Hope: The Path Through Suffering

This post came about as a result of  "it's too long for a status update" so Blog it instead.

...so, yesterday at church my Pastor referenced correspondence with someone who feels utter hopelessness and, I don't know why, but it's weighing on my mind. I guess it's because I too often forget that there are people like that. I've been in dark places in my own life, but I have always had hope that (as Miss Evelyn used to tell me, repeatedly) "this too shall pass" and that trials, awful circumstances, and even grief do not last forever. Joy comes in the morning! It may not BE THIS morning OR tomorrow morning, but it will come eventually. 

I understand grief, believe me. Yet even in the midst of it, I've never felt the hopelessness of death. The futility of it, the questioning, the anger, the separation, the sadness....yes. The bouts of spontaneous tears at a thought or memory....uncontrollable weeping at the most awkward of moments regardless of where they happen, be it the grocery store, standing in Walmart, or just driving down the road.  I'm rocking the Alice-Cooper-Runny-Mascara look so much that I've become accustomed to it.  But I've never experienced the hopelessness.  Nothing even remotely similar to that which was expressed by Richard in his email.  I just wanted to wrap my arms around him and have a good cry....tell him I know EXACTLY how he feels about losing someone he loved....to remember that weeping is a language that only God can decipher and tears speak words that only He can interpret.....that even now, in the midst of great sorrow, God is here with us, near to the brokenhearted (Psalm 34:18), numbering our wanderings, collecting our tears in a bottle and recording them in His Book (Psalm 56:8 NKJV).  Can he just imagine that there is Someone who loves him with a love so AMAZING that He wipes your tears even after you left Him dying on a cross for your sins? As Gideon Harris said, "No matter how bitter your life can be remember it's not as bitter as dying on the cross for someone undeserving."

As so many times before, I wonder how people get through that darkness without Jesus? He has been the only thing holding me together since my Mama died. I'd have willingly lost my mind completely....embraced it, actually, just to be rid of the pain of it all.  The weeping. The part of me that feels empty and void.  That room in my heart left vacant.  The desire just to talk to her, hear her voice, ask her questions, seek her advice.  To share with her the everyday happenings of my life. And a thousand other things that I wish I had said, and the guilt of not having said them when I had the opportunity to do so.  I can only say that I said the important things that really mattered in our long discussions about Jesus.....trusting HIM to keep his promise that His Word would not return void and that it took root and bore fruit in my mama's heart.  Still, the way that my mama looked at us and held our hands in those final hours haunts me, day and night.  And I cry every time I think of it.  It was almost like we were the tether that was keeping her here on this earth....as if by her watching us and holding our hands, we could keep her spirit from leaving her body.  If it had been within my will and power it would have been so, but not if it meant my mama would have to continue living in pain and suffering.

There is a path through suffering and it is one we all must take. A rite of passage, as it were. And there is only One who has walked it before us, who has experienced the darkness and knows the agony. Who better to guide me as I now journey this darksome road? As I write this, I'm reminded of just how much music ministers to my soul, and there are a couple of songs that came to mind. 

First, is the song "Mountain of God" by Third Day:

Thought that I was all alone

Broken and afraid.

But You were there with me. 

Yes, You were there with me.

And I didn't even know that I had lost my way, 

But You were there with me. 

Yes, You were there with me.

'Til You opened up my eyes I never knew 

That I couldn't ever make it without You.

Even though the journey's long,

And I know the road is hard.

Well, the One who's gone before me, 

He will help me carry on.

After all that I've been through now I realize the truth.

That I must go through the valley

To stand upon the mountain of God.

As I travel on the road that You have led me down.

You are here with me. Yes, You are here with me.

I have need for nothing more, 

Oh, now that I have found

That You are here with me. Yes, You are here with me.

I confess from time to time I lose my way,

But You are always there to bring me back again.

Sometimes I think of where it is I've come from

And the things I've left behind.

But of all I've had, what I possess,

Nothing can quite compare

With what's in front of me, with what's in front of me.

I thought that I was all alone, Broken and afraid.

But, You are here with me.  Yes, You are here with me.

Another song of encouragement and remembrance is:  "Joy In The Journey" by Michael Card:

There is a joy in the journey

There's a light we can love on the way. 

There is a wonder and wildness to life and freedom for those who obey

And all those who seek it shall find it

A pardon for all who believe.

Hope for the hopeless and sight for the blind.

To all who've been born in the Spirit

And who share incarnation with Him,

Who belong to eternity stranded in time and weary of struggling with sin.

Forget not the hope that's before you.

And never stop counting the cost.

Remember the hopelessness when you were lost.

There is a joy in the journey.

There's a light we can love on the way.

There is a wonder and wildness to life and freedom for those who obey

And freedom for those who obey...

Recommended reading: A Path Through Suffering, by Elisabeth Elliot 

Laterz,
~Starla

America's Choice

America has a choice to make this upcoming election day in 2012.  The following are my thoughts, and mine alone.

I thought that President Obama was the first "post-racial" President and we could all come together where race isn't an issue any more, even when making jokes about the taco bell dog.  I have family members who have black spouses and cousins who are bi-racial just the same as President Obama, so racism isn't an issue with me, though I sometimes use the phrase "and they call me racist" to make a point...like I did with the buttons at the DNC because of the fact that most liberals accuse conservative people of being racist and the fact that if a white guy put a slogan like that on a button, he WOULD have immediately been called a racist. This week I was asked by a friend if I was “racist.”  I am not.  I was also asked if I thought President Obama was the anti-christ.  I don’t, and have never thought so.  Both of those questions came from a friend of mine who just happens to be black, just so you know.  Yes, I have black friends!  I also have Bulgarian, German, Korean, Japanese, and Mexican friends!  For some reason conservatives and Christian conservatives in particular are always labeled "racist" when, if you read ANY of the civil rights history, it's exactly the opposite. I mean, Abraham Lincoln AND Martin Luther King, Jr. were BOTH Republicans!!!  So, how’d that happen???

I've heard that there were even "SLUTS VOTE" buttons at the DNC.  When I heard that, I was like, "What self-respecting woman would wear that?" and then it hit me why that was even on a button in the first place and it was because of that Sandra Fluke woman who wants gov't and everybody to stay out of her womb, yet wants everyone else to pay for her condoms and contraceptives FOR her womb....and that radio guy, Rush Limbaugh, called her a slut and it was a terrible thing to call anyone, the same as Bill Maher calling Sarah Palin the "c" word. Both wrong in my opinion, but yet they had Sluts Vote buttons at the DNC. Which made me wonder if they were affirming what the radio show host called her in the first place???  BTW, I want the gov’t to stay out of my womb and fallopian tubes too!!!  I don’t want the gov’t to tell me how many children I can/can’t have or make me have forced abortions like they do in China.  The difference between me and Fluke is that I don’t expect other people to pay for the CHOICES that I make.

Here's a little known fact: Obama's father didn't march for the civil rights movement; Mitt Romney's father did. Mitt Romney's dad, although Mormon, was not a polygamist; Obama's father was, having 3 wives at the same time. Obama's father was a communist; as was his mentor, Frank Marshall Davis.  Communists don't believe in "civil" rights. Obama didn't grow up with the Pledge of Allegiance, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Veteran's Day, Memorial Day, Apple Pie, or any other American tradition that makes him like us. You can read about his exotic life in Indonesia in his book. Based on his own words and policies, he is a Marxist socialist communist. 

Many of my heroes are black people: George Washington Carver, Booker T. Washington, Frederick Douglas, Samuel Morris, just to name a few!  Condoleeza Rice is an amazingly strong woman that I admire greatly!  I am proud that such an intelligent and accomplished woman from Alabama is on the political stage!  George Washington Carver will ALWAYS be top dog because he invented PeanutButter!  And I absolutely love Allen West, Thomas Sowell, (Sowell's Writings) and C.L. Bryant! In my opinion, I think Sowell or West would have been better choices for the first African-American president....which, if you know the truth, Barack Obama isn't. His mom was white, his dad Kenyan. The "label" African-American is used for black people whose ancestors were brought over here as slaves by the British, French, and Spanish; not Americans! Barack's father was never a slave so his lineage does not hold true to the standard. 

Me? My ancestry is Irish/Scots-American whose great-great-great-grandfather was the first white man on Sand Mountain who married a Cherokee woman. I have Cherokee and Irish from both sides of my family and Scots from my dad's side.  The Tinkers are called “wanderers” in Ireland, because that’s what they did, kind of like gypsies, wandering from place to place, repairing (tinkering) with things, hence the surname “Tinker.” But I've never been to Ireland a day in my life. I'm AMERICAN!  Have you ever been to Africa? If not, then you are just an American, like me! Teddy Roosevelt said that hyphenated Americans weren't American (paraphrase) so......I read a lot and I know that as horrible as slavery was to black people, my Native American ancestors were the targets of genocide to steal their land. Yet America is the only nation that fought a bloody war to end the practice of slavery, something our Founders found so abhorrent and reprehensible reprehensible they changed the wording in the Declaration of Independence from "life, liberty, and property to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" because they knew that many would consider slaves property. Slaves were brought here by the British, French, and Spanish, not Americans.  Most of our founders "inherited" their slaves and sought to free them, either upon their death or during their lives and many, like Thomas Jefferson, tried to do it while he was alive but the laws were such that they had to pay high sums of money to do so, and Jefferson was basically a pauper (poor) at the time of his death. It was Christians who began the Underground Railroad and opposed slavery.

America elected her first black president just 40 years after the Civil Rights movement. That is America's accomplishment! All of the American descendants of slaves have far better lives than those who still live in Africa, where slavery is still practiced and civil war is an every day thing. I recently watched the movie, Machine-gun Preacher, a true story about Sam Childers, who took on that Joseph Kony dude who kidnapped and enslaved children in Uganda and Sudan.  He forces the girls to be sex slaves and the boys to kill their parents and be in his army.  Oh and btw, Sam Childers is a Christian white guy!  It was estimated that in the early 60's Saudi Arabia had 300,000 slaves. Slavery wasn't abolished until later at the cost to the government of $2,000 each.  And do you know what happened to the guy who freed the slaves???  He was assassinated by his nephew!  And the murdering  nephew was beheaded in public in Riyadh in 1975!  Many Muslim countries still practice slavery. I just hate to see our people, black and white, red and yellow, enslaved to an out of control big government that seems bent on keeping us on the Plantation, providing the masses with food stamps, health care, and on the government teat, but not really free. There isn't freedom if you don't have a choice. We are all created with the same opportunity, but some are more talented than others and some just knock on the door of opportunity more often.

Everyone should vote. It's a right that many black men and white men, died to give you. Don't take it for granted. Black men were allowed to vote in 1870, following the end of the War Between the States and the ratification of the 17th Amendment. Native Americans weren't given citizenship or allowed to vote until 1924 (and not until 1954 in Maine, 1956 in Utah, and 1962 in New Mexico!) and women weren't allowed to vote until 1920 upon ratification of the 19th Amendment. I've voted in every election ever since I was 18, never forgetting the price others paid that gave me the freedom and privilege of doing so. Go register to vote! Exercise your right as an American! Do you realize that America has THE longest, consecutive form of government BY the people? Our founders blessed us with a constitutional bi-cameral Republic! US Constitution  We are not a democracy! A democracy is 3 wolves and 1 sheep sitting down to ask, “What’s for dinner?" Democracy is what you see in Egypt now, where after getting rid of the dictator, Islamic radicals are literally crucifying the Christians in that country and the last Jewish synagogue has been closed. There are many countries much older than ours but our government has out lasted theirs and has never been a monarchy where people were "subjects" or serfs. Our gov't is OF the people, BY the People, FOR the People (Lincoln's Gettysburg Address). Unique. Never been done, before or since, though some have tried. Monrovia, Liberia in West Africa was founded when freed slaves returned to Africa. Named after President Monroe and Liberty, but has been in the throes of civil war for decades. Read about it!

Anyway, it wasn't after until I read Obama's book that I began questioning his policies and the inconsistency of what he promised in 2008. I want to be more informed this go-round and so I'm seeking the answers to the concerns that I have about our deficit and the government getting bigger and bigger.  Our economy is a mess. Our debt is unsustainable. The fact of all that wasted stimulus money on Solyndra and green energy is painful no matter what side you're on. The billions sent to Brazil  Obama's Brazilian Oil Company to invest in THEIR off-shore drilling while closing ours and saying NO to the keystone pipeline just doesn't make sense to me, especially when coal is cheap and we already HAVE it! Sending $6 Billion to Muslim Brotherhood controlled Egypt Obama's Billions to Muslim Brotherhood Egypt doesn't make sense to me either. They are not our friends. Fast & Furious cover-up,  Beheadings in our own country and along our border, amnesty for illegal immigrants....they are ALREADY ILLEGAL! Failure to enforce immigration laws already on the books is pathetic. For the record, we NEVER occupied Mexico OR took their land!  After the Mexican-American War, in the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hildago, we gave them back the land as far south as Mexico City, and paid them a $15 million lump sum payment, and the assumption by the U.S. Government of up to $3.25 million worth of debts owed BY Mexico to U.S. citizens for the territory that became the states of Texas, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, California, Washington, and Oregon, as well as portions of what would later become Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, Wyoming, and Montana. It's almost like they pick and choose which laws they want to enforce while disregarding others. I don't get it!  That was all of our money that was wasted, that could have been spent to pay on the deficit. We get so used to hearing a trillion dollars....but have a hard time conceptualizing it, much less applying it in our REAL lives! I've never had a trillion dollars to just piss away on solar panels and when the company went belly-up those glass tubes were used as art in some liberal college in California! This is what HALF A BILLION WASTED DOLLARS LOOKS LIKE: Solyndra's Modern Art Stuff like that drives me nuts!!! And it was the same with George W.! His policies were no better, and it just seems that we've had 4 more years of Bush and then some. I just haven't seen any real change...not like what was promised in 2008.  Obama promised to take on big business, but big businesses like GM and GE didn't have to pay taxes...they were waived!  How about the other 1200+ BIG businesses that were exempt and got waivers for Obamacare?  How is that fair to small business owners or self-employed people?  List of Obamacare Exemptions

When I saw the movie 2016 Obama's America I realized even more, that he isn't like us; he wasn't raised "American." His life growing up and the influences that molded him are not like those we were raised with. Enlightening! It not only helped me understand his worldview but also understand how he views America. It really brought home to me that he's not like us at all! And he isn't even like most immigrants who want to come here, desiring to avail themselves of the opportunities America offers. It's really mind-boggling. And my one thought was "Who knew? Who knew in 2008?" we all thought he was just like us, but he's radically different in his perception of America. We aren't socialist in nature. We don't celebrate the collective. We celebrate those whose achievements inspire us. We celebrate the Heisman Trophy winners, the BCS National Champions, the World Series Champions, the fastest NASCAR driver (though I don’t like NASCAR...*gasp*  I know! it’s just ain’t in me folks!), the first man on the moon, winning the most Gold Medals at the Olympics, or bagging the biggest buck, or prize-winning fish we catch! We LIKE red, white, and blue and fireworks on the 4^th of July! We grew up saying the Pledge of Allegiance and get teary-eyed singing the Star-Spangled Banner and we tie yellow ribbons around our trees until our troops come home! We are apple pie and baseball!  It's fundamentally WHO we are as Americans!

Sure, he was born in Hawaii, that makes him an American citizen, but he was raised in Indonesia by a communist mom and step-dad with communist ideals and values.  Big difference.  Even the guy he said was his mentor, Frank Marshall Davis, was a known communist on the FBI's watch list with over 600 pages of documentation. He grew up worshiping Hanuman, the demon fighting Monkey god with the strength of 100 men who's never been defeated. (Just between you and me, I’d want a god MUCH stronger than 100 puny men!) Ironic that only 5% of ppl say they won't vote for a black man, but 18% say they won't vote for a Mormon. But we did vote for a black man who worshiped Hanuman. So, which is more bigoted? I'm not black or Mormon. I’m not a Democrat OR a Republican.  I’m an Independent with heavy leanings on the Libertarian/Constitutional Party side.  I’d even go so far as to claim kinship with the Tea Party since I could see myself dressing up as a wild injun and dumping His Majesty’s tea in Boston Harbor!  I just want to know which candidate shares my love for America and our Constitution and who wants life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all Americans! I just don't think Obama "thinks like Americans" do.  He seems to think we're supposed to be some kind of remade European socialist country, but we aren't, we never have been. Look at Europe and see if all the socialist polices have been to the benefit of its people.  No.  One country after another is on the verge of collapse.  Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Ireland, the UK.  Only Germany is solvent.  Keep in mind that it was America who rebuilt Germany and Japan after WWII.  If you haven't read his book, then you should...at least you'll know who you're voting for.  I thought he grew up just like I did; but he didn't. I can't think of one single communist that I knew as a child growing up. I can remember the "fall-out" drills and films we had in school that used to terrify me at the very THOUGHT of the communists attacking from Russia or China. Now, we also have Iran to worry about and I wonder why the President seems to have turned a blind eye to Iran becoming a nuclear power? Don't you? I wonder why he said that America would only be concerned with Syria if chemical or biological weapons were used?  Wouldn't it be too late then??? Why would we consider sending OUR sons and daughters AFTER chemical or biological weapons had been deployed???  Not that I want another war in another Middle Eastern country...I don't! I have a son who may be sent to Bahrain as support for the troops in Afghanistan, which to my way of thinking should have ended the moment we got Osama bin Laden. Why keep our guys over there when OBL was the reason we went there in the first place?  Didn’t President Obama promise in 2008 to end the wars and bring our troops home?  Inconsistency.  And now there's the tragedy and subsequent cover-up of the events that happened in Benghazi, Libya on September 11, 2012. I'll leave that topic for another day.

Anyway, thank you for taking the time to read and I'll appreciate any thoughts you might wish to share with me. I always like another perspective from people I respect. I've always believed respect was a two way street and a lot of the time we just don't take the time to cross it and see another person's point of view.

All That Is Possible

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All that is Possible
I try to eat the healthy food I need, and do the things I should. I don't use drugs or drink in excess. Yet life is too short, my friend! I, for one, hate missing out on something good or trying something new.

I've never been this old before and I’ll never be this age again. So, before I die, I've got to try those things that for years I’ve ignored or taken for granted:

~I haven't smelled all the flowers yet~

~There are too many books I haven't read~

~And kites to be flown overhead~

~I haven't cried at all the movies yet~

~Or walked in the morning rain~

~I want to fall in love again~

~There are vistas not yet seen; places I’ve never been~

~I need to feel wind in my hair~

~There are hot fudge cakes and banana splits to wolf down~

~I want unlimited long distance calls to the people I love the most~

~I have not laughed at all the jokes~

~Or tickled my daughter enough~

~I haven’t hugged my children too much~

~I want to wade again in water and feel the ocean spray on my face~

~I've missed a lot of Broadway hits~

~I want to sit in a country church once and thank God for His blessings and His grace~

Pardon me if I choose to have dessert, instead of having dinner. If perchance I should die before night fall, I can say I filled my heart's desire because I had that final chocolate hot fudge cake before I shed my mortal coil.

~~Live well, Love much, Laugh often, Be happy!~~
~~Be mindful that happiness isn't based on possessions, power, or prestige...

    but on relationships with people we love and respect, and who love and respect us in

    return~~

And ALWAYS remember that while money talks…..CHOCOLATE SINGS!

~Starla~

It's That Time of Year Again

Christmastime.

I keep asking myself when did the month of December get to be so busy.....and so stressful?  I keep thinking if there are some things I can stop doing to make it less so, but when I begin doing that, I feel guilty.  After all, this is supposed to be a time of giving and charity (love) to our fellow-man.  Right?  So much of that requires time, on my part.  Then there are obligations and some times I don't know if I'm coming, going, or just in some kind of alternate reality.  By the end of what I've come to call "Nutcracker Week" I'll be nearly comatose.  Factor in school activities/parties/and the drama class production of A Christmas Carol, and well, let's just say that it's no wonder I have a hard time keeping myself focused on Who the Reason for the Season is all about.  I do try!  Honestly.  Mostly through things that aren't what I label "busy work" like all the church stuff.  I get more joy from all of the non-church volunteer projects I've been involved in.  Sad.  But true.  I really don't think I "fit in" with the churchianity mentality, but I'm ok with that.

It's a sad fact.  It's bad enough when it's just the Nutcracker, but this year it's even more stressful due to too many things happening the same week.  My church has scheduled a Christmas concert on Thursday night, caroling on Friday night,  a youth Christmas breakfast on Sunday morning, a Christmas Cantata on Sunday night, a youth group Scavenger hunt on Monday morning, and the Pastor's Open House on Thursday night.  I think that's all.  I can't do it.  

When did "service" to Jesus become "activities?" In my opinion we'd do much more in Jesus' name if our church went to serve at the homeless shelter food kitchen.  Bleh!  I don't even like thinking like this, even though I truly believe that the church has left it's first love.  Our first love should be Christ, and Christ's first love was people....the poor, rejected, outcasts of the world.  He ran with the party crowd:  the whores, tax cheats, blue-collar redneck types, the diseased (lepers), those who were physically handicapped or blind, and the demon possessed...and if we have the love of Christ we should be ministering in a real hands-on way, to people.  I just don't think that singing in a cantata or being in a scavenger hunt is of the same merit as actually serving the kind of needy people Jesus ministered to.  Jesus always met their physical needs before meeting their spiritual needs. Satan has effectively quarantined the church; totally removed it from the society to which it's supposed to be the shining City on a Hill.  Sadly, we've bought it, hook, line, and sinker.  I can count on one hand (and still have fingers left over) the churches that I know who personally minister to the kind of people that society looks down on. Where do we get off with the idea that just because we "give money" or support to an organization, that THAT lets us off the hook to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the dregs of society?  Show me, please.

I don't really know how the Enemy has succeeded.  Perhaps what Bro. Rick says is right....we've had it too good for too long.  I recently read that people are drawn to dead churches because it makes them feel better about their own dysfunction.  Since when do we want to feel better about our dysfunction?  What I see is that there's a generation who doesn't understand the power of being addicted to a legitimate substance (Hebrews 11:1) and we waste our time burning for illegitimate things. Jesus was, IS, and forever will be, the most magnetic force humanity has ever experienced.  Has anyone else ever walked up to random strangers and said, "Come.  Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.", and perfectly sane men dropped their fishing nets and followed a man that they did not know?  Religiously cleansed Levitical priests didn't see who He was, but lepers did; the Sanhedrin didn't follow Jesus, but whores did. The Pharisees couldn't see who Jesus was, but blind men did....men who couldn't see anything knew that what they needed was passing them by as Jesus walked away.  And they followed Him.  How do blind men follow anything? Or anyone?  Yet they did. Right into a house of someone they didn't know.  Talk about crossing the societal standards on etiquette and propriety.  They were so desperate to be in His presence that they crossed the threshold of impropriety and societal mores.  Religion creates "lines" = what is acceptable and unacceptable.  Society doesn't mind if you're a Christian so long as you stay "inside" the lines.  That's the whole thing behind the bias against Tim Tebow.  He doesn't stay inside the "religious lines."  He crosses their lines each and every time he kneels to pray on the sidelines of a football field.  If he were practicing any other religion the bias and mockery would not be tolerated, nor accepted.  The difference is that Tebow's faith is in Jesus.  People who have encounters with religion will NEVER understand people who have had an encounter with Jesus.  Jesus.  He still intimidates and crosses the lines some 2000+ years later.  The moment our Christianity becomes confrontational, it in actuality becomes Christianity.  When our faith ceases to be confrontational we can take Christ out of the equation and it just becomes religion then.  How can you have a non-confrontational Christianity?  The essence of the entire concept is Christ:  the most controversial person in the history of the world.

I can only speak for myself, but I want more.  More Jesus.  I want to see Him work, not only IN me, but THRU me.   It's weird, but sometimes it's like I'm a Jesus junkie and I can't wait for the next high.  The more Jesus I get, the more I want.  I can't explain it, and I have to admit that I wish this was something I felt every day; it isn't.  Some days it's a plateau; others, a valley.  Yet, I know God has put me on this planet to engage in a game of Divine Tag! If what happened to me, happens to you, you'll get crazy too!  Tag!  You're IT!

L8R Dayz,

Starr

The Call on 11-11-11

On 11-11-11 in Detroit, Michigan, Lou Engle and The Call are hosting a 24 hour prayer vigil for Detroit, Michigan, and our country.  The prayer service begins at 6:00 p.m. and will continue until 6:00 p.m. tomorrow evening.  Having heard Lou Engle (via The Ramp) I know him to be outspoken in his stance against the Islamicization of America, unlike Pastors Rick Warren and Robert Schuller who have begun preaching a heretical form of the gospel of Christ known as Chrislam, a mixing of the Bible and the Koran.  So, it is not surprising to me that Council for Islamic Relations (CAIR) would be protesting this event.  This blog is in response to an article (link provided below) that I read and that I disagree with.  First is that the article implies that the Christians are going to become violent and target the mosques. I say “implied” because it says that the Muslim community is beefing up the security around their Mosques as if they are expecting something to happen. Muslims seem to forget that we are not the religion responsible for BEHEADING people who do not convert to Christianity. ‘Nuff said.

I support Lou Engle! It amazes me that so many Christians today don’t (or won’t) support any gathering such as this because it’s “confrontational” and may offend Muslims. Really? How can you claim to be a Christian then? How can you have a non-confrontational Christianity when the essence of the concept IS Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ IS absolutely the most controversial figure who has lived in the history of the world! If your brand of Christianity isn’t confrontational then it has ceased to be Christianity. If we’re going to preach a gospel that is less than radical then we need to eliminate the name of Christ entirely from our religious-speak. Christ was, and is, undoubtedly the most radical person humanity has ever experienced. The Pharisees couldn’t see who Jesus was, but blind men could; the Levitical priests didn’t follow Jesus, but fishermen and whores did. Jesus took 12 men and turned the known world upside-down and has been doing so for 2000+ years. The problem today is that we have taken the radical message of Jesus and quarantined it out of our society and confined it to within “the church building.” Where the NT church is to be a revolving door, equipping people to “live” out the message of Jesus and build His Kingdom within our communities, we have instead built great and glorious mega-churches (mini-Kingdoms) of our own and sacrificed our salt- and light-worthiness in the society in which we live.  Just my opinion.

This article also misrepresents (or at least takes out of context) Engle’s position on Christians “taking over government” or whatever in society. It all goes back to the word “Ecclesia” or “Ekklesia” and the responsibilities of that “solemn assembly” governing body. As most people know, the “ecclesia” is the translated word “church” (meaning the ‘called out ones’) in the Bible. What most people don’t know is that Ecclesia was also a principal governmental assembly in Athens, Greece; responsible for declaring war, military strategy, electing military generals and magistrates. Ecclesia or Ekklesia: meaning the “Called out of” is used 115 times in the NT and translated “church” in all but 3 verses. The practice of ecclesia had been in use 500 years by the time of Christ and had specific, well-acknowledged connotations. Peter understood ecclesia.

“Called out” ones to be the heavenly council above city council; rules over kings and govts that are renegade…governing body….word ecclesia changed to “church” and Joel 2:15 “a solemn assembly” uses the same word “ecclesia” in Gk Septuagint.

Ecclesia declares war on renegade elements of the society in which it assembles:
Ps110:1-2
2 Cor. 10:4
Eph 6:12

so it’s not like a “takeover” in the context in which this article implies, but spiritual warfare against the ungodly or Satanic elements in the society in which we live.

Til Next Time,

Starr

This blog is in response to the article listed here:  Muslims protest the 11-11-11 Prayer Event

Dictator of the Month Club

With the beginning of the Arab Spring earlier this year, it almost seems as if America has become a leading participant in the Dictator Of The Month club.  The recent assassination of Osama bin Laden by Seal Team 6,  and the demise of Anwar al-Awlaki by Predator Drone,  seem to support my premise.  I find it ironic that President Obama ran on a platform of ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, yet in the time since the beginning of the Arab Spring he has sent troops into Libya and, as of this past week, Uganda.  What are we becoming???  The NATO thugs?  When the President sent troops into Libya, he totally bypassed Congress in the process.  As a result of our presence there the latest Dictator to meet his untimely death is Libya's Muammar Qaddafi.  According to one report, his entourage was fired upon by Predator Drone, whereupon he exited his vehicle and ran to a drainage underpass.  He was shot in both legs.  Al Jazeera released video showing Qaddafi just minutes before he was shot in the head.  The video and pictures are graphic.  Below is just one such example.  WARNING:  Graphic!

It still puzzles me that pictures of bin Laden were not released.  I think I would have felt major validation and justification in viewing those pictures....much the same as I did when Saddam Hussein was hanged.  Qaddafi always reminded me of Scar from the Disney movie, The Lion King.  I'm not sure why, but maybe the EVIL persona had something to do with it.  While I feel little remorse on the death of this evil man, my concern is that someone of an even more vile nature will rise up to take his place.  Isn't that the usual way of things?  Egypt's Hosni Mubarak was ousted and he sought asylum elsewhere.  Probably a good thing he left the country or he would have met a similar fate to that of Qaddafi.  

The political game of foreign policy is skewered at best.  I mean, we spent millions of American taxpayer dollars to support these regimes back in the 70's, 80's, and 90's.  We provided them with our technology, military equipment, etc., and for what?  Just so we could kill them a few decades later, leaving the entire Middle East in upheaval and unrest, a plum ripe for the picking to the next, worst evil dictator to come along!  I can honestly say, "What's wrong with this picture?"

I  truly believe God is in control of all things; He is the master planner.  There is nothing that happens that surprises Him.  He isn't sitting in heaven, wringing his hands, with a worried brow.  It seems that all of this unrest in the Middle East, the resurgence of anti-Israel sentiment and anti-Semitic attitudes prevalent all over the world are leading up to the end time events described in Daniel, Ezekiel, and the book of Revelation.  I am not a prophet; have never claimed to be, but I can read.  Interestingly enough, is that lately I've been reading the Qur'an.  I have such a clear and concise concept of how those events are going to unfold.  My spiritual eyes have been opened.  Not that they were closed, but even with reading and understanding something is far different than in seeing or conceptualizing how those events come to pass.

Fact:  the three major mono-theistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all have their foundation in the person of Abraham and his sons Isaac and Ishmael.   Judaism and Christianity from Isaac; Islam from Ishmael and the sons of Keturah.  The center for all three religions is Jerusalem.  God promised to make both Isaac and Ishmael great nations.  But only Isaac was the son of promise, the line of the Messiah.  Ishmael was banished, along with his mother Hagar, and eventually married an Egyptian woman.  All of the ancient peoples of Edom, Moab, and Ammon are descendents of Ishmael. Abraham had other sons by his concubine Keturah. It is from her that the Arabs are descended. We know them today as Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Persia.  Isaac was the father of Esau and Jacob.  Jacob later became known as Israel and this is the line of modern day Israel.   In reading the end time events and those leading up to Daniel's 70th week, we are introduced to people who will play a major role as those prophetic events unfold.  Do I know who they are?  No.  Do I know the exact time when they will happen?  No.  Nut job Harold Camping has predicted the end of the world....again.  This time it's for tomorrow, October 21, 2011.  His previous prediction was in May of this year.  Yet, Mr. Camping will be proven a false prophet again, tomorrow.  The Bible is clear, without room for conjecture.  No one knows the day nor the hour; it will come as a thief in the night.  

That isn't to say that we can't be aware of events taking place at a rapid pace.  We can see those quite literally with our own two eyes.  All we have to do is turn on Fox News or CNN and run the current events through our prophetic scriptural eyes and we can SEE it happening right in front of us!  Prior to reading the Qur'an, I always wondered how such events would unfold.  How would so many people be deceived and believe a lie?  How would so many come to accept the Mark of the Beast in their foreheads and/or hands?  How would the nations of the world NOT recognize Christ as the Messiah when he returns?  All of those questions are answered in the Qur'an.  I know, weird!  Right?  The Qur'an is like a photographic negative to the Bible....similar but diametrically opposed.  The Qur'an speaks of the Madhi and recognizes him as their savior.  I find it astounding that this Madhi guy has many of the same characteristics as that of the Antichrist as depicted in the book of Revelation.  The Madhi comes in a time of worldwide chaos, and establishes a false peace with Israel; he causes people to receive a mark in their heads or hands to show that they are the *true* believers, and he beheads those who do not convert; he leads the armies of the world against the One who returns on a white horse and makes war with the One whom he calls the "false Jesus" when in reality, that One on the white horse is the TRUE Jesus! The religion of Islam is setting Muslims up to be the agents of the end time events and they will believe they are doing God's (or Allah's) will.  It's mind boggling when you begin comparing the two.  We now have the movement of Chrislam overtaking evangelical churches in America.  America will not be exempt from the judgment on the nations.  Chrislam is the tool that will facilitate the one world religion and be instrumental in the emergence of the Antichrist on the secular, political, and ecumenical scenes.  When you have Pastors such as Rick Warren and Robert Schuller embracing this false theology and then propagating it to their mega-congregations, you have to KNOW that this isn't going to end well for the sheep in their flock.  They are great examples of what Jesus called a "wolf in sheeps clothing."

In closing, of the three monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, only one recognized Jesus as the Messiah.  Only One claimed to be the Son of God and gave His life to prove He was who He said He was.  Only One claimed to be The Way, The Truth, and The Life.  There is no Plan B.  Jesus was either who He said He was, or He was the biggest fraud in the History of Mankind.  He either suffered and died as an atonement for us, the propitiation of our sin, or He suffered the most horrendous, horrific death imaginable as a Poser!  If you can believe Homer wrote the Odyssey, or that Plato wrote The Republic, why is it so hard to believe the account of Jesus, as told by eyewitnesses and first-hand accounts?  Primary sources we call them today.   These Primary Sources were holed up in the upper room following the crucifixion.  These scaredy-cats were afraid they were going to be next on the crucifix agenda!  Yet something happened within that first 72 hours that changed these cowards into Bold men of God who turned the known world upside down! Not only that, they too, died a martyrs death!  Why?  What happened to change them so?  They saw Someone, walked with Him, ate with Him, touched Him for 40 days!  Then went and told others what they had Seen and Heard!  So much so that the religious leaders of their day sought to kill them!   When Stephen is stoned, a man by the name of Saul stood and watched.  His mission to kill as many Christ-followers as possible!  Until he met Someone on the road, that is!  After meeting Jesus, Saul became Paul...a NEW creation in Christ.  God is a Seeker.  He sought Adam in the Garden; he left the 99 to seek the lost sheep; He sought Paul on the road to Damascus.  God loves for us to emulate Him and seek Him.  Real seeking always produces Real Finding!  If you aren't finding then it's time to re-evaluate your seeking.  He draws near to those who draw near to Him and He will always be found by those who Seek Him.  Don't delay.

Pondering,

Starr

Scarlett O'Hara on Occupy Wall Street

The Communist Party endorses OWS. The Nazi Party endorses OWS. Now, President Obama endorses OWS.

"Show me your friends and I'll show you your future." ~Bill Cosby

As history has shown, this never ends well for people. Consider these facts:

"That secularism is more dangerous to a society than any specific religious faith is statistically verifiable. For example, even though tens of millions of lives have been lost at the hands of numerous religious faiths over the past two thousand years (and most of those have indisputably been lost at the hand of Islam), the number of lives lost at the hands of secular governments in just the twentieth century alone is many times greater. For example, there were the 62 million killed by Soviet Communists; the 35 million by Chinese Communists; the 1.7 million by the Vietnamese Communists; the 1.6 million in the Polish Ethnic Cleansing; the 1 million in Yugoslavia; the 1.7 million in North Korea, etc.

Furthermore, the number of deaths perpetrated by individual secular leaders is enormous. For example, Joseph Stalin was responsible for the murder of 42.7 million; Mao Tse-tung, 37.8 million; Hitler, 20.9 million; Vladimir Lenin, 4 million; Pol Pot of the Khmer Rouge, 2.4 million; Yahya Khan, 1.5 million; and numerous others could be listed. Significantly, secularism killed more in one century than did all religions combined in the previous twenty."  ~Courtesy of David Barton, Wall Builders

In light of the above horrifying statistics, these 20-somethings that Stalin would have labeled "Useful Idiots" (google it!) will be eaten alive!  These are the kids who have had everything they've ever wanted handed to them on the proverbial silver platter or were born with the proverbial golden spoon in their mouths.  They are protesting their student loans to Ivy League colleges that cost more than what my humble abode is worth!  Where is the justification in that?  If anything, they should be protesting outside those hallowed halls of liberal learning instead of the banks who gave them the student loans in the first place!  After all, the banks didn't MAKE them take out those loans...it was their own personal choice.  Education is not a RIGHT, it is a privilege.

They keep trying to compare the OWS protests to Tahirir Square in Egypt.  There is no such comparison.  These kids have never lived under the oppressive rule of a dictator.....yet!  They have never missed a meal, whereas the Egyptian people were starving!  There was no food in Egypt!  They couldn't run out to the local convenience store on the corner to buy a loaf of bread or gallon of milk.  What do these kids think is going to happen if/when the system collapses?  What will they do when they can't get to their ATM's?  Let's not forget that these are the same kids who grew up with Participation Trophies and the 10-run rule in Little League baseball.  So maybe they're all about getting a Participation Trophy now?  I don't know about that, but some are getting 20 pts extra credit from their institutions of higher learning for attending an OWS protest.  When life is lived in the herd mentality, exceptionalism and ingenuity die a slow and painful death.  

When socialist, communist principles become the law of the land, the quality of life and standard of living is always lower for the people as a general rule.  In this homogenous, pasteurized world no one in school will make A's, B's, D's, or F's.  The A's give their extra points to the F's and the B's to the D's and the result is a bunch of mediocre C's!  These people are going to open their eyes to a rude awakening!  In all of the interviews I've seen of the OWS, one of the most ironic is the one where the reporter is asking all these people to tell why they are protesting.  One hippy chick says we should go back to the hunter/gatherer lifestyle.  Really?  These kids will starve!  The reporter then asks, "oh, is that an iPhone you're using?"  Funny, huh?  Yeah, these people have the same love affair that I have with my iPhone and iPod (the new iPhone 4S sales hit 4 million in 3 days of it's release) yet they are protesting the Capitalist system that made that technology and ingenuity possible.  Unbelievable! 

What these people don't seem to realize is that if/when our system collapses, it's going to be THOSE people who are eliminated first.  I have always said, somewhat tongue in cheek, that I am "American by birth, Southern by the Grace of God!"  In light of recent events, I affirm that statement with every breath I take and every bone in my body!  For the same reasons that the South lost the War Between The States, the South will be one of the few places where we know how to survive what is seemingly looming on the horizon.  We've already lived thru Reconstruction.  Scarlett O'Hara taught us that in the Deep South, women learn at a young age that when the world is falling apart around you, it's time to tear down the drapes and make a new dress!  Our agrarian culture will be to our benefit.  We still grow our food, our Mama's taught us canning and how to dehydrate for food storage. We can sew, crochet, and knit. Our men still hunt & fish.  We know how to survive!  Do you really think that those people on OWS would still be there if there weren't others who were doling out food for them?  If they were having to go hungry, do you think they'd really still be 3 weeks into protest?  No!  Not to mention that the Working Families Party (just one of the unions supporting this) is paying $650/week to people to protest!  That's more than what many people make in a week doing an honest days' work!  Sad, but true!

 

They spit on our troops, thereby trampling underfoot the blood spilled by those same soldiers who died to give them the right to protest in the first place!  In my opinion, these people should renounce their American citizenship and get  the hell out of Dodge!  They should live in Russia, Cuba, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, N. Korea, or China for a while.  Perhaps then they would have a greater appreciation for what our men and women of the armed forces have lived and died for in our country's 235 years.  Perhaps they would not take their freedom for granted.  Then again, with the Zombie mentality they have exhibited so far, maybe not. 

Later dayz,

~Starr

A New Beginning

From the poisoning of our trees,
by a man with a poisoned mind.

To the trail of mass destruction
that April’s Fury left behind.

Our Auburn family has pulled together
to face adversity head on.

And extended our hands to our brothers
so that healing can go on!

We have bid a farewell to familiar faces
and are anxious to meet the new...

Who will proudly wear the Jerseys
of Auburn's Fearless Orange and Blue!!

On Saturday, at Jordan-Hare
Another football season will begin.

Some things may be different,
But still, "All We Do Is Win!!!"

We are The National Champions!
We will put Utah's Big Blue in their place!

We are The Courageous Auburn Tigers!
And we are back in the race!!!

WAR EAGLE!!!

Poetic Tiger

September 3, 2011