Christians and a COVID Christmas

When the wise men traveled to see the Messiah they were entertained by King Herod who played the part of a fellow honor giver but whose real intentions were to crush any opposition to his rule. This Christmas I am awakening to the fact that Herods are among us and giving their condolences that Christmas must be crushed once again.

Consider this: Numerous government officials from coast to coast repeatedly tell citizens to stay at home, wear a mask, avoid congregating, especially in church, and don’t eat inside with other people outside your household. In fact, don’t dine out at all. Don’t even go to work.

These same leaders are caught on camera dining in with people out of their household without wearing a mask, getting private haircuts and not wearing a mask, and taking private airplanes to the beach with friends and not wearing a mask all while telling you we have no other option. Oh, and they get to keep their jobs too.

If this were a substantial threat and reason to stay at home while neglecting our sacred duty and right to go to church at the very least, then the following would be true as well:

Politicians would be in bunkers not at the beach.

This would really be about public health including their own and not private wealth.

Masks would be worn at all times and not simply while on camera.

Meals would be eaten in the privacy of politicians homes and not in the most expensive restaurants while the rest of their constituents can’t even go to work and are encouraged to take one for the team… alone.

In short, this is about control not safety or you can bet the tyrant politicians would be protecting themselves first and foremost.

We need to question everything and test every claim by real facts not fancies. Christians ask yourself, do I want my children to grow up heedless of the words of Hebrews to not neglect meeting together and all the more as you see the day approaching?

Our toddlers will turn into teens and then they may not want to go to church. It is imperative to set those practices now or you may forever train them that convenience and safety are higher priorities than gathering for worship.

Some people have real health problems for which they should take all the proper precautions. These words are not for them. These words are for the rest of us.

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Creation, Dinosaurs, and the Flood

To those of you new here to This Temporary Home from this morning’s apologetics class, welcome! I have compiled a brief list of resources that I would recommend you utilize to aid in your search for the truth of man’s origins, dinosaurs, creation, and the flood. I look forward to sharing more posts with you in the future.

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. (Matthew 7:7, ESV)

If you are seeking in depth teaching and scientific data this is a textbook by Dr. Walt Brown which can also be accessed free on his website at www.creationscience.com (here).

The New Answers Book series is reader friendly and packed full of answers to today’s questions in the field of creation science. Highly recommended for its ease of reading and information-packed content.

If you are curious about the implications of dismissing the first eleven chapters of the book of Genesis, Six Days, by Ken Ham is a wonderful resource for consideration. Ken Ham presents a comprehensive look at the church’s departure from reading Genesis 1-3 as a historical record and hammers home the mission and message behind the ministry of Answers in Genesis (here). Additionally, I highly recommend subscribing to the Answers Magazine.

For a comprehensive look at the different worldviews prevalent today, as well as a defense for creation, and an overview of the shift from loving God with our heart, soul, strength, and minds to the heart only in church history, you will be hard pressed to find a better resource than Nancy Pearcey’s book, Total Truth.

This is a wonderful picture book packed with quick facts on creation topics for the whole family to enjoy from Institute for Creation Research (ICR) (here). ICR also produces a magazine that you can receive via e-mail or automatically after purchasing one of their products from the website. iPhone apps are available from ICR as well that have a daily devotional.

Here are links to the news articles that I referenced during class this morning. Please consider the worldview that these articles are written from and try to discern the facts from the desired truths. Remember having the childlike faith doesn’t mean we don’t ask questions; but that we have faith there are answers to our questions. 

  • China’s Dinosaur Hunter: The Ground Breaker  (here)
  • Warm or Cold? Dinosaurs Had In Between Blood (here)
  • Tannin article from Answers in Genesis (here)
  • Birds Did Not Evolve from Dinosaurs, Say Evolutionists (here)
  • No Animals Were Harmed in the Making of This Fossil (here)

Thanks again for stopping by!

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*The links are Amazon Affiliate links meaning that I can receive a portion of the proceeds from any purchases you make. However, this service primarily provides me an easy and aesthetically pleasing way to provide you with a list of resources. I encourage you to check Amazon in addition to your local library or favorite used book store to obtain these resources. Thrifted books are my favorite. Happy studying!

 

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A Lesson on Self-Worth

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“And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. “ (John 8:32, NLT)

How do you determine a truth from a lie? What is your litmus test for determining the truthfulness of thoughts that enter your brain?

Let’s step back a moment and travel to the food court inside our local mall. It was my husband’s day off and we were famished and ready for lunch. Ron took our daughter to place the order while my son and I located a table in the unusually busy food court. We found a table and borrowed a few chairs from other lone patrons and were happily people watching waiting for our food to arrive.

Off to my left was a Tropical Café Smoothie. (We have tried that as lunch before, but convincing the children that a smoothie was indeed a meal did not venture well for our family.) As I scanned the line of waiting customers, my eyes fell to a beautiful, tall, slender blonde. She was dressed in a black tank and dress jacket, with trendy jeans. She had long hair and perfect makeup, instantly allowing me to dub her Makeup Girl. She certainly had the look of a makeup counter saleswoman. You know the beautifully intimidating type that we “normal” women may shirk at asking for assistance in the case that we appear less than knowledgeable about powder, eye-shadow, and lip-glosses.

To finish reading the rest of this post, click here to go to iBelieve.com.

Thanks for reading friends!

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On Idle

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“You can love these salt-dough cookies, but you can’t love them more than God. You can’t love anything more than God because then you would be worshiping idol’s.”

Emily ‘s quip while playing with salt-dough sounds ridiculous until you understand the heart behind it. The following Old Testament commandment has really taken root in her heart:

You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. ~Exodus 20:3-6

Sunday drives to church she will ask, “Do those people love God? Are they worshiping idols?” as we pass softball and soccer fields. On the way to Clearwater Beach we pass through the Scientology capitol of the world. One of their tallest buildings always provokes the question, “Is that where people worship idols?”

I wish that the avoidance of idol worship was on the forefront of every believer, myself included. While professing Christians would gawk at the idea of bowing to a carved or wooden image, we daily encounter a world full of idols of the heart and mind.

Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.~1 Corinthians 10:14 (read the full chapter here)

Take a moment to consider the possible idols that we are tempted to worship in our day:

  • image
  • wealth
  • popularity
  • esteem
  • sensual pleasures
  • entertainment
  • food
  • sports
  • leisure
  • science-emphasized here because the claims of Darwinism are based on philosophical assumptions/preferences rather than repeatable scientific facts, laws, or discoveries contrary to Bill Nye the Humanism Guy’s* rants (here).

What comprises our idle time in action and in thought likely exposes idols our hearts most naturally drift towards. What comprises most of our waking time? What or to whom do our thoughts turn while driving, daydreaming, the free time in our mind?

 I have felt in the last two weeks a need to read the Bible more. I am constantly reading, but reading about the teachings of the Bible and reading the life-giving words of the Bible are two separate things. Indeed, if the the Body no longer knows and teaches God’s word, we are no better than salt that has lost its taste.

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When our minds are full of God’s Word then we open the door for meditation on God’s Word: the thinking on verses throughout our day. We equip ourselves with the Truth we need to return to during idle moments so that we make the most of our time. We will see the world and its lies exposed.

What thoughts does your mind turn to when on idle? What changes do you need to make in order to love God with all your mind and glorify Him with your thoughts? I am asking these same questions of myself friend.

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Bill Nye the Humanism Guy is a perspective piece written in the Jan.-March 2013 Answers Magazine

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