My Heart to Yours

I am a believer in Christ before I am a citizen of any political affiliation and as a believer, I am directed to stand for righteousness.

Throughout its history, our nation has experienced great blessing and favor from God because it was founded on biblical principles. Ministries such as WallBuilders (www.wallbuilders.com) clearly document the historical Christian foundation of the United States. Yet now, citizens and politicians alike are trying to deny that foundation– and I’m concerned. The Old Testament details the results of a nation’s turning to ungodliness; do we want to experience similar results?

On July 15th, there will be a vote on the Federal Marriage Amendment, which is important to our nation because it will determine the future of the family and affect the church. The simply stated amendment defines marriage as being between a man and a woman. This view is widely held in our nation by the majority of citizens, and at this time 39 states already have laws restricting marriage to heterosexual couples.

But a federal amendment is necessary to stop the courts from overturning state laws that have been passed to protect marriage in the last 15 years. Without a law on the federal level to stop them, the judicial system will continue to take a role they were not given in the establishment of our government — that of creating law.

The foundation of society is the family unit. When that deviates from the pattern God defined, our children are greatly affected. Well-known and established experts on the family such as Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family have documented the result on children. Read his discussion of this research at www.family.org/cforum to understand the issue more fully.

William Bennett, former Secretary of Education, supports Dobson’s claims regarding the disintegration of the family. In “The Broken Hearth,” he writes: “My concern is that we are now embarked upon an experiment that violates a universal social law: In attempting to raise children without two parents, we are seeing, on a massive scale, the voluntary breakup of the minimal family unit. We may be under the illusion that we can cheerfully deconstruct marriage and then one day decide to pull back from the brink. But as a friend of mine puts it, once you shoot out the lights, can you shoot them back on again? As the long record of human experimentation attests, civilizations, even great civilizations, are more fragile and perishable than we think.”

An additional problem is that there has been a strategy in the homosexual activist community for years that would ultimately silence us as believers from expressing any disagreement with homosexuality. Just look at Canada to see that this is true. In that country, a minister who preaches the biblical view that homosexuality is sin can be accused of a “hate crime.”

We have been guaranteed the right to free speech and freedom of religion by our Constitution, but that freedom will disappear if the homosexual community continues to advance their agenda.

To learn more about this, visit www.traditionalvalues.org .

Are you willing to give up your right to openly declare God’s Word? Believing Christians have been considered a sleeping giant-a silent majority in our nation. For too long we have stood by as one after another aspect of our Christian faith has been taken away from public life while we are subjected to an increase of morally degrading influences. Our inactivity puts us in the hazardous position of proving the truth of what English philosopher Edmund Burke once said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

When I came into adulthood, there was not a thought that what we are facing today would be on the national horizon. And when I think of what my grandchildren will face in the future - unless we act — I am stirred to pray! Only a reformation can really turn the tide.

But in the meantime, we must wake up and take a stand for biblical righteousness — a stand that values what God values. The first thing you can do is PRAY! Follow the guidelines in the Prayer Power below to join your voices with ours in targeting specific issues related to the upcoming vote.

After all, the Bible tells us our faith alone is not enough. We must not only believe; we must do something! James 2:14 says, “What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but he has no works?” (NASB). “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead” (v. 17).I believe that God is calling us to action! We have only a short time to let our opinions be known to those who make the laws.

Contact your Senators and Congressman and let them know that you stand for marriage and believe that only unions between a man and a woman should have legal status. Write a letter personally or make a phone call. If you are in one of the 39 states that has a law or laws protecting marriage, remind them that it is already your state’s stand. Your voice WILL make a difference!

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is time to take action. For the sake of our nation as well as for the future of your children and grandchildren, stand up and let your voices be heard!

Recently I confronted a client of mine who seems to be headed in the wrong direction. I felt that her friends had influenced her to live by the world’s standard rather than God’s. She no longer seemed to be seeking God and His holiness but a lifestyle in which she would call herself a Christian but live like the world lives. She agreed with me to some extent, but argued that her faith looked different to me because I am from the “Bible Belt” where I am spiritually sheltered. She, on the other hand, is from a place where Christianity is not so radical. She was trying to explain by saying, “the more I get to know people, the more I realize they simply think that messing up or sinning, whatever you want to call it, is just a natural part of life.” SO, my client had chosen to agree with and accept this line of thinking.

My first reaction was frustration. The scripture tells us that our actions are an overflow of the heart. If our actions are falling short of God’s standard, they are merely a reflection of the extent to which God has control over our heart. I had so many things that I wanted to tell her. Everytime I started to make a comment nothing would come out of my mouth. I had eloquent thoughts about “holiness”, and grace and passion, but everytime I was about to comment I thought, “Does my life lend credibility to this statement?” The answer of course was NO. I couldn’t tell her to shed her lukewarm Christianity and start living a life sold out to Christ, because I had not completely done so myself.

Ephesians tells us to avoid coarse joking, but I constantly employ sarcasm. The parable of the widows mite tells us to give sacrificially, but I still have enough money to drive an SUV and pay for the gas it wastes. Jesus tells us to forgive seventy times seven, but I often held a grudge because, “I deserved to be treated better.” The sins of greed, jealousy, pride and gossip are all listed next to murder and God- haters, yet we only see the last two as being really bad, the first four sins are more acceptable by societies standard. Is this really what God wants for us?

Most of Paul’s letters were written to churches battling the prevailing moral standards of their time. The church of Corinth had been influenced by sexual immorality, the church in Ephesus was influenced by Pagan religions, and the church of Galatia had been corrupted by prophets. No church was immune to it’s culture’s practices, which is what Paul teaches to the Romans, “Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

Paul is teaching us to be set apart. We will have zero credibility in today’s moral debates if we live as the world lives. We have turned into buffet Christians, picking and chossing the scripture that fits our already comfortable lives. But the Bible is not merely a self help book; it is a God glorifying, Lord magnifying, Christ exalting, “me” minimizing, divine work of supernatural revelation. The way we pick and choose from the Bible reflects our true sentiments on it’s authority. Yes, it is about the heart, but a heart wildly on fire for the Lord cannot be hidden. It should stand out!

So where does your heart stand? Is God truely the ruler of your life or just parts of it? In a world where we are combating moral relativism we cannot afford to be relativists ourselves. But more importantly, we will never win hearts to Christ if Christ has not conquered ours!!

ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE?

Wade has a link on his blog to Jeff Jenkins. I have been reading his blog since he started his new job as the preacher of Shannon Oaks Church. I just listened to an outstanding sermon entitled “Homesick”. If you have a few minutes please go to their website and listen to this sermon. It was fabulous. Though, I don’t know Jeff, he seems to be real and genuine and he appears to be preaching and teaching from the passion of his heart. I love the things/changes that the church there is undertaking. My heart longs for a place like that. Listen to the sermon and you will know why my heart longs for a place like that!

What do you get when you put two very competitve people together in the same room? How about a friendly contest!!! Well, that is kind of how it happened. My friend and I are now in a competition to see who can loose 20 pounds first. There is a prize for first one to 5 pounds, first one to 10 pounds, first one to 15 pounds and then first one to 20 is a spa treatment package! Oh Baby!

So, this weekend I ate everything “bad” that I could get my hands on, put together my healthy eating plan and made my excercise plan. This morning I dusted off the free weights and “hit it”! It is amazing how much better I feel after I workout. My problem is just getting motivated to workout. The cool part about it is this morning I put on my Darrell Evans Cd, “Freedom” and worked out to it. It was very inspiring and I actually felt like while I was excercising I was also spending time with God. I was excercising in my living room In front of a framed print that I have on the wall that has all the names of God. So, as I was doing my sets I was also reading and rereading all of the names of God. Do you think you can worship when your are lifting weights? I sure think so.

My morning experience also reminded me of the importance of excercising the spiritual diciplines. I am on a new quest to practice them more frequently as well. Just think… I felt so much better after a 45 minute physical workout (with some worship added in), just think how much better I would feel after a strenuous spiritual workout. I think the results would be amazing.

Well, anyone want to make any bets on the contest? I am pretty motivated right now of course it has only been the first day.

I think my husband thinks I am crazy! I told him last night that I am going to Run in the Tulsa Run. I think he laughed a little and didn’t really believe me. This is kind of funny (I guess) because I have never really been a runner and I have pretty bad knees. But Hey, I am pretty good friends with an orthopedic surgeon that I know would help me out if I needed it. The other funny thing about it … well it is only 113 days away! He has run it a few times and maybe he knows something about it that I don’t. Regardless, I thought I would set a goal and since I am trying to shape up anyway why not? It is possible to run it for the first time in 32 years, right?

Well, other cool thing I have learned is this years charity recipient for the Tulsa Run is the Child Abuse Network. They are an outstanding organiztion in which I would be thrilled to support. They willl receive $25,000.00 from the Tulsa Run.

Well, last but not least I had to invest in some running shoes. My very first pair. I went to Fleet Feet Sports in Tulsa where they helped me find the perfect shoe. They were very knowledgable and helpful. If you are in the market for some running shoes you should check them out. I will be sending my hubby there in a few days. Here are my new shoes:

Well, so here goes! Maybe I have lost my mind or maybe not!! Would anyone out there care to join me?

Well, I have been reminded of the pain of exercising and working out. My body is so sore today but at least I have finished (almost) the fourth day of my new plan. No fast food, no pop, at least 8 glasses of water per day, low caloric intake, and exercise every day. Even though I am so sore that I can barely go up the stairs, it is a good feeling. At least I know that I am doing something and there is some muscle somewhere in there.

I have also been reading Frank Paretti’s, “Piercing the Darkness”. Wow, is all I can say. It is an excellent portrayal of the spiritual battle that is going on around us. I can’t believe I am only just now reading it. It was written in 1989. I highly reccomend it.

The women in our Sunday night small group and a couple of others began a study last night based on the book, “Intimate Issues” by Lorraine Pintus and Linda Dillow. The cover says 21 questions Christian women have about sex. I read this book about 3 years ago for the first time. I really enjoyed listening to the women last night tell their stories and talk about how the first two chapters have already affected them. It is a powerful book in many ways. One, it helps you see just why God created the gift of sex. Two, it will definately help you explain to your daughters and sons the “birds and the bees”. And three, it clears up so many misconceptions about the sexual relationship between husband and wife and how distorted society and culture has made sex out to be. This study I think will make a difference in the lives of many women. I am hoping, with the help of a friend, to facilitate this study again. Perhaps, as a Wednesday night class. We will see where God leads us.

Well, finally, my husband and I are going on a much needed date tonight. Dinner and a movie I think. I want to see “The Notebook”. I have read some reviews on it and it looks pretty good and not too “chick flickish” if that is a word.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Wanted to pass on a website with a wealth of information.

http://www.traditionalvalues.org/

ADULT CHILDREN SPEAK OUT ABOUT SAME-SEX PARENTS

What was it like for Cassidy being raised by two women she called “Mom” and “My Pat”?

“When growing up, I always had the feeling of being something unnatural,” Cassidy says. “I came out of an unnatural relationship; it was something like I shouldn’t be there. On a daily basis, it was something I was conflicted with. I used to wish, honestly that Pat wasn’t there.”

Why does she oppose same-sex marriage? “It’s not something that a seal of approval should be stamped on: We shouldn’t say it is a great and wonderful thing and then you have all these kids who later in life will turn around and realize they’ve been cheated. The adults choose to have that lifestyle and then have a kid. They are fulfilling their emotional needs — they want to have a child — and they are not taking into account how that’s going to feel to the child; there’s a clear difference between having same-sex parents and a mom and a dad.”

Sounds judgmental in print. But up close, Cassidy comes across as fiercely protective of her mom (Cassidy is a pen name she’s adopted to protect her mom’s privacy). Like many children of same-sex parents, she was expected to defend and protect her mothers from society’s homophobia. Her own troubled feelings about her family life were clearly unacceptable to her parents. Even now, the prospect of speaking about her own experience gives her the shakes