DEAR VISITORS...

Dear Jehovah's Witnesses,

I received another visit from your associates this morning! For the sake of a more comfortable read, I will be referring to your associate/church members as "you" throughout this text. I always welcome a visit from those who believe in the Lord and so I don't have any issues with your congregational members visiting. If we all agree that God is Lord and no other, than we are close to being in agreement about many a good thing.

I really just wanted to touch on a few things that I find interesting and may be confusing at the same time. I would really like to know on which scripture you base your incessant door-knocking? I suppose, "take the gospel to all four corners of the earth." I see, that's a good thing for sure. However, I've noticed that instead of being well-received by a lost and dying world, you're unwelcome and unwanted almost entirely. I know that's not supposed to be such a surprise since the Bible already tells us that, "if they hate you, know that that they hated me first," and also, "you shall be persecuted for my name's sake." So that's been explained, I suppose.

You were outwardly surprised that I knew anything about the Bible this morning. Why would a total stranger be under the impression that I shouldn't know the things of the Kingdom just because you're knocking on my door instead of approaching me in the temple/church/synagogue? You said that you could see I had "actually read and studied God's word and know some real Biblical truths."

In the collectivistic co-culture of religion/faith, we should never allow ethnocentricism to factor into our thoughts or discussions as it can have a tendency to divide one group from another. You seemed to have the automatic assumption that your denomination gave you some kind of higher place in the world and thus, I was beneath you in some way to the degree that in your mind, you had already presumed I would need Biblical enlightenment. Okay, that could be something about just that one person. Or, it could be part of your teachings. After all, you knock on people's doors to give to them what you assume the person doesn't already have. God, faith, and/or belief.

God never called us to disrupt people's lives to share the gospel. In fact, He specifically put it in writing that "no man comes except he be drawn by the Spirit." I even told you that the Apostle Paul himself said that if he didn't have the Holy Spirit, "I have become a tinkling cymbal and a sounding brass." My exact words were, "if you don't come in the Spirit to a person being drawn, then you're just making noise and that's all they hear." But that truth seemed to fly right over your head. You were convinced that talking at people about religion is going to sway them to believe.

Finally, I would like to remind you that the gospel is for the lost. The good news is for those who don't know that they can have a helper, a Savior, peace, and guidance in these hard times. Returning to my house is a waste of the time you're putting into the deed you feel you are called to do. I have the gift of Salvation and have been baptized in the Spirit. The evidence is in the fact that while I spoke of the Kingdom, you held your tongue and listened intently, as the Bible says in Acts 6:10, "They were unable to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he[she] spake." In fact, it was the only time you were not interrupting me. If I spoke of mundane things, you interrupted but when I spoke of the Kingdom, you fell silent throughout. Romans 8:16 tells us "The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." If you couple that with "you shall know them by their fruits," then there shouldn't remain too awful many questions about whether I need to know God or not. I couldn't stop talking about Him this morning. What I'm trying to say with that is, we are Christians believing in the same God and having the same spirit who "works all in all," hence, we should know each other in a relatively short amount of time. I have always been able to sense the Spirit in someone, for I know my Jesus when I see Him.
 
Thanks for coming by guys, but I encourage you to know what Jesus' finished work on the cross is about. It's not about deeds and doing, but freedom and salvation. You can rest and let Him guide your paths.



Sincerely,


Already Saved!  ✞

WE WILL NEVER FORGET!

Warning: Actual footage from terrorist attacks on 9/11/01.

Today is a sad day for my country, but it's also a day to remember the love we have in our hearts one for another. Today we remember the events of September 11, 2001. A day wherein a small band of hate-filled religious zealots following their Muslim faith murdered 3,000 people on an otherwise ordinary day.

On this day 11 years ago, men who believe in the letter of the religious law carried out a diabolical and evil attack on the citizens of the United States. They boarded our planes and usurped authority over the pilots, crew, and passengers. They wrought fear and terror. So sure were they that their deed was blessed by Allah (their god) that they gave their own lives for their cause.

There's so much confusion as to why anyone would feel this much hate for another nation of people that it's not explainable. We can't explain the evil but we can explain the love that caused the first responders to rise up and take immediate action. We can explain the love that caused those people on one flight to attack their attackers, thereby causing the plane to crash in a field instead of in a neighborhood or into another building. We can explain the thousands of people that risked their own lives to save their co-workers that day. We can explain the love that carried people to their tasks and duties, their sacrifices and acts of kindness that saved others. Most of them died while saving total strangers.

The Bible describes the father of evil as the author of all confusion. When I can't sort something out in my mind, I know that it's not from God. After 11 years and 11 memorial speeches, I still can not sort it out. Why they hated us this much will always be one big question mark in my mind.

Moving past those who hated us and to the ones that loved another, I find complete peace and solace. I think of the fathers that didn't come home to their families that day because they gave their lives to save the father of another family, and although it's a tragedy in someone's life, it's a form of love that floods my soul and makes me smile.

What I see mostly coming from this tragedy was the unity and love that Americans showed. Although this country has become a nation of many religions and many atheists, those were not elements of any discussion on that day in the midst of the events. Nobody was trying to figure out if they should act or not based on their faith or lack thereof. I couldn't help but see Jesus move in so many ways. In the past 11 years, I have heard many stories from people trapped in the towers. One man, I recall, told the story of seeing someone in the smoke bidding him to come and when he obeyed, that "person" subsequently led him to an exit he could not otherwise find. But that person was never identified or seen again. The interesting thing is that the man says he doesn't believe it was a person at all, but rather an angel. Many people that day believe they saw angels leading them through the thick black smoke to safety. Some people felt comfort coming from sources they didn't understand. God was there that day! His peace was with many people and His arms encircled those who weren't going to come out. I firmly believe that heaven was a very busy place that day. There was much to do and the skies were full of more than smoke, but filled with souls transitioning between this life and the one they were embarking on anew.

That day changed my life. I have never been able to look at the footage without sobbing. I feel it all over again. I lament with my people but I triumph with them as well. Our love overcame the terrorists hate. Praise God for that!!

In closing, I thank God that He was supreme in our hearts. I thank Him for the many lives He spared and for the courage He gave others to sacrifice. As for me, I will never forget!

FOOLISHNESS CONFOUNDS THE WISE

How many of you remember this man? Bill Nye "The Science Guy" from PBS. Most Americans grew up with Bill Nye. He's taught us how to mix vinegar and baking soda to create a home made volcano. He's taught us that microwave ovens don't actually cook from the inside out, nor are they radioactive on the outside. He's been teaching me and my children about science since I was a little girl. I never thought I'd hear him telling parents that "if you want to live in some imaginary world believing in God that's fine, but don't do it to your kids." That's not a direct quote, but listen to the video and you'll hear the exact words he says, which aren't too far off.

Why am I so shocked by his statement? I guess because he is so obviously working for "his father the devil and his bidding he will do." It's the only spiritual explanation I have for an intelligent man like him to be telling us [Christians] that our beliefs, where our children are concerned, should not be taught. Disregarding the most vital part of being a Christian parent,  our belief that it's godly and wise to "raise a child up in the way that he/she should go, and when they grow up, they shall not depart from it." I'm so sad that this reasonable and logical man doesn't have enough reason or logic to realize that out of 7 billion people on this planet, we're not all going to believe the same things or raise our children with another one person's beliefs. I'm sad that he has chosen to share in the intolerance that atheists teach towards Bible-believing, God-fearing people. He's one of the many people now, in my mind, that is an enemy of God. "For if they are not for us, they are against us."

You know what? It's not even about that as much as it's about mutual respect. We know by the scriptures that not all men come to Jesus. Not all men are drawn by the Spirit which is a clear prerequisite. "No man comes to the Father, except he be drawn by the Spirit." So that means, whom the Father does not draw by His spirit will have different beliefs than us. Where is Mr. Nye's mutual respect for them?  

I wonder where Mr. Nye's ability to realize the depth of the soul is? His belief is that when we die, we just die. Evolution teaches death, whereas Creationism teaches life. We know that we are more than a grease spot waiting to happen. We know that life begins after we die. We know that the spirit and the soul go on. 

The reason I'm questioning this one particular person is because of his great platform for teaching, and because of the millions of children he reaches every year. How one person can tell so many from this platform that we shouldn't teach our precious little ones that their life has a plan and a purpose according to their Maker, Lord, Savior, God, King, Rabbi, and Creator is just mind-boggling to me. I know the Lord has explained people like this in His word, wise in their own conceits and sure of their own wisdom which is merely foolishness, but I'm still saddened by his lack of understanding. Even more so by his unwillingness to consider that he could be wrong.

He says something in the video that I found laughable, as a Christian, (besides the entire idea of evolution) and that is the comment he makes about "without believing in evolution life here just gets so complicated," [paraphrased]. As he said it, I just chuckled to myself and said, 'May be for you, but for me it's all very clear and not complicated at all.' 

Well children, thus it twas that our Bill Nye the Science Guy is actually a fool in disguise, confounded by his own vain conceits and belief in only the things seen. "Faith is the substance of things unseen" and so we shall cling to the promises of our Lord while finding our way through the valley of the shadow of death to stand on the mountain with the God we steadfastly know to be real, alive, and existent! The Alpha and the Omega who was and is and is to come, HALLELUJUAH!!!

SIMPLE GREED

I am a mother and a grandmother. Psalm 127:3 "Children are a gift of the Lord, they are His reward." With that in mind, I am living under the assumption that the Lord deemed me worthy to have my children and my grandsons. All mothers are equipped with instincts. Those instincts allow a mother to understand her child's cries, his comforts and discomforts. They allow a mother to know when her child is healthy or not. Instincts allow us to know when we need to take our child to the doctor and when it's nothing serious. But what about the times our instincts just tell us things could be a little off, but when taking the child for a check up on the issue, the response is to admit the child to the hospital for four days just for blood work and a few tests. Something is wrong when a doctor does that, and all to determine a perceived legitimate explanation for the child being 14 lbs at 9 months instead of 20 lbs? That's what I've just been through with my son and his wife and my grandson Liam. He's a healthy, happy, highly active, growing, eating playing child and yet since he is skinny and not chubby there's all this hoopla.

Liam eats good and has no aversion to food. He will eat as long as you put it in front of him. In one day's time, he will eat 3 jars of veggies, 3 jars of fruit, 5-6 bottles of milk, a whole mashed up "big people" banana (and eats with complete gusto). Then when my son comes to pick him up bearing burgers and fries for mamaw, Liam will eat half of my french fries and only has two teeth to do it with. He is happy and healthy and certainly not sick to the justification of a 4 day hospital stay.

Everything in me is screaming "bilk job." I'm a prayer warrior and it doesn't take the Lord long to answer some questions for the sake of peace of mind or guidance. He revealed so much to me during these last few days that even my own instincts didn't pick up on. The hospital stay was already over by the time all questions were answered but that was for a good reason. Oddly enough, I just happened to need this Thursday off from babysitting. Liam just happened to be admitted to the hospital on that day. The situation was a ridiculous malpractice incident (in my opinion) but it worked "to the good for those who love the Lord," amen? The next question was, what in the world is going on for them to justify admitting a healthy child just because he could use 4 extra pounds, and besides, who says so? Who says that a child is supposed to be 20 lbs and if not, there are dire consequences or danger of any kind? That's ridiculous! You should admit a child that is throwing up, has diarrhea, can't hold it's little head up, isn't growing, is crying constantly, unable to be soothed....outward manifestations of sickness. There was none of that with Liam before they admitted him.

What is my point in all of this? Greed! Simple greed. It's as if the Lord stood next to me as a man with an inside position in that doctor's circles, and a mind reader to boot, to the degree ob being able to tell me what's going on. It's greed that prompts a doctor to admit a healthy child to the hospital, and greed that justifies keeping him there for 4 days. Insurance money is easy to obtain. All they have to do is poke the child with a needle, take blood pressure, apply a band-aid, provide a room and around the clock nurses and they've made 1,000s of dollars for it. 

They released Liam today and had no answers for the parents, my son and his wife. All they know is that if they run a feeding tube into him and start pumping food directly into him in the form of whatever substance it is, he will put weight on. Of course he will! If you pump sustenance into a human body around the clock, and the patient never gets a chance to burn off the calories faster than you're putting them in, of course it's going to add weight. The question is, what difference does that make and how is that supposed to be sustained after the tube is removed? It's nonsense and the doctor seems to have needed a legitimate reason for the four day stay. So, he devises a scenario that looks like follow-up care but I see that he's just continuing to bilk their insurance company and I'm disgusted. This post is about greed in our country, and how even those who vow to care from their hearts for another, actually appear to be in it for the easy money.

There should never be a scenario playing out wherein the person in the middle is a child. This is despicable, deplorable, unacceptable and I'm frustrated not to be able to have some control over this situation and this doctor's ethics. I feel he should be investigated for insurance fraud. He has opened Liam's little body and put a tube in him just to feed him around the clock and add a few pounds. And for no other reason except to say, "now he's fatter." It adds nothing to his health as he's healthy already. It adds nothing to his energy level for growth purposes as he's as active and busy as a little bee. One has to follow him nonstop to keep him from pulling a plant over, falling down after standing up by pulling himself up. It's a nonstop effort to thwart him from hurting himself because he's that happily active and busying himself with exploration of his world. He exhibits all the good signs of a happy growing, healthy active, well child. I have my own issues here at home to deal with but if I could, I'd take on that doctor and face off against him in court for this. Liam is coming to visit today, straight out of the hospital. That's how well he is. He's been in there for 4 days and yet he's so happy and active that they want to bring over so they can have some time off. If he was hospital-admitting sick, they'd have to take him home and get him into some after care.

The moral of the story is, beware of greedy doctors that find every little door into your insurance company's pocket. Beware of nonsense tests and invasive measures that aren't healing in any way but pose a real danger to your child. His body is now open. Any bacteria can get in. It could pose more problems than it's worth. This doctor clearly saw dollar signs in these two young insured parents. She is 20 and he is 23. There's no doubt in my mind that they've been bilked at the expense of their son. 

I will ask for your prayers that Liam suffers no long-term sickness, doesn't take in a bacteria and become infected through the pict line in his body, and that the Lord will judge this doctor as He sees fit.