MInTheGap

Stats for September

And so we bid adieu to another month. Yes, September has been quite the month. We’ve seen the rebirth of Weekend Kindness, more parts of my book being displayed at MInTheGap Fiction and two series on abortion as well as some side questions about what we talk about here.

This site doesn’t work without the gracious people that come by and comment each and every day. You come by to chat, to discuss, and to talk about topics of the day with friends. I thank you.

Just in case you were interested to see a recap of this month (as of Sept 28, 2007):

Thank you again, and I look forward to having a great October with all of you.

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

You’re Violating My Rights

One of the biggest refrains that seem to come over and over again is that of rights. And truth be told, that is what our generation has grown up hearing about– what is and what is not our rights in any given situation. The problem is that we’re being fed a line if we truly believe that somehow we have a right to do whatever we choose whenever we choose.

Regardless of what you’ve heard, we do not have the right to anything that we can think of. In fact, there are a lot of burdens placed on our rights.

First, we need to consider the originator of all rights– God. The Founders of this country rightly realized that all rights (to them, specifically: life, liberty and property) ultimately come from the Creator. So, as Creator and Owner of all living beings, we are His property and therefore only have rights as He gives them.

Second, we are under the government of the country that we were born into or currently are a citizen of. That government has placed restrictions on just about everything. In fact, I’m surprised that I’m not breaking the law by writing this blog post, and I’m certain that if you look hard enough there’s a law touching just about something that we do every day– but I digress.

Suffice it to say that the government places laws on our rights for our own protection and for other’s protection. We cannot have someone thinking it’s their right to steal from the local store because that would effect that person’s right. If everyone did that which they thought was right in their own eyes we’d have anarchy!

Lastly, we do not have rights when it comes to someone else’s belongings or how they choose to use their belongings. I don’t have the right to tell you what to post on your blog, whether to approve my comments, or what you say about me. I do have the right on my blog to edit your language, not approve your post, and not allow you to post an entry on my blog.

Same thing with the topic from the other day about what the women wore on the airlines. It’s the airlines’ planes, not ours. They have the right to tell the guests which seats they will occupy, how many carryons they can take, and other things that promote the general welfare for all passengers.

See, we don’t have as many rights as we think we have, and we certainly should have a humble spirit about those rights which we do have.

Stopping the Hand of God

The number of fetus murders in the United States exceeds the number of victims who perished under the regimes of both Hitler And Stalin (Presently over 53,000,000). Stalin forced into starvation 22,000,000 of his own peoples. Hitler is responsible for the extermination of 6 or more millions of persons.

So let us consider then the topic of abortion and and show how, through political expediency, the wholesale slaughter of the unborn continues to rank as the most despicable of all human acts of violence.

It is recorded in Psalms how the Lord God fashions all human life. So when an abortionist performs that procedure whereby the life of that child in the womb is killed, it literally amounts to stopping the Hand of God! Oh, the judgment that awaits the persons engaged in such practices! How shall we protect the rights of the unborn?

Consider the following: Upon full emergence from the mother’s body, the child, of whatever sex, is regarded as a citizen of this nation. But since it is now fully developed, of what difference can it be a few minutes prior to delivery? Can there not be, at this stage of conception, citizenship rights within the womb? Such a declaration, legislated and enacted into law, would assure the immunities and privileges of citizens and the protection of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.Who speaks for the child in the womb?

Even Jesus, the Christ of God, was named Yeshua before his actual incarnation! Yes, there is a death penalty in many states and it sees its executions every time a life is disrupted in the abortion process!

This is capital punishment at its worst for it is sanctioned in the name of the people of this state!

Taking the Stress Out Of Moving

And I thought that selling the house was stressful.

It’s been almost two months since we decided that it was time to sell our house.  Time to get away from the neighborhood, the theft, the teens next door, and the small house.  Time to find a place that could fit our family comfortably and allow us to have plenty of room to homeschool.

And then, we found out just how much of a pain it would be to show the house– sure, the first open house was a breeze.  It was just the times when someone would call and want to see the house in a couple of hours that was rough.  And then there was the every other day cleaning along with my pastor’s declining health…  Now our kids are sick.  It just never seems to end.

The problem is, we’ll eventually sell our house, and then the real stress begins.  Not only do we not have a house to go to (my parents will let us have some space in their house for the short term), but most likely it will mean moving twice.  How many here have moved with three small children, let me see your hands?

The last time we moved it was just a few blocks away– and we had some church people to help.  But we had to arrange to get a truck, and try to find people to help, and we broke the front window trying to get our couch in.  I’m not looking forward to moving this time around, let alone moving twice!

It’s enough to make me want to hire some professional movers to do the job for us!  The neat thing is, there are websites out there that will give you free moving tips and gives you a resource for finding and getting quotes from local and Interstate moving companies!  HomeBulletin.net provides all of this, and more:

• Full Service Moving Companies
• Car Shipping
• Self Storage
• International Moving

It’s all at their site.  So, whether you’re moving yourself, or you’re looking for someone to move all of your stuff for you, check out HomeBulletin.net and see how they can help.

Noah, a Man of Covenant

God made a lot of promises to Noah– and to the world through Noah. First, God promised safety to Noah, his family and all the animals on board. God told him that the only way that he would survive the coming flood would be if he would build a boat, gather the animals and store the food.

Noah was special. As Job, he was an upright man and his righteousness was contagiously spread to his family. His children and his children’s wives were blessed through Him.

Why was Noah so special? Because he listened to God. He build the Ark to the exact specifications. He got the food exactly as God had requested. He didn’t go into the Ark until God told him to.

What a strange seven days it must have been between the finishing of the work on the Ark and the time when God shut the door and the rain started coming. I can imagine the scene:

• People on the outside mocking.
• Animals getting used to their new homes.
• Organization getting in place before the water hit.
• Last calls to come aboard.

They had seen the animals come—wouldn’t that be enough to know that it was serious?

And then, as the rain started, I can imagine how sad it must have been. To see the terror in people’s eyes. To hear their screams. To hear them beat on the side of the Ark, and their last gasps of breath.

Maybe God was merciful, and moved the Ark out of range so Noah could not hear. Noah’s emotions must have been mixed– grateful for justice and yet, at the same time, mourning the deaths of all of those people that were not in the boat.

And yet, God brought him through it, and promised him a blessing– that the world would continue to be inhabited by sons of Noah.

The forth step to being prepared: Make sure that your kids understand why you are doing what you are doing, and that they know God.

Noah’s sons could have rebelled and said “No way, dad.” And yet, they were blessed for their obedience, but it was Noah’s righteousness that got them there. This is not to say that all your sons and daughters will turn out perfectly– for even Noah’s son looked on his father’s nakedness and laughed. However, the righteousness of the parents is a big umbrella over children.

Noah was blessed also in that he lived 350 more years after the flood. Life-spans start to decrease after him. He was the last of the 950 year old men.

And lastly, God made a promise to start his work over again with Noah. He makes a covenant (Gen 9:9) with Noah and all of his seed. It’s rare that God offers to make someone be the father of all people:

• Adam was the first man.
• Noah became the primary man.
• Abraham was chosen and given one son.
• Moses got offered a redo with him being the cornerstone of Israel.
• Christ will be the next Adam

Noah was a special guy because he was a guy that lived a life that was upright before God in the ordinary times– and God used Him in extraordinary times.

Harnessing the Power of Social Networks

Back when I was independently wealthy (the short time between college and marriage) I knew that I’d have to save money in order to buy the things that would be necessary to care for my family.  So, I put money in my company’s 401K plan, took out a Roth IRA and purchased some stocks using E-Trade.

The only problem is, I really didn’t know what I was doing.  I wasn’t very knowledgeable about what stocks to buy, when to sell, or even more advance concepts like short selling.  The only good bits of information I was able to get were from people like my Great Aunt that was actually doing some investing, but that still didn’t help me know when to sell.

There’s a lot to learn about the stock market– I’m out of it except for my 401K, but in watching it I’ve noticed that there’s a lot to learn about the numbers, and just about the time the “experts” predict something everything changes.

It’s important to have good advice, and the people at MyWallSt.net have taken the concept of a social network and applied it to the problem.  They allow you to create a “Rookie” account where you can get a set of funds that you can invest– basically play money.  It’s a tool to educate you in how to invest and the ins and outs of the numbers.

Go on over to MyWallSt.net and take a look.  It’s a very interesting concept and I’m sure it would help anyone with any interest in the market (casual to serious) learn more about how to invest in stocks, and you never know– it could lead to a great stock pick!

Noah, a Man of Detail

God gave Noah specific instructions on building the ark. He told him how big it was supposed to be (300 x 50 x 30 cubits). He told him how many stories to make it (3 Stories). He even told him what to make it out of (Make it out of gopher wood) and where to find the wood (at the local Lowe’s Home Improvement). Just kidding– about the last one.

But it didn’t end there, God also told Noah to get food for him and the animals. It wouldn’t do for the dinosaurs to be eating the chickens, you know, so there had to be enough feed and the right kinds of feed to take care of the people there for the year that they would be on the boat. (And one wonders if the food was running out when Noah sent out the dove and the raven?)

Did you ever stop to think what Noah’s life must have been like during the 100 years he was building the Ark? Sure, he was building– hewing logs (unless there was someone that already did have a shop setup), nailing wood, building a boat he’d never seen before– preaching and still walking with God… but what about his day job? I mean, he had to provide for his family (his wife and his son’s wives) so he must have done something to get food– I’m sure no one was paying him to build the ark even if he advertised it as the first floating zoo.

Noah built one door and one window– symbolizing only one way to salvation: getting on that boat. God was the one that opened and closed that door.

And then there’s the details about the animals. Contrary to what Sears and those babyshowers you’ve been to want you to believe, it wasn’t just two of every kind of animal. It was two of every kind of unclean animal. Of the clean animals and birds, Noah was to take seven. Don’t believe me? Check out Genesis 7:2-3. And before someone says “how did Noah what an unclean animal was?” keep in mind that Moses who did know the difference between clean and unclean edited the book of Genesis.

God then brings the animals to board the Ark. Anyone who’s seen the movie Babe or watched a parade know that animals walking together, two by two, into a boat had to be quite the sight. Could you imagine the hecklers? How could they explain this?

And yet they must have, for no one else came forward to believe.

God then tells Noah what would happen. He exalt’s Noah’s righteousness– in fact, Noah’s in quite the elite crowd:

• Gen 6:9 – Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations and walked with God.
• Gen 7:1 – God tells Noah to come into the Ark because He has seen that he is righteous.
• Gen 8:21 – God took the curse off the ground because of Noah – specifically his obedience and his sacrifice.
• Gen 9:17 – God forms a covenant with Noah
• Isa 54:9 – God compares His promise to Israel with His promise to Noah
• Eze 14:14:20 – God talks about how if He punishes Israel, the righteous three (Noah, Job and Daniel) would only be able to save themselves.
• Heb 11:7 – Noah’s obedience showed his faith to righteousness

Noah was one of the most unsuccessful preachers ever. 100 years of preaching and no one entered the boat but him, his wife, his sons and their wives. People were offered many opportunities to repent. God was preaching his patience through Noah (1 Pet 3:18-20). God was showing that regardless of how ungodly the people were, they still had a chance. Noah remained faithful to what God called him to do.

The Third Step to Being Prepared: Don’t second guess the mission– just do it!

How do we respond to a task where we don’t see the immediate benefit? What’s our reaction to God’s call? Sometimes we want to be a part of something that has the results that we’re expecting. We want a lot of people to come forward. We want to see that person get well. But we have to remember that our job is to faithfully do what we know is God’s will and trust Him to do the rest.

Noah, Special From Birth

The first we hear of Noah is when his father name’s him. In Genesis 5:29, Lamech his father tells everyone that Noah will be the one to relieve man from the toil with which he has to work the ground. This was not the work that we have to do today– this was actually more rigorous. And it started right after the fall:

And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed [is] the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat [of] it all the days of thy life; - Genesis 3:17

However, as Lamech was making this prophecy he didn’t realize just all that would have to come about for it to happen.

• It would take the destruction of all that was living.
• It would take someone of character that God would favor.

That someone would be a man that is one of the few that is called just and righteous before the Lord– the man Noah.

The next we see of Noah is when God sees how corrupt the Earth is becoming, and realizes that there is only one man that is righteous. But, believe it or not, this man was already 500 years old! He already had three sons?

What do you think Noah did before God found him? Was he out making canoes? Working on other big projects? No, the Bible says that he was a faithful man that communed with God. He was faithful in the mundane, and God knew that because Noah was listening, He could talk to Him.

The First Principle of Being Prepared is this: Don’t be too busy to Listen!

Sometimes I feel that we miss opportunities to serve God because we’re out doing “something for God.” By that I mean that we are so interested in doing the great things for God that we head out strong to do something, anything, as long as it’s big. Such that when God does come by we’re too busy doing our big thing “for God” and miss His call.

The challenge here is to make sure that we’re doing what God wants– and we can’t know if that’s the case unless we’re listening. And how can we be listening if we’re not praying and spending time in His Word.

When God gave the call, He gave specific instructions. I have news for you– God hasn’t changed. God will provide the means in His timing. He can’t be rushed, and no matter how impatient we get, things still move according to His schedule.

The Second Principle of Being Prepared is this: When the Lord tells you to do something, Do it!

If you wished to be used of God in big things, you must be willing to do the small things. That means, if God is telling you to take food to your neighbor– Do it! If God’s telling you to pray for that lost loved one– Do it! If God wants you to sweep the floor at the church– Do it! If God’s telling you something to do right now– Do it!

You see, friends, God is going to choose those for the big things that are faithful in the little things. Noah was a just man, and he got that way by being faithful in the little things right from birth for 500 years. How about us?