Uh-ohhh

Click here~

Wombs with a view!

Click here to see the most adorable videos of babies in the womb.

And of course, everyone remembers this little hand gripping the surgeon's finger.

Jesus loves the little children,
All the children of the world!
Red and yellow, black and white,
Whether in or out of sight!
Jesus loves the little children of the world!

All dogs go to heaven~

Diann Hunt's little dog is failing and she blogged about knowing it was time to put him down. I told her I hurt with her. I've been there several times.

The good news is, I believe we'll see our pets in heaven. The Bible says "creation waits" for glory.

Romans 8:18-20 (NIV)
Future Glory
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope

I take that literally--all of God's creation.

My belief is that pets are like a class of angels. Why not? Look at the strange and wonderful critters in the Bible! Our pets don't sin, they just serve us and God by giving us love and give us pleasure, and then go to heaven. I'm convinced.

However, I was in Tokyo and saw only cars crossing that Rainbow Bridge, LOL

(Vets often send sympathy cards with a very touching poem about a rainbow bridge.)

I hated to give them up, but didn't want to keeping them suffering in their misery.

I figure that finally, *love lets go.*

Our little Shih Tsu was going blind and hard of hearing and when he cried out and his little back leg went stiff, we knew we had to let him go. So we took him to the vet and stayed with him while he left this world.

The assistant brought me scissors and I clipped the plume of his tail and brought it home. I don't even know where it is at the moment. I can't look at it.

He would walk around a corner of the hall and bump into one of those springy little doorstops and we would hear boiiiiing. Now, any time one of us does the same, I remember him.

Now, a few months later, we just got a new puppy. When Jocko died, we asked our other dog, "Do you miss Jocko?" The ears went up and it hurt my heart to know he did. I never asked him that again.

So we got another.

It's hard to think about it when we are losing one, but there are many other wonderful dogs out there waiting to bless us.

The Shack and John 14:6--excellent blog

Barry Dean 4 Christ writes: Step back, take a deep breath, and weigh it against the Scriptures....

Dr. Albert Mohler dedicated his entire radio program to reviewing the book.... The book is being compared to “Pilgrim’s Progress” for it’s allegorical use. [but] the character Papa who is God (seen by Mac, the main character, as an African American woman) says

When we three spoke ourselves into existence as the son of God we became fully human.

This is a complete destruction of the biblical understanding of the Trinity.

The Godhead did not become human. On page 110 the character of Jesus does not say that I am the only way to Papa (God) but he does in fact say that I am the “best way” that any human can relate to Papa (God). ... [this] flies in the face of John 14:6.

I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me It is impossible to get past this verse in scripture. No one has access to the Father except those who follow Jesus Christ. Tim Challies states it in his review of “The Shack”, “the book has a quietly subversive quality to it”.

Throughout the book there is this kind of subversive strain teaching that new and fresh revelation is much more relevant and important than the kind of knowledge we gain in sermons or seminaries or Scripture.

Click here for the full article.

The Shack--"another jesus"?

About the popular book, The Shack, a friend, Dr. Richard Leonard, wrote, Sadly... ignore the apostle Paul's warning in 1 Corinthians 4:6 Do not go beyond what is written.... Just my curmudgeonly view.

LOL Love it. Great scripture.

This blog, Herescope, quotes the "Jesus" of The Shack:

“God, who is the ground of all being, dwells in, around, and through all things….” (p. 112)

This false teaching about a “God” who “dwells in, around, and through all things” is the kind of New Age leaven that, left unchallenged, could leaven the church into the New Age/New Spirituality of the proposed New World Religion. And while many people have expressed a great deal of emotional attachment to The Shack and its characters —this leaven alone contaminates the whole book.

Clearly, the “Jesus” of The Shack is not Jesus Christ of the Bible.

Wow. Strong indictment. The apostle also warns about "other jesuses." We'll see.

The book's "Jesus" says He is the only road to God. Does he make it clear?

Jan Markell, whose Olive Tree Ministries I have trusted for years, states,

On page 110 Jesus says that He is perhaps not the way, truth, and life, but the BEST way to relate to the Father and Holy Spirit. Papa God, the African-American female, says she has many followers of many religions in different lands. This is not Orthodox Christianity, yet millions of Christian readers claim it is! Discernment has taken a summer vacation or perhaps a permanent vacation.

Mack asks "Papa" God, the female, about God's wrath. The answer is that she doesn't punish people for sin; rather she wants to cure sin. No mention of repentance, the shed blood, and all the things the new "seeker" environment wants to leave out in the church parking lot.

Yes, clearly, the “Jesus” of The Shack is not Jesus Christ of the Bible.

And God in a muu-muu and turban and cooking turnip greens and saying "sho 'nuff" to show that He has a wonderfully sweet side?

Nothing wrong with a warm, nuturing ethnic character like that. Nothing wrong with allegory in itself, as long as it doesn't misrepresent Scripture or go beyond what is written.

And, yes, I know God has a feminine side to His nature. Isaiah talks about Him comforting like a mother.


The book tries to make God more approachable to those who don't know Him or His love very well.

I can understand and cheer that motive with loud applause and kudos to the authors.

But that Papa is not God the Father, to me.

I think about Jesus at the funeral at Nain, where a widow had lost her only son and now had no man to help her. Jesus brought the son back to life. Our tender-hearted Lord was so moved by the woman's sorrow, He had to pause long enough to tell her, Don't cry.

This is the sweetness of our God in the flesh, Jesus Christ. I would urge people to share that passage instead of that book.

If anyone meets Him in a muu-muu first, well, I just hope The Shack isn't the only book they read!

And, our wonderful Holy Spirit, God who lives inside of us, is also a female and her name is Sarayu? Where does that name come from? Sarayu is a river in India. Please go here and click on this link and this one about Hindu spirits.


Why associate even obliquely, the blessed Holy Spirit with Hindu gods??? It just raises a red flag with me. It implies Universal Reconciliation, God brings everyone home, with or without the cross. What a waste!

Chuck Colson's column includes many links at the bottom. If his points aren't strong enough for you, he obviously just gets a check in his spirit.

It can seem overwhelming to know how to guard our hearts or to share the Truth.

From The Kingdom of the Cults tapes by the late Walter Martin, I learned a few quick, mind-boggling Bible passages that could apply to The Shack, and definitely to other things out there:

There are other gospels, other jesuses, other spirits. Paul is dismayed that Christians have received them:

2 Corinthians 11:3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.

Galatians 1:9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned! Whoa!

And to answer the error of the groups that tell us that works will qualify us for Heaven, that the goodness of our puny works is greater than God's hatred of sin and the complete work of the cross:

Galatians 3:1 You foolish Galatians! [Wow!] Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? 3Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? 4Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? 5Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?"

Regarding being entertained by and taking lightly the things that God hates, such as wizardry and talking to the dead--spiritism:

Deuteronomy 18:9 When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in [a] the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. 13 You must be blameless before the LORD your God.

Hmm, God doesn't seem to be aware that enticing books on this subject also entice children to read~

Let's also consider the fact that God made us in His image and He adores us. He's not looking to condemn us, but help us into knowing and loving Him. Blameless in His eyes by coming to Him by Way of the cross.

And for those that have a new revelation for a new time, a new place, a new society, I fell in love with Jude verse 3: Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend (defend vigorously) for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.

I love that one so much because I once explored a cult that came knocking on my door, and I could have been led astray, myself. I am yes, eternally grateful that I found the Truth of the Word of God. Not that I have it all down perfectly, not that I am perfect, by any means. But having been pulled to safety, I just want to reach out to others in danger.

Most of us probably understand that we as writers have a huge responsibility.

Like it or not, we are sort of taking on the role as teachers.

Like it or not, Christian author just sounds a little authoritative.

Like it or not, this warning's attached:

James 3:1 Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.

Ack! If we get it right, that's one thing. But, as always, and perhaps, moreso, today:

2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

Unsaved people who do not understand sin and salvation and the power of the blood of Christ (foreshadowed by thousands of years of sacrifices of doves, lambs and goats) look to us and our writing to at least represent the Truth that sets us free.

Saved people will look to us for confirmation, or at least, no contradiction. Safe to enjoy and share.

Not talking here about whether to use hymns or praise songs, sprinkling or immersion, or to drink or not, but the John 3:16-18 Gospel, itself, and the definitions of the Persons involved.

Walter Martin said again and again, Ask for definitions. Ask for definitions. Ask for definitions.

With God's help, and His definitions, we and our books won't lead readers astray, at which point, we recall, it would be better to have a millstone tied around our necks, as Jesus said, and be cast into the sea.

We live in the Post-Christian era, some say. This article says we are spinning out of control. We certainly live in troubled times.

People don't know where to turn.

Some will turn to us and our books.

What an awesome responsibility!

Obviously, we want to comfort and strengthen and maybe lead them to the Lord.

But with the wrong definitions, we could lead some astray with another gospel, another jesus, another spirit.

I have to agree with that quote at the top:

This false teaching about a “God” who “dwells in, around, and through all things” is the kind of New Age leaven that, left unchallenged, could leaven the church into the New Age/New Spirituality of the proposed New World Religion. And while many people have expressed a great deal of emotional attachment to The Shack and its characters — this leaven alone contaminates the whole book.

Clearly, the “Jesus” of The Shack is not Jesus Christ of the Bible.

Others may disagree and enjoy the book. I love and respect my friends and they have that freedom. : )

But if this book really does present another Gospel--no sin--and another jesus--the best way instead of the only way--then my friend, Patty Carroll is not exaggerating when she calls the Shack "Shacking up with the Enemy."

I doubt that I'll ever read the book. I've read too many questionable reviews about images I just don't especially want in my mind and spirit. I try to heed the warning, "Guard your heart."

There will always be controversial books that skirt the truth. I don't need to read them all, even though conventional wisdom says I should, not to let others do my thinking for me, to be able to share the Truth with others, etc.

But I don't have to read every counterfeit in every bookstore along the pike to recognize the traits of a counterfeit trinity. I just need to know and share the priceless original Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

My typo on Kristy's blog

Kristy's husband, Milton, wrote on Kristy's blog about how beautiful Kristy is, and he offered to put on her makeup. Her respons: "No way!" LOL http://christianlovestories.blogspot.com/

I wrote a comment:

*******

Margo Carmichael said...
"No way"? LOL

Maybe the thought of you putting Kristy's makeup on her reminds her of a certain youth camp skit:

The Beauty Demo.

A boy pretending to be a girl stands behind a table full of cosmetics--cold cream, face powder, lipstick, etc.--and someone behind him, partly behind a curtain, only arms exposed, applies the cosmetics to the "girl's" face as she earnestly describes the beauty process. Neither is able to see what the applyer is doing to the applyee and the whole thing is hilarious.

Thanks for the giggle

Yes, Kristy is beautiful. I was sitting at a table beside the restaurant doo in Nashville, I believe, at ACFW, when she popped in, and that was the first time I saw her and thought, "She is darling."

Prayers and blessings for you all today. : )

5:55 PM
************

I re-read that after it was published. Ack! I wrote another comment:

**********

Margo Carmichael said...
"Restaurant doo"???

I have no idea how I managed that typo. In fact, I know very well I didn't write that.

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! LOL

Oh, wait, restaurant "door," of course. Silly me, too gentle on the r. It's my Southern accent.

*****

Right, expressed through my fingers. LOL

Praying for Kristy's--and Kennedy's--brain tumors

I am still praying for complete healing for Kristy Dykes--and now, Ted Kennedy--in this world, in this life, and that God would receive all the glory.

Unless and until the Holy Spirit tells me to do otherwise, I will look at the Word and not at the situation:

"With His stripes, we are/were healed," Isaiah 53:5, and Peter something.

I know that seems to hold out false hope to those that love her. Sometimes, I tell a family I stand in agreement with whatever they pray. I'm not sure what the Lord thinks about that, to tell you the truth.

I also adore this one:

Habakkuk 3:2
"LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy."


And not just for the sake of just an experience, but so we may know Him better!!!

Why don't we see more healings? Especially those that really believe for them? I don't know. I have really believed for some in this life and seen their "graduation" instead.

I think it's the times we live in. Jesus in Matthew 13:58 did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

I just think we live in the powerless Laodicean Church age of Revelation 3, just before the Rapture in chapter four, when John hears a voice that says, Come up here.

Yes, those church ages can represent different aspects of the church in any age. But we cannot rule out literal ages through history.

And a lot of us believe we are seeing political alliances and all kinds of signs of the times leading to Ezekiel 37 and 38.... And that's another subject, I realize.

But it does apply to this subject of why aren't we seeing more healings, because if we are in the Laodicean church age, then much of church is "poor, wretched, miserable, blind and naked."

And if it's true, I am blind to some things, too. Don't know what, though, if I'm blind to them! Catch-22! Lord, please give me more revelation knowledge.

So, I acknowledge that I am no expert, no judge, just a fellow struggler. Straggler? Both, maybe.


Here's just a thought: In the Great Commission, Jesus told the apostles to "teach everyone all things whatsoever I have taught you." "until the end of the age." And in Matthew 10, He taught them, "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out devils...."

Are we seeing that in most of the church? Would those things be welcome? I think not.

I just know that it is the time that Jesus says what we usually use as a salvation verse: Revelation 3:20--"Look, I'm standing here, knocking at the door! If you'll just open the door, I'd love to come in and hang out with you." My paraphrase.

Jesus is not present in much of the Laodicean church! JESUS is not WELCOME in much of the Laodicean church!


I'd quote the Great Commission in Mark, but that would really scare the horses.

In I Corinthians 1:7 we're told not to lack any of the gifts while waiting for Jesus to return.

So, maybe if we all agree in prayer, the Holy Spirit will give a gift of healing for Kristy. ( I believe there's a difference between a gift and a ministry. I'm asking for a gift, a healing for Kristy. And for Ted Kennedy. )

Yes, please, Lord, in the mighty name of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, our Savior, our Healer, our Friend, our Jesus!

A Giggle on Wordless Wednesday

( Click here )

Virginia Smith here today, with a double drawing! Maybe you'll win!

Will Mayla Strong’s life ever resemble normal? Just as she settles into a great place with God, everything else falls apart. In the course of a single week she loses her job, wrecks any chance at a relationship with Pastor Paul, gets the cold shoulder from her friend Stuart, and learns that Lindsey—the teenage sister of her late friend Alex—needs a place to stay. What good is being a control freak if nobody will do what you tell them?

Taking advantage of her newfound “vacation time,” Mayla flees to her grandmother’s house in Florida. But one by one, her problems follow . . . literally. In this touching sequel to Just As I Am, quirky Mayla Strong comes face-to-face with the responsibilities and joys of friends and family. As she tries to help her loved ones, Mayla begins to realize that God has all the answers—the trick is letting go long enough for Him prove it. *********



Hi, Virginia, I received your beautiful new book, Sincerely, Mayla, two weeks ago, can't wait to get into it. Now that I'm back from vacation exploring Santa Fe and Albuquerque--and my feet are now as brown as Mayla's on that gorgeous cover, by the way--I'll have time to read her story. I'm delighted to post an interview with you.

Margo, thanks so much for allowing me to be a Guest Blogger here today. I appreciate the opportunity to talk about my newest book.

So, you have ten books under contract? Wow, good for you and God! I don't believe you were published at all, were you, when we all drove through Nashville two years ago, during conference, for the booksigning for Terry Burns and Kathryn Mackel, Randy Ingermanson and all?

When we met 2 years ago (it'll be 3 in September, actually!), I had a book contract but it hadn't be released. And at that conference in Nashville I signed with my agent and pitched what would become my second book to Steeple Hill. Things have snowballed since then. Kind of amazing, isn't it? When God is ready to move, He really moves!

He does! We serve an awesome God! So, tell us about Sincerely, Mayla.

Sincerely, Mayla is my fifth novel, but I actually wrote it several years ago, right after I finished Just As I Am. The main character, Mayla Strong, is so vivid and alive in my mind she just wouldn’t step quietly back into anonymity. The idea for Mayla’s external struggle – convincing Pastor Paul that he has feelings for her – came about during the editing process of Just As I Am.

Wait until I tell my daughter. Her husband's sister is about to be engaged to a Pastor Paul~

Well, in the first draft of that book, Mayla ran to the office of Salliesburg Christian Church for a private counseling session with Pastor Paul. One of my editors said that was inappropriate, so she advised me to place a secretary in the outer office and leave the door cracked open. Which I did.

LOL, wise move.

But I started thinking about the scrutiny a single pastor is subjected to in a conservative church. How can they ever form a lasting relationship with a woman if they’re not allowed to be alone with them? In other words, how can a single pastor ever become a married pastor? And then I thought, “What would Mayla say to that?” That made me laugh – she would be furious to be subjected to such “propriety”! I decided that would make for some funny scenes, and I was right.

But I didn’t want Sincerely, Mayla to be only about a Mayla-style romance. Just As I Am touched on some pretty hot contemporary topics, and I wanted to do the same in Mayla’s second book. I have a heart for crisis pregnancy centers, and in the months before I was ready to start working on Sincerely, Mayla, Focus on the Family began a campaign to purchase an ultrasound machine for every Pregnancy Resource Center in the country.

Wow. That is wonderful.

Yes. Some of the broadcasts really touched me, and I paid a visit to the Salt Lake City PRC. The tour I received during that visit gave me the information I needed to write one of my favorite chapters in Sincerely, Mayla.

Sounds intriguing!

Another thing I wanted to accomplish in Sincerely, Mayla was very personal. I wanted Mayla to face up to an issue I’ve seen crop up in multiple generations in my family: the tendency to manipulate others through martyr-type behavior and guilt dispensing. I’ve been on both the receiving and giving ends of that battle my whole life.

Me, too, from time to time.

But the Lord had been pointing out to me that I could put a stop to manipulating behavior in my own life. I often write from my own experiences – I emphasize the lessons the Lord teaches me by watching them play out in my characters. So that’s what I decided to do with Mayla.

Great. It would be hard not to.

All that sounds like this book is full of “lessons” and themes and messages. Honestly, I didn’t set out to write a book that would teach anybody anything. I never do. I strongly believe that fiction should entertain, not preach, so I hope all of my books are primarily entertaining. But because I am a Christian, and because Mayla is a Christian, elements of God’s grace show up naturally in the story. So if someone wants to learn a thing or two, they can. But mostly, I just hope they like the story!

I’d like to invite everyone to pop over to my website.

To celebrate this week’s blog tour of Sincerely, Mayla, I am giving away a set of Mayla books – Just As I Am and Sincerely, Mayla – to two lucky people on May 19th. I hope you’ll enter the drawing!

Again, Margo, thank you so much for inviting me to be your guest today!

Thank you for coming. Sounds like your books are full of double blessings, entertaining and addressing today's issues~ I can't wait to read them.

God bless.

Lazarus was dead! Are you?

God can use you anyway! A friend just sent me this from The Daily Encourager . (It says "Author unknown." If you know the author, please let me know.)

So, be encouraged:

No Excuses

There are many reasons why God shouldn't have called you.
But don't worry. You're in good company . . .

Moses stuttered.
David's armor didn't fit.
John Mark was rejected by Paul.
Timothy had ulcers.
Hosea's wife was a prostitute.
Amos' only training was in the school of fig-tree pruning.
Jacob was a liar.
David had an affair.
Solomon was too rich.
Abraham was too old.
David was too young.
Peter was afraid of death.
Lazarus was dead.
John was self-righteous.
Naomi was a widow.
Paul was a murderer.
So was Moses.
Jonah ran from God.
Miriam was a gossip.
Gideon and Thomas both doubted.
Jeremiah was depressed and suicidal.
Elijah was burnt out.
John the Baptist was a loudmouth.
Martha was a worry-wart.
Mary was lazy.
Samson had long hair.
Noah got drunk.

Did I mention that Moses had a short fuse?
So did Peter, Paul -- well, lots of folks did.
But God doesn't require a job interview.
He doesn't look at financial gain or loss.
He's not prejudiced or partial,
not judging or grudging,
not sassy or brassy,
not deaf to our cry, not blind to our need.

As much as we try, God's gifts are free.

Satan says, "You're not worthy."
Jesus says, "So what?... I AM."

Satan looks back and sees our mistakes.
God looks back and sees the cross.

He doesn't calculate what you did last month or last year.
It's not even on the record.
Sure. There are lots of reasons why God shouldn't have called us.
But if we are in love with Him,
If we hunger for Him more than our next breath,
He'll use us - in spite of
who we are,
where we've been, or
what we look like.

"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength" Philippians 4:13

We need a new punctuation mark~

We need a mark for when we don't want to shout, but we want emphasis or humor. I think we need something to replace "LOL" or "< grin >."

I submit we need one more simple little diacritical mark, a pretty one, already available: The tilde~

It has uses in math, in editing, and in Spanish and 17th century French, and maybe others I'm not aware of.

But I haven't seen any case where it appears at the end of a sentence, so it would cause no confusion.

I would also submit a new name for the tilde when used for emphasis and humor, one that suggests a frisson of emotion: Strangely enough, I would submit "the frisson."

It's easy to reach at the upper left end of the keyboard.

And isn't it a pretty little flourish at the end of the sentence~

I mentioned it about a year ago, and I have been lax in my campaign. So, here's my slogan:

We need a new punctuation mark--
The "frisson" for when one is having a lark?

Or maybe not.

Anyway, a cheer and a plea for the frisson~

Movie-maker speaks!

I just woke up for a midnight cup of tea (decaf), came in here and found this awesome (click here: ) interview by CJ Darlington with Stephen Kendrick, a Christian co-writer of movies--made by his church--and well-received. Such as "Facing the Giants."

And he talks about, among other things, edginess. And a marriage book he's writing to be used in the movie--about firefighters-- Fireproof, out in August.

God provided again and again, in amazing ways. Like when they needed to move a car off of a train track, and a man who lived nearby just happened to have in his backyard, a fork lift. No charge.

Like the day I was at the Blue Angels air show. I'm writing about flight and I wanted to see another air show, since it had been years since my last one. I mentioned to a stranger in that huge crowd that I'd love to take my daughters into the VIP section where they could see the show the way I did when my dad was in the Navy in Pensacola. The crowd of multiple thousands was twenty people thick along the flight line and my little girls would see nothing, over all the heads. The kind stranger introduced herself--the mother of one of THE Blue Angel pilots. It was his last show and it was a big deal. She handed me three tickets to the VIP section. Amazed, I thanked her, and we went in but all the chairs were taken. So we sat down on the ground in front of everyone. When the show started, everyone stood--and we were on the front row. Awesome show, awesome God, encouraging us, and my writing!

Anyway, this interview is powerful and encouraging. It came in with my Title Trakk subscribed email. Now I'm going to read the rest of it, and tell my daughter Kirk Cameron's in a new movie. She's taking his Way of the Master witnessing course.

That's another point they make, how our writing witnesses. How they wanted to be powerful but not "cheesy." All the stuff we think about in our writing, plus with a videocam. You all will love this article.

Thanks for indulging me and my midnight rambling.

Nighty-night.

"Something Happens" Do you need healing? Praying for Kristy

Sunday, our choir sang the most awesome, song, Something Happens. As a sweet white-bread church, we sang it with a lot of Spirit and power, even so.

But here's the song's writer, himself, leading it, and watch out! LOL

There is power in the name of Jesus, and when His name is uttered in faith, (click here:) Something Happens!

I'm dedicating this blog entry to our precious Kristy Dykes. God bless, Kristy, I'm praying, praying, in that mighty name of Jesus!

"It was the worst of times, it was the best of times--" The 'Sixties

I just listened to the most fascinating analysis of our times!

Very interesting observations and for me, a certain amount of nostalgia, too-- the rippling effects of the '60s. How the philosophies and events changed our world and affected the children of the '70s, '80s, and today, even our own children, today.

I loved and hated the '60s. Some of it was so much fun, some of it was awful. And I hated the direction I could see us going in. Tommy lists the good changes and the bad. As in _A Tale of Two Cities_, he says, "It was the worst of times, it was the best of times."

A friend sent the link. She loves the speaker, Denton Bible's Pastor Tommy Nelson, who used to play football at U of N. Texas.

To hear it, click here, go to your choice of type of links to the sermons, and click on #7 Blueprint for Revolution to #3, the Results of the '60s.

Tell me what you think.

When God makes you do weird things

I just received a Google alert!

Pam Meyers tagged me. She wants to know what I'm reading. She says to turn to page 123 of the nearest book, go to the fifth sentence and post the next three! Then tag five more people. Cute idea. LOL

Okay, I just finished _Demon: a Memoir_ by Tosca Lee. *Really* good. Very different!

I can't quote from it as I've already lent it out, and honestly, the nearest book to me, where I was doing Bible study homework at my desk, is the NIV!

I wondered if I should do exactly what the rules say, or just choose a light and fun book I've recently enjoyed.

But--when the author of the nearest book is--God--how do you choose a different book? LOL

Sometimes we're called to do something weird. He may just have something up those big sleeves.

So, okay, page 123 is in Leviticus 9, and this may be apropos of nothing, but, who knows, maybe God wanted someone to see this awesome sacrifice. It will be fun to see if someone says He did. So, let's see:

"9 His sons brought the blood to him, and he dipped his finger into the blood and put it on the horns of the altar; the rest of the blood he poured out at the base of the altar. 10 On the altar he burned the fat, the kidneys and the covering of the liver from the sin offering, as the LORD commanded Moses; 11 the flesh and the hide he burned up outside the camp."

There you have it! Does that speak to anyone out there?

I'm now tagging these five to do the same: Michelle Sutton, Cynthia Hickey, Lena Nelson Dooley, Terry Burns, Cynthia Ruchti, Sharlene MacLaren and Tosca Lee. Whoops, can't count! Love it!

Are your characters on the "B" Team?

A good story has conflict, and well-rounded characters face inner conflict as well as outer conflict.

Lucy must save the ranch and not let it be foreclosed in order to keep the steers moving out and the groceries coming in--external conflict. Lucy doesn't want to keep the ranch, she wants to be an interior decorator--inner conflict. Her ancestors and siblings would be disappointed if she let the old homeplace go, yet they don't help. External and internal conflict.

We can go on, brainstorming, adding "but--" "so--" "and--" "but--" deepening external and internal conflicts.

How else can we add internal conflict?

A few blogs ago, I posted psychological issues one could face that would make interesting personality traits for our characters.

(And I stress again, that while little quirks can be amusing, real problems are not. I do not make light of those, or of the people who suffer them. The real problems could make wonderful, redemptive stories, though.)

Another source of internal conflict for the Christian market would be spiritual inner conflict. And this morning, I found an interesting and challenging article about the church today and one man's analysis of its influence on the world--not always for good.

Click here to read the six reasons he gives for his unsettling conclusion.

Do you agree with him? Does he understand? Is he too harsh? Characters in these situations may be understood or they may be criticized. Complacent. Miserable.

Disagreeing or agreeing, we can find fodder for our stories here. It's interesting reading, and sure to step on some toes--not my intention--but much of it is worth considering.

And perhaps worth laying on our poor, unsuspecting characters.

What do you think? Is the church on the "B" Team? Do you see your characters in any of these spiritual situations?

Not-so-Wordless Wednesday! Good grief.

No words on Wednesday didn't quite happen for me, LOL! The picture has words:

"It seemed like an ordinary day until I had coffee with Jesus at the Cafe' du Monde."

Please scroll way down, or click here to see the painting. I took the photo one morning while enjoying a cafe' au lait--like the photo at the top of the blog--at the Cafe' du Monde in New Orleans' French Quarter.

I love the, yes, words. They lift my spirit to read them.

Have you ever had coffee with Jesus? He'd love that!

He waits to be invited into our lives. Jesus Christ, himself, says, "Look, I'm standing here at the door, knocking. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and share a meal with them." Revelation 3:20.

(Actually, it's written to a whole church that is meeting in his name, but leaving him outside! A word to the wise! )

Anyway, one on one, He wants to set us free from the penalities of our bad choices. Even the little ones.

Our perfect God cannot have imperfection--sin--yes, that's what he calls it--in his presence.

And if we've ever told a lie, or wished you could have something that belonged to someone else and they couldn't, anymore, or been really angry with someone, then, in God's eyes, we've already broken three of the Ten Commandments!

In God's perfect eyes, we're a thief, a liar and a murderer, in our hearts! That's a heavy truth. But it is the truth. Jesus said if we are angry with someone without cause, we have committed murder already in our hearts!

Yes, we do get some credit for not actually commiting murder, but that's not enough. God says our "righteousnesses are as filthy rags."

Uncleansed, we cannot stand in the presence of a holy God!

Whoa! That is too hard! Who can live up to such a standard? No one!

"But, wait! for just $19.95.... " LOL

No, a far greater price than that has been paid, on the cross of Christ, so that we can have a great personal relationship with God.

In his great love for us all, he took on a body of flesh and came into this world to live among his creatures, teach us about himself, and finally, pay the awful penalty for our sins.

All the sacrifices given to Moses and his people were to prepare the way for this ultimate sacrifice. He is "the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world."

And all who receive this sacrifice and agree, "Yes, God, those are my sins on that cross, forgive me and help me to live right," and mean it, become children of God. And he becomes our Lord and Savior.

So, let's open the doors of our hearts and invite him in to live with us and help us turn away from bad choices. Agree with God that we have done wrong. Tell him we're sorry for falling short of his perfection, whether in awful deeds or little thoughts.
Ask him to forgive us and help us to live for him.

Make that commitment to him, and our sins will already be forgiven, even as we learn to do better.

And when the time comes, we will join him in heaven, along with many other believers who have gone before you. (Along with our pets, I believe.)

There, we'll probably have satisfying work, wonderful times with others, and sing some of the best songs we've never heard in our lives!

Not only that, our eternal life will begin. I know mine has. As they say, I'm not perfect, just forgiven. Thank you, Lord!

Is that arrogant? No. God says,

These things I have written to you that believe on the name (nature, identity, mission) of the Lord Jesus Christ that you may know you have eternal life. 1 John 5:13

Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Wish I knew the artist's name to give him or her the credit.

"It seemed like an ordinary day until I had coffee with Jesus at the Cafe' du Monde."

LOL See what an awesome truth comes with a few little words on a Wednesday!

Wordless Wednesday

"He was born with CP... and came back healed...."

A Verified Miracle:

Years ago, in Orlando, I walked into my friend's church's weekly home group that I occasionally visited and heard wonderful piano music. Usually, we sang unaccompanied, but this night, our guest speaker graced us with soaring chords. The young man's parents had bought him an old upright so he could beat on it in his frustrations during his years of piano therapy for Cerebral Palsy.

When he was fourteen years old, his left side had quit growing, so his arm was drawn up close to his chest, his left leg was deformed, and he limped badly.

One Saturday night, he went to a home group much like this one, and some believers laid hands on him and prayed. And instantaneously, his arm grew out, his leg straightened, and even his teeth lengthened on that side.

The group was so thrilled, and when he went home, he ran up the stairs to rejoice with his parents.

His mother put the pillow over her head and his father said, "We'll see if it's still there in the morning." The healing.

After all those years, hope could be a cruelty joke.

Well, it was there in the morning. He did have the slightest halt to his step, but I took that as evidence of the original problem.

Just so I could tell others I verified this amazing story, I called his high school. He had graduated maybe three years before. I asked the secretary if she remembered him. Her voice perked up. "Oh, yes."

I must stress here: I did not put words in her mouth. "I heard something wonderful about him. Could you tell me what happened?"

She corroborated his story: "He was born with CP and had a bad limp. He went to a revival or something and people prayed for him and when he came back Monday morning, he was healed."

But it wasn't a revival. It was just a living room full of believers.

And he and his home group leader were allowed to give his Christian testimony to the whole school one morning in a weekly assembly program when the scheduled speaker had to cancel. As a result, a Bible club was formed in the school.

He spoke in my home on two occasions so all my friends could hear. I had invited the whole church, and only the pastor and a few others came. But those who did brought others, and my living room was packed out, twice. I had to step over people to get from the kitchen to the front door. Right in my living room, I made some great new friends I kept for years until I moved away.

And they got to hear how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, who went about doing good and healing ALL who were oppressed of the devil, for God was with Him. Acts 10:38.

And we have that same Power Source as the Son of God did on earth!

The Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, and dwells in believers, Romans 8:11 gave new life to this crippled young man in this life.

Now, I urge my friends to join in prayer that that same Holy Spirit heal my precious friend Kristy Dykes who has a stage four brain tumor.

The doctor says without a miracle, she will not live.

Jesus says, With His stripes, we are healed, Isaiah 53.

Kristy's husband, Milton, asks for believers from all over to pray that for Kristy this Monday at 3:30 CST when she has her first radiation.

While she's going through this, Milton has taken over writing her blog and reporting on her progress. He writes today:

Please share her website so caring believers can follow up in prayer.

Kristy has been diagnosed with a Glioblastoma Multiforme stage four tumor. According to all reports, except the Word of the Lord, this is terminal and without a miracle she will not live long even with radiation and chemotherapy.

We believe God works miracles. We are not kooky, foolish people. We just believe God's Word is for today, for our lives, and works to help meet our needs. Is anything too hard for the God of all creation?

No, indeed.

Kristy is so cute and talented and sweet, and needs a miracle just like my friend received in Orlando. God has done it before. He'll do it again.
Click on Kristy's website and read about her through the eyes of her adoring husband.

And please pray for both of them! Thank you!

PS: Later--when she did go in for the first radiation treatment, guess what, the machine had quit working. The tech said it had been working all morning. I pray that is because it isn't the machine that is going to make her well!

Here's a powerful song, Days of Elijah. It talks about the One who was and who is and who is to come. That, of course, would be our Lord and Savior and Healer, "Jesus Christ, the same, yesterday, today and forever."

Sandi Glahn on _Informed Consent_ and one of St. Paul's teachings on women

I enjoyed Sandi Glahn's first solo medical suspense, Informed Consent. I'll let Sandi describe it:

Jeremy Cramer, the next Einstein of research, is a medical resident specializing in infectious diseases. While working on a way to revive water submersion victims, he makes surprising discoveries, while also living with massive guilt over incidental infections that occur (which he could have prevented). Even as his marriage teeters, his career continues to skyrocket. Then, with a few twists along the way, he finds everything he has fought for threatened by the most personal, most heart-wrenching, choices of all.

I love exploring bioethics, and this book allowed me to consider end-of-life issues, patient rights, a compassionate response to HIV-AIDS…lots of edutainment.

And what I really enjoyed is the way she inserted a lot of interesting technical medical information without letting her research show. Her main character was a doctor who also did research, and patients' symptoms and the doctor's discoveries all were enumerated very naturally in dialogue and exposition. Sometimes by the villain(s?), heh heh.

Plus, the characters were unique, believable and likeable. The reader really cares when anything happens to any of them! I had to email her at one point and say, "NOOOoooooo!" LOL So, it was a page-turner with a happy ending.

On another subject, Sandi, if you could be a fly on any wall at any time, when and where would it be and why?

I would love to rewind and go back to Corinth when Paul’s first letter arrives so I can get some insight into what he was talking about when he brought up the whole woman/head/covering thing in chapter eleven.

Meeee, too! What is that all about? I mean, Philip had four prophesying daughters in Acts, as Paul mentioned when he and Luke and their other companions visited Philip, and he didn't say the women prophesied to the dust bunnies. LOL

And Ephesians 5:21 says to submit to one another. And nowhere does the Bible say the husband is the head of the house. Please share your thoughts with us.

Are you sure you want to get me started?

Go for it! LOL

Interestingly enough Paul never uses the word "headship." Or leadership. Or lead.

In both English and Greek it says head. But in English, we use head as a verb AND a noun. "I head a committee" = head as a verb. It means to take charge. But in Koine Greek "head" is only a noun--a thing--and in Ephesians 5 it means "top body part."

He uses a metaphor of a head attached to a body. We often make "head" a synonym for leadership/authority (in Koine Greek the primary meaning for "head" was "top body part") and in the process we lose that Paul's emphasis is not on power or even responsibility but on oneness. Two become one. What God has joined together. Picture a human head/body.

When Paul thinks of a Christian marriage, he does NOT tell a man to make the final decisions. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 7, he tells couples talking about abstaining for the purpose of prayer to make a mutual decision ("agreement") in a spirit of unity.

He goes on to say that the wife has authority over the husband's body (as does hubby with hers). If that is a hierarchy, it is one weird circular chain of command!

We often hear taught that Paul teaches husbands to lead, but the biblical command is not to lead but to "love"--of the agape variety. We see distortions of this when we find stuff in the popular Christian press about how the Bible suggests women are made mostly for love and men made mostly for respect.

In saying that, the authors mean "phileo" love (warmth, hugs), but when Paul commanded husbands to love, he used the word for the kind of love that means sacrifice (agape)...the hard kind--the kind that looks a lot like submission by another name.

Both a man and a woman need a spouse who sacrifices and who respects. Peter tells husbands to treat their wives with respect. Elsewhere, Paul tells wives to love their husbands of the phileo variety.

I'm not saying he teaches mutual submission in Eph 5:22. That happens a verse earlier in the context of the entire church submitting to one another (putting others' needs above our own).

I'm saying he teaches husbands to sacrifice (of the daily variety and not just taking a bullet) and wives to submit. Two sides of the same coin.

He never warns against husbands being overbearing or abdicating authority--the two extremes of leadership. Rather, he commands husbands to love sacrificially, to nurture their wives because their wives are their own selves, connected at the neck.

The wife submits because the husband is "head." That's a noun, not a verb. Something he is, not something he does or "should" do. A body comes under a head when it's attached. To use horrible grammar: He are her and she are him. They are one. Connected.

Sexual intercourse is another picture of this. I think the Bible teaches that the primary purpose of marriage is oneness.

So Paul's teaching on "headship" is this: Love your wife as yourself because "she are you" below the neck. Nurture and cherish your wife because she "are" your self. You two are one.

The counterpart to head (noun) is not submit (verb) or submission; the counterpart to head is body (noun). The counterpart to submit is not lead. It's agape love.

And I love it!


Sandra Glahn, ThM, teaches in the media arts program at Dallas Theological Seminary, where she edits the award-winning magazine Kindred Spirit. The author of six books and co-author of seven others, she is pursuing a PhD in Aesthetic Studies (Arts and Humanities) at the University of Texas at Dallas . She recently released her first solo medical suspense novel, Informed Consent (Cook). She is the co-author of three other such novels, which include the Christy Award finalist, Lethal Harvest.

Read more about Sandi Glahn at her website, Aspire2.

And Friday, Sandi visits Dineen Miller's blog.

Thank you for being here today, Sandi.