issue. But, here is my concern; Could we be taking advantage of a situation that our sinful hearts are really enjoying, while we say we are really trying to protect the church?

   We have indwelling sin and if we are not careful, the Enemy of our souls will tempt us to be prideful. What that looks like, many times, is attacking someone with our words. We need to address situations, but to attack the person and resort to name calling is uncalled for. We will give an account to God on how we treated other people, whether they are false teachers, or crooked politicians.

   Before I came to Christ, I loved to gossip about people. I loved listening to gossip as well as creating it myself. But all that changed one day, when God convicted me of my sin. I was not loving people when I slandered them. Before my heart was changed, I would even gossip and slander my friends! When my heart was filled with God's love, I stopped doing that and had a different perspective in life.

   Here is an example of what we should not be doing: Obama is a scumbag. He just wants to rip people off.

   Here is an example of how we can present our side, and do it graciously; From what I can tell, Obama has a philosophy that says that rich people in America today should be made to pay back those who were ripped up during the early years of our country (Source: America; Imagine The World Without Her).

   The first example is name calling and making a claim that is based upon an opinion. The second example is explaining what Obama believes in and practices that is harmful to our nation.

   Here ia an example of what we should not be doing; "Joyce Meyer is a false teacher". This is just an opinion that sounds like people who are jumping on a bandwagon want to say to impress others of their knowledge of a false teacher. There are no quotes given or resources from her pages that tell what it is that she is doing wrong to show that she is a false teacher, if she is one.

    Here is an example of how we can expose a false teaching; "Rob Bell is a professing Christian who does not believe Christians are supposed to be doing evangelism."  This is evidenced in his book, 'Velvet Elvis" and also on his video, 'The Bullhorn Guy". Notice that we do not have to attack Rob Bell's character here. We do not have to make it a point that he is a 'false teacher'. The point is not to criticize the person himself, but to point to what the person believes in and actually teaches.

  One last thing; we do not have to make connections for people, most of the time. What we want to do is to present the facts and let them speak for themselves. We don't have to resort to name calling and we need to let the Holy Spirit help us to learn to separate the truth from the lies.

  If we spent more time teaching/training people how to be discerning, and how to discern the word of God for themselves, we would not have to write posts 'warning' people about those false teachers. If we have a friend or loved one who embraces the teachings of someone in error, we should ask them questions about why they like sitting under that particular teacher. Then we can point out what the false teacher is teaching (from what we already know, not from someone else's speculation on the person).

   In the Bible, where false teachers are mentioned and warned about, the person was warning the group of believers about the person who had crept into their midst. They were marked because of what they had done. Paul and Peter did not speculate or listen to rumors about these guys. They knew exactly what the bad guys were standing up for and trying to infiltrate the church with.

   Please be careful to know the facts for yourselves when talking about someone, especially on Facebook or Twitter. If they are a known false teacher, with teachings that are truly false, and you have evidence on it, then carefully present the facts, but never attack the person. Remember, whatever measure we dole out to others will be the measurement God will use against us. If we do not show mercy, God will not show us mercy. Also, remember the spiritual weapon of prayer. God can do things in the hearts of people that we can't even imagine.

"Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think,according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3:20, 21 ESV