Teenagers, college students, check this out. Remember Adolf Hitler? The Holocaust? The host of this movie presents an intense scenario to several people; he asks what they would do if they were in a certain situation in World War 2. It really got me thinking. He moves on to ask them their views on abortion, and– wow, I’ve never seen anything like this before. This is the 180 movie. I seriously can’t do a justice to describe what happens; watch this movie and think about what you would do.
Well, one week after the surgery, the doctor says, “Wow! She’s healing right up! Looks like we pulled them out a month ago!” Thanks so much to y’all for your prayers; they touched us deeply! I’m sorry I haven’t given y’all an update sooner, but now I hope to set your hearts at ease. What the doc said is really cool considering that he sounded a bit concerned in our first visit, because I have such a small mouth. :S Also, I had to stop taking the antibiotics the day after surgery, but still healed up quickly! Actually, I lost weight that same week; now, I know that’s not always a good thing but I’m just gonna say that it is this time. I have to lose some anyway. The week of recovery was rather painful, but I didn’t feel especially sick or anything. My jaw is still pretty sore; chewing and even walking is a tad painful, but nothing debilitating, certainly not compared to how I felt before the surgery! The pressure in my cranium is gone; I used to have intense muscle pain all over my head and the bones would crack all the time, but it’s gone! SOOO glad it’s over. :S And the chipmunk cheeks are over
On the bloggy side of things, I know I haven’t been very chatsy for a while. I did manage to write a few fun things and even a few deep things, but haven’t been keeping up with the memes! They’re great memes, but I either haven’t found the chance or been too plain wiped. It’s the long-term kinda wiped; like Mom says, we need a vacation!
I’ve been thinking about spicing the blog up, a little. I’ve wanted to change the font, and even gave it a try, but my techy-incohesivity got the best of me. When it didn’t work the first time, I didn’t try again for fear of destroying my blog! I’ve had it in the back of my mind to ask my Mom, but have either had other priorities or she’s been BUSY. Yah, she’s been pretty busy a lot; and with me stuck in bed last week that was one less household helper! I’m better now, though I was thinking to myself, “Yunno, if you wanted to blog for young people, you need to make it somewhat appealing to young people; you need more pictures! Even I am more apt to read something if it’s got a picture!” But editing and uploading and posting pictures is tedious! It’s why I haven’t done it, and somehow I still write some things in hopes that young people will find them and read them. The rest I write to you, my faithful followers. Both of you. Ha! Joke!
Ugh! You know what I just did? I copied a large selection, backspaced it, forgot to paste it, then copied something else! Ga! Such is my life…
Well, I hope y’all have a good time this week, enjoy spring at last! And remember that Jesus LIVES! He lives to make intercession for us! The best news in the world is that justice and mercy collide at the cross, and you’ve been offered eternal life! Remember that He’s with you, and promises to be enough for you. Take time to remember the sufferings of Christ, and the great mystery that it has been granted to us to partake in those sufferings. But we have as an anchor for the soul our hope of righteousness by faith. We come before God not presenting our righteousness but Jesus’ righteousness! Remember the wonder of the cross; it’s not just an icon, but very, very real. It should be before us every day, because the death and Resurrection of Jesus is the basis of our faith, the foundation of our hope. It reminds us that we are TOTALLY dependent on God’s grace, His wonderful grace!
I’d like to share an awesome rendition of an old hymn, And Can It Be, sung by Jason Roy. Such a creative take on a powerful work! Have a blessed Resurrection Sunday! Love y’all!
January 8, 1956 was the day that five men made the ultimate sacrifice on a lonely bank by the Curaraye River in the middle of Ecuador, at the hands of the men they hoped to befriend. Their story has left a mark on my life; I cannot forget it, and even more, it reminds me that I cannot stand still.
I want to do something special, and maybe a bit unexpected, to commemorate the day, though I might be a day late! Having heard recently of the Drew Marshall dilemma via Ray Comfort’s blog, I was stirred to share something, and it certainly has a great deal of relevance today, as many youth are “falling away” so quickly after they leave their church environment.
Many people in the Christian church “jumped on the Jesus train” and got started living the Christian lifestyle, doing the church stuff and the Christian stuff, but after time found themselves empty, and lacking power. Then some of them started wondering, “What is the point? Is this really ‘it’? What’s the difference between me and the Muslim, or the Jew, or the Hindu or Buddhist, or for that matter the atheist? Well, the atheist will tell me that he gets to sleep in Sunday morning.” (BTW, what the atheist didn’t tell you was that he slept in Sunday morning because he had ruined himself Saturday night.) Some of them go on a search for the true religion, some reject their former morals for what Richard Dawkins calls “liberation.” Some call out to God and wait for Him, while others search the intellectual realm for answers. Some people in frustration or just sheer arrogance say, “Show me God.”
God knows the hearts of all men; He knows the cries of the sincere and humble in heart, He knows which hearts are prepared to receive. I have a little address to those who tell the people of God (not God directly) that they want a sign from God to believe that He exists.
If you are waiting for God to grant you your wishes, meet your standards, and gratify you, God will show that He will give His glory to no other.
If you accuse God in your mind of being too much of a control freak in that regard, too demanding, you DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHO GOD IS AND THAT IS YOUR PROBLEM.
You need to study the character of God and of Jesus for real, until you find yourself in total awe of His holiness. Look at the standard, recognized Bible, read the accounts of Jesus’ life in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and tell me if that is the character of any ordinary man that you see. If you are really looking at these accounts objectively, there is no way you can even get away with saying that Jesus was certainly the greatest Man, the greatest Teacher, but nothing more. I’m not going to convince you of the virgin birth or the multiplying of fish and loaves or the walking on water. That’s not the issue; the issue first and foremost is the character of Jesus as shown in these books.
One thing is necessary to understand while you are searching for God: when we say God is good, it is not taking God and fitting Him into our perception of good; rather it is observing the character of God, who existed before time began, and defining that as good. Whatever He is, that’s good. That sounds crazy to those who have always heard that God is the product of man’s imagination or faith. But the fact is, it is not crazy, because that is not true. God = the Creator = the Beginning of everything = bigger than you = smarter than you. And He’s good– He defines good.
So, once you see the holiness and perfection of Jesus, as in, totally in line with the character, nature, and law of God, then you are ready to see His love–the kind of love that will not defend itself when spitefully used, beaten, mocked, humiliated beyond imagination, bloodied, and displayed in a cursory way in front of the world. Holiness that does not defend itself when treated wrongfully– You must ask yourself, “What is this? Is it for real? What if I were in that situation?”
Let me show you an illustration:
In the mid-1900s, there were five men with families, very skilled, very productive, very happy in life. One might have thought that they were in a South American jungle as a charitable work, or as adventurers, people who liked to live with nature. They were obviously very devoted to God, yet not stuffed-shirted at all. So maybe it was no surprise that they wanted to contact a tribe known for its isolation and hostility– sounds kinda like those famous survivor stories akin to Robinson Crusoe! Yeah, adventure! And of course, these men really believed in their God and in the Bible; it was very noble, indeed, for them to put themselves in considerable danger to share their faith with the primitive people. But… did they know what they were getting into?
So the day came when three natives came out to visit with them; slightly awkward, as neither party really knew the other’s language, but at the same time it was an encouragement to the five American missionaries. This could be their big break! Three days later, no sign of the natives, though maybe a few of jungle cats of the larger kind prowling about (but the men’s guns would surely ward these cats off if they got to close). Afternoon comes, and behold, a few natives show up again across the river. Ecstatic, two men wade half way across the river to greet them the proper way. Suddenly, a noise in the dense foliage from behind. A commission of ten, greeting the white men with spears and machetes. And in an instant, five men well capable of defending themselves or escaping chose not to resort to violence against their attackers. Oh, these natives knew very well the effect of the white man’s gunfire, but did not taste it that day. They would live to tell how surprised they were that they successfully killed all five white men on that lonely shore. Yes, and they remembered the darkness that would follow, and the terrible storm like none of them had ever seen. But they also remembered the multitude of men and women in white robes above the trees, shining and singing a chorus. Did they deny the supernatural?
The ultimate question regarding this story: why? Not why did five men have to die, but why did they choose to die? They chose to put themselves in danger, yes. But when the time came when one of two people had to die, each one of them chose: “I will die instead of the other man,” even though, by human morals, they had EVERY RIGHT to defend themselves against unjust attack. They were not guilty of any wrongdoing; why did they let the murderers live and nine children go fatherless? There is no philosophical explanation, ladies and gentlemen. There is no explanation, only fact: unhuman love. I remember when I first realized that I did not possess that kind of love. The result was complete devastation and I got on my knees before Jesus in sorrow, realizing that He had demonstrated that love for me! I told Him, “I am so sorry… I didn’t know…”
Your journey may be different than mine, but this story, and others like it, have to make you stop and examine yourself, compare yourself with the example before you. What you see in those five lives is a replica of Jesus Christ. If you are honest with yourself, you will realize that your own heart is filled with gross selfishness, envy, strife, hatred, anger, fear, and the same vile things that overtake murderers and criminals. If we are not in this state, we are arrogant and not right in the sight of God. And remember, God was around LONG before you and me. God knows reality way better than you, you are like a kid who thinks his plastic castle is the world. And somehow, this all-Holy God wants to be a Father to us filthy sinners down here. But He cannot abide sin. So He offers to wash us clean.
Don’t you see? The words in the Bible are not metaphors, pretty theories or faiths to get us through life or to make our lives better– they are the only reality that has ever existed! You and I are privileged to be in this time, when the blood of Jesus is offered to cleanse you whoever you are, wherever you are, whenever you are.
But adopting a lifestyle is NOT A CONVERSION. You must remember this; even though you may have understood that God really does exist, that Jesus was His Son and He died for your sins and He rose again and He sent His Holy Spirit and He will come again for His children, but have not repented once and for all of your sin in deep sorrow before your Lord, trusted Him for the cleansing of your sins, and experienced His changing power in your life, you are not saved.
Being a Christian is not the same as being a Muslim, Jew, Hindu, or Buddhist, or anything of the like because it is not a lifestyle in of itself– the lifestyle does not make you who you are, and it does not get you to heaven. There is much more about the role of lifestyle in the life of one who has been born again, but if you are not assured of your salvation or even the truth of God’s Word, this is a subject for another time.
You must start at the beginning, enter through the narrow gate, and then you can walk the walk and talk the talk.
Please be honest and open-minded in your search, whatever your background or your story. God is watching over you, waiting for you to hear Him, so don’t run from Him, whatever you do! I know not all of you are yet convinced that He’s even there, or that He’s interested in you, but, don’t take it from me, search for Him like you would for gold in China. See if He’s there for real, and He will meet you. He may even surprise you. I’m quite sure that you have no idea yet just how much He loves you.
One last thing to share: if you’re interested in the Christian perspective on God, listen to this song by Mark Harris, called “One True God.”
Simeon took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:
“ Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace,
According to Your word;
For my eyes have seen Your salvation
Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people Israel.”
(Luke 2:28-32)
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Thanks so much to y’all for your prayers; they touched us deeply! I’m sorry I haven’t given y’all an update sooner, but now I hope to set your hearts at ease. 
What the doc said is really cool considering that he sounded a bit concerned in our first visit, because I have such a small mouth. :S Also, I had to stop taking the antibiotics the day after surgery, but still healed up quickly! Actually, I lost weight that same week; now, I know that’s not always a good thing but I’m just gonna say that it is this time. I have to lose some anyway. The week of recovery was rather painful, but I didn’t feel especially sick or anything. My jaw is still pretty sore; chewing and even walking is a tad painful, but nothing debilitating, certainly not compared to how I felt before the surgery! The pressure in my cranium is gone; I used to have intense muscle pain all over my head and the bones would crack all the time, but it’s gone! 
SOOO glad it’s over. :S And the chipmunk cheeks are over 