Warm Prickly or Cold Fuzzy

My new book!

2009-01-02T16:08:00.000-08:00

UpsideDown

By Karen Ruth Myers

Addiction

2008-08-07T16:17:00.000-07:00

“Every decision is a limitation.”

Such an idea never occurred to me before last night, but the wife of the program director at camp in Jerusalem spoke these words with such clarity that it stunned me. She declared “each decision limits your life in important and not-so-important ways” as if it were the most simple fact ever. Choice equals consequences; idea equals implications.

Addicts live this out (even if they give no mental assent) each time they shoot up or inhale. Editors demonstrate this (with knowledge) each time they publish another book or article or poem. Politicians engage in this (fully desirous) each time they deliver a speech, book a campaign stop, hug a tree or hold a baby. So why do I not consider this truth in the light of God’s Word?

Just two weeks ago at camp, I stood in the אולם (meeting room) listening to 49 Israeli kids singing “I’ve Got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in My Heart” in Hebrew, and it reminded me of a verse that used to bring me such joy. Paul exhorts believers to know the fruits of the house of Stephanas because “...they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints” (I Corinthians 16:15). In high school and my early working years, I kept this verse as a theme and begged God to let me be addicted to ministry. I think He granted my prayer. My whole life rebelled against the “status quo” and revolved around pro-life activism, mentoring youth, and street evangelism (both with Jews for Jesus and on my own).

Two years ago in January, I was challenged to take my passion for God with my life skills and shape/hone/grow/direct them in a Christian university setting. This has proven very good and very bad for me.

Very good because I have truly stretched and changed for the better when it comes to an understanding of and appreciation for the faith of our fathers and how it is my own personal faith, today. Very good because I have been enabled to recognize the pagan ideology and humanistic thought that infiltrates Western culture. Very good because I have certainly found cause for participating in academic, social, and ministerial opportunities.

Very bad because I have developed both a sense of ineptness and a dampened incentive to try anything without a prior approval from a professor or authority. Very bad because I find myself wondering what people will think before I wonder what Jesus will think. Very bad because I notice my radical addiction to the love of Christ and others is turning into a ball-and-chain to the tyranny of the moment and its paperwork.

I guess this is all to say that recent months have been a struggle for me. Collegiate culture and even the “American Dream” try to suck me into the “bigger is better” and “better is still not best” mentality. But being back in Israel with its thousands of years of history, promise, and people reminds me that God generally works with the weaker, forgotten, and difficult...and this truth is pulling me back into my old addiction.

I have a God who is faithful, and if I say I serve this God, I must be nothing less than faithful to him. My God demands addiction when He commands, “Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deuteronomy 6:5).

I want nothing more than to be forever addicted to the ministry.

If this decision limits me – which it will – I don’t care. I want my life opportunities to be limited to one thing. Me decreasing so that Jesus can increase.

A godly king named Hezekiah who was addicted to the ministry of the LORD once became sick unto death. God told Hezekiah that he would die, but he refused to listen to the prophet Isaiah and demanded longer life. When God showed the king an extra measure of grace and healed him, Hezekiah quit his addiction “cold turkey.” He hosted the Babylonians and showed off the glory of his throne...instead of showing off the glory of GOD. Isaiah returned to the king and told him that God said that Babylon would invade his dominion and take captive his seed. But Hezekiah acted as if he’d never been an addict and declared instead, “Is it not good if peace and truth be in my days?” (II Kings 20:19).

His decision to not be addicted to the LORD’s ministry, and the ensuing limitation of concern for his own offspring, show me the danger of “kicking this habit.” Better for me to not have peace in my days, and stay addicted; than for me to have peace in my days, kick the habit, and disregard descendants.

Addiction is a serious thing, like Sara Groves prays in her song “Generations.”

“Remind me of this with every decision,
Generations will reap what I sow.
I will pass on a curse or a blessing
To those I may never know...
...to my great, great, great granddaughter: live in peace.”

Monday Musings (from July 14)

2008-07-18T11:09:00.000-07:00

The cool of the night breeze stirs around me and the stars loom clear overhead. At the doorpost behind me, voices of children ring out in a Hebrew song.

I am in Jerusalem.

These are the stars that David saw from his palace. This is the language that Isaiah spoke when he prophesied of Y’shua. This is the wind to which Jesus referred when he taught Nicodemus about the Spirit of God. And these are the people of whom God promised His salvation to come, go forth, and return again en masse.

The second verse of the song begins. I lean my shoulder on the door and exhale into the evening.

My feet hurt, my head aches, my right hip rebels, and my eyes are tired. It’s been a long day. This morning I rose shortly after the sun and before most humane people awake; some 300 sandwiches, 6 pounds of carrots, 3 sets of instructions to helpers, 294 photographs, 23 Hebrew words, and 7 songs later, I want to cry.

Not tired tears, though. I feel really, really good (tov meod as they say here) about my day and my work. Tears of joy, of fulfillment, of peace. Tears from recognizing a song that means a lot to me in English though I can’t sing it in its original language. Tears because I want to hold on to this moment and live its treasure forever.

If only...

Today I had a conversation with a girl I barely know. We met only once in Manhattan, yet the conversation was deeper than many I’ve had with good friends in America. We “get” one another’s passion for sharing the gospel as often and as well as we are able. We want to see God working – wherever in the world it may be – and join Him. Apparently God must really be working here in Jerusalem because she came from Denmark and I came from California to join Him...and we ran into each other again at the same place, same ministry, same job. Julie and I are happily serving in the Messianic Assembly camps.

Here I feel no pressure to meet expectations, to protect reputation, to seek approval, to find novelty, to retrieve information, to promote belief. Here I have only one obligation: love the Lord with all my heart.

I love Him when I hear the birds chirping a tune at 4:30 AM outside my window. I love Him when I rise to pray and read Scripture. I love Him when I carry keys around the campus and unlock doors for Bible time, sports time, and craft time. I love Him when I see the stones that line every walkway and testify to history. I love Him when I wash the cups the children use to drink their juice. I love Him when I cut 32 pickles for tuna salad. I love Him when I put French braids in the hair of girls with whom I can barely communicate. I love Him when I try to read the Hebrew and sing along with the children’s songs. I love Him even when I make mistakes in the Hebrew. Even when I can’t sing – like tonight – I love Him.

I love Him so much it chokes me up.

And I want to worship Him with these people in the land of my fathers, together. forever.

(English translation of the song tonight...excerpts from Psalm 34 arranged by Stuart Dauerman.)

At all times I will bless Him; His praise will be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the Lord.
The humble man will hear of Him;
The afflicted will be glad, and join with me to magnify the Lord.

** Let us exalt His name together forever, I sought the Lord;
He heard me and delivered me from my fears.
Let us exalt His name together, forever,
Oh sing His praises, magnify the Lord.

The angel of the Lord encamps, ‘round those who fear His name
To save them and deliver them from harm.
Though lions roar with hunger, we lack for no good thing.
No wonder, then, we praise Him with our song.

** Let us exalt His name together forever...

Come, children, now and hear me if you would see long life.
Just keep your lips from wickedness and lies.
Do good and turn from evil; seek peace instead of strife.
Love righteousness and God will hear your cry.

** Let us exalt His name together forever...

Ticket to Ride? Sebelius, Obama, Carhart, and Tiller

2008-06-06T13:49:00.000-07:00

Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius is in trouble (again) for fraternizing with late-term abortionist George Tiller.

Tiller has killed over 350,000 babies since 1969, according to conservative estimates, and boasts on his website that he has "more experience in late abortion services over 24 weeks than anyone else currently practicing in the Western Hemisphere, Europe and Australia."

Last year, Sebelius wined and dined with Tiller and his abortuary staff (including partial-birth abortionist Leroy Carhart) at her governor's mansion, all at state expense.

No wonder Sebelius is so thick with Obama. Endorsing and visiting a presidential candidate that consistently voted to keep partial-birth abortion legal is second-nature to a woman who eats with partial-birth abortionists.

Newspapers and blogs are buzzing about a possible Obama-Sebelius ticket. It's a good match. Neither has met an abortion they didn't like.

Read the documentation here.

The Hand That Rocks the World Rules the Cradle

2008-05-11T22:05:00.000-07:00

Everyone’s heard the adage “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.” It’s sentimental, poignant, and tender. This Sunday being Mother’s Day, it’s even appropriate. But two unexpected phone calls, two situations, two years apart, shifted my focus to different hands.

--

Monday morning my cell phone rang.

“Hey, Karen.” Dad’s tone sent chills down my spine. “Matthew just called and he’s heading in to surgery so you need to pray.”

Surgery? My brother didn’t have any health problems. Why surgery?

On Saturday, my dad explained, Matthew inspected the site of a medical clinic and school being built by his Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Afghanistan when the Taliban attacked. The two-hour standoff resulted in several injuries and ended only by an air strike. During the attack, severe burns on my brother’s right hand fused his skin, muscles and nerves. A day-and-a-half later, Matthew’s turn in the surgery line demanded general anesthesia, forceps and tweezers to realign the elements so that his fingers would separate and hopefully function in the future.

When Matthew applied to head up a PRT in Afghanistan after serving as a Lieutennant on a nuclear submarine in Guam and teaching chemistry and physics at the Naval Academy Preparatory School in Rhode Island, my family feared for his safety. Would he die in hostile fire? Could he withstand the worms and malaria? How long might he manage to survive IEDs killing contractors on his team?

But Matthew valued his work in Afghanistan so highly that he decided to “re-up” for another term.

After giving a stuffed animal to a girl who lost her fingers, dad, and brother in a Taliban assault; building schools, medical centers, and bridges for rural mountain villages; re-bandaging a local boy’s arm and finding it severed; witnessing one-on-one to a PRT member here or a native there; teaching locals to make real homes, not mud huts that wash away with every thunderstorm; and speaking hope into the souls of a formerly autonomous people terrorized by the reign of a cruel foreign power known as the Taliban; Matthew views his mission less like a commander and more like an agent of change.

He, along with thousands of other American guys and gals, offer new life to a jeopardized population in the Middle East.

Because of Matthew, my mom transformed from being a proud mother to being a surrogate grandmother of village boys and girls in Afghanistan. Today, military mothers like mine must be honored for their selfless love enabling their children to selflessly love other mothers’ children. Our American soldiers are children of the cradle, rocking the world.

--

Wednesday, May 3, 2006, my cell phone rang.

“Karen.” Kathy’s sobs gripped my heart with fear. “I just got a letter from my daughter and you need to pray.”

Daughter? My 50-something single on-the-go friend didn’t have kids. What daughter?

Kathy explained that as an 18-year-old in college she gave her virginity to her hunk of a boyfriend and ended up pregnant. But in 1968 parenting was not an option and back-alley abortion was dangerous, so her dad shipped her off to another city until she could give birth and sign the baby over to the state. Those months of vomit, hormones, fear and isolation burned shame in Kathy’s heart as indelibly as a lamb branded before being turned out to the prairie. “It doesn’t heal,” she said. “It festers.” At first, thoughts about her girl plagued Kathy daily. Whose nose did she have? Did she get adopted before her first Christmas? Would her new dad abuse her? What grades did she get on her report cards in second grade?

Unable to cope, Kathy buried her deep secret in the darkest recesses of her mind. She never spoke of her daughter to anyone. Life went on. She slept with all the wrong guys and stored marijuana in her freezer. Then she met Jesus and drank Living Water instead of alcohol. She joined a church, succeeded as a tax accountant, did street evangelism and kept her secret hidden.

But one day Kathy’s blood ran cold.

The tulips scented the air by the curbside mailbox as Kathy thumbed through the bills, sale flyers, AARP mailing, and the strange envelope. She slit it open. Handwriting. Unfolding the letter, one word caught her attention: “Mother.”

Shock, incredulity, anger, fear, excitement, abandonment, remorse, awe and embarrassment washed over Kathy in waves. Kleenex boxes quickly emptied as Kathy read, “I honor you and want to thank you for making the decision to give me life and not terminating me.”

Because of her newly-found daughter, Kathy went from being a hidden mom to a proud grandma of three. Today, Kathy is honored because her selfless love enabled her child to selflessly love another’s children. The adopted-daughter-turned-pastor’s-wife-and-paramedic is a child of the cradle, rocking the world.

--

No matter your position on the war or politics, I think we can agree with the Taliban and the devil: redeeming Afghanistan and college pregnancy rocks the world. One person’s decision to rock the world can change future generations.

So there you have it: The hand that rocks the world rules the cradle.

We ARE the Change We've Been Waiting For

2008-02-18T23:30:00.000-08:00

Obama’s mantra is overtaking a nation longing for change. His rhetoric and enthusiasm infuses people with hope that someone – a politician – sees the world as they do.

I was standing outside the doors of an auditorium in the not-too-distant past, listening to the thunderous applause of another speaker, another speech. The hope that evening filled my soul with exhilaration. A political leader was actually saying things that sounded good, sounded right! But in the weeks that followed my post-rally high, after organizing more rallies and more rallies, I found myself struggling with fear and depression. Fear that the momentum was simply mesmerism. Fear that the message was nothing more than mantra. And depression because I realized my fears were founded.

This speaker spoke about how liberalism is destroying America. About the danger of government bureaucracy. About the stupidity of undermining family. About the need for change.

Never once did they offer a suggestion for how we change the nation. Never advice for what to do to make a difference. Never concrete plans for their personal methodology to modify society. Never even an indication of what sort of change might be expected.

Each speech was a machine-gun of rhetoric. Pow-pow-pow hit the opposition. Pow-pow-pow bad-mouth the “bad ideas.” Pow-pow-pow demolish the structure in existence.

Change is something that resonates with the disenfranchised. We are people who wait for change. And when a leader with charisma comes along, the best way he or she can ascend to power is to express the same sentiments already circulating among the public. Then the sentiment becomes a rally-cry: change, change, change, chaaaaange, CHANGE!!!

Marx recognized this when he wrote the Communist Manifesto – and it worked (for a while). Stalin recognized this when he starved to death seven million people in the Ukraine. Hitler recognized this when his speeches won support of the people and control of the nation of Germany (history records the fateful consequences). Fidel Castro recognized this when he passionately campaigned for bringing democracy and equality to the pre-socialistic, poverty-stricken Cuban island – and he successfully changed the culture where all are equal except him.

The way God typically works out change for good, however, is through a backwards movement within the little people. Think shepherd-boy David v. Goliath; exiled murderer Moses and slave laborers v. Pharaoh; Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego v. Nebuchadnezzar; prayer-warrior Daniel v. the Babylonian advisors; self-respecting Jewish girl Esther v. King Xerxes; twelve fishermen and tax collectors v. the Greek pagans and Jewish Pharisees. Think also about a little college professor named Martin from a back-woods university who nailed a paper to the door of a chapel and unsuspectingly sparked a Reformation, a desperate young colonist named George Washington who led his beggarly-clothed and shoe-less militia through snowdrifts into a battle on Christmas Day, a sickly and disowned Florence Nightingale who single-handedly brought attention to the plight of wounded soldiers the Crimean War and took the field of nursing from one of low repute to a level of professionalism, the tired black lady named Rosa who wouldn’t give up her seat on a bus, the trickle of escapees who steadily overcame the menace of the Berlin wall, a thin and wiry Indian ascetic named Ghandi who practiced and inspired passive resistance to oppression, the desert-dwelling Israeli community at Eilat who rescues orphans from war-torn Sudan.

From this we learn a lesson regarding change. Those who stress the label rather than the program should be suspect. It is generally such people who emerge as tyrants and bloody despots.

Just as the still small voice is what God used to fortify a whimpering Elijah hidden in the rocky crags of Mount Horeb, his still small voice yet speaks truth and courage to little hearts, one at a time.

What does it say?

Don’t look to the stadiums, tour buses, yelling crowds, or propagandizing politicians for change – unless the change you desire is exploitation. But don’t discredit the whole enterprise, either.

There’s another kind of race besides the one for president. You entered it when you fixed your eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. He won his race when – for the joy set before him – he changed into a man, humbled himself to death, and endured the cross. Stay in this race.

Be the change you want to see in people.

Paul - Apostle for Christ and Constitution

2008-02-06T08:49:00.000-08:00

A stagnant leader is as unpalatable as sipping a fizz-less soda.

Here at Biola, we spend hundreds of hours studying the New Testament, much of which was penned by a revolutionary we call Paul. Paul was no stagnant leader. This Jewish Pharisee-turned-unlikely-missionary spent his life sharing an unpopular, uncompromising message. It unsettled the status quo of his religious kin (Jewish leaders) and political comrades (Roman citizens). For it, he endured beatings, stonings, lashings and jail time. But the “fizzy” message fared well. It outgrew the oppression and transformed nations for Christ.

When I look at the Presidential candidates in the Republican field, I see men parroting similar lines: Loosen the foreign policy. Lengthen the Iraq war. Legally integrate amnesty for alien immigrants. Legislate some form of universal healthcare.

Except for one man. His name is Ron Paul.

Paul is no stagnant leader. This OB/GYN-turned-unlikely-congressman spent the last 10 terms in Washington sharing an unpopular, uncompromising message. It unsettled the status quo of his patriotic kin (American imperialists) and party comrades (Republican yes-men). Now, in the Presidential race, this missionary for the Constitution goes where other candidates fear to tread. Paul suggests that our “bully of the world” foreign policy has wasted billions of dollars first installing, then removing (or trying to remove), leaders such as Hussein and Bin Laden. Paul calls for the end of our financial dependency and gargantuan loans from China and Saudi Arabia. He argues that withdrawal of our troops from installing an Islamic-controlled Iraqi government, of our $10 billion from Pakistan’s Muslim renegade leader Musharraf, and of our proposal for creating a Palestinian state in Israel would bring more stability both to the Middle East and our pocketbook. Paul demands a return to the gold standard and a termination of the central bankers’ inflation tax. He objects to the flood of illegal immigration that costs us billions in tax dollars for education and healthcare and policing. He insists on eliminating income tax and payroll taxes on tips from wait-staff, so that private citizens might use these funds for private health insurance. Paul, a born-again Baptist, believes that the motto “In God We Trust” should not simply be printed on our coins, but be mounted in our classrooms again.

This “fizzy” message is faring well.

Paul’s self-titled “strict constitutionalism” is uniting anti-war liberals, fiscal conservatives, first-time voters, college students, the hippie remnant, moral issue voters, gun rights advocates and patriotic idealists.

Norma McCorvey, the Christian pro-life activist who once was the pro-abortion lesbian crusader “Jane Roe” of Roe v. Wade, endorsed Paul in January. “I support Ron Paul for president,” McCorvey said, “because we share the same goal, that of overturning Roe. . . . he undoubtedly understands our constitutional republic and the inalienable right to life for all, including the unborn. After taking all of the presidential candidates into consideration, it is obvious that Ron Paul is the only one that doesn’t just talk the talk.”
Bill Dumas, Hollywood filmmaker says, “There is one man [Ron Paul] who believes in our government operating solely under the purist intentions of our Founding Fathers: A man who governs according to the Constitution, even when he is the only one.”

Biola freshman Colleen Schaefer says, “What I like about Paul is that he sticks to the ideals of the Republican Party and not just what [other Republicans currently] do.”

Paul has more friends on Facebook (81,000+) than any other candidate; raised a record $6 million in one day last December and another $5 million since January 1st; received more donations from military servicemen than the other three Republican candidates combined; and won more national debate polls from CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, ABC News, and C-SPAN. Paul has also fared well as a lower-tier candidate in every primary and caucus to date (Montana 25%, North Dakota 21%, Maine 19%, Alaska 17%, Minnesota 16%, Nevada 13.7%, Georgia 12%, Colorado 8%, Michigan 6.3%, New York 6%, California 4%, Arizona 3% etc.).

But Internet friends, oodles of cash, and second-to-fourth-place votes can’t win a man the Presidency, can they? Not likely.

Nomination or none, it's Paul’s message that may just outgrow the party and transform a nation for the U.S. Constitution.

“You shouldn’t dismiss a candidate just because he can’t win,” says Jen Gaertner, a sophomore in philosophy. “There are candidates that run simply to bring issues into the public forum.”

Like him or not, Paul’s message should be grappled with by students in higher academia. “I need to learn more about politics,” says Gaertner, “because we [students] should be concerned about it.” If college isn’t a place for political education, what is?

Invite a friend to meet you at a coffee shop, order a fizzy Italian soda, and thumb through the Constitution. It’s only 58 pages.

And let the message percolate!

Cloverfield: See it and Be Part of History

2008-01-19T14:34:00.000-08:00

Normally I am not one to promote movies unless I think that my friends should show their support of a quality religious film for opening weekend (such as The Passion or Bella). However, for once I am going to veer far out of my traditional stance and not only recommend a movie but actually yell at everyone to GO WATCH CLOVERFIELD!

Never before have I walked out of a theatre completely satisfied with a movie. Actually, I take that back: I was 0.03% dissatisfied with Cloverfield. This was because of one scene where they (I won't give names to ruin the story for you) are climbing from one rooftop to another and the camera dude sermonizes about possibly dying there then supposedly puts down his camera to cross the treacherous pipes, but the camera still films as though he is upright taking footage of everything. But besides that one trivial matter, the movie was amazing.
If you want to be a part of history, watch the movie this weekend.

I think Cloverfield is groundbreaking for many reasons. The unusual cinematography, lack of a "soundtrack," backwards promotion, relatively unknown cast and almost anti-Hollywood flair set this apart from any film I have previously viewed.

Best of all, I LOVED the realism. No predicable plots, pretty pretenses or precocious perfection here. Raw atypicality and a methodical madness trademarked this film. Flashbacks enhanced the contrast between the moment at hand and the moments of memory, implying that real people really suffer and really...well...I won't tell you the end.

The theatre was crammed with junior high and high school students, and murmurs of "Crap!" and "That's the end?" filled the air when the credits rolled. This response showed me, again, that Cloverfield is a non-conformist film that will go down history. A generation of entertainment gluttons will likely not appreciate this at first view. But anyone with an eye for change, novelty, or revolution will note the shift from amusement and diversion to authenticity and wonder. Goodbye traditional Hollywood. Hello, peculiarity!

Become a part of "The Cloverfield Era." It started yesterday.

(After all, we journalists do write the first drafts of history.)

Musings at Winter Break

2007-12-14T11:03:00.000-08:00

Yes. I'm calling it "Winter Break," because even though it is break for Christmas, it was also break for Hanukkah and will be break for New Year's. It will be a break in the demands of on-campus college life and yet a continuation of studies as I read 700 pages of Jewish History, listen to 24 hours of lectures, study Biblical Hebrew 101, and read Shakespeare and Locke in preparation for the spring semester at the end of January.

With these academic things I'll be learning, you might wonder, "What is Karen learning from Jesus this break?"

Several things.

They are pretty simple and straightforward. Sometimes, however, such things are the most vital for a real and healthy relationship with the God of the universe who also is intimately acquainted with all my shortcomings and loves me anyway.

I am learning once again how important it is to not worry about stuff. On Sunday, I was visiting a friend's church and the pastor had a sermon about David, but the only part that actually hit me came in two sentences he said, "What is it that you're not entrusting to God? That's what you're worried about."

Stop. Conviction time. I was so ashamed of myself.

I am also learning that it's important not only to not worry but also to not think too much about stuff. It's called over-analyzing. So many times last semester when I found myself uncertain in a situation, I would think and think and think about all the possible options and what I preferred and what might be most expedient and what would bring the most growth. Then I'd be mixed-up as to what to do and couldn't even start the task or interaction because my thoughts froze me into captivity. In trying so hard to be a good steward of my mind and time and efforts, I found myself being exactly the opposite.

One of my mentors in Jews for Jesus "called me on the carpet," so to speak, about this issue on Monday. Perfect timing. More conviction.

Another thing I'm learning about this winter is what it means to really rest. I don't know if I've ever actually learned this thoroughly. Definitely from time to time, God has stretched me to the point where there is nothing I can do or say - simply look to Him and listen to His still, small voice. But have I truly come to the end of myself forever and entered the eternal rest purchased by my Savior for me to enjoy even in he midst of life as I know it?

This sabbath rest which the book of Hebrews talks about is something Y'shua earned for us with his brutal death on the cross and won for us with His glorious resurrection. Can I rest in the joy of my Lord? I pray, God, that I might!

The great Christian poet and story-teller George MacDonald wrote:

"The life that hath not wiled itself to be,
Must clasp the Life that willed, and be at peace;
Or, like a leaf wind-blown, through chaos flee,
A life-husk..."

My life is uncertain now in so many ways, but I serve the One who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, numbers the hairs on my head, sends rain and snow upon the righteous and the wicked, clothes the lilies of the field, and calls the names of my children before they even exist.

He is "a friend that sticketh closer than a brother" and "the One whom my soul loveth..."

...will I hold on to Him and not let go?

"Come, my soul, return unto thy rest, and lean thy head upon the bosom of the Lord Jesus" - Charles Spurgeon

Confessions of a Burnt-Out Student

2007-11-26T00:13:00.000-08:00

Next week, Jewish people all over the world – including this girl – will celebrate Hanukkah, or the Festival of Lights.

From the Babylonian conquest onward, foreign powers dominated the Jews. Scripture tells of the royal son, Daniel; of his friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego; and of Ezra and Nehemiah. These men served faithfully served the God of Israel and the governments of captors in the Babylonian and Persian captivities. The Lord used these men to invite the pagan kings to recognize God and allow some of our people to return to Jerusalem, repair the wall, and rebuild the temple. But where the Bible leaves off, life continues.

Following Alexander the Great’s death in 323 B.C.E., Greco-Egyptians called Ptolemies ruled my people. But friction and instability ultimately brought the Jewish land under Greco-Syrian control.

Antiochus IV, self-titled “Epiphanes” (or “the visible god”) was the despised Syrian ruler who spewed disdain for the Jewish religion and the Jewish way of life. He dedicated himself to imposing Hellenism, or the Greek way of life, on my people. Only Jews who would renounce the "old ways" could have a place in the idealized Greek society of idolatry and exaltation of the wisdom of man. The rest he treated as enemies of the state. The practice of worshipping the God of Israel became a crime. A number of Jews adopted Greek names. Jews began wearing togas. A gymnasium was erected in Jerusalem to make us participate in Greek games.

Many Jewish people were slain and the Holy Temple in Jerusalem was defiled. Antiochus burned books of the Law, or Torah, and sentenced owners to death. He brutally tortured Israelite mothers who circumcised their boys, tying their newborns to hang around their necks, mutilating the babies, and killing the mothers who’d just witnessed the death of their sons. He robbed the Temple of the golden altar, the candlesticks and all the gold and silver utensils. And to show his utter contempt for God, Antiochus sacrificed a pig in the Temple, offering it to the Greek god, Jupiter.

Some Jews fled from the cities to the hills of Judea so they might be faithful to God and not assimilate Greek culture of idolatry. One group gathered in Modin near Jerusalem. They trained in guerrilla warfare a under a priest named Judah, nicknamed “Maccabee” which means “hammer.” Apparently he was God’s hammer to smash the Syrians, because after three years of conflict, his band of fighters reclaimed Jerusalem and purified the Temple.

My people held a Feast of Dedication for the refurbished and cleansed Temple in 165 B.C.E., and that is when the incredible happened. Judah Maccabee had only one vessel of sanctified oil – enough for one day – but miraculously it burned for eight long days!

It is this dedication of the Temple that Jews commemorate each year in Hanukkah. We light the menorah candles to remind ourselves of our faithful God Who made an eight-day Festival of Light to honor the faithfulness of His people.

Did you know that Jesus celebrated Hanukkah?

Chapters 8-10 of John’s gospel talk about Jesus’ ministry in the Temple during the Festival of Lights one year.

• It was here Jesus proclaimed, “I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12) How fitting that the Creator of light declare Himself as Light!
• It was here Jesus healed the man born blind. How appropriate that the Light of the world gives sight to the blind!
• It was here Jesus expressed, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) How proper that Jews not only consider the destruction and killing and robbery worked by Antiochus Epiphanes, but also contrast it with the abundant life of Y’shua (Jesus)!

So, what does this have to do with being burnt-out?

It’s simple. I struggle with burn-out during the last two weeks of semester. Without Jesus’ living power constantly being the oil lighting my lamp, my flame sputters and dies.

The advent of baby Jesus, which Christian people all over the world – including this girl – will celebrate in a few weeks, is so much bigger than a baby, a cross, or an empty grave. It’s about Hanukkah.

It’s about the Light of the world that uses eight days of recollection to rejuvenate a burnt-out soul. Will you celebrate this modern-day miracle?

I need to.

Curiosity Killed the Heart: On Chapel, Limbs, and 'Tudes

2007-10-26T17:39:00.000-07:00

Today we had a special speaker for chapel. (I don’t normally go Friday mornings, because I work for the Apologetics office at Biola, but today I have a horrific head cold and chest phlegm left over from a raging fever last night.) I’m glad I went.

His name is Nick Vujicic, and he was born without limbs. (I’ve met mothers entering abortion clinics to kill their babies like this before they have a chance to get born.)
No one was sleeping through this chapel message! Instead, our eyes were glued to a three-foot tall man on a table at the front of the gym:

• We watched him “walk” around on footless stumps so short that boxers would drag on the ground.
• We laughed when he “shook hands” shoulder-to-fist with one of the students: up, down, forward, like old buddies.
• We gasped when he threw himself face-down on the table to illustrate a point.
• We cheered when he braced his head against a very big Bible to raise himself vertically again.

Nick shared some of his testimony and talked about overcoming fear and guilt, about living for souls through suffering. A good message.

But about five minutes before time ran out, he abruptly stopped mid-sentence. His mouth turned down and his eyes narrowed. Wincing from pain, I thought. He demolished my supposition with his next comment. “Nothing I’ve said has penetrated here this morning.” You’ve got to be kidding, my mind countered. What’s he talking about?

“There’s a hardness here.”

The rest of Nick’s talk blurred for me. He said something about getting real. Mentioned that true seekers ask “not my will, but Thine, be done.” I know all that. Don’t need to hear it again.

My eyes roamed the room. Students engaged the speaker. Attentiveness everywhere. So what was Nick’s problem? We weren’t hard; we were curious!

We came to chapel curious to see this man. A novelty. We were curious to hear what he would say. A cliché.

The closing song played. Absorbed in my musings, coughing up mucous, and battling a sinus headache, I moved with the herd away from the gym. I broke off from the pack going to class and headed towards Hope to sleep and try to recover. A snatch of overheard conversation did the trick: “He was interesting to watch. I’ve heard it all before, though.”

Curiosity. That was the problem! No wonder Nick was so sad! I should be ashamed of myself. Coming to chapel is a curiosity. Sure, I’ve heard the messages before. I just wanna observe how people are going to give them.

Back in my room, I realized that the hardness of curiosity has been ingrained in me since childhood:

• The best part of Sunday School flannelgraphs weren’t the stories but how widowed Miss Payne’s wrinkly face looked when she said in her warbly Texan accent, “Jeee-sussss fed fahve THOU-SAND pee-pole from theez little loaves an’ fishes.” (I always thought it was funny she said “fish” like we say “sheesh.”)
• My favorite baptism was when a six-year-old girl slipped in the baptistry and was so scared of drowning that she grabbed the pastor and immersed him instead!
• The best joke for us high schoolers who memorized Romans chapter eight in youth group was interpretive sighing and moaning through the verse about “the Spirit makes intercession for us with groanings which can’t be uttered.”
• The distinguishing factor of worship time at church when I was three was Connie Hooper’s hosen-shod feet sliding along the pedals of the organ...and twenty years later, it was Pastor Abood’s bald head reflecting the stage lights while he led us singing, “Shine the light and let the whole world see...”

Same thing with Torrey Conference. Great speakers. Good talks. We listen, we discuss, we move on. I did it. I watched my friends do it. For goodness sakes, you know you did it, too!

Why?

How come we are so “with it” when it comes to Bible knowledge, but the desire to really KNOW Jesus is frequently overcome by curiosity to know how others talk about Him?

I can’t play the blame game anymore. It’s not the Biola Bubble that makes me complacent about my own Christianity. I should be enriched by this Bubble. It’s not studying the Bible for class that gives me indifference to my own quiet time. I should be fortified by my classes. It’s not the chaplain, the café, or the card scanners. Oy! It’s not even the mural of a Hippie Caucasian Jesus.

The answer seems too simple. Stop being curious.

• Be desperate like the lady with the issue of blood who touched the hem of Jesus’ robe and received virtue in her encounter with the Great Physician.
• Be ashamed like Zacchaeus who climbed in a tree so Jesus couldn’t see him and ended up giving his ill-gained livelihood away but gaining salvation.
• Be broken like the woman caught in adultery who cowered before the Pharisees until Jesus reminded them of their sin and released her, saying, “I don’t condemn you. Go and sin no more.”
• Be working conscientiously like Peter at the fishnets who heard Jesus say, “Follow Me,” and followed without asking any questions (even though he spoke four times too often) and ultimately became the mouthpiece of the Lord at Shavuot or Pentecost.
• Be demanding like Job who laid out all his frustrations before God and his friends, saying, “Oh that I knew where I might find Him!” and finding out that God knew exactly where to find Job and how much he loved Him.

I’m going to ask God to do an experiment with Biola, with me. I’m asking Him to end the puppet show and get me out of my curiosity - out of the audience – and into real life.

Raped of Care: Attiudes and Actions on Campus

2007-09-30T15:25:00.001-07:00

-

I'm ticked off.

You see, I'm frustrated with an attitude I find in myself and other students on the Biola campus: an attitude demonstrated only fifty minutes ago in a conversation I heard on the Alpha sundeck amidst giggles that would shame a gaggle of junior high girls.

"Frank (not his real name) raped a girl." A raucous female voice announced the news as if she were a broadcaster relating a play in a baseball game.

Giggle, giggle, giggle. "Really?" This vocalization carried a higher pitch.

Giggle. "Yes. I was so @#$%! He actually did it. And she wasn't even CUTE or anything."

"She wasn't CUTE? Uggggghhhhh!" Surely, only a yard away from me on the deck, a pair of eyes rolled in disgust. More giggles - edged with contempt. "I want to hear the story."

For the next thirty-some minutes, two students entertained me (unawares) with their dark tale of intrigue, provocation, desire and entrapment. My face grew redder from the sordid account than from the sunny atmosphere as whispers sent snatches of the story my way, accentuated with loud, obnoxious exclamations.

"Why did this have to happen to me?" I asked myself in pity, sorry to be so rudely amused. And then I realized what my ears had heard: A girl was raped at a dance club last week by a guy here at Biola. Raped. A guy at Biola did it.

AND THESE COLLEGE STUDENTS ARE LAUGHING ABOUT IT!?!?!

My stomach instantly knotted. I sat up, grabbed my towel and ran to the bathroom, gagging. After relieving myself of ill-timed nausea, I wanted to go back outside and shake those women like rag dolls. They were gone.

Walking back to my dorm, I transformed into a full-fledged supporter of Biola's rule against dancing. I found myself suspiciously eying every guy I didn't know as if he were a rapist. And I decided I might even risk being labeled as a "goody two-shoes" and pen my mind for the entire campus to read.

How can believing young women at a leading Christian institute of higher learning both write papers for Acts class and giggle about rape? How can a Christian guy stand in worship at the same chapel services I attend and violate the dignity of a human being? "Can a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?" (James 3:11)

But then I had to ask myself the hard questions: How can I complacently continue life as usual in the Biola Bubble when I know of such travesty? How can I still call myself a Christian and not react against injustice of this magnitude? The Spirit probed still deeper. How does my lifestyle today make it easy for my Christian brother to fall? How must my conversation and behavior change to give my Christian brother a lift and a route to restoration?

As a former victim of assault myself, I identify unwanted male attention as the most scarring thing to lacerate a woman's heart. However, I've also been at the receiving end of another kind of male attention: wanted. I can say beyond a doubt that the pain and torture I endured under the body of a mad man, though physically and psychologically scarring, should not be compared with the spiritually scarring experience I endured under the body of a man I loved.

The dark secret of my one-time sexual encounter in an otherwise sterling character undid me. No longer could I define myself as a good girl. I was a piece of trash, fit only for the red light district. I struggled with pornography and depression. Almost two years lapsed this way before I met a speaker (Leslie Ludy) and read a book (Authentic Beauty) that helped me to find hope. I grasped not simply the gravity of my actions but also the impasse of God's holiness, the enormity of Jesus' love, the healing of confession, the sanctity of my cleansed heart and the beauty of a personal romance with the Prince of the Ages.

The story I heard earlier today is not over. The people who told it, enacted it, and heard it are still alive and walking. The community (Biola) that houses it, the city (greater L.A.) that enables it, and the club (dancing) that fosters it are still around and lively.

The concluding chapters will be written in your life and mine. How will we choose to end it? Here are my suggestions:

Mr. Rapist, dive into the Living Water and be cleansed.

Un-Cute girl, cry out to Jesus. He is the great Healer and Lover of your soul.

Myself (and Biola), don't just be aware of underground evil and complacent towards your own vices. Break the virginity of the Biola Bubble and be proactive for GOOD.

"But don't let yourself suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer or as a busybody. Yet if you suffer in Christian testimony, do not be ashamed; but let glorify God for this! For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God." (I Peter 4:15-17)

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Spiritual Life on Two Continents

2007-08-17T09:29:00.000-07:00

OK. So I've not posted since June. That's a big problem in blogger-world. However, since the nature of this blog is to consider deep matters, weighty questions, sinister actions, improper conduct, dark secrets, and polarizing issues, sometimes I have to think about things for a while before I post.

That being the case in this instance, I believe that this post is the most spiritually important post so far. It's raw and unedited because I think we all need to digest the ideas for ourselves.

These thoughts emerged over six weeks of observing Israeli believers in Y'shua while simultaneously struggling with my own walk of trust during my summer in Israel. They were penned after a week of culture shock upon returning to America.

THOUGHTS ON BELIEVERS IN ISRAEL

Believers here are so different from believers in America. You see, here, it costs something to believe in Y’shua.

Back home, it is so easy to “believe” in Jesus. It means so many different things to different people and is displayed in so many ways: going to church, acting like a nice person, behaving with cool and winsome charm, participating in special concerts and events, and giving money to good causes. Sometimes it means a bit more to some people: reading the Bible when you have time, praying about tests or trips, involving yourself in a small group, and genuinely caring when people are in need.

To relatively few Americans, being a believer is a call to personal sacrifice, to self-denial, to second-class citezenship, to set-apartness, to labeled goods, to societal rejection.

Here in Israel, however, to be a believer in Y’shua is the characterizing mark of one’s identity.

That means an Israelis believer deliberately faces and embraces a lifestyle reflecting the not-so-popular discipleship traits described above. It’s a choice to walk the narrow road.

The narrow road is difficult, but the travelers I met walking it are amazing: Jews, Arabs, Druzes here in Israel who together love Y’shua and give Him their all. The fellowship is sweeter because the road is harder. But do they wish for an easier life? No. They wish for more grace to walk on to the more painful parts, and for more of their people to find the road.

THOUGHTS ON BELIEVERS IN AMERICA

Luke 14:25ff - The multitudes are with Jesus and He turns and says to them: “If any man come to me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.”

I’ve heard sermons on this verse and not one pastor has ever said anything but “Jesus doesn’t really want us to hate anyone, He just means that we love people intensely but comparatively love Him MORE intensely. (This made sense to my American be-nice-to-everyone mindset but didn’t quite mesh with what I thought about Jesus always saying what He meant to say.)

The first time I ever heard any different interpretation of this passage was the first week in May during a Torrey class session at Biola University. Our tutor had instructed us to look in-depth at the “kingdom of God” theme book of Luke and we had come up with some interesting observations. Then he took us to this passage and had us read this verse. When he asked for input, the aforementioned comparison idea kept coming up, but he kept asking, “What does the text say?” Finally, he took us back to the text and had us read through verse 33, which says, “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all he hath, he cannot be my disciple.”

Pretty clear bookends, huh? And sandwiched between are two examples Jesus incorporates as “sermon illustrations.” One is the story of a man who starts building a tower but doesn’t count the cost of the materials and thus can’t finish after he lays the foundation. The other is about a king who ferociously declares war against another king, but realizes part-way through that his men are no match for the greater forces of the opposing army – thus he must surrender to his enemy. The bookends “hate everyone” and “forsake everything” don’t initially appear to belong with the stories, but they must since Jesus put them there.

Jesus tags the package with this admonition, “Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

The comment about ears commonly occurs when connected with a kingdom passage (as we learned in Torrey session), so Jesus is teaching about the kingdom of God and exhorting those who would enter as citizens. Jesus is saying that you and I can NOT love anyone or anything except our King. We must count the cost, be fully aware of the conditions of recruitment, commit to the contract of Loving Jesus. (My thoughts: To love else or other is to be choked by the cares of this earthly kingdom and leave an unfinished building. Jesus is the cornerstone and foundation and Corinthians tells us the works we lay will be tried by fire. To not forsake all is to enter the battle without sufficient armament, enabling the devil to steal away the seed of the gospel and forcing our surrender to the enemy. When salt loses its flavor, it cannot season or fertilize or disinfect. This is cast away. We should listen and hear.)

Jesus’ culture and upbringing was Jewish. He was a Jew and His people were, too. His declaration of Messiahship countered the established religiosity of the day. His demand to follow God and love Him with the heart differed from the Pharisaical mitzvaot (good actions) around others. The establishment Judaism rejected Y’shua both in identity and instruction. To follow and believe and love Jesus meant turning one’s back on a “good life” and on one’s family and friends and community and reputation. To follow and believe and love Jesus meant counting the cost and clinging to Him and Him alone.

The sinners and publicans drew near as they heard this because they recognized their only Hope. Yet the Pharisees and scribes murmured because they recognized their damnation.

Are you one who chose to love Jesus and yet you love another? I am.

The hope for you and I comes in Jesus’ immediate response to the religious leaders following His teaching and their murmuring. He launches into three parables: 1) the lost sheep, 2) the lost coin, and 3) the prodigal son.

Most of the sermons I’ve heard about these are directed to the unsaved as invitations to hear the gospel. But within context, they have a deeper meaning: the restoration of the follower of Jesus who loves something besides Him (who either did not count the cost initially or has forgotten the cost).

1) The lost sheep is WITHIN the fold before it wanders off to find its own way. The Good Shepherd seeks and finds it to bring it BACK to the fold in repentance from its error of seeking else.

2) The lost coin is WITHIN the count of silver before it falls down and rolls off without thinking. The Housekeeper sweeps diligently to find and RE-PLACE it clean again from its sad place in the dumps and filth that it can’t get out of on its own.

3) The son in WITHIN the family and inheritance before he decides that he wants to live a better life than what he has currently, and thus engages in prodigality (or lavish living and enjoyment of extravagance). The prodigality is not necessarily a sin, because the Father is prodigal (or profligate and generous) as well, and the claiming of an inheritance is not a sin either. The sin is found in the son spending the inheritance both a) early and b) in an identity entirely apart from the Father and family. This kind of son cannot be searched out but only prayed for and welcomed back when he repents of his independent ways and returns in humility to the only One his soul should love and serve.

THOUGHTS ON MY RESPONSE TO THESE MUSINGS

So how should you and I respond? In the same way that Jesus instructs us in John 15 when He says, “Abide in me.” That is our duty of love: stay connected.

“I am a fool when I would stop and think,
And lest I lost my thoughts, from duty shrink.
It is but avarice in another shape.
‘Tis as the vine-branch were to hoard the grape,
Nor trust the living root beneath the sod.
What trouble is that child to thee, my God,
Who sips thy gracious cup, and will not drink!”
--George MacDonald

Kathleen's Kids - Blood Runs Thicker with Money

2007-06-11T09:29:00.000-07:00

Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius is all about kids.

Her political career testifies that kids, born or unborn, bring success. That is...if you kill or plan them properly.

Since the early 1990's when Sebelius was christened one of the "steel magnolias" by other state legislators in Topeka, her coffers have been lined by donations from abortionists and their cohorts.

Like George Tiller, the world's foremost provider of third-trimester abortion "services." The blood of unborn kids he kills has underwritten over $400,000 in documented campaign contributions to Sebelius.

As for the born children? Their link with the governor comes from a different source.

Last Thursday, Governor Sebelius proudly announced Kansas as the recipient of a $10,000 grant from the National Governor's Association's Center for Best Practices (NGA Center). The grant supports Sebelius' "Summit on Early Childhood" to be held in Topeka this fall.

The NGA Center grant to Sebelius is "made possible through the generous support of the Buffet Early Childhood Fund," according to Sebelius' press release. Sounds nice! But this seemingly harmless and friendly fund is founded by Susan Buffett of Omaha, Nebraska. Susan is the daughter of businessman, investor, and philanthropist Warren Buffett, otherwise known as the third most wealthy man in the world (worth some $52.4 billion dollars). The elderly Buffett is known for giving huge donations to Planned Parenthood, an internationally-leading abortion provider and advocacy group, as well as millions of dollars each year to "family planning causes and other population control efforts." The old adage, "Like father, like..." is apparently true for Buffett's daughter here.

And $10,000 more in blood money goes to the hands of Kathleen Sebelius.

This time, it's from (and for) the born kids that she "loves" so much.

(Information from: Governor's Office press release "Kansas Receives $10,000 Grant for early childhood development," June 7, 2007; www.drtiller.com; www.nga.org/center/earlychild; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Buffett; http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2007/05/05/berkshire-annual-meeting-oped-cz_bl_0505buffett.html)

Governor, Speaker Betray Kansas Citizens

2007-06-07T14:19:00.000-07:00

It reads like the beginning of a sleazy novel involving sex scandals mixed with political intrigue, but in reality it is a verbatim quote from the Kansas Supreme Court decision rendered in the 1994 case, Kansas v. Melvin Neufeld.

Dear Friends,

PLEASE take seven minutes from your day to read THIS IMPORTANT ARTICLE by my friend Cheryl Sullenger in Wichita. Then PRAY for Wichita, for Kansas, and for our nation. Corruption like this can only earn judgment from God.

(Background info compiled by Yours Truly)

Melvin Neufeld (pictured) is the Speaker of the House in Kansas who formerly professed to be "pro-life" and yet, in the last three months, has blocked the biggest criminal prosecution against any abortionist in U.S. history since Roe v. Wade.

The week before Christmas 2006, Kansans saw 30 criminal charges filed against third-trimester abortionist George Tiller (punishable with up to 30 years in prison). The next day, Tiller's cronies in the courts threw out the charges. You might remember Bill O'Reilly talking about this.

With the advent of a new Attorney General bought and paid for with Tiller's political-action-committee funds, and a long-time pro-abortion radical in the Governor's mansion, Kansas citizens turned to House Speaker Neufeld requesting a House vote commanding the new Attorney General to prosecute the case against Tiller (this is a provision in Kansas law). Neufeld's stalling, lies, and (ultimately) outright opposition aborted the effort when the final day of legislation closed with no vote on the issue in the Kansas House.

Bill O'Reilly talked about Kansas and the huge blackout campaign last Wednesday and Thursday on his Factor as well as Thursday on the radio. (Open this video link with Windows Media Player.) Because Neufeld abdicated his responsibility, other representatives passed a different piece of legislation, but Kansas Governor Sebelius vetoed the measure.

How can a country call itself civilized and let this kind of evil flourish?

Sincerely,

Karen Myers

P.S. Please email Speaker Neufeld at mneufeld@ink.org and Governor Kathleen Sebelius' public information office at Seth.Bundy@ks.gov and tell them what you think about their despicable actions. Copy Bill O'Reilly in your letter: oreilly@foxnews.com

To the Silent Shell Mothers on Mother's Day

2007-05-13T22:03:00.000-07:00

So it's 10:03 PM on Mother's Day and you might think I forgot all about it, but I didn't. I actually waited until now because I want to write about the mothers most people forget about on Mother's Day.

"Huh? You gotta be crazy!" I hear you tell me. "No one in their right mind would forget about their mom on Mother's Day!"

You're right.

I'm writing about not those mothers whose kids forgot to tell them "Happy Mom's Day to you!" but about those mothers whose kids CAN'T tell them. They are the silent moms. The suffering mothers. The shadow moms. The shell moms. Because when they housed within their shells a son or daughter, they either underwent or instigated a procedure to have their son or daughter removed from this world, from their wombs. They are the abortion moms. Still mothers - just of another kind of child.

Their children do not pick dandelion and purple-weed bouquets, bringing wilted florets in dirty fists for a Mother's Day present. Their children do not ride bicycles down the street when the neighbor backs out of his driveway. Their children do not complain about eating green beans and jump when the bubble gum is passed around. Their children do not throw fly balls that break the garage window or work for a month of allowances to pay to fix the glass. Their children do not dress up like Snow White or Frodo. Their children do not play music too loud and spend four hours a day on Facebook. Their children don't waste gas driving their friends to the mall or hide soft porno magazines under their beds. Their children don't kiss them good night or tell them to "f--- off."

These mothers don't stay up late at night worrying about their daughter coming home high from a rave. These mothers don't lose sleep bringing drinks of Kool-Aid to their toddler with the sniffles.

But these moms stay up late at night, afraid to go to sleep because of the nightmares. These moms lose sleep because they hear children screaming and see children bleeding when they nod off.

These moms are haunted by their choices - or sometimes someone else's choice with which they were forced to comply - and haunted by their children.

Because once a mom, always a mom. Mothers are, by definition, child-bearers, child-rearers, child-lovers. When the child is ripped away from his or her mom, the mother's heart is ripped away, too. This tearing is so hard to bear because it's unnatural, unnecessary, and unnerving. The human touch is lost, but not the soul connection.

To those mothers - you, reader - I wish to say "May you find how to be happy and forgiven this Mother's Day."

There is a Man named Jesus who is the Child of Eternity. He holds your own child in His arms and wants to restore your relationship to Himself and your son or daughter. Your bloodshed can be forgiven, your empty shell filled, your heart set free.

He created your motherhood. I acknowledge it. Will you confess it?

Will you come and break the Silence before Him?

Cicero and Friendship

2007-03-22T23:50:00.000-07:00

This particular blog entry is a bit unusual in that I am posting a poem. It does, however, come from reading Cicero's essay on friendship, discussing the text with 18 other Torrey students, and completing an assignment to make a greeting-card with a poem and quote as my conclusion of the matter...

In this vein, let me leave you with:

Contemplations on a Stump

“A wise man cannot possibly escape having any feelings of distress whatsoever – unless every trace of humanity has first been rooted out from his heart. Consequently, to remove friendship from our lives, just because it might bring us worries, would be the biggest possible mistake. For if we eliminate all human emotions, there is no difference left, I will not say between men and animals because animals have their feelings, but even between men and tree-trunks, or stones, or any other inanimate object you like to mention.” P 202

“The foundation for this reliable steadfastness which we look for in friendship is trust.” P 210

Upon the woody distress
Around the aged tree
Which functions as a cover
Protecting it from me;
Underneath, the rings of time
Below have built so firm
Of pulpy core, a mighty trunk
Inhabited by tiny worms.

Thus is my life, thus is my lot
Thus is my purpose and my plot
When traces of humanity
Now rooted out have been forgot.
The sun may shine, the moon shine, too,
The starry skies can lend their hue –
Inanimate, I earthy am,
Emotionless existing new.

Complexity, it seems, would tell
Of men traversing heav’n and hell
To help a fellow trav’ling man
Endure – and overcome – so well.
Odds stacked against the wretched soul
Perceptivity decried (the reckless fool!),
Then friend walks in, the scene is changed,
And out walk two, victorious, whole.

So let me learn from this great oak
On meditating thee:
Around, a wrapping bark will cause
Separate company.
Above, displayed, with men and time
Between, I build a trust
Of deepest love, a kindly home
Inhabited by just.

Clement & Hermas Discuss Church and Salvation

2007-03-19T16:09:00.000-07:00

(Torrey Pull Question Excerpts)

I lay the writings of Clement and Hermas on the desk, and muse. It appears to me that both authors emphasize the church as the vehicle of not only sanctification but also salvation. It is almost as if being saved from sin is not possible without being saved into the church.

And in the middle of the plain he pointed out to me a great white rock rising up from the plain. And the rock was higher than the mountains and square, so that it could hold the whole world. And that rock was old, and a door had been hewn out of it…Around the door stood twelve virgins….So stones of various colors were brought in from all the mountains, having been quarried by the men, and handed to the virgins, and the virgins carried them through the door and handed them over for the construction of the tower. And when the various stones were set into the building, they all alike became white and lost their various colors….And when the shepherd saw that the tower’s structure was beautiful, he was extremely happy; for the tower was so well built that I envied its construction when I saw it, for it was built as if it were from a single stone, without one joint in it.

“First of all,” I said, “explain this to me: who is the rock and the door?”

“This rock,” he said, “and the door are the Son of God….No one will enter the kingdom of God unless he receives the Name of his Son.”

“And who,” I asked, “is the tower?”

“This tower,” he said, “is the Church…and [the virgins] are holy spirits; and there is no other way a man can be found in the kingdom of God other than that they clothe him with their clothes. For if you receive only the Name, but do not receive clothing from them, it does not benefit you….[Their clothing] is Faith…Self-Control…Power…Patience… Sincerity, Innocence, Purity, Cheerfulness, Truth, Understanding, Harmony, and Love.” (79:1-3, 81:5, 86:7, 89:1&4, 92:2)

The Shepherd of Hermas’ illustration as summarized above seems to indicate that three things are necessary for salvation: 1) entering the tower through the Name of the Son of God and losing one’s individual color or sin, 2) putting on the clothing (character-traits) of the virgins, and 3) being fitted without joint into the rest of the tower.

Hermas’ emphasis on utter absorption into the body and loss of “personal identity” strikes me as a somewhat foreign concept in today’s Christian culture when many congregations deemphasize the church politick and stress the importance of being a healthy individual active believer. Discipleship nowadays tends to focus on making single persons better single persons. Activity and ministry within the church usually revolves around a plethora of minute people groups and their narrow interests. Leaders within the church are typically viewed as individual people to critique and analyze rather than imitate and respect. A pastor is not generally considered relevant unless he can talk about the latest and hottest music, the newest blockbuster movies, and most souped-up cars. Talk at the lunch table is not so much about community application of a scriptural text in the sermon as it is regarding a corny joke the worship minister told.

The people-friendly church, come-as-you-are church, community of worship church, let’s get together church, and discover your niche church all serve a definite purpose in society. They help affirm individuals where they are, encourage these characters to better their lives, cultivate a personal path of spirituality, and develop fully-functioning and involved church workers. Then the duplication process begins again: now that you’re so happy, bring your friend to church so he can find out how his life will change in Jesus.

Does Clement (pictured) comment about salvation outside the church?

Be contentious and zealous, brothers, but about the things that relate to salvation....For this is an open gate of righteousness leading to life, as it is written: “This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter by it.” This righteous gate is the Christian gate; blessed are all those who have entered by it and direct their path in holiness and righteousness, doing everything without confusion. Let a man be found faithful, let him be able to expound knowledge, let him be wise in the interpretation of discourses, let him be energetic in deeds, let him be pure;…humble, and he ought to seek the common advantage of all, and not his own. For it is better for you to be found small but included in the flock of Christ than to have a preeminent reputation and yet be excluded from his hope. (45:1, 48:2-6, 57:2b)

I take these passages as a general instruction to the effect that we are essentially saved, not with the goal in mind of being individualistic, analytic, critical Christians, but rather to be an indispensable link that builds the Church into an entire and joint-free whole.

Amazing Grace...is for everyone

2007-02-25T15:32:00.000-08:00

The 17-year-old’s body racked with a deadly cough. However, tuberculosis and AIDS were the least of her worries.

Until days ago, she served in a Nepali brothel – earning money for someone other than herself, performing sexually for rich natives and bored tourists.

Then amazing grace brought an amazing change. Advocates got her out.

Last Thursday night, the Hon. Senator Sam Brownback told the girl’s story at a panel and screening of Amazing Grace at the Crest Theatre in Los Angeles.

Amazing Grace hit theatres last Friday, masterfully depicting the story of a hymn, a politician, and a nation. Jeffrey Lyons of NBC’s Reel Talk calls the film “A sweeping historical epic that brings overdue glory to a true hero!”

The dashing Ioan Gruffudd stars as William Wilberforce, a 21-year-old budding politician in 18th-century Britain. Wilberforce is torn between the work of God and the work of state because – he explains to his butler – “God found me.” Wilberforce returns to the slave-trader-turned-preacher of his boyhood, John Newton, and begs for advice.

Newton’s simple challenge? “You have work to do.”

“I’m thankful that what came out in the movie – Purell Protestantism, I call it – wasn’t shown on the screen,” said Marshall Mitchell, executive vice president of Wilberforce University, the oldest private black college in America. “He really wrestled with his own demons, wrestled with the things that were going on around him. But when we wrestle with those things ultimately we’re lifted up.”

Sparked by the injustice and violence of slavery, blessed by his pastor and mentor Newton, and prodded by his prickly and intimate friend William Pitt, Wilberforce launches his campaign to end slavery in Great Britain in 1787.

The battle rages for 20 years in Parliament until the 1807 prohibition of direct British involvement in the African slave trade. Slavery abates but continues until 1833 when Wilberforce finally realizes his dream of abolition and emancipation. The reformer dies three days after his victory.

“It gets tough and you wonder, ‘Are we ever going to get anywhere?’” Brownback said of political justice causes. Known for his international fight against human trafficking and abortion, the senator confessed that some struggles go on for years. However, “This constant going back to what we’re fighting for, and who we’re fighting for, is worth it. You’re fighting for life and you’re fighting for freedom for these individuals.”

Brownback lauds Wilberforce as his personal inspiration: “A man of faith who took his faith into the public square and political arena – and he did it beautifully, and he did it powerfully, and he did it winsomely. I think that’s a lesson for us today as well….Faith is a good thing…it needs to be expressed…there’s no reason that it shouldn’t be this way today.”

Other than being a “first-rate movie saint” and “tough nut to crack,” according to The New York Times, what can William Wilberforce and the film Amazing Grace offer besides “old-fashioned, Hollywood-style history”?

“The movie becomes a movement,” said producer Ken Wales.

In conjunction with the release of Amazing Grace, Wales, together with director Michael Apted and co-producer David Hunt, launched “a campaign to abolish modern day slavery and allow children and adults around the world to live in freedom. We hope to motivate students and communities to make their mark on history by speaking out against modern day slavery.”

Christened “Amazing Change,” the movement offers opportunities for students to become “a student abolitionist” through blogging, signing a petition, and getting involved with organizations like International Justice Mission, WorldVision and Invisible Children.

“Really folks, there are a lot of situations of slavery in the world today,” Brownback said. “I’ve been in many of these places: Darfur, southern Sudan, northern Uganda, the Congo, Nepal, India. [I’ve seen] girls young as eight trafficked for prostitution. What I see in this film is a statement to me that I’ve got to do more and you’ve got to do more.

“Pick one, pray about it, decide, and then get into it. Please just follow it on through…and you will be blessed beyond belief! Take an impact trip: go to one of these places….You’ll never be the same again.”

To learn more about Amazing Change: the Movement, visit www.theamazingchange.com

Fried Chicken, P.E. and Loose Cannons

2007-02-05T22:12:00.000-08:00

Whoever said "Children should be seen and not heard" was doing a great disservice to the world, in my opinion.

Yeah, yeah, I see your raised eyebrow, your lip curled in a snarl. Yeah, I know the anonymous dude who stated this was trying to emphasize the importance of good behavior in young souls and teach the respect of elders to impertinent youth, but I still maintain that this particular maxim has wreaked havoc to the very structure of society by altering the framework and functionality of the family.

You see, the idea is that children should not directly interact with adult population. For a seven-year-old to converse with a group 30-and-40-year-olds around the dinner table is a bad thing, according to this philosophy. And for a 12-year-old to try the dialectic with his 61-year-old grandfather is simply unnacceptable.

After all, kids are kids. Right?

Nope. Kids are simply younger people and adults are simply older kids, in my opinion. That's why I thank God for fried chicken and P.E. classes.

My mom and dad held the belief that your kids are what you make them. So when I was six-and-three-quarters-years-old (whatever happens to the coolness of differentiating those months as we grow in age?!?) Mother didn't throw me out of the kitchen when I wandered in and discovered her mixing cornmeal, flour, and a host of really funky smelling spices (including my then-favorite, paprika) in a bowl.

"What are you making, Mommy?" came the high-pitched query.

"Fried chicken." A matter-of-fact response.

"Can I help?"

(As an older sister, I've been asked this question so many times and been frustrated by the occasionally disastrous results of accepting the offers of my younger sibling. That's why Mom's amazing patience must've kicked in before she answered.)

"Sure. Pull up a chair to stand on."

And I mixed the to-be-crispy stuff, flopped the chicken wings onto the mixture of meal, spooned it over the wet skin (sometimes too earnestly...no wonder I ended up looking like the Pillsbury dough boy afterwards), and dunked the chicken pieces into the popping hot oil. It was so fun!!!

I wondered why I looked like the Pillsbury dough boy at supper, and why Mommy spent ten minutes longer than usual cleaning the counters after dinner, but I'd "helped" her fry chicken and was proud of it!

***

When Dad pulled the old blue-and-woodtone '78 Mercury station wagon into our driveway every afternoon at 5:23 PM, my siblings and I (we numbered seven at the time) mobbed him at the car. He'd climb out and smile, grab his briefcase, and say "Ready for P.E.?"

It was the best part of our afternoon. Red Rover, sit-ups, freeze tag, monkey bars, gymnastics (he'd lettered in college), and "The Broomstick Trick" captivated us for an hour.

Dad's smile was always a bit wan, though, in retrospect. As a physicist, his days at the office were demanding and mentally taxing. The last thing, I'm sure, he wanted to do was spend his pre-dinner time laughing and romping with kids. But he grinned, shvitzed, and called it Physical Education.

***

Next time company comes, seat your daughter right next to the pastor's wife. They both might learn a thing or two about life's conundrums, doilies, and that real people do exist in other age groups. My mom did this to me.

Next time your five-year-old son draws a really-silly looking rocket, buy him a book about spacecraft and missiles. Dad did this for my brother.

Next time your thirteen-year-old struggling with weight wants to lick the cake batter from the spatula, don't k'vetsh about her body image. Let her enjoy the simple reward of mixing it with you. My mom did this for my sister.

And next time your son lets out a huge wail in the middle of the grocery store after pinching his finger in the child safety seat, don't scold him and act embarrased. Give the most humongous yell you can muster in sympathy. He'll look at you like you're crazy. So will all the other people in the aisle. But he'll shut up, shocked.

And when your kids are grown, you won't have to worry about any loose cannons.

Happy 2007! Surprise Photos

2007-01-03T08:28:00.000-08:00

Here's a pretty non-traditional post for Warm Prickly. (Smile) If you want to see some silly pics of yours truly, family snapshots, and some of my favorite photos from my Beginning Photojournalism class last fall, check them out online at http://s122.photobucket.com/albums/o243/warmprickly/ You can click on sub-albums like Jews for Jesus, Cute Children, Saturday Jane, etc. All the pics in the albums were taken by myself (even self-portraits) except for JFJ and the pictures of my neice Trinity and I or my family at Christmas.

District Attorney Meddles with Kline - Cronyism the Cause?

2006-12-29T07:14:00.000-08:00

TILLER CHARGED - FOULSTON PROMISES NO INVOLVEMENT

Thursday afternoon, December 21, 2006, after meeting with district attorney Nola Foulston, Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline (pictured, right) filed a criminal complaint containing 30 criminal charges against abortionist George Tiller alleging illegal abortions. If convicted, Tiller could face up to 30 years in jail. The allegations in the criminal complaint stem from the culmination of a three-year state-wide investigation into abortion records and reporting.

FOULSTON'S SECRET INTERVENTION

Friday, Foulston moved for the charges to be dropped (the previous day, she toldKline she would not involve herself with the case), and went to a hearing before Democrat Judge Paul Clark, who hears traffic cases and had no history or contact with the case before that time. Kline was not notified of the hearing or motion for dismissal until after the fact, when the charges were indeed dismissed that afternoon. Kline issued a response later that day, indicating he would pursue the matter further.

WHY THE ABOUT-FACE?

I am not surprised by Foulston's response. Her pro-abortion political views are well-known in our community and, as a Democrat, she has received campaign contributions from Tiller's political action committee Pro Kan Do. She and Tiller have been friends for over sixteen years.

Also, at least one member of the grand jury that investigated Tiller this year (May-August 2006) in regards to the death of 19-year-old Christin Gilbert (the Down's girl from TX who died from a third-trimester abortion at Tiller's in January 2005) has come forward with information about corruption and cronyism in the DA's office.

Last summer during the grand jury investigation, one of Tiller's employees, Kristin Neuhaus, pled the Fifth Amendment to protect herself from self-incrimination when the jury asked if she had ever refused to signed off on an abortion at Tiller's. (A second signature is required by the Kansas ban on abortions on viable babies.) The grand jury requested the Neuhaus documents specifying what condition qualified Gilbert for an exemption to the post-viability ban. Foulston's office told the grand jury that it would take "an act of God" to get those documents, and never produced them to the jury. This raises suspicions that Friday's behind-the-back legal maneuvering is not the first time Foulston has meddled with legal matters on Tiller's behalf.

Former Tiller employee and abortionist Kristin Neuhaus has promised to testify against George Tiller (pictured, left) if this case goes to court.

KLINE'S REDRESS

The Attorney General's office requested another hearing before Judge Clark, so Clark could see a presentation of the evidence in the case. (Two district court judges had already reviewed the evidence and both agreed there was probable cause to file the 30 criminal charges against Tiller. One of them even issued a summons for Tiller to appear in court - which was invalidated by Foulston's actions.) The hearing was granted and, on Wednesday, December 27, the AG's office went before Clark to present their evidence.

NOT PROBABLE CAUSE, BUT JURISDICTION

Instead of reviewing documentation of probable cause, Clark instructed the DA and AG that the question he would address was: Does the AG's office have the authority to file criminal charges in district court without the acquiesence of the DA's office?

Kline cited a number of Kansas Statutes indicating that, indeed, the AG's office can file criminal charges without the stamp of approval, so to speak, from the DA's office. He mentioned that his office has already prosecuted a number of other unrelated criminal cases across the state in such a manner. His office has also successfully sued two district attorneys involved in criminal activities themselves.

Foulston argued no. "I control the prosecution of cases in this jurisdiction!" At times, she actually raised her voice and ranted about her prerogative to prosecute and said she "is being usurped by some out-of-towner," thus degrading Kline's position.

Clark ruled with Foulston.

KLINE APPOINTS INDEPENDENT SPECIAL PROSECUTOR

At the hearing, Kline's office indicated the impending appointment of an independent prosecutor to the case. Kline says, "This appointment of an independent special prosecutor will remove this investigation from a highly charged political process." Donald McKinney, Esq., has been named to the appointment.

GOVERNOR AND AG-ELECT SEPAK UP

Yesterday, December 28, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius and Attorney General-Elect Paul Morrison held press conferences belittling Kline's appointment. Sebelius said, "How messy can this get?" thus insinuating that an independent special prosecutor is more messy than a political power struggle.

Morrison said he intended to remove McKinney as soon as he takes office January 8, 2007, calling Kline's appointment of McKinney a desperate move. Yet, only weeks earlier, before the November elections, Morrison called for Kline to appoint a special prosecutor in the Tiller case and said that Kline was not objective.

Why the browbeating?

Sebelius and Morrison sit in the same seat as Foulston. Sebelius has received over $300,000 in campaign contributions from Tiller and his PAC over the years, and Morrison's campaign received major funding from Pro Kan Do as well.

HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE UNFRUITFUL WORKS OF DARKNESS, BUT RATHER REPROVE THEM. EPHESIANS 5:11

For your convenience, links to the legal background are posted below. Kansans for Life and Operation Rescue have also kept up on this issue.

www.kfl.org
www.operationrescue.org

Kline's original complaint: http://operationrescue.org/pdfs/completecomplaint.PDF

Foulston's motion: http://www.sedgwickcounty.org/da/criminal_media/2006/Brief-%20State%20of%20Kansas%20v%20%20Tiller%2006CR2961.pdf

Clark's dismissal: http://www.sedgwickcounty.org/da/criminal_media/2006/JEJofdismissal.pdf

Kline's statement after dismissal: http://www.ksag.org/Press/2006/1222_statement_and_summary.htm

Foulston's brief about authority: http://www.sedgwickcounty.org/da/criminal_media/2006/Brief-%20State%20of%20Kansas%20v%20%20Tiller%2006CR2961a.pdf

Kline's statement after Clark hearing:
http://www.ksag.org/Press/2006/1227_statement_concerning_recent_decision.htm

Hanukkah and Christmas? Dilemna or Complement?

2006-12-15T10:43:00.000-08:00

Remember the story of Hanukkah?

In the first century BC, a Syrian king named Antiochus Epiphanes defiled the temple by sacrificing a pig on the altar. (YHWH calls this an abomination.) The Maccabees, a Jewish guerilla group, recaptured the temple and purified it. They held a feast of dedication, but there was one problem: they only had enough consecrated oil to light the temple lamp for one night. (Oy vey!) But miracle of miracles - the holy oil burned in the temple for EIGHT days!

God displayed His favor and presence to those who were dedicated to Him!

Every year since, our Jewish people have celebrated the feast of dedication, or the festival of lights: Hanukkah. Even Y'shua (Jesus) celebrated Hanukkah. In John chapter 10, we learn that he walked in the temple in Solomon's porch during the feast of dedication, "and it was winter." It was there that Jesus shared "I am the Good Shepherd...I and My Father are one." It was also there that Y'shua stated, "The devil comes not but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and have it more abundantly."

In the middle of celebrating the Macabees' reclaiming the temple from an evil ruler and the miracle of God in giving abundant life or light to the temple lamp, Jesus reveals his purpose: reclaiming the temples of our bodies from the power of sin and the devil and miraculously giving us abundant life in him. How cool is that?!

So as we celebrate Hanukkah, let us remember not to forget these things:

--Am I dedicated to God?
--If God is light and in Him is no darkness at all, am I living in His light?
--Do I believe that the God who parted the Red Sea and kept the temple lamp burning is still a miracle-working God?
--Can God do a miracle for me and illumine my life?
--Who is Jesus, anyway?

You see, I believe that Christmas and Hanukkah go hand-in-hand. The miracle of light at the feast of dedication complements the miracle of a God who humbles Himself to be born and live as Emmanuel.

The miracle of Hanukkah shines on in Christmas!

"The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:2,6)

"I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness." (Jesus)

Warren Trumps Haggard in Immoral Affiliation

2006-12-01T08:41:00.000-08:00

Today, Rick Warren of Saddleback Church committed an atrocity worse than Ted Haggard's failure to remain sexually pure.

Today, Rick Warren not only exposed his church to an immoral man, he also jointly aligned himself and his church with an outspoken enemy of God. (Ted Haggard exposed himself to an immoral man, but did not align his church with the same.) Today, Rick Warren proudly welcomed the blatantly pro-abort Senator Barack Obama into his church. (Ted Haggard humbly confessed his sin before his entire church.) Today, Rick Warren joyfully invited the infamous partial-birth-abortion advocate into his pulpit. (Ted Haggard, contritely excused himself from the pulpit due to his sin.) Today, Rick Warren presented Senator Obama as a model for the Church to follow. (Ted Haggard withdrew himself as a worthy leader of his church and the greater Church body in America.)

Why?

For some insane reason, Rick Warren thinks he can justify working with and publicly lauding a senator who advocates the killing of 126,000 children every day, on the basis that this same senator has compassion on the 8,000 people in foreign countries who die of AIDS. Warren says that just because he calls abortion "one of the five non-negotiable moral issues" in the Purpose-Driven Life, he can negotiate about AIDS with a man who thinks stabbing babies in the neck and sucking their brains out is a constitutional right.

Earlier this week, a coalition of 18 pro-family, pro-life Christian leaders begged Warren to rescind his invitation to Obama and not bring shame to Christ. Leaders included Phyllis Schlafly of Eagle Forum, Tim Wildmon of American Family Association, and Janet Folger of Faith2Action.

Warren thumbed his nose in response to the plea of fellow Christian leaders. Shame on him.

Shame for slapping Jesus - "the least of these."

(Read the coalition statement http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/791771591.html and Saddleback's response http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/864651610.html)

Hillary Clinton purchased success?

2006-11-21T10:32:00.000-08:00

If you saw today's New York Times, the front page featured a story about Hillary's campaign budget for her senate race. The expenditures? Upwards of $30 million. Read more here: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/21/us/politics/21donate.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

So did Mrs. Clinton purchase success? Or did she spend a whopping $51,313 on photography, $27,261 on valet parking, and $13,169 on flowers, etc. for a shoo-in campaign that - in the long-run - amounts to only a vapor in fame and power?

I argue for the latter.

God is clear about true success. It's an intimate walk with Him through the good and bad times. It's knowing that our hope awaits us in a dimension outside of time. The author of Hebrews puts it this way: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it [our forefathers] obtained a good report." (11:1-2)

A good report - for time AND eternity!

That's what I'm looking for...

Jesus, may it be!