February 2004 Archives

My family watched a video tonight about the Harry Potter issue. It was put out by Jeremiah Films and addressed the issue of whether or not Harry Potter is promoting witchcraft. We were amazed. It is scary to think Christians can be so taken in by something like Harry Potter. The film showed actual footages from a few of the movies and some excerpts from the books. I would like to say it is an example of Satan transforming himself into an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), but it appeared as blatant darkness to us! As my son said, "It is a scary thing to think millions of children are reading this stuff". These books are being read out loud in our schools! At the end of the video it had some quotes from children saying things like they would like to learn how to use a wand and control their teachers. Another said that the books were really scary, but she told herself it was funny so she could get through the scary parts. I am glad that as a family we have never read the books or watched any of the movies. We will stick by our decision and not have anything to do with Harry Potter!

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Isn’t it wonderful that we have the Holy Spirit as a resident teacher. I love the way He gently reminds us of things. This morning, as I was getting my feathers ruffled, I said to myself "Lord, I don’t have the patience for this". It was almost as if I could hear Him laugh as He gently reminded me of Galatians 5:22: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." (Longsuffering is another word for patience) Yes, we have all the patience we need because the Holy Spirit resides in us. It is the working out of that and the daily appropriating of the patience that we “already have” that is the tricky part! Glad you came to visit!

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It has been a challenge maintaining my first website. Due to some technical difficulties, my site has experienced quite a bit of down time. I have made some changes that should take care of that. By the way, if you are looking to purchase some web space I highly recommend Dsense Hosting. They have been great to work with. They are quick to respond when you need help. (of which we need a lot of!) I hope I shall be a little more consistent in the future. It’s been a great day, hasn’t it?

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This week as I was driving to and fro somewhere, I was being bombarded with not so nic Somewhere fro somewhere, I was being bombardedin the recesses of my mind, I was gently reminded that my thoughts weren’t really the kind that would please God. Fortunately, before I left for my errand, I had grabbed a music tape. I popped it in the car cassette player and forced myself, and I do mean forced myself, to sing along to the songs. They were praise songs directed toward God. Not very long after I started singing, I soon realized that the thoughts in my mind had changed. It was then, that I was reminded that it is absolutely impossible to “think” on two things at once. We can take control of our thoughts and make ourselves think on whatever we set our minds to. I guess that is what Paul meant when he wrote things like “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” in Colossians 3:2. Come back and visit again soon. As the mother of teenage boys, I am always thinking of their future. Sometimes even when they are not. One of the things I have always tried to impress upon my children, is to make very careful choices as they go about their lives. The choices they make today, in many cases, will affect what kind of person they become in the future. Choices that they make today could even alter their future. It is awesome to think that in 5 maybe 10 years, they could be parents themselves. Certainly choices they make in how they respond to things will affect how they respond to things when they are older and on their own. I remember someone telling me when my children were little, “don’t do anything in front of your child that you don’t want them to do times ten”. That has really proved to be true through the years. Ultimately, my goal has been to teach them the truths of the Word of God. It is those things and only those that will hold them together through the years. The word of God is faithful and true. It can work in the lives of our children despite those areas where we think we may have failed. Be encouraged my friend. The marathon is not over yet.

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