Between A Rock and A Hard Place

Do you remember the ending of the 1956 classic movie starring Charlton Heston? Moses is running from Pharaoh who wants all the slaves back in Egypt. Moses raises his staff and the waters of the Red Sea part. Millions of Israelites cross the dry riverbed to safety. The end.

But have you ever wondered how or why the Israelites ended up running away from their enemy straight into one of the largest seas in the region—without a cruise ship waiting for them?

Here's what we read right before the epic scene:

“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon.” (Exodus 14:1-2)

God told His followers to set up camp between the desert and the sea. Have you ever been there? Between a rock and a hard place? Not sure why you are there? Not sure how you got there? Or what God wants to do with you while you are there?

The fleeing Israelites probably didn't know either. All they knew was that they were being chased by the largest army they knew and now they were trapped. That is probably why God told them...

“Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’ And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” So the Israelites did this.” (Exodus 14:3-4)

Did you see that? It is right there in verse 4. God put them—puts us—in difficult situations, situations that we cannot see a way out of, so that He can gain glory for Himself.

That's all He wants. The glory. Not too much to ask for The Creator of the world to ask is it? So next time you find yourself in a sticky situation think about how you can give the glory to Him through it. And who knows maybe you will be able to part the Red Sea. Or maybe not.

But I do know that you will come through the difficult situation better. Closer to God. Closer to the person He wants you to be.

It's Hot!

It was 104 today. Yesterday was just as bad. And, with the heat index, we are way beyond the “danger” level of temperature warnings. It is just plain hot!

So, needless to say, my children have not been allowed to play outside for more than a couple of minutes at a time. Not that they want to be out longer than that. The second that their feet touch the hot pavement on the patio or the hard ground that once grew grass, they are jumping up and down complaining and begging to come back into the air conditioning.

But after days and weeks of watching movies and playing board games, I have had enough. One evening, when I mistakenly thought the weather would at least be tolerable, I told my flock to go outside. I didn't care what they did. I just knew they were going to get cabin fever in the middle of the summer if they spent one more minute hooked up to an electronic babysitter.

So, I sent them out. I watched as they raced across the hot stones of the patio. I saw them in disgust as I reminded them to find something to do. I observed as they resigned to my request and resolved to just sit in the middle of the yard—not in the shade, like a smart minded person, mind you—and cried.

I felt pity on them and went out to join them. I quickly learned of their demise. It was still very hot. After even just a couple of minutes, I joined them in crying.

So then I grabbed the water hose. I drenched all of them. Right then and there. In their clothes. Soaking wet. At first they screamed. Then they ran. They were so mad. But I chased them with the water hose around the entire yard.

They begged and pleaded for me to stop. Nothing they said or did was going to convince to obey their wishes. It was hot!

No matter where they went I was there showering them with nice cold water. Eventually they realized that the water was refreshing and actually felt good. They calmed down and went on to find something to play. I just followed them from activity to activity making sure they were sopping wet.

I wonder if that is what God does to us. He knows what is best and tell us to get up and go outside. But we don't want to. We are conformable in our air conditioned house. We fight it and complain. Sometimes we even cry. But no matter what He is right there with the water hose.

He's not going to let us get dehydrated or have heat stroke. He's too good of a Dad for that. Just like I am too good of a mom to let my kids swelter in the heat this week. I may have soaked my children with well water but He drenches His children with His living water.  He follows us around daily dousing us with love to remind us we can do whatever it is that He has asked us to do—even if it is hot!

He's Not That into You

My favorite book of the Bible is Song of Solomon. It's a love story between King Solomon and is beloved Shulamite bride. Actually it is more than just a love story. There are parts that so graphically detail their courting, marriage and sex life that Jewish boys weren't allowed to read this particular book until they were men. (One more reason to party at the Bar Mitzvah!)

My absolute favorite part of the entire love story is at the beginning of chapter 2. Before the beautiful wedding. Before the actual marriage. Before the juicy sex part. Way back in the beginning of the relationship. At the start of the relationship when they are falling in love. The Shulamite, the beloved, gets butterflies in her stomach when they are together (v 1). King Solomon makes her feel special (v 2). He tells her that there is no one else in his life and is committed to her alone. (v 3) But the best part of all is hidden in the next verse.

Song of Songs 2:4

Let him lead me to the banquet hall,
and let his banner over me be love.

Ahhh. True love. Not only does he make her feel special. Not only does he commit himself to her. He also took her out to dinner. Out in public. Announced they were an official couple. Made it his Facebook status.

Because, you see girls, if he isn't into you in front of his classmates, his mother, or his friends, he's not that into you. If he wants to kiss you in private but doesn't acknowledge you in the mall, he's not that into you. If he gives you sweet treats at your house but doesn’t give you the time of day at school, he's not that into you.

Some scholars believe that the book of Song of Solomon is written figuratively to show us how God loves us. That He thinks we are special and proud of us. And trust me, He declares his love for us every time He sees us. He declared you His on His Facebook status a long time ago in the Book of Life. And His banner over you is love. True love.

If there is only one thing that I know about my God it is that He is really that into me. He loves me more than any other person ever could.

We Lost the Baby

I have heard these four heavyhearted words from more friends than I care to count. “We lost the baby.” Most of the time these dreadful words came from the quivering mouth of a tearful mom who miscarried a baby in her first trimester. These types of loses actually happen more often than you would think. But for some reason we don't talk about them.

I have also had the unfortunate anguish of hearing these words from a mother who had to bury her baby just weeks after giving birth to him. Since then I have met a mother who delivered her first child still born. And another friend whose baby died while being delivered. My heart aches every time I hear stories like these. Then I thank and praise God that all of my children are healthy and living.

Recently, I heard those four horrible words from a different mouth. This time it was from a fellow foster mom, Sherry. Sherry had just left the courtroom. She was broken, shocked and hurt. The baby she had been taking care of since her release from the NICU three months prior was just taken from her. Sherry, the foster mom, was the one that sat up all night caring for this sick baby born six weeks early. Sherry was the one that fed the baby every two hours around the clock. Sherry was the one who took the baby home and made her part of her life. But Sherry was not the one leaving the courthouse with the baby that day.

You see, Sherry is “just” the foster mom. These temporary parents are called in to take care of children while their parents can't. In this case, the baby's 16 year old mother was addicted to various drugs when she went into premature labor. Therefore, by law the baby needed to be removed from the environment until the environment changed.

So, after several months, the baby's mother passed her drug screening and proved herself stable enough to raise a child. And like many of these cases, reunification is the desired outcome as much as possible. The issue is that one person, the family court judge, gets to decide if the environment is stable enough for a young baby. And sometimes that decision is difficult to swallow.

For all of my friends who have had to say goodbye to their child way too early—either from the womb, from their arms or from the operating table—I have only a few words of comfort. All I can offer is to let them know that those children are in a better place. (Read 2 Samuel 12:18-23) I confidently know that they are in the arms of God. The best place ever.

For my friend Sherry, I cannot give her that same confidence. Statistically, we know that baby will more than likely end up back in the foster care system. I am not sure if her baby is in a better place. I doubt she is. I hope I am wrong. I only know that my friend lost her baby. And that is tragic. 

LDS Principles of Faith

This is the second writing on Mormon beliefs. I wrote about this a couple of weeks ago and promised that I would publish my thoughts about their doctrine.

The LDS church follows 13 basic principles. These are taken directly from their web page. (http://mormon.org/articles-of-faith/ )

“(The principals) enhance (their) understanding of certain doctrines and help (them) commit to living them. They invite further thought. And they’re a good tool for explaining (their) beliefs to people unfamiliar with them.”

So let's take a look at what they believe:

(My thoughts and rebuttal will be in bold parenthetically.)

1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. (so far, so good.)
   
   
2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression. (not so much. “Adam sinned, and that sin brought death into the world. Now everyone has sinned, and so everyone must die.” Romans 5:12)
3. We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. (Thankfully not true. I, for one, cannot keep the law. No one can. It is not by “obedience to the law” that saves us. “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Romans 3: 23-24)
4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Yes, we must believe in Jesus. Yes, we all must repent. Yes, we are called to be baptized. But as far as laying of hands, I'm not so sure. Receiving the Holy Ghost is definitely a gift but I am pretty sure that the laying of hands is not necessary. Mary never had anyone lay hands on her and she was filled with the Holy Sprint, literally. And there are many more examples of a person filled with the Holy Spirit and yet not had hands laid upon.)
5. We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof. (Well, one must unquestionably be called by God to become a “man of the cloth.” However, we are all called to preach the Gospel. “(Jesus) said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”Mark 16:15...no laying of hands required. )
6. We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth. (So do Christians. “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up .” Eph 4:11-12)
7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth. (Christians believe in receiving gifts of the spirit also. They are found in 1 Corinthians 12: 7-11)
8. We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God. (half true. The Bible is The Word of God. Unfortunately, if you want a correct translation you need to learn Hebrew and Greek—as that would be the only true translation. I cannot confirm or deny that The Book of Mormon is God-breathed or not. But I am just going to guess it is not or it would have been canonized with the other 66 books.)
9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. (We believe this also.)
10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory. (Most of the book of Revelation is still debated, but I am very curious to know how they figured out that Zion will be built in America. To my recollection the United States is never mentioned in the Bible.)
11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may. (Finally we agree—sort of! We have the privilege of worshiping God and allowing others to worship Him how and where they want but we need to be very careful with the 'what they may” part. We are to only worship God and Him alone.)
12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law. (Yes. “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” Romans 13:1)

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13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul-We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things. (The actual quote is: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8 So, I will agree that these are things we strive to live up to also.)

I find it ironic that within their 13 statements of faith there really is no straight forward description of how they will make it to heaven. Let me make it clear once and for all: Everyone has sinned--no matter how “good” you think you have been or how much your “good deeds” out weight your “bad deeds”. There is only one way to heaven folks!

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9(NIV)

I am a Mormon

I have seen some interesting commercials lately. I am sure you have also. They are everywhere. Television, radio and billboards. They follow an ordinary person, living an ordinary life through an ordinary day. They show us how this person lives a normal life just like you and me. Then at the end of the ad we hear the tag line.

I am a motorcycle lover ...and I am a Mormon.

I am a red head ...and I am a Mormon.

I am a third grade teacher...and I am a Mormon.

I am confident that the message of these ads is to inform us, the viewer, that Mormons are just your average run-of-the-mill people. That Mormons are no longer the stereotypical skirt-wearing, long-hair-rolled-in-a-bun, polygamist. That everything we think we know about this sect is no longer true anymore.

I am also confident that these ads have something to do with the fact that we have a presidential candidate this term who is a...wait for it...Mormon.

Now, don't get me wrong, Mormons have some wonderful family values. They practice tithing. They practice chastity before marriage and fidelity in marriage. They practice obeying the laws and submitting to authority. They even have the words “Jesus Christ” in the official name of their religion: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (LDS)

But before we jump on that band wagon of thinking Mormons are same minded as Christians lets look at their belief system. Before we decide that our next president should be a “religious” man let's make sure his religion is a worthy one. Let's not believe every ad we see. Because we all know that the Big Mac we get in the drive through doesn't always look like the one on the screen of our TV.

I have found their basic principles online. (http://mormon.org/articles-of-faith/ )

In a future blog I will dissect these beliefs and compare them to what the Bible, the true Word of God, teaches us.

Our Princess

We knew it might cause problems the first time we told he. We just never thought it would get this bad.

About a year ago we were reading a Bible passage with our kids about the King of kings and Lord of lords. (Rev 19:16) Ou kids had also learned that they are children of God. (Gal 3:26 “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith...”) So, without missing a beat, our oldest daughter put two and two together and came to the conclusion that if she was God's daughter and He was the King, then, she must be a princess.

And who are we to tell her any differently? She is a princess. Not only through supreme lineage but also in attire and attitude.

Rebekah takes great pride in her appearance. Her nails—both toes and fingers—are always painted (usually pink!) and looking pretty. She has an enormous set of head bands, scrunchies, bows and, of course, crowns and tiaras. And she is rarely ever seen not wearing a dress. Her overall outlook on clothing is that “only workers wear jeans”.

Then there is her attitude. She really does think she is a princess. She tries to act like royalty. The problem is that she really only has one role model to set the example of how to be a true princess and that living example lives on the other side on the pond. She also expects to be treated like a princess. She repeatedly reminds her classmates that she is a princess and should always get to choose the game, movie or other activity for the day. Which, as you can only imagine, does not go over well with her friends.

If only she realized that most of her classmates and friends are children of the King too. That they are also princes and princesses. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. But, maybe all of us need to realized that we are also princes and princesses and we should start acting like it. Because Kate might live on the other side of the world but our father is the ruler of the world.

Happy 7^th birthday Princess Rebekah. You have truly been a delight. You are an outstanding student—even though you hate school. You are an amazing artist—even if it is coloring just about everything. You are an spectacular shopper—no matter what store we are conquering. You bring a smile to my face every time I see you—even in the morning when you have no desire to get out of bed. Six was great. I am hopeful that seven will be even more wonderful!