A Challenge to Women

By John Piper January 1, 1995

1. That all of your life—in whatever calling—be devoted to the glory of God.

2. That the promises of Christ be trusted so fully that peace and joy and strength fill your soul to overflowing.

3. That this fullness of God overflow in daily acts of love so that people might see your good deeds and give glory to your Father in heaven.

4. That you be women of the Book, who love and study and obey the Bible in every area of its teaching. That meditation on Biblical truth be the source of hope and faith. And that you continue to grow in understanding through all the chapters of your life, never thinking that study and growth are only for others.

5. That you be women of prayer, so that the Word of God would open to you; and the power of faith and holiness would descend upon you; and your spiritual influence would increase at home and at church and in the world.

6. That you be women who have a deep grasp of the sovereign grace of God undergirding all these spiritual processes, that you be deep thinkers about the doctrines of grace, and even deeper lovers and believers of these things.

7. That you be totally committed to ministry, whatever your specific role, that you not fritter your time away on soaps or ladies magazines or aimless hobbies, any more than men should fritter theirs away on excessive sports or aimless diddling in the garage. That you redeem the time for Christ and his Kingdom.

8. That, if you are single, you exploit your singleness to the full in devotion to Christ and not be paralyzed by the desire to be married.

9. That, if you are married, you creatively and intelligently and sincerely support the leadership of your husband as deeply as obedience to Christ will allow; that you encourage him in his God-appointed role as head; that you influence him spiritually primarily through your fearless tranquility and holiness and prayer.

10. That, if you have children, you accept responsibility with your husband (or alone if necessary) to raise up children who hope in the triumph of God, sharing with him the teaching and discipline of the children, and giving to the children that special nurturing touch and care that you are uniquely fitted to give.

11. That you not assume that secular employment is a greater challenge or a better use of your life than the countless opportunities of service and witness in the home the neighborhood, the community, the church, and the world. That you not only pose the question: Career vs. full time mom? But that you ask as seriously: Full time career vs. freedom for ministry? That you ask: Which would be greater for the Kingdom— to be in the employ of someone telling you what to do to make his business prosper, or to be God's free agent dreaming your own dream about how your time and your home and your creativity could make God's business prosper? And that in all this you make your choices not on the basis of secular trends or yuppie lifestyle expectations, but on the basis of what will strengthen the family and advance the cause of Christ.

12. That you step back and (with your husband, if you are married) plan the various forms of your life's ministry in chapters. Chapters are divided by various things—age, strength, singleness, marriage, employment choices, children at home, children in college, grandchildren, retirement, etc. No chapter has all the joys. Finite life is a series of tradeoffs. Finding God's will, and living for the glory of Christ to the full in every chapter is what makes it a success, not whether it reads like somebody else's chapter or whether it has in it what chapter five will have.

13. That you develop a wartime mentality and lifestyle; that you never forget that life is short, that billions of people hang in the balance of heaven and hell every day, that the love of money is spiritual suicide, that the goals of upward mobility (nicer clothes, cars, houses, vacations, food, hobbies) are a poor and dangerous substitute for the goals of living for Christ with all your might, and maximizing your joy in ministry to people's needs.

Oath Keepers

OATH KEEPERS is an association of Military, Veterans, and peace officers who will honor their oaths to defend the Constitution, will NOT just follow orders, will stand for liberty, and are trying to save the Republic.

Obama's Science Czar

John Holdren is his name and here are some quotes from him...

“It has been concluded that compulsory population-control laws, even including laws requiring compulsory abortion, could be sustained under the existing constitution if the population crisis became sufficiently severe to endanger the society.”


“If some individuals contribute to general social deterioration by overproducing children, and if the need is compelling, they can be required by law to exercise reproductive responsibility”


“Moreover, if the United States government refuses to take proper measures, they authorize the United Nations to take compelling force.”

President-elect Barack Obama stated in December that he had nominated Holdren as Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy as part of his Administration's mission to promote an unbiased science. The goal, said Obama, was to protect "free and open inquiry" and "ensuring that facts and evidence are never twisted or obscured by politics or ideology."
"It's about listening to what our scientists have to say, even when it's inconvenient - especially when it's inconvenient."


Isaiah 5:20 "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil..."

I love to read the Psalms when I hear of such wickedness being devised. Especially Psalm 37, here are some excerpts...

Do not fret because of evil men...for like the grass they will soon wither...

The wicked plot against the righteous...but the Lord laughs at the wicked...

The wicked draw the sword...but their swords will pierce their own hearts...

All sinners will be destroyed...

The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; he is their stronghold in time of trouble.The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in Him.

Not just History but Depravity...

I recently blogged "No one needs to ask "Why?"...

That blog covered the fact that America is in the shape she is in because we have forgotten our HisStory, which is to say, we have forgotten to learn from what God has said and done.

Today, I want to blog about the BIGGEST reason why we have the problems we have in America.

Let's look at 3 questions that I believe are at the heart of the issue...

Q. Why have so many Americans surrendered their faith in God for faith in the State?
A. Sin.
"Thou shall have no other gods before Me". Exodus 20:2

Quotes:
Sin is trying to fulfill a God-given need without God. ~ John Piper

The State is suppose to be the provider of justice, NOT a dispenser of sustenance...
When the state enlarges its jurisdictional boundaries, without any regard to limits; it gradually assumes what God alone possesses; unlimited power and authority...
Therefore, the more we turn to the State for assistance, the more we make it our God.
~ Gary Demar

Q. How did this happen?
A. It began in the garden...and it's called total depravity.

Quotes:
Read R.L.Dabney on depravity at http://www.spurgeon.org/~phil/dabney/5points.htm#t

Salvation is accomplished by the almighty power of the triune God. The Father chose a people, the Son died for them, the Holy Spirit makes Christ's death effective by bringing the elect to faith and repentance, thereby causing them to willingly obey the Gospel. The entire process (election, redemption, regeneration) is the work of God and is by grace alone. Thus God, not man, determines who will be the recipients of the gift of salvation. http://www.reformed.org/

Q. How does this sinful nature manifest itself?
A. This sinful nature man possess has led to many false religions and ideologies that have plagued our nation for decades and brought us to where we are today. Here are just a few examples of these false religions and ideologies that flow from a totally depraved heart; the excerpts were taken from our Biblical Worldview Curriculum, to which I highly recommend: http://www.summit.org/

Religious Humanism: believes man has the power to change people...where Christians believe, God and God alone has the power to change people.

Utilitarianism: believes that the greatest happiness of the greatest number should be the aim of all actions.

Moral Relativism: believes that right and wrong are determined by the individual or culture.

Post Modernism: believes there are no moral absolutes.

Pluralism: all beliefs are true.

Globalism: the belief in the need for one-world-government.

Egalitarianism: all people should get the same and be treated the same regardless.

Deist: God created the world but is not in control of it.

Polytheist: ok to worship many gods.

Atheist: believe there is no God.

Agnostic: believe it is impossible to know if there is a God.

Existentialist: life has no meaning outside of what you make it.

Evolutionist: believe one species develops from another and God (if He exist) did not "create" anything.

Theistic Evoluntionist: believe that God works through evolution.

Pantheist: God is everything and everything is God.

Transcendentalist: God exist only in the mind.

Universalist: all souls go to heaven.

Jihadist: Moslems who war against unbelievers of Allah.

Naturalist: believe there is no supernatural or spiritual creation.

Annihilationist: believe when we die we will simply cease to exist.

Historical Revisionist: those who revise historical events in order to support their worldview.

Economic Interventionist: those (secular humanist, post modernist, etc...) who recommend economic intervention in order to control man's economic affairs.

And the list goes on and on...
I would encourage you to make sure your view of what is going on in America is a biblical view.

No One Needs To Ask "Why?"

Is it too late for America?
Morally, she has already fallen and economically, it is only a matter of time; just do the math!

Yes, a reformation and revival would be nice and I pray God would be merciful and grant such a blessing but I must also acknowledge the book of Revelation and be willing to pray..."Not my will but Thine be done."

No one needs to ask "Why America is failing?" because every one knows...
When men do not learn from their history, they are doomed to repeat it and after several thousand years of history, it is obvious that men DO NOT learn from history!

So! As a refresher...
What would a nation have to do or not do in order for God to remove His blessed hand of restraint?

I believe there are several but here are 5 major concerns Dr.Peter Ruckman, President, Founder, and Teacher of the Pensacola Bible Institute, points out.

#1 The undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the HOME...meaning: role-distortions such as: making women equal to men, thus removing the man as the "head" of the house, and removing the wife\mother from the home, and so on...
By inventing "families" composed of sodomites and lesbians and so on...
By unbiblical practices of divorce, spiritual training, schooling, etc...
#2 Unbiblical stewardship, Unjust weights, Higher and higher unjust taxes, etc...meaning: Welfare, Medicare, Social Security, Food Stamps, Socialized Medicine, Bail-outs, etc...
#3 The mad craze for PLEASURE...every one doing what is right in his own eyes, while becoming more and more brutal and immoral every year.
#4 The decay of INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY...just as an example, in America, we have went beyond freeing the black slaves (during the Civil War) to making them innocent of crimes they commit on the basis that their accusers were "racists". Then you give them "special rights" given to no other race - called "affirmative action". With that in place, you not only put blacks over whites, you put women over men, children over adults, and queers over straights on the grounds that they are all "oppressed minorities". (This is heartbreakingly sad because this line of thinking puts everyone in a "victim mentality" which is completely unbiblical and enslaving!) (Not to mention that it will soon be the reason for silencing preachers who speak out against this!!!!!)
#5 The decay of religion..."faith" fading into just "forms"...in America we have atheist, communist, humanist, and a whole host of others, including some liberal protestants, supporting the National Education Association that teaches our young people: life came accidentally from dead organic matter and therefore everyone is relieved from obeying their Creator. From this point on, all "guiding" is by hook or crook, revising history, or ignoring reality in order to make carbon copied "world citizens." And this is just one example!

All 5 of these America posesses plus more!
Congratulations America, the depression is here...a total economic collaspe leading to a "one-world-government" is very nearby... and God is steadily removing His hand of blessing!

"All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing" ~Edmund Burke

What will you do?

Beans, Bullets, & Band-aids...

For all of my like-minded friends out there that are preparing for a failing economy...
Here is a great website my husband discovered today!
When you open it, read the 'precepts' first...
then read the 'prayer'...
then read the 'links'...

www.survivalblog.com

This guy is right on track...
Love this sight!!!

The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America

Happy Father's Day!

To my 3 earthly fathers...

I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you
to be strengthend with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith...
may you have the strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,
that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Eph.3:14-21

I Love You!

And to my Heavenly Father...
The Valley of Vision is a book that contains a collection of Puritan prayers and devotions. Today, I dedicate God All-Sufficient to my heavenly Father...

GOD ALL-SUFFICIENT

KING OF GLORY, DIVINE MAJESTY,
Every perfection adorns thy nature and sustains thy throne;
The heavens and earth are thine,
The world is thine and its fullnesss.
Thy power created the universe from nothing;
Thy wisdom has managed all its multiple concerns,
presiding over nations, families, individiuals.
Thy goodness is boundless;
all creatures wait on the
are supplied by thee,
are satisfied in thee.
How precious are the thoughts of thy mercy and grace!
How excellent thy lovingkindness that draws men to thee!

Teach us to place our happiness in thee, the blessed God,
never seeking life among the dead things of earth,
or asking for that which satisfies the deluded;
But may we prize the light of thy smile,
implore the joy of thy salvation,
find our heaven in thee.
Thou hast attended to our happiness more than we can do;
Though we are fallen creatures thou hast not neglected us.
In love and pity thou hast provided us a saviour;
Apply his redemption to our hearts,
by justifying our persons,
and sanctifying our natures.
We confess our transgressions, have mercy on us.
When we are weary, give us rest,
ignorant, make us wise unto salvation,
helpless, let thy strength be made perfect in our weakness,
poor and needy, bless us with Christ's unsearchable riches,
perplexed and tempted, let us not travel on unchecked or dismayed,
but know that thou hast said,
'I will never leave thee nor forsake thee'.
Blessed be thy name!

Vacation...Part 2 of 2

My boys...

Daddy & Leah napping...

More smiles at the party...

Our golf cart tour...

Helping grandma feed the catfish...

Magnolia Plantation in Charleston...

My first impression at Magnolia...

was in the bathroom of course...children:)

But aren't these faucets so cute!

Mommy, take a picture of the flowers...

Mommy, why do you need a picture of the flowers?

Smile :)

My little ladies...

See the aligators???

My mom....

Me...

Leah...

Lacy...Look how sweet...what a pretty flower...

It's too bad that moments later...

This goat walked right up to her and ATE IT!

Yes...she cried :(

But then she found a new friend...

and all was well.

But THEN, we tried to befriend the deer...

Who thought she really smelled good...

Good enough to EAT as a matter of fact!

Yes...she cried...as this sweet little bambi...

literally helped himself to a mouthful of her hair!

The petting zoo was nothing short of an emotional roller coaster for Miss Lacy...

But she recovered...no permenant damage, I'm sure :)

All in all, I think we had a pretty good day!

Vacation... Part 1 of 2

Our whole family recently took a vacation to South Carolina to visit my mom and step dad.

It was also my mother's 50th Birthday!

Yes, my mother is only 50... She had me when she was 15...
Yes, that makes me 35 :)

For years my mother and I had a very strained relationship. She was very young and had to work all the time and I was a lost selfish brat. BUT through God's gracious gift of salvation we have mended our relationship and are working on becoming best friends!

Here are some pics for you to enjoy...

Wendy (her daughter-in-law), Chance (Wendy's daughter), Mom, Luke, Me, and Lacy

The girls wrote her letters...

And I forgot to take pictures of the gifts...oops!

But she was very happy to receive 2 full disks of pictures of the kids taken by Emily Elizabeth...Thank you Miss Emily :)

We also gave her a lovely matching bracelet and brioche, and then we spent the whole week shopping and exploring together...

We had a great time!

The boys helped cook that night...

The next day we toured (on golf cart) the property (20acres) and picked 2 gallons of wild plums and blackberries...

I think Luke ate more than he picked :)

Then we took a day and went shopping in all the antique stores...

There are a lot of antique stores South Carolina!!!

Look at this lovely antique wedding dress...

I wish you could see the lace better...it was really beautiful!



I love old books! Anything written before 1900...especially HisStory!

The Reformation and the Civil War are two of my favorites.

This set was on the Civil War and gives both the Union and Confederate accounts of certain battles. Very interesting! Our current President would do well to have an accurate account of our nation's history...especially the Civil War!

Hopefully, one day soon I'll post more on my love for the Confederates and their desire for religious freedom, states rights, self-government, etc...

I immediately thought of the Feldman children when I saw this lovely two-way bench.

It looks like something they would have thought to create, plus it would fit nicely in their dining area :)

This very versatile bench was once used at an old train station for passengers waiting to board the train. After the south bound passengers would board they would flip the back of the bench over to accept north bound passengers! How creative!

Inexpensive (at the time) too...note the 3 chair bottoms as the legs...today it will run you a cool $1200

Wheat mill...

Corn mill...

Bread maker...

Baby bassinet...

Old photo...

A stark reminder of how blind our culture has become to what is "feminine".

I would truly dress like this everyday if I were able! I love the styles of the 17 & 1800's...

This was my absolute favorite find of the day!

Every lady should have a tea set...

And this particular set is dated from 1840 and costs $1100.

I am not a frivolous spender by any means, but if I had a spare (haha) $1100, this would've been mine! Just look at the detail and coloring...it is breath-taking!

Well, that's all for now...hopefully I can give you part 2 tomorrow :)