Couples go to U.S. to pick baby's sex

The Chinese want boys and the Canadians want girls. If they have enough money, they come to the United States to choose the sex of their babies.
Well-off foreign couples are getting around laws banning sex selection in their home countries by coming to American soil — where it's legal — for medical procedures that can give them the boy, or girl, they want.
"Some people spend $50,000 to $70,000 for a BMW car and think nothing of it, but this is a life that's going to be with us forever," said Robert, an Australian who asked that his last name not be used to protect the family's privacy.
He and his wife, Joanna, have two boys. Now they want a girl. Australia only allows gender selection of embryos to avoid an inherited disease.
The United States' lack of regulation means a growing global market for a few fertility clinics. These businesses advertise in airline magazines or post Web sites aimed at luring clients worldwide.
...
Foes call it "consumer eugenics" and say it opens the door to a future where parents will choose their babies' hair color, eye color and potential to grow tall enough to play basketball. U.S. doctors are catering to the same gender bias that has led to female infanticide in China and India, opponents said.
"What you're saying is it's better you don't exist than be the wrong gender for my family. And that's a shocking assertion," said Matthew Eppinette, director of research at the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity, a Christian bioethics group.

Source, emphasis mine.

I can't decide what bothers me more, the fact that these couples are willing to seek out people to do this, or the fact that these doctors have no ethical issues with it.

Oh, I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free to destroy and manipulate thousands of babies...Not quite as catchy, is it? Yea.

Man Drives with Wife's Head, Kills Two Others in Accident

BOISE, Idaho - A man transporting his wife‘s severed head in a pickup truck crashed into an oncoming car, killing a woman and her 4-year-old daughter, police said. The impact sent the head flying onto the road.

Time, 51, who was not injured, told officers he was involved in his wife‘s death, investigators said.

An autopsy was scheduled next week to determine Theresa Time‘s cause of death, Canyon County Coroner Vicki DeGeus-Morris said.

"It was one of the more horrific and complex crime scenes on memory," Hightower said. "A woman and her child killed in a crash, and a severed head from an earlier homicide: It‘s nothing short of bizarre and tragic."

Source.

Give Me The Manna

If your church has been plateaued for six months, it might take six months to get it going again. If it's been plateaued a year, it might take a year. If it's been plateaued for 20 years, you've got to set in for the duration!


I'm saying some people are going to have to die or leave. Moses had to wander around the desert for 40 years while God killed off a million people before he let them go into the Promised Land. That may be brutally blunt, but itÂ’s true. There may be people in your church who love God sincerely, but who will never, ever change.

Source.

Well, you learn something new every day. I had no idea that God had them wander around in the wilderness because he wanted to kill the Israelites! Here I thought they wandered the desert because of their hardened hearts towards God. I thought their refusal to trust and obey God was why they were in the wilderness? I think this isn't quite the same thing, Mr. Warren. The people who died in the wilderness refused to trust and follow God, it was their stubborn disobedience and distrust of God that kept them out of the promised land. But you're saying that even though they sincerely loved God and wanted to follow Him they needed to be killed off? Don't you think that is a little different than someone who has solid Biblical concerns with your teachings?

You're saying that anyone who doesn't agree with *your* vision for their church is in rebellion to God and essentially will never enter that promised land, simply because they don't share your vision? You're not quite Moses, Mr. Warren. Moses was bringing the Israelites out of slavery, he was the voice God used to deliver the people. God, through Moses, spoke words to the Israelites that would cause them to live peacefully, productively, healthfully, and most importantly, in a way that would cause all the nations to stop and wonder. The Word God gave Moses would, when followed in heart and deed, would bring glory to God. The Word given to the Israelites would set them apart from the world, there would be a major difference between God's people and the people of the world.

Yet you're calling us to go back into the world. To measure ourselves by the world's standards rather than by God's. You're calling us to be the same, show the lost that we're all the same as them, but we aren't! We're called to be seperate! We're called to seek first the will of our Father, but the way you talk it seems as if we're supposed to be more concerned with looking *cool* in the eyes of the world.

Well, Mr. Warren, if your promised land is all about numbers, being hip, and has very little to do with hungering for the Word and seeking God's glory above all, then I think I'll just hang out here in what you consider the wilderness. Better to live on the manna God sends than to fool myself into thinking that the chips and dip you offer is better when it is almost completely devoid of what I need to survive.

Bill Gates to Retire

That's right folks, over the next two years he'll be phasing himself out. Details here.

You Just Never Know

David posted this.

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. (1 Peter 3:15)

The Kingdom is a Treasure

For a long time I considered myself a Christian, you see once upon a time I'd had a run in with Jesus and had realized He was exactly who He said He was. But somehow I managed to stray, the hardness of my own heart led me away to follow the voice of one who was not my Shepherd. But I really never thought much about it, I thought I was following God, I realize now how lost I was. Sometimes I think that is even more difficult, calling someone off a path that they are sure leads to God can be more difficult than calling someone who knows they aren't following God. But you see, I think in part my problem was when I began to stray is that I really didn't have much of a foundation. I didn't read my Bible on regular basis, or even a semi-regular basis, the "church" I was in didn't preach on sin, and was absorbed in the latest movements to hit the Body. They were more focused on making everyone feel good about themselves than really displaying God's glory through His Word. It isn't their fault I strayed, that lies on my shoulders, but they most certainly weren't doing their job by calling me back from the brink of sin. Years when by and this continued, I got more lost and the place I called my church just kept on going their own way as well.

But God in His great mercy was calling me back to Him, and one night I hit the floor in tears. A trial like I'd never experienced had just knocked the wind right out of me and I realized there was no way I'd make it through on my own. In the early morning hours of the following day I realized how I hadn't been following God. Oh, I may have been using His name and claiming to know Him, but I most certainly wasn't following Him. I easily fell into the latter category of John 14:23-24:

Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.

After that night I discovered a deep rooted hunger for God's Word. I just couldn't seem to get enough of it. And the more I studied the more I understood God. And it continues to this day. You see, before this trial I'd never studied the Word and because I'd never studied I really didn't have firm grasp on who God was. I knew Jesus was sent to the cross because of my sins, but I didn't know it in my heart, I hadn't let it take root there. And because I didn't know the Word I wasn't able to understand just how precious Christ's sacrifice was, I wasn't able to see the value of the Cross in a life changing way. I wasn't able to comprehend that losing just about everything I held dear to me was worth the loss if I'd gained Christ.

Ah, but when we get that glimpse, when God opens His Word to us, when we begin to understand the value of living a life in submission to God, when we really begin to grasp that we can and will be changed drastically. Why are people all around the world dying for the name of Jesus? Why are people seeing the Bible and their relationship with God as more important than a house, food, water, or their very lives? It's because they've opened their hearts to Him and allowed Him to show them His magnificence!

I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil. (Psalms 119:162)

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. (Matthew 13:44-46)

Oh, how I want Him to open my heart like this, to be willing to risk everything to call Him my own.

In the Name of the Lord

At what point do our sacrifices become unacceptable? Does God have a standard for how we are to approach Him, or can we simply come however we see fit? It is becoming more and more common to hear that we can come as we please and so long as we are sincere God will accept it. We can take the physical side of yoga and remove it from the intertwined spiritual aspects without concern. We can take things that originally were found in other religions and slap the name of Jesus on it and that will make it "Christian." Or will it? And can we really do a service in the name of God and demand reward for it? If I do x, y, and z do I force God's hand into giving me what I want? If I do 10 prayers does that mean I will get what I want? And if I'm willing to do 100 prayers will I get 10 times as many blessings? Is God a genie that is willing to give whatever we want so long as we bring something, anything to Him? If we just rub that little bottle He'll answer our prayers, after all He has to. Doesn't He?

To what purpose cometh there to me incense from Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me. (Jeremiah 6:20)

It seems to me that we can't just do whatever we want and expect God to accept it. If we can pick and choose our methods for approaching God from other religions, why then shouldn't we just be able to follow those other religions and still come to God? If God is going to accept certain aspects of false religions as a way to come to Him, why then would He insist that coming to Him through Christ's sacrifice is the only way (John 14:6)?

If we could make sacrifices to God in whatever manner we wanted, why would He kill Aaron's sons in Leviticus for doing this very thing?

And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the LORD, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the LORD, and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. Then Moses said unto Aaron, This is it that the LORD spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace. And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said unto them, Come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp. So they went near, and carried them in their coats out of the camp; as Moses had said. And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD hath kindled. And ye shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: for the anointing oil of the LORD is upon you. And they did according to the word of Moses. And the LORD spake unto Aaron, saying, Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations: And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses. (Leviticus 10:1-11)

If God is a God of order, and we know He is, then why would He be so disorderly that man could choose to do whatever he wanted? This idea contradicts all of Scripture. He set up the world in a specific order, the way the ark was to be built, He had Abraham come to a specific mountain to offer Isaac in sacrifice, He brought the Israelites out of Egypt along a specific path, specific ways for how the tabernacle was to be laid out, even the way the land was divided once they were able to enter the land was very specific and left no doubt as to who lived where. God was so specific that He gave over a hundred prophecies concerning the coming of His Son. So, if God is going to be that detail oriented in everything else, why do we seem to think that He doesn't have specific things He will and will not allow as valid ways of worshiping Him?

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
(Matthew 7:22-23)

Likewise just doing the "right" thing isn't good enough. Our hearts must be engaged, we must serve because we long to see God glorified, not to attempt to use our servanthood as something to dangle over God's head. He wants us to do what He commands because we love Him, to desire His glorification over all else. God doesn't do half way. Christ said that those who love anyone more than Him are not worthy of Him (Matthew 10:37), He shot down the Pharisees outward righteousness because they were not doing their works out of a pure heart (Matthew 23:25). Clearly doing "good" to appear righteous is not righteous at all, one must do good because God has commanded us to do so and one must do that work faithfully with a clean heart to the glory of God.

And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; (Colossians 3:23)

Google To Take Over The World

Seriously. Google Calendars! And it will let you share the calendar with people as well as send alerts to your cell phone. I love Google.

On Psalm 124

A Song of degrees of David.
If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say;
If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us:
Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us:
Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:
Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.
Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.
Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.
Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 124:1-8, emphasis mine)

Simply beautiful. If it had not been the Lord who was on our side we would be consumed, truly how could we stand if not for the Lord? I have seen this truth displayed so well in my own life. There have been things that I'm sure I would have never been able to manage if God hadn't been there leading me through. Things I'm sure could have broken me, made me endlessly bitter, even some things could have killed me if God had not been there. But He was there, and continues to be there. And when the trials come He lifts me back up off my knees and leads me through. I rejoice in knowing He has gone before me, all I have to do is walk the path He has laid out...And I don't even have to do that in my strength, but in His.

Food Review: Southern Chicken with Corn Fritters

I made this a few weeks ago for my family, I enjoyed it. My daughter devoured the corn fritters.

4 chicken portions
Flour for coating
Matzo meal for coating
2 eggs beaten
6TBSP margarine
3 TBSP corn oil
2/3 c soy milk
1 c flour, sifted
8 oz canned corn kernels, drained

Coat the chicken with flour, then dip into the beaten eggs, then into the matzo meal pressing firmly. Chill for 10 minutes to allow the coating to set.

Heat half the margarine and half the oil in a large skillet. Fry chicken until brown, remove with slotted spoon and place in an oven proof dish. Cover and bake @ 400 degrees for 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the remaining egg to soy milk and mix. Stir in flour, then season to taste. Stir in corn.

Heat the remaining margarine and oil in skillet and drop table spoons of batter in and fry until brown. Remove with slotted spoon and keep hot.

Truthfully We Can Know The Truth

The truth can be difficult to hear, especially if you try to convince yourself that there is no truth. You can squirm and disagree and argue all you want, but it doesn't change the fact that there is a truth that can be known, a truth that does not change, a perfect truth. And you're not going to find it within yourself as some would have you believe.

People defend their resistance to the truth by saying that everything is subject to our interpretation. But is it? Is God's truth, as revealed through the Bible, subject to our personal gut check? If something convicts us do we get to reject it simply because it doesn't make us feel good? Hardly.

People like Neale would have us believe that everything is relative and that whatever makes me feel good is true for me, and whatever makes you feel good is true for you. So, if being an Islamic terrorist makes you feel justified then go for it! If joining a community to drink some special Kool-aid is going to make you feel accepted and loved, then obviously that's what you should do. GIVE ME A BREAK, ok? When has everyone doing whatever they wanted made anything better? Look around you, most people are doing whatever is "true" for them and the world is a mess! But Neale would have us believe it is all the Church's fault, trying to force people into believing what they believe, etc. And yes, it is partially our fault as we still sin, but let us not chalk it all up to human error. Just because I screw up doesn't make Jesus' statements any less true.

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)

Jesus understood the idolatry of the human heart, He knew we want to go our own way and declare ourselves God, but He also knew that this belief will lead to nothing but destruction. And so we find written in the pages of Scripture instruction, guidance, a moral compass, AND most importantly we find the message of Salvation. In Christ, through Christ. He understood our flesh wants to live it up and fill every lustful desire, but He tells us "[i]f any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me, " (Matthew 16:24) ah but that doesn't sound very fun does it?! But Jesus is the truth, He speaks the truth, and that truth is found within our Bibles. So, when the text that is declared to be God inspired (2 Timothy 3:16) says that destruction is coming for anyone that rejects Him (Matthew 3:10, Matthew 7:13, Matthew 24:51, Philippians 3:19, 2 Thessalonians 1:9, Revelation 20:10-15) and speaks of old things passing away and a new heaven and a new earth coming (Revelation 21:1), you can be sure it is true.

I can't imagine still going through my life leaning on my own understanding (see Proverbs 3:5), all I remember is how lost I was, how distraught, how miserable. But in Christ I have a loving Father who protects and guides me, I have something that doesn't change to line myself up with to see if I am in error. And this God through His Word tells me to be a servant, to be lowly, to care for others rather than seeking to lift myself up. People can blame whoever they want all they want, but the fact remains that the mess this world is in isn't God's fault. We've all departed and rejected the truth in order to seek out our heart's sinful desires, so when someone comes along and says that we can't know the truth all they're really doing is feeding into this lie that nothing matters. I can do what I want, because it is true for me. Hogwash.

In this everything is relative world, I lean upon the one constant, the one truth. The God who is revealed through the Bible.

Posting Question

For anyone who stumbles upon this and uses blogger to create your posts, when you create a post do you still get the option at the bottom of the window to edit the date and time of when the post gets listed?

For example, I used to be able to create a post at 4am, publish it, and have the blog say it was published at 4pm. Now that option seems to have gone away. I even gave in and checked it in IE, and it is still not giving me the option. ::shudder:: Yes, I was that irritated that I opened IE. I'm going to get some counseling right after I get this figured out.

Attacked By Wolves!

Carla narrowly escaped with her life from a pack of wolves in her back yard....or not. It is a great read, pretty frightening actually. Darn Calvinists trying to eat people again.

The Canaanite Woman: A Woman of Scripture

[Today we'll wrap up the (Gentile) Women of Scripture series, you can find Ruth here, the woman at the well here, and Rahab here.]

Can I be honest? This woman and her interaction with Jesus had me scratching my head for a good three days. Really, go read Matthew 15:21-28. I mean at first Jesus ignores her pleas for mercy, (I can count on my hand the times Jesus doesn't reply to someone) then because she keeps crying out the disciples turn to Him and basically say, "Look, Jesus, You should send her away. She keeps crying, she's getting on our nerves, should we tell her to go for You?!" And finally He responds by telling her that He has come for the lost children of Israel, He's come for the Jew. And so she bows herself down in submission to Him (she obviously knows He is the Messiah) and worships Him. And still He seems to want to dissuade her:

But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. (Matthew 15:26)

Boy, if Jesus had said that to me when I'd been pleading for the life of my child I'd probably just sit and cry (or I'd be shocked at least for a moment). But not this woman, she was there to fight, she knew He could deliver her daughter from the spirits and refused to give up.

And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. (Matthew 15:27)

Oh, she's a quick one! And so Jesus marvels at her, can you imagine? Jesus just sitting there for a moment, jaw agape. He sees that she has "great" faith and sends her on her way with the assurance that her daughter will be fine.

Now that aside, how does this apply to our faith, what lesson can we pull from this, how does this connect to the other three women of our series? Truth be told I started this series because I was studying Pentecost. And what is one of the things that happened at Pentecost? The Gentile was brought into the family of God. The lost were found and redeemed. The faith went from the Jew to the Jew and the Gentile. God opened up the gates and declared for all to come. The Jew, the widow, the fatherless, the stranger, everyone can come! But you must believe.

One verse really stuck out to me (verse 27) and that's where God started me at with this woman. The crumbs. Jesus says it isn't right for Him to take what is for the Jew to give to a dog and the woman retorts, "Yes, but even the dogs are fed crumbs." The dogs get the crumbs, the left overs! What struck me so significantly about this verse is that I had just been studying the Law of the Old Testament, and in that God commands that when one harvests their crop they must leave some for the widow, the fatherless, and the stranger that is amongst them. It is as if this woman who wasn't a Jews and probably didn't know the Law understood this concept. Jesus came to feed the Israelites first, but the crumbs, the left-overs were rightfully for the stranger.

It strikes me that while crumbs may not sound great, or that God loves the Jews more, we have to keep in mind that the Jews walked all those years in the wilderness being fed by God. And what did He choose to feed them? Manna...Crumbs from heaven! And those crumbs were enough, heck they were more than enough! Left-overs in the field were more than enough to sustain Ruth. God's crumbs are plenty, and are something to rejoice over!

Admittedly this can be hard to hear, especially for all us non-Jews. Our pride tends to puff up, but really let us consider this. God isn't a respecter of persons, the Bible tells us that repeatedly. So, obviously God isn't playing favorites, He doesn't love them more than us, so what's the deal?

I have two children. They're both small and I love them both. But the fact remains that my boy is nearly two years older than my girl. Now, I give my son bigger portions of food, I give him food that takes a little more effort to eat. Does this mean that I love my little girl any less? Do I love her with an inferior love because I don't think she is ready for steak just yet? I love her just as I love my son, and truthfully it is the very fact that I love her that keeps me from giving her things she isn't ready for! I give her just what she needs lest she be overwhelmed or choke.

Similarly God loves us. The Jews started out with the manna that fell from the sky just as crumbs would fall from a table. And you know what? That was exactly enough to take care of them, and it taught them to depend only upon God. It taught them to wait beneath that table eagerly expecting those crumbs to fall. And they weren't under that table eating crumbs for eternity, when God determined they were ready He brought them up to the table and gave them the next step up. And so the Gentiles are brought in. For a time we need to learn that same dependence, that same eagerness, that same persistent pursuit of food, of His provision. And when we get to the point where He decides we are ready for more than just crumbs He'll step us up to the corn. He'll bring us to it, but out of love for us He will not give us more than we are ready for. And so we must wait upon the Lord.

One last thing about this woman. When she approaches Jesus she's pleading for mercy, and for the deliverance of her daughter from evil spirits. We see in this woman a child-like faith. She knows who Jesus is, she knows what He is capable of, she knows that He can do this work and save her daughter. She asks Him to have mercy on her, why and what is this mercy she desires? She asks for Him to deliver her daughter, and in doing so He will have mercy upon her. Any parent knows how heart wrenching it is to see a child being afflicted. Do our hearts not break for our children when they are hurt, do we not cry out for deliverance when we see them going astray? And when our child heals, or returns from disobedience do we not rejoice? In delivering the daughter He is being merciful to the parents. And this is what the woman cries out for. She knows He can do this, and she has it in her mind that she will not leave until she hears from God. She'll wait there behind Him for as long as it takes, but she will hear Him answer. She knows He can answer and refuses to let a slight delay in that answer deter her. She hears those around her saying He will not answer, that she should give up and go home, she hears all this and still she has faith. He will answer, but she must wait.

We are called to have this faith. To know that God does hear us, and that even though He might seem silent, He might seem as if He will never answer, we know He will. It may not be what we want to hear all the time, but He will answer. He hears us when we call, we can be sure of that. Sometimes it is beneficial for us to have to wait. But He will answer in His timing.

Google Spread Sheets

I'm excited. I don't use spread sheets much, but this is definitely good, especially for a budget (which is what I'm using to test it out). I love Google.

Rahab: A Woman of Scripture

[Today we'll take a look at the next person in the (Gentile) Women of Scripture series, you can find Ruth here, and the woman at the well here.]

In the second chapter of Joshua two spies are sent to Jericho from the Israelite camp, upon coming to the city they hide in the home of a harlot named Rahab. I've always wondered, when she let them into her house did she immediately realize these men were not native to the city? Did their speech betray them? If she did know who these men were before the king sent for them, then she'd probably been ready to hide them from the very beginning. Another question I've had, how exactly did the king and his advisers know the spies were in her house? Did someone see them enter? Surely she wasn't the only woman of her...occupation, so perhaps someone saw them enter her house. Perhaps one of her competitors was trying to put her out of business. However it came about the king knew the men had been there and sent people to capture them.

Rahab sends them on a wild goose chase by telling them the spies have left. She knows the Lord has given them the land, she has heard about the Red Sea, the various battles, and she understands that the city will not be able to stand. In fact, she tells the spies how the men of Jericho have no courage because they have all heard of these things. This is why the king seeks them out, no doubt to prevent their return to the Israelites. She asks that since she protected them that they would protect her and her family. They tell her that they will, but she must hang a scarlet rope out her window.

This gentile woman heard of all that the Lord had done for the Israelites and when given the opportunity to serve or reject Him she embraces and protects what He has trusted her with. God sent these men to her, He gave her this opportunity and she responds faithfully.

This reminds me of our lives, how God has given us a most precious treasure, how He has entrusted us with His word, with His message. When we first hear the Gospel message, when we understand the value of it, when we begin to understand the strength of God, the holiness of God, the glory as it is displayed in the Gospel, when we embrace this message the enemy comes knocking. You see he knows how dangerous this message is, that this Word that has entered our hearts means the sure destruction of his plans, and so he seeks it out to destroy it. But we must guard our hearts and protect the message, we must not open the door and let the kings men take the spies away.

These men coming to her was a merciful act on the part of God, had they not gone and all this transpired Rahab would have died with the rest of the city. But God had a plan for her, He loved her and was calling her to the family, and it was His love for her that enabled her to love and serve Him.

The scarlet thread is an act of faith. She puts herself out there, marks herself as the harlot that hid these men and trusts the men (and by implication, God) will stay true to their word and save her. When we come to Christ, we must lay it all out in faith, trusting God is an honest God and will forgive our sins.

Can you imagine how frightening it must have been to stay in that house and trust she would be safe when the attack came? How difficult it must have been to not run away? The faith it took to stay in the midst of that terror astounds me. But she stayed, and God did save her.

And He will save us when we trust Him. When God tells us to stay we must. When God tells us to have peace we must. When God speaks a promise to us, you can be sure it shall come to pass exactly as He has said. We must rest in Him as Rahab did, and have confidence that He will bring us through.

End of the World Blog Spotting

People sure are fixated. It's quite funny.

Carla is sure the world is ending because the cat didn't come home and the coffee maker is acting up.

Frenzyboard has been dreading this for an entire 24 hours, has declared that it is 6/6/6, and wonders if we are dead yet.

Editor at Large has a list of useful endtimes phone numbers and websites you might want to check out. Sooner Thought has the same list. Truly it is the end times when two blogs post the exact same thing!

And of course no End Times post would be complete without the Left Behind people declaring that the Rapture comes today!

The Woman at The Well: A Woman of Scripture

[Yesterday we kicked off the (Gentile) Women of Scripture series, you can find Ruth here]

In John 4 Jesus is traveling with His disciples and comes to rest at a well, the disciples go off to find some food while Jesus rests. And as He rests this woman, this Samaritan woman comes to draw some water. Jesus turns to her, and despite all the many cultural reasons why a Jewish man would never address a Samaritan woman He asks her for a drink, He asks her to serve Him. To say she is blown away is the understatement of the year.

When we first hear God's call, when we first realize He wants us to serve Him our response very often is, "Do You know who You are talking to? I mean, really Jesus, You must not know or there is just no way You'd be talking to me!" But He says to us that it is we who don't understand. If we really understood at that point who He was, we wouldn't question why He is calling us. When He calls it can seem odd to us, after all why would God be talking to me?! But still He calls, He sees us going about our business, going back to the same temporal well to fill our needs each day, trying desperately to feel whole, and when He offers that living water, when He offers Himself to us we're amazed because we'd never imagined anything could fill us so that the luster of the world seems to fade. We try to make our lives "better," more complete by our own strength, but this emptiness we feel, this emptiness we try to distract ourselves from can only be filled by God. When He offers this living water, this thing that can make us thirst again we get excited, we cry out just as the woman did, "Lord, give me this water!"

But then He tells us to go get our husband - we have no husband but have been laying down with man after man, temporary fix after temporary fix, sin after sin. I imagine the woman's heart sunk a little as He told her to get her husband, I imagine her shame as she told Him she had no husband. Perhaps she thought, "Oh no, He won't take me now. He won't give me that living water, He won't fill this need now. I've messed up and now He will revoke His offer." Instead of withdrawing, however, He probes further.

The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. (John 4:17-18)

You see we cannot hide anything from God. We can't hide our actions, our thoughts, or even our desires from Him. He sees it all and in spite of this He is still calling. Do you remember? Can you imagine it? The way her heart must of rejoiced! He knew everything about her and still He called her! He calls us to bring forth our "husbands," the idols in our lives to present what we having trying to fill our lives with. I think there are two reasons for this. First, we bring these things forth and must admit to ourselves and to God that we have had idols in our lives, and in bringing them into the light we are able to see that the Glory of God is so much greater than anything. We have the opportunity to rejoice as He shows us the fallacy in our lives. He calls us to bring forth that man, that job, that drug, that TV show, that CD, whatever it is we are using to distract ourselves from Him He tells us, "Bring it here! Set it next to me! I'm going to show you my greatness, so go and get this thing, this powerless thing that has been crafted by man's hand. Go and get it, and I will show you nothing can stand, nothing can over power the beauty of My Glory. Go, get it, I know it's there, bring it forth and release it!"

Can you imagine the excitement as He declared to her that He was the Messiah? As He confirmed her suspicions? Can you hear the joy in her voice as she rushed to tell everyone the Messiah had come? And for some it is like that, someone in their life receives the call and it causes them to wonder, perhaps they even accept that what this person says is the truth as many of the people in John 4:39 did. But those people weren't content with just hearing it from the woman, they needed to hear it from God's own lips, they needed to experience God for themselves. And so it is with us, we cannot ride the back of another, we must go down to that well and meet Jesus for ourselves, we must hear Him ourselves, we must because everything else is a sad substitute to really knowing Him. We must hear His call from His own lips. And when we go down to that well, then we will believe not just because this woman's life has been turned inside out, but because our own lives have been turned upside down. And so it is with the Church. We are called to tell the world about our wonderful Savior, but ultimately we can only point the way. They may believe what they say, but they can only believe because God has enabled them to. We love Him because He loved us first.

The Leper Who Came Back

And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.
And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priests.
And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.
(Luke 17:11-19)

How I long to be like that leper that turned back! How often do we take God's deliverance for granted? How often have I cried out for mercy and when I received it I went on my way rather than falling to my knees in thanksgiving? Oh how I long to see my heart transformed, to see in those moments that God is glorified and has given me another opportunity to lift His name up. Oh, I want faith like that!

How I Love Moments Like This

You know sometimes I just catch a glimpse of God's love, a glimpse that is much more clear than my every day understanding. Sometimes it just hits me, overwhelms me really, and I can scarcely believe the mercy, grace, and love He has bestowed upon me. Honestly I can't explain it, I don't even understand it sometimes. All I know is that He has chosen me, has called me, has redeemed me, loves me, and protects me despite the fact that I have done nothing to deserve it and countless things against Him. And it's enough. It is more than enough. My God is here with me, and is willing to use little ol' me as an instrument to display His Glory. Truly astounding. I love moments like this, the realization of His love has been freshened this past weekend. I hate becoming complacent about it, about the cross, about the sacrifice Christ made, but I let myself become so far to often. But He has answered a long standing prayer, and will continue to answer a prayer...Soften my heart, peel back the layers of hardness and transform me, ah how it amazes me how He's already moved in this prayer! And how I rejoice in knowing He will continue! Truly God is good.