Clean Hands!

Aidan, my 3- year old, is obsessed with washing his hands. I'm not sure if it's classified as OCD, but it has become a little obsession. He will spend several minutes lathering and lathering the soap into a bubble Mecca, and when I recommend rinsing, he freaks out like I've committed some carnal sin of hand washing. It's a little disconcerting. We were at my in-laws a couple of weeks ago, and I announced to my boys to go wash up before dinner. Of course, Aidan was still in there as we were all sitting down to eat since his hand washing episodes take several minutes longer than the average person. My mother-in-law, concerned with whether or not his food would get cold, asked if we should wait for him and I explained our daily dilemma of unusual hand washing behavior. I said, "He even sometimes washes his forearms." Andrew, my 5-year old declared, "He doesn't have 4 arms, only two, Mommy!" We all had a good laugh and Aidan finally joined us, germs fully killed by the Goddess of Soap and Lather! I blame his father.

A New Season

Last Fall I joined a women's bible study group through my church and, I must admit, at first I wasn't really "clicking" with most of the women. I felt too worldly, like perhaps I had too much baggage, and just wasn't on their level Spiritually. Due to my own insecurities, I felt somewhat judged. Since women can be such critical, petty and jealous beings, it takes me awhile to let my guard down. Then something amazing happened. Slowly, I began to allow these women into my heart. I began to realize how much their love for God and doing His will had nothing to do with me and everything to do with Him. I started to feel at home in their presence and welcomed in their hearts. The leader told me the other day how much she loved me and what a blessing I was to the group. Me? A person with too much baggage and not enough grace a blessing? No, it's not me, I realize now, it's Him.

Just like God changes the seasons on our planet, so does he change the seasons of our lives. Adding and taking away friendships, jobs, success and failures, peace and sorrow. It's all apart of His divine plan. To finally be able to lay it all at His feet and humbly admit that we are NOTHING without His mercy, grace and love. To be able to not only praise Him during the quiet and peaceful times, but praise Him through the storm. To stand still and bask in His Glory! To know that He alone is God.

Beth Moore says she can't wait to meet the ultimate Drama King, Our Lord...for He must really like a good drama...just look at the creatures He created. I'm so thankful God has His divine eye on me and praise Him during this peaceful and spiritually growing season. I'm on the edge of my seat, anxiously awaiting the next season....get a bowl of popcorn and join me for the drama, won't you? It's going to be a wild ride.

Becoming a Man

Since I'm a woman, I have never really pondered the age-old question: "What makes a man a man?" However, my 7 year old was convinced that armpit hair would make him a man, until of course, my mother pointed out that she had armpit hair. He was devastated! What? How could a grandmother have armpit hair...that isn't MANLY! That's just gross!

Secretly, though, his heart's desire is to have just a few sprigs to jump-start his "manhood". While I was making his breakfast yesterday morning, he was complaining about his armpits. My first thought was towards something like lymph-nodes or swollen glands and asked him with concern what it felt like. He responded in his most serious and deepest sounding voice, "Yeah, I think I'm growing some hair there" as he sauntered off with his best John Wayne gape towards the kitchen table. Oh, dear, next month, he'll want to start shaving his beard!

Don't Drink the Koolaid!

Obama The Antichrist? Hmm....
Commentary by Daniel T. Zanoza, Executive Director

Are these the end times? Judeo-Christian Scripture tells us there will be signs and wonders at the end of the age, but I'm not sure the Bible had hard core politics in mind.

Some may be shocked at the title I have given this piece. To be honest, it took me about ten seconds to decide whether asking the ultimate question would violate some kind of Christian ethic. Let's just say I wrote this column with my tongue almost firmly planted in cheek.

The truth is, during the last six months, I have been searching for a rationale to describe the phenomenon concerning the meteoric political rise of Barack Hussein Obama. I have heard Republicans say they could vote for the junior Senator from Illinois in the November presidential election. I have witnessed the veritable dismantling of the Clinton political machine by a man who does not have the experience of most serving in the U.S. Congress. I have heard of women swooning just by being in Obama's presence and, quite frankly, I don't get it. I won't even admit Obama gives a good impression of the late Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., as some people swear he does.

It's as if a significant portion of the American public is under some sort of ungodly spell when it comes to Obama and someone needs to give me a good explanation for it. There is one thing I do know and that is Obama's popularity is similar to the cult of personality which surrounded a number of past leaders, many of whom were not exactly perfect citizens of the world. But I'm not going to go there. Let's stick with some striking comparisons given to us in Scripture.
The antichrist is mentioned in 1 John 2:18-19, 1 John 2:22-23, 1 John 4:2-3 and 2 John 1:7. Without going into the darker meaning of the antichrist's existence, for a moment let us talk about how he will come to power. Judeo-Christian teachings tell us the antichrist is a man who will have unbelievable charisma. This man of perdition will claim he is an emissary of peace and hope. The entire world will buy into his lies and deception. The antichrist will be given great spiritual powers by dark forces. However, he will also be given great political power by men who see him as a type of secular messiah. Eventually, the antichrist will reveal his true nature--after he has assumed authority over the entire world--and it will take God's intervention alone to defeat him.

Scripture goes one step further by saying, even those who know the truth will have the potential to be deceived by the antichrist--and some will. Now many will scoff at my commentary, saying I'm just another goofy Christian, playing out some sort of forecast of spiritual gloom and doom at the expense of a great man.

That's just it. Though a lot more would have to happen before I would truly believe Sen. Obama was a key player on the road to Armageddon, the nay-sayers would still have to "show me" even though I don't hail from Missouri.

Obama talks about bringing our nation together, but he doesn't explain how he would accomplish this lofty goal. For example, those who support abortion rights believe women should have access to this procedure upon demand. In contrast, people like myself actually believe the taking of an innocent unborn child's life is murder--or something very close to it. Indeed, Obama seems to be the person least qualified to bring unity over this subject because he and Hillary Rodham Clinton were arguing about which one of them would allow the killing of more unborn children.

Obama would grant "amnesty" or "a path to citizenship" to over 12 million who are in this nation illegally. Meanwhile, over 75% of Americans are against such a plan and want our nation's borders with Mexico secured. The Senator from Illinois has lofty aspirations regarding health care that would cost American taxpayers billions of dollars. Most Americans oppose any tax hike. Therefore, such a plan would be impossible to implement.

The litany goes on and on. Obama offers hope and change, change and hope, but, in reality, the political atmosphere in the United States says something completely different. There would be "hope" if only all Americans would agree with the practice of abortion. Will we finally experience change when a vast number of U.S. citizens say there should be no border with Mexico? Will we all come together, if we simply create dialogue with people who have sworn to kill us, like Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as Obama suggests?

These are some of the reasons why I have made the Obama antichrist analogy. It would take some sort of mesmerism to get me to believe that killing babies in the womb is a Constitutional right. But I don't think that is the way the antichrist will operate. Those who fall under his spell won't think about such subjects; the world will simply look at an aura which exists around an individual, but the aura will have no substance. There will be light, but no heat. There will be mass, but no form. The message will have a spiritual resonance, but be lacking in spiritual quality.

Doesn't this describe Barack Hussein Obama to the nth degree? No, I don't really think Obama is Satan's main man on the planet Earth. But until someone gives me a reasonable explanation for his popularity, I'm going to leave the door to this thought open, just a crack. Even if I am wrong, at least this will let some light shine through.
Author's Note: For more on the subject, go to: http://rffm.typepad.com/republicans_for_fair_medi/2008/03/christians-need.html

Praises to My King

My eyes are on You...

God of my Days

King of my Nights

Lord of my laughter

Sovereign in Sorrow

The Prince of my praise

The love of my life

You never leave me

You are faithful!

God of my Days

My eyes are on You...

Thank you for keeping your eyes on me and never letting go

I have nothing of worth to give You but myself...

Like you spilled your blood; I spill my heart

As an offering to my King....

Here I am, take me, as an offering

Here I am, giving every heart beat for Your Glory

Take me...

I love you, Precious one!

Oprah...The Antichrist?

It's interesting how subtle and clever the deceiver is in counterfeiting Christ. Oprah Winfrey now has a new "church" called the New Earth. Apparently, it's supposed to bring the world closer by unifying us spiritually and calling God whatever one chooses. "All path's lead to God", "You are the light; therefore, God", "There is no sin", "Heaven isn't a place...don't concern yourself with it". Unfortunately, this doctrine is nothing new. In researching the New Age Movement, everything the New Earth stands for mimics this philosophy. It appeals to the egos of individuals leading them to think that that they are God and can enhance their lives through their own person. If this is thought through, it becomes quickly apparent that this is impossible. We are born, grow up, live awhile on planet earth and die. Humans are finite. We can never be God. Since I am an imperfect, fallible and a mortal human being (using only 8% of my brain capacity), thinking of myself as God is scary, ridiculous and foolishly narcissistic.

Through my spiritual journey, I have studied other religions and philosophies. I came to realize that the ONLY truth is the Holy Bible. No other "religion" has a savior who died for our sins, and through grace, not works, a person is saved. Romans 1:19-21 contains the biblical explanation for why there are so many religions: "...what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.” The meaning of these Scriptures is clear. The truth of God is clearly seen and known by every human being because God has made it so. Instead of accepting the truth about God and submitting to it, most human beings reject it and seek their own way to understand God instead. But this leads not to enlightenment regarding God, but to futility of thinking. Here is where we find the basis of the “many religions.” Many people do not want to believe in a God that demands righteousness and morality, so they invent a God who makes no such requirements. Many people do not want to believe in a God that declares it impossible for a person to earn his/her own way to heaven by his/her own good deeds. So they invent a God who accepts people into heaven if they have completed certain steps, followed certain rules, and/or obeyed certain laws. Many people do not want a relationship with a God who is sovereign and omnipotent.

The decision to embrace the truth about God is an important one for a simple reason: eternity is an awfully long time to be wrong. This is why right thinking about God is so critical. My suggestion to Oprah's followers is to ask the Holy Spirit to help you recognize a counterfeit philosophy. Jesus warned us that “false Christs and false prophets” will come and will attempt to deceive even God’s elect (Matthew 24:23-27; see also 2 Peter 3:3 and Jude 17-18). To best guard yourself against falsehood and false teachers - know the truth. To spot a counterfeit, study the real thing. Any believer who is, “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15), and who makes a careful study of the Bible, can identify false doctrine. For example, a believer who has read the activities of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in Matthew 3:16-17 will immediately question any doctrine that denies the Trinity. Therefore, “step one” is to study the Bible and judge all teaching by what the scripture says. Jesus said “a tree is known by his fruit” (Matthew 12:33). When looking for “fruit,” here are three specific tests to apply to any teacher to determine the accuracy of his or her teaching: What does the teacher say about Jesus? Does this teacher preach the gospel? Does this teacher exhibit character qualities that glorify the Lord? For further study, review those books of the Bible that were written specifically to combat false teaching within the church: Galatians, 2 Peter, 2 John, and Jude. It is often difficult to spot a false teacher / false prophet. That is what a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” is all about. Satan and his demons masquerade as “angels of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14), and his ministers masquerade as servants of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:15). Only by being thoroughly familiar with the truth will we be able to recognize a counterfeit.

Click here to find out more about the counterfeit New Earth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW4LLwkgmqA

The Dream

I never dream anymore but for two nights my dreams were vivid, detailed and somewhat disturbing. As I enjoyed my morning coffee, I tried to analyze what it all meant. Perhaps doing a study on the book of Daniel, which is very prophetic and full of dreams and visions, was starting to rub into my self-conscious. I was sharing my dreams with my family over our breakfast and my 7 year old was listening intently. The second dream went like this:

I was sitting outside at a banquet table full of people. Two of them were my relatives (I will not name) and one was a relative of a friend. Sometimes my mom was there, and sometimes she was not. The other people I did not know, but it was jovial and relaxing. A net screen was hung over the arbor and it was right at dusk; a few candles were lit on the table and a faint breeze was stirring the air. Dark-skinned little girls dressed in white with no shoes on were serving us bread, cheese and drinks. A white man approached the table, eloquently dressed and extremely hospitable. I knew who he was, but he did not know me. I somehow realized that I was in South Africa. I then asked our host about the little girls and he said they were orphans that he adopted and they helped with the restaurant. In the distance I could see one of the girls killing a pig and roasting it over a BBQ pit; another was chopping off the head of a chicken. Our food was being killed and then cooked before our eyes! All of a sudden, someone yelled to me to watch out. I ducked my head and felt a hard object hit my shoulder and then warm liquid poured onto the left side of my body. When I looked down at my hands, they were filled with blood. Blood was dripping from my hair and eyelashes. This was all happening in slow motion, and it was like I was observing what was happening to me from above. I looked to see what had hit me and it was the head of a goat that one of the girls killed. Apparently, I was the only one at the table who got hit by the animal and the only one that got covered with blood.

After I finished telling my dream, Alex (my 7 year old) says he thinks he knows what it means. "Mom, you are the only Christian at the table; that is why you got covered with the blood, because there is power in the blood." The ironic thing is I was thinking the same thing....and the people who were at the table are not believers and have been on my mind and prayers lately. WOW! I'm continually amazed at the depth of Alex's thinking. God is going to use him miraculously! I am blessed to be his mother.