Trapped!

God delivered the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt by performing a series of miracles on their behalf. He led them through the desert by a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night. The cloud and fire were never out of sight; thus, they were able to travel either by day or night. That is heady stuff! The Israelis must have felt really special. Therefore, when God led them to a spot between Migdol and the sea, opposite Baal-zephon, and instructed them to camp there along the shore, they must have felt confident that all was well.

 God alone knew that Pharaoh had decided that he would pursue them and take them back to Egypt as slaves. When the children of Israel saw the Egyptian army approaching, however, they were terrified, and they began to rail against Moses: “Have you brought us out here to die in the desert because there were not enough graves for us in Egypt? Why did you make us leave Egypt? Isn’t this what we told you, while we were slaves, to leave us alone? We said it would be better to be slaves to the Egyptians than dead in the wilderness.” (Exodus 14:11-12 Living Bible)

The children of Israel were trapped, but it was a good trap. God had brought them to that spot so that he could perform yet another miracle on their behalf. God told them through Moses, “The Egyptians you are looking at—you will never see them again. The Lord will fight for you, and you won’t need to lift a finger.” (Exodus 14:13-14 Living Bible)

God parted the sea and dried the ground with a strong east wind that blew all night. During the night, He moved the pillar of fire behind the Israelis so that it stood between them and the Egyptians. That single pillar of fire gave light to the children of Israel but darkness to the Egyptian army so that they could not find them.

When the ground was dry, the Israelis crossed the sea, and when they were all safely on the other side, the Egyptian army was able to see them again and pursued them. As the Egyptians crossed the sea, however, God caused the water to close over them and the sea to return to normal. Of the entire Egyptian army that chased after Israel through the sea, not one remained alive.

As long as Pharaoh’s army remained intact, the people of Israel would never have been safe. God, therefore, wiped out the entire army without any help from the Israelis and provided yet another example of His loving faithfulness to His children.

The Bible is filled with examples of good traps set by God to bring His children to the exact place they needed to be: Jonah was trapped in the belly of a whale; as a result, the entire city of Nineveh was saved.

Likewise, when Syria was at war with Israel, the King of Syria sent his army to Dothan to capture the prophet Elisha. When the inhabitants of the city awoke the next day, they discovered that they were surrounded by a huge number of troops, horses, and chariots. As the army advanced, however, Elisha prayed that God would make the army blind, and He did. Elisha then went out and told them that they had come to the wrong city. He said that he would take them to the prophet; instead, he led them to Samaria, the capital city of Israel, and turned them over to the King of Israel. Elisha then instructed the King of Israel to give the Syrian army food and drink and to send them home. After that the Syrian raiders stayed away from Israel.

Do you feel trapped? Has life squeezed you into an impossible situation? Are you struggling with your job, your finances, your broken relationships? Stop thinking of the “impossible” circumstances in your life as traps. Maybe God is squeezing you a little so that He can deliver you in a miraculous way that will build your faith and change your life.

When we find ourselves trapped by circumstances beyond our control, we frequently want to give up and retreat into slavery or surrender to the enemy. Instead, let’s resolve to turn to Jesus and trust Him with all of our hearts to deliver us and to set us in that perfect place in the center of His will. It is scary for a while, but the results are amazing.

For related articles visit http://www.frontier2000.net/.

                                                     

How Can You Know?

A few years ago one of my sons was doing some video work for a local church. Part of his assignment was to ask people on the street how anyone can know that he is saved. Camera in hand, Israel hit the streets to record the various responses.

When Israel shared some of those responses with me, I was very surprised to learn that even among the people in the video who identified themselves as Christians, there was no real consensus about how we can be certain of our salvation. Since I always have a lot to say about almost any subject relating to the Bible, Israel asked me if I would answer the question on camera. I responded as follows:

 Romans 10:9 says that salvation comes from trusting Christ and that “it is as near as our own hearts and mouths. For if you tell others with your own mouth that Jesus Christ is your Lord, and believe in your own heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Living Bible).

Salvation is the result of Grace. It cannot be earned. Nevertheless, we see from this scripture that assurance of our salvation is two pronged. First, we must believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and that God has raised him from the dead. Second, we must tell others that Jesus Christ is our own personal Savior—the Lord of our lives.

If we truly believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and that God has raised Him from the dead, we cannot really keep such good news to ourselves. We look for every opportunity to share Christ with others. It is not an obligation; it is a privilege.

Romans 10 illustrates how faith and works combine to bring about salvation. We must believe in our hearts, and we must speak with our mouths. Salvation is never the result of works, but works are always the result of salvation. Paul said that he could not be given any special credit for preaching the Gospel because he could not restrain himself from doing it—even if he wanted to. His heart was so full of his love for Christ and his appreciation for what Christ had done for him that it overflowed into his speech.

And that is how we can know that we are saved. We believe that Jesus Christ is exactly who He says He is—the Son of God who was born of a virgin, died for our sins, and rose from the dead so that we could be saved. Because we believe this wonderful message, we gladly share the gospel with others and proclaim Christ as our savior whenever we have the opportunity.

For more articles by Joyce Swann, visit her website at http://www.frontier2000.net/.

                                                  
                          

To Tell the Truth

Over the weekend I saw a television show in which a man told about his terrifying experience when he was kidnapped by four heavily armed thugs while he was standing on a sidewalk in New York City. Stan was forced into a car, and his kidnappers told him that they were going to drive him to an ATM where he was to withdraw a specified sum of money. 

Stan described himself as a “wimpy little guy” who had spent his youth trying to talk his way out of being beaten up by bigger, stronger guys. Those years of verbal gymnastics would be put to good use that night as Stan established a rapport with his kidnappers and even displayed a sense of humor. The thing that really struck me about Stan’s conversations with his kidnappers, however, was that every time they asked him a question, he told them the truth—even though it did not seem as if the truth was the best option.

On the way to the ATM the kidnappers asked Stan how much money he had in his savings account. Stan said that he realized that if he lied, they would be able to determine the correct balance by looking at the ATM receipt, and he answered truthfully, “about $150,000.” The kidnappers then changed their plan. They blindfolded Stan with his own scarf and took him to their apartment to wait for the bank to open the following day. When the bank opened, they planned to force him to withdraw $50,000 and give it to them. They had found Stan’s father’s name and address in his wallet, and they told him that if he did not do exactly as they said, they would kill his father.

As the night progressed, the kidnappers asked Stan what he would be doing if he were not with them. Stan then answered truthfully that it was his thirty-eighth birthday and that he would be celebrating with friends by attending a concert.

The next morning the kidnappers asked a still blindfolded Stan what he did for a living, and again Stan answered truthfully, “I am a U.S. Attorney.” The kidnappers were now the ones who were terrified. As they talked among themselves, the kidnappers agreed that if Stan were a U.S. Attorney, the FBI would be brought into the case immediately. As they discussed the situation, they became more and more agitated. Finally, they told Stan that they were going to take him out of the apartment and warned him not to “try anything” or they would shoot him. Once again they forced Stan into their car, and Stan “knew” that he was going to die. After driving for a short distance, however, the kidnappers pulled over to the curb, took him out of the car, and told him to start walking. Stan did not try to remove his blindfold as he began walking down the sidewalk in the direction that they had pointed him. A few seconds later, he heard the car drive away.

Because Stan had listened so carefully to everything that was going on around him, he was able to give the police excellent information. As a result, all of the kidnappers and one of their girlfriends who was present at the apartment during Stan’s ordeal were arrested within fifteen hours of Stan’s release.

What a testimony to telling the truth! If Stan had lied about the amount of money in his savings account, they might well have withdrawn a few hundred dollars and then killed him. Stan must have considered it risky to tell his kidnappers that he was a U.S. Attorney, but if he had lied about what he did for a living, they would not have seen him as a threat. Because Stan was truthful about his occupation, his kidnappers could not wait to get rid of him. No lie, no matter how elaborate, would have made such an impact on them.

Stan’s story is a good reminder that truth is always the best defense. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” He also said that He came to bring truth to the world. As Christians we need to always remember that honesty is not only the “best policy,” for those of us who follow Jesus, it is the only acceptable policy.

Sometimes life is scary, and telling the truth does not always seem like the best option. Nevertheless, we must believe that God will honor our commitment to tell the truth and protect us—even when the truth feels dangerous.

For related posts visit www.frontier2000.net.

                                                      
  

What is it?

Manna--bread from Heaven sent by God to feed His people as they wandered in the wilderness before entering the Promised Land. What delightful images that word conjures up in the minds of Christians and Jews alike! Can any person of faith hear that word without being moved? Considering the monikers that have been attributed to manna, it seems unlikely.  A list of synonyms from Merriam-Webster includes: “feast, joy, delight, pleasure, treat.”

Exodus 16 gives a detailed description of the first time manna fell. After being delivered from slavery in Egypt, the people of Israel were hungry, and God sent vast numbers of quail into the Israeli camp so that they would have meat. The following morning when the dew disappeared, it left behind tiny flakes on the ground that were white and flat and tasted like honey bread. The Israelis called the food “manna” and ate it for forty years until they arrived in the land of Canaan where they had crops to eat.

Why did the people of Israel call the food “manna?” The word sounds exotic to our English language ears. If we did not know better, we would expect it to mean something equivalent to “God’s gift to his people” or “provision” or “bread from Heaven,” but manna means nothing of the sort. When the people saw it, they said, “What is it?” Even after they realized that these tiny flakes were food from God, they did not even bother to give it an appropriate name. They just continued to call it manna—a Hebrew word meaning “What is it?”

Manna was a free gift sent by God to nourish his people as they waited to enter the Promised Land. During those forty years, the manna was a constant; the people never lacked for food. Were they grateful? Of course not! They complained that when they were slaves in Egypt they enjoyed garlic and leeks and cucumbers, and they looked back to that time of horrible bondage with longing.

Fourteen hundred years later the people were again in bondage. They were living in the Promised Land, but they were now living under Roman rule, and they felt hopeless as they struggled under the oppressive Roman yoke. God chose this time to send them more bread from Heaven.

This second bread came in the form of a baby born in a manger in Bethlehem. He grew to manhood and became both the most loved and the most hated figure in history. He multiplied the loaves and fishes and fed the multitudes literal bread. The night before He was crucified, He broke bread which He gave to His disciples saying, “This is my body, broken for you.”

Unfortunately, Jesus Christ, God’s second gift of bread from Heaven, was treated in just about the same manner as the manna. For the past two thousand years, people have been looking at Him and saying, “What is it?” Some say that He was a “good man.” Others say that He was a prophet. A few argue that He was a charlatan who staged His life and death to fulfill the scriptures of the coming Messiah.

Those of us who call ourselves Christians recognize that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who was crucified and rose on the third day so that we could have eternal life. We never need to look at Jesus and say, “What is it?” We know that He is the bread from Heaven that completely satisfies our souls.

For related articles, visit www.frontier2000.net.

Don't Live in Prison

Last weekend I saw a "48 Hours" episode that recounted the story of a seventeen-year-old boy who was wrongly accused of violently murdering both of his parents. He was found guilty and sentenced to fifty years to life. Marty served almost twenty years of that sentence before he was exonerated and gained his freedom.

Immediately after his release from prison, Marty moved in with his aunt and uncle and enrolled in college. He has now earned his degree and is working as a paralegal while he attends law school.

When the young man’s uncle was interviewed, he said that before Marty came to live with them, he was afraid that Marty would be changed. The uncle thought that because of the years he had spent incarcerated, Marty would be hardened and rough—a mere shadow of his former self. The uncle was, therefore, surprised to discover that Marty had not changed. He was still gentle and considerate. He had retained his “good manners” and was attentive to the needs of both his aunt and uncle.

The interviewer asked Marty how he had managed to remain well mannered and thoughtful while living under such harsh conditions, and his answer was very interesting:  “I never lived in prison. My body resided there, but my spirit and soul were never there.”

What a powerful statement! Marty went on to say that the worst part of every day was waking up to the sounds and smells of prison. Nevertheless, after the first few minutes he would steel himself to get through that day without becoming a part of the prison life.

Although Marty is not a Christian, his remarks reminded me of the accounts of the famous men and women of faith recorded in chapter 11 of Hebrews. The Bible says that they all died without receiving everything that God had for them, but they were happy, “for they agreed that this earth was not their real home but that they were just strangers visiting down here.”  (Heb 11:13 Living Bible)

I think that Marty’s approach to prison is exactly the approach that the Bible teaches we should take concerning our lives here on earth. Our bodies must reside here for a while, but we must not allow our souls and spirits to become entrapped by “those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us up.” We must be in this world but not of this world.

As Christians, of course, we must constantly reach out to other people, but even while doing so we must keep our distance from those things that would drag us down and destroy our witness.  We must treat the unsaved world with love and patience, but we can never allow ourselves to join them in anything that dishonors Christ.

Living in a sinful world and associating with those who mock our faith can be difficult. Yet, Chapter 12 of Hebrews tells us that we have “a huge crowd of men of faith watching us from the grandstands,” cheering us on.  Since we are privileged to be in such good company, can’t we do at least as much as Marty, who resided in prison but never allowed himself to live there because he looked forward to a day when he would return to his real home?

For more articles by Joyce Swann, visit www.frontier2000.net.

  

IT’S SIMPLE—NOT EASY

History records that Christopher Columbus was sitting at dinner with a group of Sea Captains who all agreed that his discovery of the New World amounted to “nothing” and that any of them could have done the same. Discovering the New World was “easy.”

After a while Columbus held up a hard boiled egg in its shell and asked who among them could make it stand on end. Each of the captains tried without success until one finally shouted, “No one can make an egg stand on end! It is impossible!”

Columbus then took the egg and set it down on its end just hard enough to slightly flatten the bottom. When he removed his hand, the egg stood on end perfectly. “Look!” he exclaimed. “It is easy, now that I have shown you how.”

Clearly, standing an egg on end is not easy. In fact, it is not even possible unless you know how. Columbus had taken an impossible task and made it simple, not easy.

During my twenty-five years as a homeschooling Mom, I constantly looked for ways to make homeschooling simple, both for me and my students. For instance, before I ever sat down with my oldest child and began our daily lessons, I developed a phonics program to teach her to read. I took 3 x 5 cards and wrote one letter of the alphabet on each. I then wrote common combinations such as "sh", "ch", "tr", etc. on other cards. I taught Alexandra the name of each consonant and the sound it makes. I then taught her the name of each vowel and the long and short sound for each. After that I taught her the various common combinations.  When she had mastered all of the cards, I introduced Dr. Seuss’ "Hop on Pop" as her first reader. Within six weeks after I first began teaching her, Alexandra was reading.

After I had taught several of my children to read using this method, people began asking me if I were going to sell my “reading course.”I explained that it was not something that anyone would buy; it was just a simple method of teaching children to read.

Finally, I agreed to share my method with a friend who insisted that she was desperate for a way to teach her son to read. I made her a set of cards and invited her to come to my house to pick them up. When she arrived, I explained exactly how I used the cards to achieve the desired results. My friend listened quietly and then took the cards and left.

Later, I walked out into the front yard and found the entire stack of cards scattered over the lawn. She had thrown them away and had not even done me the courtesy of waiting until she left my property to do so!

This woman had a lot of money and spent it freely. If I had produced a more complicated program that included colorful artwork, glossy cards and complex instructions, she would have gladly paid three or four hundred dollars to get it. Whether it would have actually worked would not have been an issue.  

The problem with simple is that few people respect what is truly simple. For example, when Naaman, the commander-in-chief of the King of Syria’s army, went to Elisha to be healed of Leprosy, Elisha did not even come to the door to talk to him. He sent a servant to tell Naaman that if he would wash himself seven times in the Jordan River, he would be healed. That is about as simple as it gets, but Naaman did not want simple.

Naaman went into a tirade, but his officers reasoned with him, “If the prophet had told you to do some great thing, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply to go and wash and be cured!” (2 Kings 5:13 Living Bible)

Naaman finally obeyed the prophet’s instructions, and he was immediately healed. He then stood humbly before Elisha and declared, “There is no God in all the world except in Israel.” Naaman vowed that he would never again offer burnt offerings or sacrifices to any god other than the Lord.

Can you imagine the “problems” Naaman’s healing caused for him? He was whole—his skin was as healthy as a little child’s—but he was now the only godly man in Syria. He served a king who worshiped idols, and he was in a position where he could not “fly under the radar.” It was one of his duties to accompany the king to Rimmon’s temple. Naaman’s life would never again be easy.

Last night John, a Mennonite Missionary, spoke at our church. He and his wife were raised in a Mennonite community in Mexico, and he now works full-time as a missionary to the Mennonites.  John said that the Mennonites are very religious but very legalistic. Because they are taught not to read the Bible, they do not have a concept of Grace.

John went on to say that he is naturally a very shy person and that it is extremely difficult for him to approach people to talk to them about the Gospel. However, he is able to persevere because of the knowledge that if he shares the Gospel with someone, and that person believes the message, God has the power to save that person and change his life.

This simple idea has brought about salvation for many of the Mennonites living in Northern Mexico, but John has paid a price. He has exchanged what could have been an easy life for one that is simple—and filled with hardship.

Simple and easy often collide. God has given us a plan of salvation that is simple enough for all who are willing to come to Him to comprehend. The problem is that we humans tend not to value that which is truly simple. Those of us who have accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior must help others to understand that God’s plan of salvation is simple, but it is also the most valuable gift the world has ever known. 

For related posts visit http://www.frontier2000.net/.

                                                

God’s Button Box

When my youngest son, Judah, was five or six years old, he went shopping for my Christmas gift in my button box. This was done without my knowledge, but he had seen a particular button there that he thought would make a perfect Christmas gift for Mom.

The highly prized button was made of clear plastic and was about a quarter of an inch across. Shaped like a diamond, right down to its facets and pointed end, it was one of a kind in a box full of ordinary shirt buttons.

When Judah had secured his “diamond,” he found a piece of wrapping paper which he crushed around it so that the finished gift looked like a crumpled wad of Christmas wrapping. He then put his gift under the tree with all the others and waited for Christmas Eve.

When I opened Judah’s gift that year, he was beaming. As soon as the button appeared, he shouted, “I gave you a diamond!”

I told him how gorgeous his gift was and how glad I was to receive it. I knew that whatever I did, I could not redeposit it into the button box. After a little thought I went to my closet and took out my favorite sweat shirt—the one I wore every time it was clean—and sewed the button to it a couple of inches below the left shoulder seam. I then showed the shirt to Judah and told him how wonderful it would be to have that beautiful diamond on my shirt every day.

In the months ahead that small plastic button was the source of much joy for both of us. When I was working with Judah in our homeschool, he would often reach out and gently lay his hand over it, knowing that it was special to me. For my part, every time I saw that button, my heart filled with happiness knowing that it represented a special love connection between the two of us.

Judah is now twenty-seven years old, but even now as I retell this incident my heart overflows with joy. Maybe it’s just a Mom thing, but I don’t think so. I learned a valuable lesson from that gift given to me so many years ago with so much love.

I often think of that gift in terms of how we give to God. There is nothing that we can give Him that is not already his. The Bible says in one place that He owns all of the animals, and in another that He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He talks about the treasures buried in the earth that man does not even know exist. He says in the book of Isaiah, “Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool….My hand has made both earth and skies, and they are mine.”      

Most of the time when we give to God we do so by going to His button box and taking what already belongs to Him. God honors those gifts, and they are important because through that kind of giving we are able to help others in need. We tend to forget, however, that what God wants most is our obedience and our faithfulness. He wants us to show kindness to others and to share our faith. He wants us to love Him and spend time in His presence. When we give these gifts, we draw close to Him and share a special love connection with Him that only comes from having a personal relationship.

So, what can you give to the God who owns everything? You can give yourself; it is the only thing that you have the power to give. Fortunately, it is the gift that He wants most.

For related posts visit http://www.frontier2000.net/.

Their Past, their Glory, our Thanks

On March 27 the Twenty-second Annual Bataan Memorial Death March 2011 was held at the foot of the Organ Mountains in the high desert terrain of White Sands Missile Range at White Sands, New Mexico. My thirty-nine year old son was among the thousands of participants from all fifty sates and five foreign countries who gathered to either march or run the 26.2 mile marathon to commemorate the occasion.

My son, who is a civilian, was a runner, but all members of the military who chose to participate were required to complete the march wearing full uniforms and carrying a pack weighing a minimum of 35 pounds—which they did in approximately six hours!

This past Sunday I had lunch with my son and his wife, and they were full of stories about the experience. We live only about fifty miles from White Sands, so they were accustomed to the special challenges that desert climates present. The temperature that day ranged from 40 degrees in the early morning when the march began to 80 degrees that afternoon. In addition, the participants had to deal with a 35 mile-an-hour head wind with the accompanying blowing sand that filled their eyes and nostrils.  It was not, however, the challenges of the march itself that my son and daughter-in-law talked about; it was the participants who captured their imaginations.

They were greeted at the starting line by Sgt. Oscar L. Leonard from the 28^th Heavy Bomb Squadron who was a prisoner forced to make the notorious Bataan Death March which began on April 9, 1942. The sixty-mile journey lasted five days for some and up to twelve days for others. It was brutal, but Sgt. Leonard and his fellow survivor, ninety-five-year-old Tony Reyna, who arrived at this year’s event in a wheelchair, did not talk about their sacrifices. They smiled quietly and shook hands with the marchers, who thanked them for their service.

Although Leonard and Reyna did not share the details of their experiences—Leonard was subsequently tortured repeatedly during the four years of his captivity---history gives us some vivid eye-witness accounts of what that first march entailed. The march began with 76,000 prisoners—12,000 Americans and 64,000 Filipinos. It was a sixty-mile journey during which 5,200 Americans died from disease, lack of food and water, exposure to the scorching sun, and severe abuse by the Japanese. The prisoners were not allowed to help their comrades, and any who were unable to continue were shot. One young Captain who was discovered to have some Japanese Yen in his pocket was beheaded as his fellow prisoners watched.

All of the heroes at the march were not “ninety somethings,” however. Eighteen Wounded Warriors also participated. These Wounded Warriors were made up of both single and double amputees, but they were there to brave the fluctuating temperatures and blowing sand to march in honor of those who had gone before them to defend our country.

The event’s motto is: Their past, their glory, our thanks. I believe that just about sums it up. We have so much for which to be thankful. God has allowed us to live in the greatest country in the world. Our history is filled with accounts of the courage and sacrifice of those who went before us, and our young men and women are still sacrificing their lives and limbs to keep our country safe and free. Let us never forget to be thankful for the courage and sacrifice of those who gave so much and for those who continue to serve so that we may continue to be free. 

For related posts visit http://www.frontier2000.net/.

                                                  



What is America Teaching her Daughters?

I do not believe in a double standard; I am a firm believer that boys should be held to just as strict a standard as girls. Nevertheless, when a girl becomes pregnant out of wedlock, she is the one who pays the highest price. In almost all cases she is the one who supports and raises the child; she is the one who may find it necessary to delay higher education, perhaps permanently; she is the one whose reputation suffers.

Today when I arrived at my office and brought up my AOL homepage to begin my day’s work, I saw an article about Linnese Ortega, a young woman whose name appears on a Facebook “Smut List.” Although I was very busy, I clicked on the article to see why this pretty teen was upset enough to appear on the Today show to protest having been included on the list. According to the article, the “Smut List” is a list circulating around seven school districts in Greenwich, Conn. and New York’s Westchester County of 100 high school girls who were rated based on their level of sexual activity. I had naively expected Miss Ortega to say that she had been misrepresented as someone who is promiscuous when, in fact, she is not. I was wrong.

Before I go on, I want to make my own position clear. I think that it is both wrong and cruel for anyone to ridicule another person for any reason. If I were the parent of one of the teens involved in posting those names, I would administer a stiff punishment and have several long talks with the offending teen about the damage that such antics can cause. I would also make it crystal clear that nothing like that had better ever happen again. However, I believe that this incident is symptomatic of a much deeper problem.

The article describes Linnese Ortega as a teenage Mom of two who can’t figure out why she is on the list when “she isn’t even in high school anymore.” Linnese said that her sixteen year old sister also made the list and that she feels “bad” for her.

I genuinely feel sorry for the girls on the list as well as for the teens who targeted them, but the entire incident demonstrates a terrible lack of teaching for all concerned. Our society has become so skewed that we have lost sight of the fact that parents are the ones responsible for instilling values in their children that keep them from living a lifestyle that will cause them to be included on such a list and from being so insensitive that they would participate in the compilation of such a list.

The article, which was written by Emily Tan, argued that this is yet another form of cyber bullying and that criminal charges should be filed against any teens who were involved in posting the names of the girls who appeared on the list. I think that Ms. Tan has rocks in her head, and I think that she is an excellent example of just how lost we have become as a society.

America is teaching her daughters that it is perfectly alright to have extra-marital sex. Therefore, when a young woman is faced with the consequences of her bad choices, she believes that no one has the right to criticize her. On the other hand, America is also teaching her daughters that treating other girls badly makes the perpetrator very “cool.” In fact, we constantly see ads for television shows such as Bad Girls that, apparently, glorify this kind of conduct.

It is the parents’ responsibility to teach their daughters that no sex outside of marriage is permissible. It is also their responsibility to teach their daughters that when a girl makes a bad choice and disobeys God’s laws it is our responsibility to treat her with love and compassion.

If parents would concentrate on really instilling these two beliefs in their daughters, we would have far fewer illegitimate births, far fewer venereal diseases, and far fewer young women who are humiliated at a time when they need to be extended Christian love and Grace.

                                                   

Who’s Your Favorite?

Every parent with more than one child has been asked the question many times: “Who’s your favorite?” Of course, every parent also knows that only a bad parent would ever name a favorite. Instead we reply, “I don’t have any favorites. I love everybody the same.”

My grandmother died at age ninety-three leaving fifteen grandchildren behind. After her funeral they returned to her house and sat around exchanging memories. Finally, one of my female cousins said, “I always felt kind of guilty because I knew that I was her favorite, and I didn’t think it was fair to the rest of you. This announcement was received by fourteen pairs of stunned ears.

“Are you kidding?” someone else exclaimed. “I always knew that I was her favorite.”

After a bit more discussion, it was discovered that every grandchild had always believed himself/herself to be my grandmother’s favorite. How did Grandma manage to convince each grandchild that he/she was the favorite? It certainly was not because she ever told any child that he/she was the favorite. In fact, Grandma was faithful to always give the PC response, “Grandma doesn’t have any favorites. She loves everyone the same.”

After sixteen years of pondering how Grandma managed to made everyone feel so loved and so special, I think that I have the answer. It was not true that Grandma didn’t have favorites; the truth was that she had fifteen favorites. She treated each grandchild as if he/she were an only grandchild. She loved each of us for who we were, and she never compared us to anyone else. She never told us that we should be more like one of her other grandchildren. If we had a complaint about one of our cousins or siblings, she would say that the person in question was just fine, and then she would change the subject.

All of her adult life my grandmother lived on a very modest income, but she knew how to make everything special. She cooked the most delicious meals that I have ever eaten, but she always made it seem as if the labor that she put into those superb meals was no effort at all. She would sit in front of the fire on a cold winter’s day and rock a grandchild long after everyone else had told that child that he/she was too big to be rocked. She always kept a bowl of dimes on a little table near the front door so that on a hot summer’s day when a grandchild heard the ice-cream man’s truck coming down the street, he/she could grab a dime and run outside to buy a treat without having to ask permission. When one of the grandchildren stated that he/she was not allowed to play in the mud, or climb a tree, or go barefoot in the yard, she would reply, “You’re at Grandma’s house now.” This was her reminder to both her grandchildren and their parents that when you were at Grandma’s house, Grandma made the rules, and nine out of ten times her rules came down in the grandchildren’s favor.

When my children were small, we used to take them to a cafeteria for lunch every Sunday after church. One day one of the ladies in the serving line who had become accustomed to seeing us there said to me, “You are the only person I know with ten only children.” I consider that to be one of the nicest compliments I have ever received. I know that I will never be as good as my grandmother was at making children feel special, but I have tried to let each of my children know that they are my favorite child. I was never afraid to “play favorites.” When I was asked the question, “Who’s your favorite?” I answered with complete honesty, “You’re all my favorites.”

Parents should love each child for who he/she is and appreciate that child’s unique contributions to the family. God loves diversity, and so should we. Let your children know that they are special because of who they are and that no one can ever take their place either in your family or in your heart. It is true that as parents we love everyone equally, but it is not true that we love everyone the same. We have a different relationship with each child, and if that child were suddenly taken away, a deep void would be left in our hearts and in our homes.

The next time your child asks you, “Who’s your favorite?” tell him why he is your favorite. Let that child know that you love everyone equally, but also tell him what qualities make him special and give him a place in your heart that no one else can ever fill.

For related posts go to http://www.frontier2000.net/.

                                                                                                   

                  

Love Triangles are the Best

God loves the number three. We have the Trinity; we have the triple braided cord; and we have the family. All are examples of God’s power in our lives. However, we may not associate the family with the number three unless we think of it as the three-part unit of father, mother, and children—the perfect love triangle.

Have you ever thought about why God created families? Why is the parent such an important part of a child’s life? I have a theory that God gave us parents because they are the first example of God/Jesus that we encounter. We have all heard stories about people with abusive fathers or negligent mothers who had a difficult time becoming Christians because they could not relate to God as their parent. The last thing they wanted in their lives was another disappointing parent.

The Christian man who was the most instrumental person in helping John and me fully commit our lives to Christ told us a very interesting story about his own experience in coming to Christ. Ed was an only child, and when he was a little boy his mother left his father and him. He spent his whole life mourning because his mother had deserted him and wondering what had prompted her to do it.

Even after Ed was grown, he still felt so unloved that he was unable to move past the hurt of having been deserted by his mother. One day when he was reading the Bible, he came across Isaiah 49 and read these words: “Can a mother forget her little child and not have love for her own son? Yet, even if that should be, I will not forget you.” (Living Bible)Ed said that the pain and sadness that had always been a part of his life just melted away and he knew that God was not only a father to him but a mother as well. From that moment he began to feel loved, and he began to heal.

Yes, God is the perfect parent who never deserts us and never stops loving us, but before we meet Him, we meet our earthly parents. For those of us who are parents it is imperative that we provide a good example for our children. They meet us long before they meet Jesus, and their initial opinion of Him is going to depend to a great extent on their opinion of us.

I never asked my children to do anything I was not willing to do myself. When we added scripture memorization to our spiritual training, I learned the same scriptures they did. I also adhered to the same television viewing rules that I had for them. We had very strict guidelines in terms of sexual content, language, and violence, and I never watched anything that I considered unacceptable for them. My youngest child moved out in 2003, and I still live my life by those rules that I set for my children so many years ago.

Remember, sin is not determined by the age of the sinner. Most things that are not appropriate for children are not appropriate for anyone. A simple test is to ask yourself why you object to your child being exposed to a particular movie or book or activity. If your objections are due to moral content, that particular activity is not appropriate for you either. If you ignore this obvious conclusion, you are sending a message that says, “It’s okay to do anything you want after you reach age twenty-one.”

Your children are always watching you. If you want them to live lives that honor Christ, you must commit your own life completely and without reservation. When you provide an example of genuine Christian living coupled with love for your spouse and love for your children, you are creating a love triangle that will stand the test of time.

Excerpted from "Looking Backward: My Twenty-five Years as a Homeschooling Mother" by Joyce Swann.
                                                                        
















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You are Probably Richer than You Think

I live about two miles from El Paso, Texas, which is separated from Juarez, Mexico, by a river in some places and a chain link fence in others. Juarez is the largest border city in Mexico and has been recently named the most dangerous city in the world. The drug war that rages across the river is responsible for multiple grizzly murders daily, and the influx of illegal aliens from Mexico into El Paso and the surrounding areas continues to grow as they look for a means of escaping the violence in their own country.

Recently our pastor asked a young woman who attends our Wednesday evening church service to tell the congregation about going to court over her legal status. I, of course, thought that she was going to say that she was about to be deported and that she needed prayer. I could not have been more wrong! Her intriguing story made me realize that many of us are living just as she was—hiding fearfully in the shadows while our inheritance is slipping away.

Ana is the daughter of an American man and a Mexican woman. She has lived most of her life here in El Paso, but her father was seldom in the home. Because her mother is a Mexican National, she and Ana had lived “under the radar” to avoid deportation. Now that Ana is in her mid-twenties and has two little boys of her own, however, she felt that she needed to do whatever was necessary to protect herself and her children from deportation. She mustered her courage and decided to go to court to find out how she could obtain legal status for herself and her children.

When Ana’s court date finally arrived and she stood before the judge, she was amazed to discover that she is a citizen! The judge informed her that she has been a citizen since birth. She was, of course, overjoyed, but I could not help but think about the years of torment that Ana had experienced because she did not know about her priceless birthright of American citizenship.

Hearing Ana’s story also led me to think about my own birthright and that of every person who has accepted Jesus Christ as his/her savior. We have so much in Christ, but we often live in fear, and anger, and frustration because we do not understand that He has taken our burdens. We refuse to forgive because we have never really understood the significance of His having forgiven us. We feel inadequate because we do not really understand that when we accepted Christ, it was no longer about us; He is the all-sufficient one, and He is more than able to supply our needs “according to His riches in Glory.” We feel unloved because we have never opened our hearts to accept the unlimited love that only He can offer. If we really understood and were willing to accept what is ours, we would live our lives very differently.                                                        

As we face the difficult times ahead, I hope that we will all remember our birthright as Christians, and that we will step out of the shadows to accept all that is ours in Jesus Christ.
                                              
                                                                      

Make “Facebook” your “Word”

    While driving to my office this morning, I was listening to KLOVE radio. Eric and Lisa (the morning hosts) were encouraging everyone to choose one word to define 2011 as it pertains to their walk with Christ. Apparently, this practice originated with a pastor and his wife who have done this for many years. The idea behind the practice is that we should pray and ask the Lord for the word (yes, it is one single word) that will help us accomplish the work that He has for us in 2011.    

     Eric and Lisa have been discussing the “word” for at least a week. During that time they have shared a number of “words” that readers have entered on the KLOVE website along with a short personal story telling why they believe that their particular word is from God.

    This morning I was a little annoyed when Lisa once again began telling why “clear” was the word God had given her. I wasn’t really relating to any of this and was beginning to ponder turning the channel when Lisa shared a “word” from one of their listeners. The word is “Facebook” and the listener said that she had chosen it because God had shown her that in 2011 He wants her to keep her face in His book! That really got my attention and made me feel ashamed that I had doubted that a single word could transform lives.

     Most Christians recognize the importance of daily Bible reading. We have had daily Bible reading in our home since 1970, and I believe that it was the single most important thing that we did for our children. Lately, however, it has come to my attention that many Christians do not read the Bible every day. Even if they expect their children to have Bible study and devotional time individually, they do not read the Bible aloud together as a family with mandatory participation by all children—no matter what their ages.

     We parents worry so much about the godless direction that our society has taken, but we sometimes forget that unless our children really know God’s Word, one direction will seem about as good to them as another. Because so many Christians are unwilling to commit to a daily Bible reading, we see a shocking lack of understanding about who God is and what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Unless our children know how Jesus lived His life and how He reacted to sin and sinners, they cannot hope to know how to live their lives.

     Your children will not always make good choices, and they will sometimes disappoint you, but if you fill them with the Word of God, they will know the truth. The funny thing about the truth is that once they know it, they can never separate themselves from it. They may wish that it were not the truth, and they may live their lives for a while as if it were not the truth, but, in the end, Truth will always win.

     This year let’s all pledge to make “Facebook” our word. If we will be faithful to keep our faces and the faces of our children in His book, we will find that it will be much easier to accomplish those things that God has for us and our families in 2011.
                                                                                                                                   

  

Your Children Will Stand and Bless You

Chapter 31 of Proverbs describes “a truly good wife.” In addition to the description of this woman, the chapter also contains some promises to such a woman. One of those promises is, “Her children stand and bless her.”

This is pretty heady stuff! Yet, because we know that all of God’s promises do come to pass, we also know that if we live up to those standards, our children will stand and bless us. For most of us this probably brings to mind a picture of a large formal gathering with us in the center surrounded by grown children who take turns standing and proclaiming our many virtues to all within earshot—sort of a “let’s all stand and bless Mom party.”

I must confess that as a young woman when I read Proverbs 31 I imagined a scene like the one described above. Now I am old, and no version of the above has ever played out in my life. Of course, I have had individual children tell me that they thought I was “a good mother,” but most of the time the compliment resulted from my wishing aloud that I had done a better job in one area or another. 

It is also true, however, that I no longer would even want a “let’s stand and bless Mom party.” I now know that a mother’s responsibilities never end. We never stop being deeply concerned about our children. We never stop praying for them concerning their jobs, their spiritual lives, their spouses, and their children. There is simply no expiration date on being a parent, and I now believe that we must finish our lives before our worth as a parent can be accurately evaluated.

Then what about the promise, “Her children stand and bless her?” Like all of God’s promises, it is literal and certain. It just took me a while to understand that the “standing and blessing” was of a much more powerful and heartwarming nature than I could ever have imagined.

My children never complained about being homeschooled through all educational levels, including undergraduate and graduate degrees. They never implied that they wished that they could attend the schools from which they earned their degrees. They were very good children, but after they were grown I became aware that as adults they sometimes felt that they did not “fit in” as well as other people who had not been homeschooled. They had to “explain themselves” to those who believed that homeschooling equals truancy. Even though they have been extremely successful in highly competitive professions, the homeschooling discussion still arises among their colleagues. Consequently, I have sometimes thought that there was a little part of them that wished they had never been homeschooled.

I was surprised, therefore, when my first grandchild was old enough to go to school and her mother never even considered NOT homeschooling her. When her siblings came along, they, too, were homeschooled. When my other children had children of their own, they also homeschooled. I never asked them whether they were planning to homeschool. I never tried to “sell” them on the idea. They just never considered anything else. One of my daughters did enroll her oldest child in a private Christian school for first and second grades, but after a while she concluded that she could do a much better job at home. She has now been homeschooling for the past two years. All of my grandchildren who are old enough to attend school are being homeschooled.

I now know what it means to have my children “stand and bless me.” The blessing is not about compliments. The blessing is having them do for their children what I did for them.  It is having them look at all of the educational choices available to them and deciding that Mom got it right. It is having them know that not everyone is going to approve, and many people will never understand the value of what they are doing, but choosing to do it anyway because it is the best possible gift that they can give their children.

On those days when you are feeling under appreciated, remember that one day you will teach your last lesson and close your homeschool. You may have a few years when you are uncertain whether your children appreciated all that you sacrificed to teach them at home. But one day you will have grandchildren, and when it is time for them to go to school, you will be blessed to discover that your children are following in your footsteps. When you see your grandchildren thriving in their loving, Christ centered homeschools, you will truly experience what it means to have your children stand and bless you.