This Moment

Steven Curtis Chapman put out a new cd in 2007 called This Moment. I intended to buy it, but for some reason never got around to it. I recently found a special edition of it for only $5, so I bought it & I'm so glad I did. I love all the songs, but the words to these two really stand out to me & I want to share them. (My favorite parts are bold.)

You Are Being Loved

So you think love is only for the good enough
And one thing you’re never gonna be worthy of
But there’s a song being sung over you
By the One who breathes life into you

You are being loved
You are being loved
Right now at this very moment
You are being loved
You are being loved
Right now you are being loved, loved, loved
You are being loved, loved
You are

You ought to see the smile
you’re bringing to your Father’s face
You ought to hear Him sing His version of Amazing Grace
‘cause that’s the song being sung over you
By the God who breathes life into you

You are being loved
You are being loved
Right now at this very moment
You are being loved
You are being loved
Right now you are being loved, loved, loved
You are being loved, loved
You are

With every breath that you’re taking
And every beat of your heart
Even while this song is playing
Whatever you do
Wherever you are
There’s a song being sung over you

You are being loved
You are being loved
Right now at this very moment
You are being loved
You are being loved
Right now you are being loved, loved, loved
You are being loved, loved
You are

You are loved, loved, loved
You are being loved, loved,
You are
You are being, you are being, you are being loved
You are being, you are being, you are being loved right now

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Definition of Me

Here come those words again
I run for cover, I’m dodging them.
But still they seem to find their way
around my best defense
Here come those little thoughts
of all I ought to be but I’m not
I try talking to myself
but I’m still not convinced
I’m good, I’m bad, I’m everything in between oh
I’m this, I’m that, but really God we both know

It is Your love that defines me
and Your love that reminds me
it’s not what I do
This life I live, You have given
and in You I am hidden
This is what I know is true
that the definition of me is You

This ladder never ends
I climb up then we slide down again
Still they say you’ve not arrived
until you reach the top
But Your kingdom’s upside down
it is the servant who wears the crown
First is last and last is first
and You’re all that I’m not
‘Cause I’m weak, You’re strong, I’m empty ‘til You fill me
I sing this song to keep myself remembering

It is Your love that defines me
and Your love that reminds me
it’s not what I do
This life I live, You have given
and in You I am hidden
This is what I know is true
that the definition of me is You

I have been made by You
I have been saved by You
All that I am is all because of You
I’m weak, You’re strong, I’m empty but You fill me
I’m singing this song to keep myself remembering

It is Your love that defines
and Your love that reminds me
it’s not what I do
This life I live You have given
and in You, I am hidden
This is what I know is true
that the definition of me is You

(both written by SCC)

The Yellow Prison Bus and the Future of American Healthcare

This is the last paragraph of a blog post by Pastor Voddie Baucham of TX. The entire post is very much worth reading, so just click on my blog post title to go to it.

If you want to know what type of government-run healthcare system Americans will be willing to settle for in the next generation, just walk outside tomorrow morning and watch the yellow prison busses take the next generation of Americans to the taxpayer-funded, government-run, indoctrination center to which they are assigned and ask yourself this question: Are they learning anything today that will give them an aversion to a government takeover of healthcare? Then ask yourself another question: If their parents do teach them to oppose socialism, read and follow the Constitution, cherish freedom of choice, shun government intervention and hold government accountable for ethical use of their tax dollars, how long will it be before they’re standing at the corner waiting on the yellow prison bus and think to themselves, “Hey, if mom and dad really believe these things... why am I standing here?”

VB

God's Ways: Ordinary and Miraculous

I Kings 17: 2-7

God declared, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," (Isa. 55:8). And in fact, one of the biggest frustrations of the Christian life has to do with a lack of understanding about God's ways. There are times when we could really use a miracle, and yet He does not come through for us. Unmet expectations lead to confusion, disappointment, and even anger. Why did God let me down?

There are two schools of thought regarding the miraculous. Some people don't believe God works miracles at all, while others are convinced that if He's not doing the miraculous every day, then something is wrong with their faith. We need a balanced perspective, which we find in the Bible.

God works in both supernatural and ordinary ways, and He determines the method. Elijah ate food miraculously delivered by ravens, but his water supply from a brook was completely natural. When the water dried up, the Lord could have made more spring from the ground, but He didn't.

Sometimes God uses ordinary means to move us in a new direction. The curtailment of his water supply opened the door for Elijah's next "assignment." When the Lord withholds miraculous intervention and lets your brook dry up, He has something else planned for you.

Seeing the work of God in the miraculous is easy, but He's just as involved in the commonplace aspects of life as He is in any supernatural event. Look for His "fingerprint" in the day's mundane activities. He is there, opening and closing doors, drying up one opportunity but initiating another.

--In Touch Ministries

The way I feel lately......

pretty sure there's no need for explanation here.

Happiness.

Well, we did it. Just over a week ago, we brought home 2 new (absolutely precious) 12-wk old Beagle puppies. My husband's boss has 2 full-blood Beagles that he bred, & there was a litter of 5 pups. 3 went to their forever homes once they were old enough, & there were just 2 left. One of the 2 was bought by a couple in NC who already had a couple of dogs. They kept him less than 2 weeks, & brought him back, saying he wouldn't obey, wouldn't stop jumping on things, etc. (Who does that?! Who expects an 8 wk old puppy to know any better?! These things take time!! People like that infuriate me, BUT, for the pup's sake, I guess it's better that they didn't keep him.)

Anyway, back to the story. The last pup was bought by a man working for BMW. His fiancee was still in Germany with plans to move over here, or something like that. It was eventually decided that getting a puppy was not a good idea, so suddenly, there was another pup without a home. (By the way, both of these people paid in full for the pups, & did not get refunds when they changed their minds. This means that we only paid to reimburse the boss for what he had spent on vet visits & food. A very good deal for us.)

Even though he did NOT plan to get them, Nate told me about it, & I admit that I wouldn't let it go. I pestered him about it until he gave in. (That was not the right thing to do, I know! I am ashamed of myself. Really.) After some initial shock at suddenly having puppies in the house again, my sweet husband has (thankfully) adjusted, & gets as big a kick out of them as I do. :) Puppies are so much fun (despite the work)! We weren't crazy about their names & wanted to choose names ourselves, so we each picked one. I chose the name Scout, and Nate chose the name Hunter. Very fitting names for them, we think! It's been so much fun to learn their (very different) personalities, & I'm pretty sure they already think of us as their forever home.

Hunter got sick last week (it was incredibly pitiful!) & had to go to the vet...it was actually very scary for a little while, but thanks to a wonderful veterinarian, he got some meds & is now back to his usual sweet, playful self. Scout is sweet as well, but can be a little terror when he wants to be, so we're working on some things with him. It will take time, but once he grasps the fact that he is NOT the pack leader (WE are!), I think everything will be great. They already walk well on their leashes, which I'm excited about, because I really look forward to taking them on walks at nearby parks; & they do well in the car (I put them in the very back of my Xterra) after some occasional crying at being all the way back there while I'm way up front! As much work as they require, I'm SO glad we adopted them!

Here are some pics of our new babies. :)This is Scout. He's got more energy than he knows what to do with, but once he starts getting tired, he's the first one to want a lap to climb into. :)

This is Hunter. He's gentle & always ready for some good ear-scratching. :)
Happiness.

Oklahoma

I received this in an email & thought it was interesting.

An update from Oklahoma:

Oklahoma law passed, 37 to 9, had a few liberals in the mix, an amendment to place the Ten Commandments on the front entrance to the state capitol.

The feds in D.C., along with the ACLU, said it would be a mistake.

Guess what........Oklahoma did it anyway.

Oklahoma recently passed a law in the state to incarcerate all illegal immigrants, and ship them back to where they came from unless they want to get a green card and become an American citizen. They all scattered. HB 1804. Hope we didn't send any of them to your state. This was against the advice of the Federal Government, and the ACLU, they said it would be a mistake.

Guess what.........Oklahoma did it anyway.

Recently we passed a law to include DNA samples from any and all illegal’s to the Oklahoma database, for criminal investigative purposes. Pelosi said it was unconstitutional. SB 1102

Guess what.......Oklahoma did it anyway.

Several weeks ago, we passed a law, declaring Oklahoma as a Sovereign state, not under the Federal Government directives. Joining Texas, Montana and Utah as the only states to do so. More states are likely to follow: Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, West Virginia, Mississippi, Florida. Save your confederate money, it appears the South is about to rise up once again. HJR 1003

Guess what ..........Oklahoma did it anyway.

The federal Government has made bold steps to take away our guns. Oklahoma, a week ago, passed a law confirming people in this state have the right to bear arms and transport them in their vehicles. I'm sure that was a setback for the criminals (and Obamaites). Liberals didn't like it.

Guess what........Oklahoma did it anyway.

By the way, Obama does not like any of this.

Guess what………Oklahoma is doing it anyway.

(Click on title to verify)

A Modern-Day Daniel

By Chuck Baldwin
August 4, 2009

The Biblical story of Daniel in the lion's den is one of the more famous stories of the Old Testament. In the story, Daniel is commanded to not pray by a decree from King Darius.

Imagine that! Can you imagine any government forbidding its people to pray? What kind of totalitarian state would do such a thing? OK, perhaps Red China or North Korea, but that's about it, right?

Oh, did I mention that Daniel was a government employee? (I guess the ACLU has been around a lot longer than everyone thought.)

Well, friends, think again. The nation that is resurrecting the totalitarian policies of old King Darius is none other than the good old United States of America.

For example, in an adjoining county to my hometown in Florida, a federal district judge by the name of Casey Rodgers has instigated criminal charges against a high school principal by the name of Frank Lay and his athletic director, Robert Freeman. Their crime: praying. Their possible sentence: jail. Darius' prosecutors are federal attorneys Randy Hensel and Dixie Morrow.

According to court records, Lay is accused of asking Freeman to offer a blessing before a January 28 luncheon at Pace (Florida) High School for people who helped with the school's new fieldhouse.

And guess what? The documents in which the judge sought the criminal charges are sealed, meaning they are not open to public view. Why they are sealed, an unusual step, could not immediately be determined. (Source: Pensacola News Journal)

Egad! A school employee asked to offer a blessing at a luncheon! Jail is not enough: to the lion's den with him! Or maybe even the burning fiery furnace!

What's that, you say, about religious liberty, the First Amendment, state sovereignty, and the Tenth Amendment? Those things are but relics from the "old republic." They are but memories of a bygone era. This is a new day, a new Amerika.

In today's Amerika, federal dictates are tantamount to the Law of the Medes and Persians. Federal judges have the authority of Caesars. Federal courts rule over states and local communities, as did Britain's royal governors in the original 13 Colonies. Federal police agencies use force and intimidation not unlike Hitler's SS. In short, this monstrosity known as the federal government has become a ubiquitous, gargantuan, out-of-control leviathan that is eating up the liberties (not to mention the tax dollars) of the American people faster than Elizabeth Taylor went through husbands.

Of course, since the feds are now jailing people who pray, there are other candidates they must consider worthy of the lion's den: those antiquated preachers who still quote the Bible's condemnation of homosexuality should also be cast into their pit. And, surely, the feds will want to add people who yet read (and believe) the words of George Washington, Patrick Henry, and Thomas Jefferson to the list of condemned.

And what about all those deluded souls out there who still believe in the right of the people to keep and bear arms? The feds must surely believe that they belong in the furnaces. Then there are the misguided simpletons who believe that free markets are superior to socialized medicine. Maybe they are the ones who will inhabit all these empty prison compounds we see the feds putting up all over the country.

Well, why not? People who believe in the right to life; who believe illegal immigration must stop; who oppose the United Nations, the New World Order, and gun control; and who voted for Ron Paul or Chuck Baldwin have already made it to the feds' "potential terrorists" list. What's next? The lion's den?

Let's face it: the America our forefathers bequeathed to us is dead and dying! All that is left are vestiges of a once-proud and free republic. As the Scripture says, "Woe be unto them that call evil good, and good evil."

And there is another verse of Scripture that applies here: "For rulers are not a terror to good works."

But in Pace, Florida, a good man who is doing a good work (Frank Lay) is being terrorized by an oppressive federal government that is behaving as badly as did old King Darius. Therefore, from an historic, constitutional, and Biblical perspective, it is both an illegitimate and unlawful power.

Only when the various "free and independent states" begin reclaiming their sovereignty and standing up to this tyrannical federal leviathan in defense of their God-given liberties will the rights and freedoms of the American people begin to reemerge. Until then, Frank Lay faces jail for PRAYING.

Yes, America has a modern-day Daniel.

(c) Chuck Baldwin

(linked in title)

Sunday at home

I started getting sick on Friday, so I went home at lunch time & spent the rest of the day on the couch. I felt tons better on Saturday, but still took it easy, until about 5:30 when we went over to some friends' house for supper, a movie & some Wii games. I still felt ok the whole time. I woke up this morning feeling sick again & my stomach soon showed me that I would not be going to church. Nathan gets headaches pretty frequently, including migraines now & then, & he'd had one since Thursday evening. The bright lights at church make the headaches worse, so he didn't much feel like going this morning either. But, he's opening the class in Sunday school this month, so he needed to be there regardless. So he went without me & I stayed here reading a little more of "Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper. Nathan came back home after SS & we watched Dr. Charles Stanley. We have spent the rest of the day taking it easy, reading (me) & surfing the web (him). A couple of hours ago, I was getting very antsy, since I hadn't left the house all day, & I was starting to get a little irritable about the whole situation (being sick & stuck inside all day). Then I realized that, even though neither of us felt well, we still got to spend the whole day together, uninterrupted by anyone or anything else. Now that I am looking at it from that perspective, I'm suddenly very sorry to see the day coming to a close! I'm so thankful for my husband!