Don't Get Caught....

...in the Meatrix!

Think your meat is safe cuz it is inspected? Have a look here.

Think there might be a problem with the orthodox theory of the cause of mad cow disease? Try reading this

Profound Thought for the Day

"Emotions are just emotions. They are not you, they are not facts, and you can just let them go...

"The first part, "Emotions are just emotions," may seem obvious, yet this is not how most of us live. We live in a culture that mainly deals with emotions on either end of a broad spectrum. On one end of the spectrum, we deny our emotions and the effect they have on our rational thinking processes, on our health or on our experience of life. On the other end, we deify our emotions, investing way too much importance on the supposed messages that they are here to deliver and what they mean about who we are.

"There are grains of truth in the perspectives of both acting rationally and of not denying our emotions. However, most of us lose ourselves, and our ability to choose, in each perspective. Depending on how our rational mind is interpreting our sensory input in the moment, we can often swing wildly between the two.

"Most of us tend to identify with our emotions as though they are who we are... We talk about "being angry" as opposed to "feeling angry." It is our identificationwith feelings that often makes it more difficult than it needs to be to let them go. We often cling to our identification with a feeling because we think, "It is who I am." We believe, "I feel, therefore I am."

"...I recommend that you examine this idea for yourself. See whether it is more accurate to notice that emotions come and go, while who you truly are always remains.

"... When you find yourself lost in identification with an emotion, you can ask yourself, "Am I this feeling, or am I just having a feeling?" This simple question can help you separate yourself from a false identification. ...

"As we explore the statement further, we come to: "They are not facts." Have you ever been sure of what you thought was a fact -- such as that someone you knew liked you -- only to find the opposite was true? Or have you ever been sure that something was about to go wrong only to have it go very right? These are just two examples of how we relate to the input that we get from our feelings. We live in a world of assumptions, thinking we are relating to facts. In some ways, our feelings are just stories that we have made up about a particular set of sensations. These stories often, if not always, come after the feeling has already arisen in our consciousness. We then use them to explain why we feel the way we feel.

"Treating emotions like facts can be a problem, because we often don't realize that we have made an assumption until it is too late. By then we have made what we thought was a rational decision, only to find out later that it was just based on an automatic emotional reaction.

"The final part of the statement focuses on what this whole book is about: 'You can let them go.' The more you accept and employ your natural ability to release [as in easing your grip on emotions or having them release their grip on you -- CG], the more every part of your experience of life will be transformed."

[Quoted from pages 102-104 The Sedona Method by Hale Dwoskin]

The Irony of Life

The glory of youth is their strength, cuz it sure ain't their wisdom! The young are too soon dumb and too late smart, and they don't even know it. Worse yet, they think they are the opposite. This, of course, is a generality. Some young people are exceptionally mature. Then there are tons of adults who never grow up in terms of responsibility or attitude.

Here is where the irony comes in. The longer I live, the more I see what a complete shambles I am and how completely hopeless I am at stuff and how un-together I am, which, conversely, is apparently the evidence that you are getting your act together.

It was Pastor Price who taught me the beauty of humility. (How could I not love and appreciate a man who is in so many ways better than I, but who humbly asks my pardon when he thinks he may have offended me? )

Last night I was at my daughter Trista's for supper with her husband and in-laws. Trista's mother-in-law and I go back a long ways and it was a pleasant evening visiting her. I was lamenting to Sue about all the mistakes and failures I had made along the way when I was raising my two eldest daughters. Trista broke into the conversation and said,

"Mom, there was one thing you did that always made up for the failures. You always came back to us and said you were sorry and asked us to forgive you."

Trista then related that this fact is what encourages her to do the same with her little daughter. Which made me glad.

One of the worst things about the Fall is the way our sin nature makes us spend so much time focusing and wondering and fussing over our selves. I think one of the things I most look forward to in Heaven will be losing that all-pervading sense of self that is always yakking away in the back of my head, distracting me from really getting down to doing something. I waste a great deal of time worrying about how I am perceived as a mother rather than actually being one. I worry about how I look in pictures to the extent that I won't allow them to be taken of me. I worry about what others think of my housecleaning to the extent that I fuss over that to the neglect of my children. So much of what I do, even the things I excel at, are tied into wanting my self to be seen in a good light. And really, I know it is quite futile. Because even if I am good at something, this generally isn't what makes people like me or want to emulate me. Often the things I am good at become stumbling blocks to others because they either think they can't do it and become discouraged, or else it provokes envy. I have noticed more and more that the times I connect the most with people is when I am admitting to weaknesses and discouragements. "When I am weak, then am I strong."

I think one of the reasons that people are attracted to eastern religion is because of the promise of losing the "self" in the great One -- in a sense, to become unconscious. On rare occasions I have had a taste of what I think heaven will be like -- not an unconsciousness, but an attention that is directed completely outward and undistracted by thoughts of self. It doesn't happen that often, and it isn't anything I can conjure up by trying really hard. Instead, it is a Gift that has been given to me that gives me a sort of holiday from the eternal chatter of the self. I wouldn't mind an eternity-long holiday of that sort.

Good History!

I recently picked up and re-read a wonderfully engaging piece of historical biography by Otto Scott. The book in question is called James I: The Fool As King. Back when I was still a subscriber to Chalcedon Report, Otto was one of my favorite columnists. I was sorry when he and Rushdoony parted ways and he no longer wrote for CR.

If you want to gain a good understanding for the political arena of today, reading this book is one way of doing so. James I had a profound and negative impact on human government and in many ways is one of the prime architects of monolithic government intrusion. What is most interesting to me is that his views of government were formed deliberately to destroy the Reformation views he was taught by his tutor, George Buchanan, and to derail the personal liberty from government tyranny that the Reformation set in motion.

In addition to giving us insight into James I of England's life, Mr. Scott does a lot to strip Mary, Queen of Scots, of her glamour and mystique and reveals her as the conniving, murderous, and adulterous woman that she was. Elizabeth I is seen as the ultimate pragmatist who couldn't understand the religious passions or the logical outcomes of these passions led to. She was caught between the Vatican and pro-Catholic forces who would see her made illegitmate and de-throned in favor of her cousin, Mary Stuart, and the Reformed Christians who threatened the extent of royal prerogative by their insistence that the Crown govern only by consent of the people, and in subjection to God's Law. All in all, it was a fascinating read.

Go Here...

...to see why Christmass is idolatry.

Ho,Ho,Ho...

What a fiend we have in Santa
With his sled and jingling bells
And with all his empty banter
Leading pagan kids to hell.

Courtesy of Dr. F.N.Lee

I DID IT!!!

Up until now, I have been an html quadrapelegic. That meant that I had to depend on Emeth to do any tweaking of my blog features. And Emeth is a very busy girl these days. So, my blog languished for want of tweaking, and the orange and green text and pale orange background made me feel bilious, not to say nauseated, every time I saw it.

Until today.....

I took my courage in hand, opened up the template, opened up Web Monkey so I could figure out which color codes to change, and voila! I am now an html parapalegic!

How do you like my new look???

Next thing to learn: How to post pictures. Anyone want to give me a hint?

Return of the King

Saw it. Wanna see it again. I enjoyed the look of bliss on Gollum's face as he fell into the fires of Mount Doom. The thing I didn't like was the unintended comedy of Gollum strugging with an invisible Frodo before he bit off the ring. It kind of marred the seriousness of the moment.

Do I have to wait almost a year before I can see the extended version??? Wah.

Strange Road Kill

We get all kinds of road kill in our neck of the woods, but none so strange as what we found on our own road the other day.

The four eldest children were driving into town with me after dark the other night and we saw what looked like a large animal with long hair lying motionless at the side of the road. We were in a hurry so we couldn't take the time to stop and investigate, but the way its "fur" was blowing in the wind made me think it was possibly a dog or wolf.

On our return journey, we stopped to see what it actually was, and to our surprise, we found an emu. Not exactly what you expect to see leaping out in front of your vehicle in the Canadian north!

Eagles, ravens and other carrion birds have not taken long to reduce said emu to a rack of ribs picked clean, feet and legs, and a pile of feathers. The funny thing is, they congregate in large numbers during the day to eat, but by sunset there is nary a bird to be seen except the remains of the emu.

If the bird had to go, I am thankful it chose to make its suicide run at this time of year. No bugs and no nasty smell!

Signs of the Times

This article details the signs of the times which are merely the logical outworking of a corrupt foundation when America was established.

Gary North was right. Pluralism is a myth. There is no such thing as religion vs. no religion, but instead which religion. If that is the case, then establishmentarianism is the only logical conclusion. There must be one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, not many. Christians who refuse to acknowledge this are trying to live in an alternate universe that doesn't exist.

Gerbil Population Control

About a year ago my daughter, Hannah, purchased a pair of young gerbils. Unfortunately, their nether parts were not fully developed at the time and we ended up with a male and female. As is the wont of the rodent world, it wasn't too long before two gerbils became 8. And then 18. In short, we had an embarrassment of gerbil riches.

Hannah tried mightily to give her gerbils to all the local pet stores. They were full up, no doubt with the offerings of other hapless gerbil owners. So several of her friends had gerbils bestowed upon them as birthday gifts or because the said children were successful in nagging their parents into getting some too.

When all was said and done, and Hannah had also bestowed three male gerbils upon a younger sister as a birthday gift, we still had too many gerbils and keeping the males and females separate was becoming something of a problem. The older males and females had been separated successfully, but sibling-like, they objected to sharing their living quarters with younger sisters or brothers. To the point of death.

To spare her younger brothers and sisters the trauma of gerbil fratricide, (and possibly to prevent them from getting any ideas of new ways to deal with sibling rivalry), Hannah decided to take things into her own hands. For a very brief time she considered letting the dogs eat them, but decided this was too gruesome an end for them. Instead, she placed several of the males who could get along in a kleenex box with some kleenex, food, and water, and took them out into the deeps of the woods, in the middle of our Canadian winter, with the idea that dying in the cold was a more merciful end than the quick snap of the jaws or a bonk on the head.

Imagine Hannah's surprise next day when she returned to the scene of pre-meditated euthanasia to find that the gerbils, deciding that they preferred to live free and wild instead of dying in fluff, had burrowed under the stump of a tree and dragged all the free bedding and food in after them. And so they continue to live. Hannah and the other children bring them free offerings of seeds, nuts and water on a daily basis and the gerbils continue to populate our woods and have even expanded their living quarters into a few tunnels to other parts of the country.

Thankfully, there are none of the fair sex with them so we won't need to host an annual gerbil hunt to keep down the population.

TULIP, or The Five Points of Evanjellyfish Christianity

courtesy of Carmon and Mike Scruggs

T: Tolerance and relativity of beliefs.
U: Unthinking conformity to majority opinion (Is there a reason why God characterizes us as sheep?)
L: Liberty of conscience in all things -- to the point of violating every Law of God in the name of freedom.
I: Inequality is Evil -- No fair if you are smarter or prettier than me!
P: Personal Peace and Prosperity at any Price. Speaks for itself

Read more here.

Presbyterians Do Not [SHOULD NOT! -- CG] Observe Holy Days
by Samuel Miller.

We believe, and teach, in our public formularies, that there is no
day, under the Gospel dispensation, commanded to be kept holy, except
the Lord's day, which is the Christian Sabbath."

We believe, indeed, and declare, in the same formula, that it is both
scriptural and rational, to observe special days of Fasting and
Thanksgiving, as the extraordinary dispensations of Divine Providence
may direct. But we are persuaded, that even the keeping of these
days, when they are made stated observances, recurring, of course, at
particular times, whatever the aspect of Providence may be, is
calculated to promote formality and superstition, rather than the
edification of the body of Christ.

Our reasons for entertaining this opinion, are the following:

1. We are persuaded that there is no scriptural warrant for such
observances, either from precept or example. There is no hint in the
New Testament that such days were either observed or recommended by
the Apostles, or by any of the churches in their time. The mention of
Easter, in Acts 12:4, has no application to this subject. Herod was a
Jew, not a Christian; and, of course, had no desire to honor a
Christian solemnity. The real meaning of the passage is, as the
slightest inspection of the original will satisfy every intelligent
reader; " intending after the Passover to bring him forth to lie
people."

2. We believe that the Scriptures not only do not warrant the
observance of such days, but that they positively discountenance it.
Let any one impartially weigh Colossians 2:16 and also, Galatians 4:9-
11 and then say whether these passages do not evidently indicate,
that the inspired Apostle disapproved of the observance of such days.

3. The observance of Fasts and Festivals, by divine direction, under
the Old Testament economy, makes nothing in favor of such observances
under the New Testament dispensation. That economy was no longer
binding, or even lawful after the New Testament Church was set up. It
were just as reasonable to plead for the present use of the Passover,
the incense, and the burnt offerings of the Old economy, which were
confessedly done away by the coming of Christ, as to argue in favor
of human inventions, bearing some resemblance to them, as binding in
the Christian Church.

4. The history of the introduction of stated Fasts and Festivals by
the early Christians, speaks much against both their obligation, and
their edifying character. Their origin was ignoble. They were chiefly
brought in by carnal policy, for the purpose of drawing into the
Church Jews and Gentiles, who had both been accustomed to festivals
and holy-days. And from the moment of their introduction, they became
the signal for strife, or the monuments of worldly expedient, and
degrading superstition.

As there were no holy-days, excepting the Lord's day, observed in the
Christian Church while the Apostles lived; and no hint given that
they thought any other expedient or desirable; so we find no hint of
any such observance having been adopted until towards the close of
the second century. Then, the celebration of Easter gave rise to a
controversy; the Asiatic Christians pleading for its observance at
the same time which was prescribed for the Jewish Passover, and
contending that they were supported in this by apostolic tradition;
while the Western Church contended for its stated celebration on a
certain Sunday, and urged, with equal confidence, apostolic tradition
in favor of their scheme. Concerning this fierce and unhallowed
controversy, Socrates, the ecclesiastical historian, who wrote soon
after the time of Eusebius, and begins his history where the latter
closes his narrative; speaking on the controversy concerning Easter,
expresses himself thus: "Neither the ancients, nor the fathers of
later times, I mean such as favored the Jewish custom, had sufficient
cause to contend so eagerly about the feast of Easter; for they
considered not within themselves, that when the Jewish religion was
changed into Christianity, the literal observance of the Mosaic law,
and the types of things to come, wholly ceased. And this carries with
it its own evidence. For no one of Christ's laws permits Christians
to observe the rites of the Jews. Nay, the Apostle hath in plain
words forbidden it, where he abrogates Circumcision, and exhorts us
not to contend about feasts and holy-days. For, writing to the
Galatians, he admonishes them not to observe days, and months, and
times, and years. And unto the Colossians, he is as plain as may be,
declaring, that the observance of such things was but a shadow.
Neither the Apostles nor the Evangelists have enjoined on Christians
the observance of Easter; but have left the remembrance of it to the
free choice and discretion of those who have been benefited by such
days. Men keep holy-days, because thereon they enjoy rest from toil
and labor Therefore, it comes to pass, that in every place they do
celebrate, of their own accord, the remembrance of the Lord's
passion. But neither our Savior nor his Apostles have any where
commanded us to observe it." Socrates, Lib. 5, cap. 21.

Here, then, is an eminent Christian writer who flourished early in
the fifth century, who had made the history of the Church his
particular study; who explicitly declares, that neither Christ nor
his Apostles gave any command, or even countenance to the observance
of festival days; that it was brought into the Church by custom; and
that in different parts of the Church there was diversity of practice
in regard to this matter. With respect to Easter, in particular, this
diversity was striking. We no sooner hear of its observance at all,
than we begin to hear of contest, and interruption of Christian
fellowship on account of it; some quoting the authority of some of
the Apostles for keeping this festival on one day; and others, with
equal confidence, quoting the authority of other Apostles for the
selection of a different day: thereby clearly demonstrating, that
there was error somewhere, and rendering it highly probable that all
parties were wrong, and that no such observances at all, were binding
on Christians.

The festival of Easter, no doubt, was introduced in the second
century, in place of the Passover, and in accommodation to the same
Jewish prejudice which had said, even during the apostolic
age, "Except ye be circumcised, after the manner of Moses, ye cannot
be saved." Hence, it was generally called pascha, and pasch, in
conformity with the name of the Jewish festival, whose place it took.
It seems to have received the title of Easter in Great Britain, from
the circumstance, that, when Christianity was introduced into that
country, a great Pagan festival, celebrated at the same season of the
year, in honor of the Pagan goddess Eostre, yielded its place to the
Christian festival, which received, substantially, the name of the
Pagan deity. The title of Easter, it is believed, is seldom used but
by Britons and their descendants.

Few festivals are celebrated in the Romish Church, and in some
Protestant Churches, with more interest and zeal than Christmas. Yet
when Origen, about the middle of the third century, professes to give
a list of the fasts and festivals which were observed in his day, he
makes no mention of Christmas. From this fact, Sir Peter King, in his
Inquiry into the Constitution and worship, &c. of the Primitive
Church, &c. infers, that no such festival was then observed; and
adds, "It seems improbable that they should celebrate Christ's
nativity, when they disagreed about the mouth and the day when Christ
was born." Every month in the year has been assigned by different
portions and writers of the Christian Church as the time of our
Lord's nativity; and the final location of this, as well as other
holy-days, in the ecclesiastical calendar, was adjusted rather upon
astronomical and mathematical principles, than on any solid
calculations of history.

5. But the motives and manner of introducing Christmas into the
Christian Church, speak more strongly against it. Its real origin was
this. Like many other observances, it was borrowed from the heathen.
The well known Pagan festival among the Romans, distinguished by the
title of Saturnalia, because instituted in honor of their fabled
deity, Saturn, was celebrated by them with the greatest splendor,
extravagance, and debauchery. It was, during its continuance, a
season of freedom and equality; the master ceased to rule, and the
slave to obey; the former waiting at his own table, upon the latter,
and submitting to the suspension of all order, and the reign of
universal frolic. The ceremonial of this festival was opened on the
19th of December, by lighting profusion of waxen candles in the
temple of Saturn; and by suspending in their temple, and in all their
habitations, boughs of laurel, and various kinds of evergreen. The
Christian Church, seeing the unhappy moral influence of this
festival; perceiving her own members too often partaking in its
licentiousness; and desirous, if possible, of effecting its
abolition, appointed a festival, in honor of her Master's birth,
nearly about the same time, for the purpose of superseding it. In
doing this, the policy was to retain as many of these habits which
had prevailed in the Saturnalia as could in any way be reconciled
with the purity of Christianity. They made their new festival,
therefore, a season of relaxation and mirth, of cheerful visiting,
and mutual presents. They lighted candles in their places of worship
and adorned them with a profusion of evergreen boughs. Thus did the
Romish Church borrow from the Pagans some of her most prominent
observances; and thus have some observances of this origin been
adopted and continued by Protestants.

6. It being evident, then, that stated fasts and festivals have no
divine warrant, and that their use under the New Testament economy is
a mere human invention; we may ask those who are friendly to their
observance, what limits ought to be set to their adoption and use in
the Christian Church? If it be lawful to introduce five such days for
stated observance, why not ten, twenty, or five score? A small number
were, at an early period, brought into use by serious men, who
thought they were thereby rendering God service, and extending the
reign of religion. But one after another was added, as superstition
increased, until the calendar became burdened with between two and
three hundred fasts and festivals, or saint's days, in each year;
thus materially interfering with the claims of secular industry, and
loading the worship of God with a mass of superstitious observances,
equally unfriendly to the temporal and the eternal interests of men.
Let the principle once be admitted, that stated days of religious
observance, which God has no where commanded, may properly be
introduced into the Christian ritual, and, by parity of reasoning,
every one who, from good motives, can effect the introduction of a
new religious festival, is at liberty to do so. Upon this principle
was built up the enormous mass of superstition which now
distinguishes and corrupts the Romish Church.

7. The observance of uncommanded holy-days is ever found to interfere
with the due sanctification of the Lord's day. Adding to the
appointments of God is superstition. And superstition has ever been
found unfriendly to genuine obedience. Its votaries, like the Jews of
old, have ever been found more tenacious of their own inventions, of
traditionary dreams, than of God's revealed code of duty.
Accordingly, there is, perhaps, no fact more universal and
unquestionable, than that the zealous observers of stated fasts and
festivals are characteristically lax in the observance of that one
day which God has eminently set apart for himself, and on the
sanctification of which all the vital interests of practical religion
are suspended. So it was among the Israelites of old. As early as the
fifth century, Augustine complains that the superstitious observance
of uncommanded rites, betrayed many in his time, into a spirit of
irreverence and neglect towards those which were divinely appointed.
So it is, notoriously, among the Romanists at the present day. And
so, without any breach of charity, it may be said to be in every
religious community in which zeal for the observance of uncommanded
holy-days prevails. It is true, many in those communities tell us,
that the observance of holy-days, devoted to particular persons and
events in the history of the Church, has a manifest and strong
tendency to increase the spirit of piety. But if this be so, we might
expect to find much more scriptural piety in the Romish Church than
in any other, since holy-days are ten times more numerous in that
denomination than in the system of any Protestant Church. But is it
so? Let those who have eyes to see, and ears to hear, decide.

If the foregoing allegations be in any measure well founded; if there
be no warrant in God's word for any observances of this kind; if, on
the contrary, the Scriptures positively discourage them; if the
history of their introduction and increase mark an unhallowed origin;
if, when we once open the door to such human inventions, no one can
say how or when it may be closed; and if the observance of days, not
appointed of God, has ever been found to exert an unfriendly
influence on the sanctification of that holy-day which God has
appointed, surely we need no further proof that it is wise to discard
them from our ecclesiastical system.

Thoughts on Making an Impact

One of the reasons that many Christians claim they celebrate Christmass is because they believe that the focus of this season forces the unbeliever to consider Christ at least once a year. I have noticed though, that most of the pagans seem to be really good at dodging a lot of what the season is aimed at. My ears have been assaulted with the sounds of Christmass songs in every store I go into, and not one of them has been one that focused on the so-called "reason for the season." Instead, there has been much of mistletoe and holly, walking in winter wonderlands, and chesnuts roasting by open fires. Reindeer, Santas, and elves people the malls and aisles of the stores with only an occasional nod to the shepherds and wise men.

If Christians were really serious about making an impact and visible statement on our culture about the primacy and rights of our King, then maybe they should consider keeping the Lord's Day a whole lot better than they do. After all, this is something we are commanded to observe, while Christmass is not. But like my other post on the dropping of standards, this is yet another place where Christians have fallen away.

It used to be in Canada, that no matter where you went, each province had a "Lord's Day Act" that forbade the opening of stores and businesses in order to honor the Christian Sabbath. God could have commanded that we worship Him two, three, or four and more days of the week leaving the rest of the week for our worldly business, but instead He asks only one day a week from us and allows us to go about our worldly employments and lawful recreations on the other six.

When I was still attending one of the local Baptist churches here in town, it was nothing for the pastor to tell the congregation in the course of the sermon that he intended to go home after the service to watch a basketball or football game on the TV. It is nothing for professed Christians in this community to go to malls, grocery stores, restaurants, or movies after they have "done their duty" in attending church.

I wonder....

Do you suppose that the Lord looks on all this activity and says, "Well done, good and faithful servant," or "This people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me,"? We Christians are good at keeping the traditions of men that God never required of us and in ignoring His actual commands, making them of no effect. (Mk. 7:1-9)

If you want to know why I don't observe Christmass, go here.

Quote of the Week

"The woman most eager to jump out of her petticoat to assert her rights is first to jump back into it when threatened with a switch for misusing them."

Ambrose Bierce

Unseen Benefits

I had a new paying client the other day [yippee!] who intends to return with her children. Then I had a phone call from another lady I saw when I was doing my practicum and she is planning on returning with her children for allergy testing/desensitization as well. The homeschool network is starting to get the word out about me! Word of mouth will probably be the main means I use for developing my client base. I don't have the money to advertise, and I don't want to be so busy that I feel too squeezed by life. Life is plenty busy already with homeschooling seven, cooking, cleaning, etc. This nice steady trickle of one or two people a week suits me just fine.

One of the pleasures of doing my kinesionics work is that it allows me to spend time with people talking about a variety of things. Generally, the people I am seeing are professing Christians for the most part and this opens the door for discussing the Faith once delivered to the saints. The very best part of the discussion is when you know you made a measurable difference and that they are following up on something you said and press deeper into study of God's Word. I don't think anything else gives me as much satisfaction as this.

A Nice Phone Call

Ever since the girls left home in a precipitous way four years ago, I have had an extreme inferiority complex about my abilities as a parent.

My eldest son, Nathanael, is away visiting some friends on Protection Island, and mother-like, I had to check up on him by phone. The phone was answered by the school chum's father, and I made my inquiries.

"Whatever you are doing with your kids, keep on doing it!" was the enthusiastic reply of the father. It appears that Nathanael has impressed with his good-natured optimism, his polite demeanor, and his helpfulness and consideration. These are things that thrill a mother's heart and which I would love to take credit for. But I know that one of the reasons that Nathanael is like this is because he takes after my father in a lot of ways, and not because I am such a model of patience and virtue.

Pirates and Depravity

This past weekend, I watched Pirates of the Caribbean 2 1/2 times. I have never seen Johnny Depp before, and I found his quirky mannerisms quite entertaining.

One of the surprising things that this movie did for me was demonstrate the compassion and mercy of God. Just think how horribly and infinitely worse this world would be if we didn't die! It was a merciful act of the Creator to make death the punishment of Adam's breach of the covenant. This has ensured that the evil we do in this life is limited and, moreover, restrained to a large extent.

Too Casual?

One of the things Mom and I did when I was back home, was to go through the old picture slides that she and Dad still have of my sister and I when we were little. It was nice to revisit my childhood in this fashion.

And speaking of fashion, there were a number of photos of us or old friends we knew at church. How times have changed! Then we all wore nice "dress up" clothing to church, had hats, and gloves. It was almost a formal affair. Now, people slouch into church in jeans and sweatshirts and think nothing of it. I have also seen people dressed this sloppily at weddings and funerals. It appears that nothing is worth dressing up for, least of all worshipping God.

The lowering of standards in dressing up for going out is another reflection of the casual attitude that we seem to be taking towards so many other things: marriage vows, language, fraud: The list is endless.

Singing Psalms

On my recent visit back home for my maternal grandmother’s funeral, I had opportunity, with my parents, sister and her family, to visit my paternal grandmother in the nursing home she now lives at. During the visit, my sister and I gathered at the piano and Darlene played the music while we sang a few of the less doctrinally objectionable hymns that I could find in the hymnals.

It occurred to me, as I read the words to the hymns, that a lot of church wars over contemporary music versus traditional hymn music have been fought over a lot of second-rate verse and sentiments. I have spent the last 10 years or more singing Psalms only in corporate and family worship and there just isn’t any comparison to the lofty sentiments and pungent and robust expressions found in the Psalms. Moreover, the focus in the Psalms points always to Christ and the Godhead whereas a lot of the hymns are navel-gazing in nature.

I don’t think I will ever go back to hymn singing for worship. Psalms rule!

Suffer Little Children

The quote that comes below my own comments is from the blog of a cyber acquaintance whom I have come to enjoy reading. I am posting it here because it is one of the things that has been on my heart and mind lately: what to do with the children on the Lord's Day.

For those of us who desire to observe this day as being a day of rest from our worldly employments and amusements, it is too easy to make it a day of drudgery for our children if we are not careful. We live in a world that is oriented to work so that we might play rather than playing so that we might work. Given that fact, and the fact that, try as we might, it is nearly impossible to be completely free from this influence, the temptation is to really crack down on the kids and to apply the "stick" and neglect the "carrot."

I think it is fair to say that I and most in my congregation have gathered together after our congregational worship to visit with each other and left the children to play. Some of the parents keep their kids inside, but this is easier to do with little kids than it is with the teens. The result has been a tendency on the part of the teens to get into trouble with foolish talk. This then nets rebukes and frowns and clicking tongues which in turn makes the young people feel even less inclined to spend time around the adults.

I think the time has come to be pro-active in how we approach this. Just recently, at a Bible study, we decided that we would do things *with* the children after church is done -- things like Bible games and quizzes, sword drills, catechizing, etc. This will keep us involved with them, limit the opportunity for foolishness, and allow all of us to become better acquainted with the children. It is easy to regard them as a herd in need of corralling or controlling instead of as individuals that we are to love and care for as a covenant community.

If anyone has any ideas of other edifying and interesting things that could be done as a group, please leave a comment.

Here is the quote:



With the Children on Sundays: Through Eye-Gate and Ear-Gate into the City of Child-Soul, by Sylvanus Stall.

"In some households Sunday is looked forward to with anticipations of pleasure throughout the entire week. In these homes, the father does not come down stairs on Sunday morning and say: "Now, children, gather up those flowers, throw them out of the window, pull down the blinds, get down the Bible and we will have an awful solemn time here to-day." neither is the day given to frivolity or the home to demoralizing influences. From morning until night there are two great principles that govern; first, the sacredness of the day, and second, the sacredness of the God-given nature of childhood. The day is not spent in repressing the child nature by a succession of "don't do that," "now stop that," etc., that begin in the morning and continue throughout the day, and end only when the little ones los consciousness in sleep on Sunday night. In these homes, the parents recognize the fact that the child nature is the same whether the day is secular or sacred. On Sunday the child nature is not repressed, but the childish impulses are directed into channels suited to the sacredness of the day. In such homes the children, instead of being sorry that it is Sunday, are glad; instead of regretting the return of the day with dislike and dread, they welcome it as the brightest, the cheeriest and the best of all the week."

Also:

"The absence of the children from the services of the sanctuary is one of the alarming evils of our day. There are but few congregations where children can be found in any considerable numbers. No one will attempt to deny the sad consequences which must follow at the inevitable results of such a course. The children at eight years of age [from infancy! ~Carmon] who have not already begun to form the habit of church attendance, and are not quite thoroughly established in it at sixteen, will stand a very fair chance of spending their entire life with little or no attachment for either the Church or religious things. The non-church going youth of this decade will be the Sabbath-breakers and irreligious people of the next."

What to Do Now?

Last night I finished the last portion of the "behind the scenes" stuff from the extended version of The Two Towers. I eeked it out as long as I could because I didn't want it to end. So for the past week, every night I would watch a little bit at a time in order to savour it as much as possible.

I think I probably enjoyed the peek behind the scenes as much as I did watching the movie itself. It would have been just an incredible experience to be involved in the making of this movie. I especially enjoyed the segments that dealt with the Weta Workshop and all the props that they made. The sheer beauty and intricacy of the many costumes and weapons and buildings was just breath-taking.

I tend to be a very driven, focused person, particularly when it comes to getting work done. Movies like Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers and Return of the King remind me that play is just as important and necessary to life and that it can be done seriously and well to God's glory. I don't know if Peter Jackson or any of the other who worked on this film are Christians, but their work is certainly a testimony to the fact that we are stamped with the image of the Creator.

Sick Humor

For those of you who enjoy Homestar Runner and Strong Bad, you will probably also enjoy this.

Whither Canada?

Why is it that I almost always hear the distinct sound of a flushing toilet whenever I consider this country's political landscape?

The Taste of Death

I have discovered that death leaves a "taste" in me that I don't care for. I was just starting to forget some of that taste when we got the call about Tim last night. One can hear about the death of others that aren't personally known and feel a sort of intellectual sorrow that doesn't really touch the heart. But let it be someone that you know personally, or a close friend or family member, and the flavor seems to overwhelm everything else.

The taste is a mixture of various flavors. One of the flavors of sorrow is that of grief for the eternal destiny of the person lost, particularly if you aren't absolutely sure that they were saved. Tim was a professing Christian, but the fruit of his life was not a testimony of redeeming and sanctifying grace. If one verse of Scripture could sum up Tim's life for me, it would be the one in James that talks about a double-minded man being unstable in all his ways. Tim had a lot of raw talent and potential, but alas, it was all wasted because he never stuck with anything long enough to see it through to completion or to weather the occasional storms of life. He had a habit of running headlong with great enthusiasm down a particular path and burning bridges behind him as he went. This was true of how he dealt with churches and people. He left his wife Marilyn, probably because she didn't appreciate and support him the way he thought he deserved, and he took up with another woman young enough to be his daughter.

Marc commented to me that "at least we can be sure that he was a Christian." Can we? Profession of Christ and confession of Him are two very different things in my mind. When we die, there should not be any doubt in the minds of those who knew and observed us as to where our faith was placed. Tim professed Christ. To my great sorrow, I am not at all confident that he confessed Christ since he was an unrepentant adulterer. When I consider where he likely is at this moment, I weep.

Tim and I had a sort of love-hate relationship. He really was Marc's friend, but I found he could be very enjoyable and entertaining company when he was in a good frame of mind, and it was easy to get caught up in his enthusiams. OTOH, he didn't like me because I tended to put the brakes on more than he liked and he also didn't like it when my opinion of him or his projects didn't coincide with his. He knew that we did not like what he had done to Marilyn or what he was involved in so we saw and heard less and less from him in the past few years.

Tim was a diabetic. I think he had type I diabetes and so insulin was a necessity for him. About 15 years ago, Tim was attending a charismaniac church where he went to a "healing" service. In faith, he decided he had been healed and acted upon that healing by stopping all his insulin. He went into a diabetic coma and almost didn't come out of it. You would think he would have learned, eh? Well he did the precise same thing this time. He attended a healing service, went off his insulin and five days later had a cardiac arrest. They started his heart 4 times altogether but after the last time, there was no brain activity, so they let him go.

Marc spoke with Marilyn, his wife, and he thinks that it is quite possible that Tim knew exactly what he was doing and followed this course knowing what the outcome would be. He always had big dreams, and when he reached the middle to late 50's and none of them were realized, it is quite likely that this was a face-saving way out of the disappointment and humiliation of having wasted most of his life and never making it to where he thought he should have been by now.

The other flavor of sorrow that comes through for me is one of anger. Anger directed at false and blind shepherds who lead blind people into the ditch. These so-called healing services are nothing short of murderous if this is what the effects of them are. I am angry with those who give false comfort to comfortable pew sitters who are on the broad highway to hell -- who sell the truth for popularity in the pulpit and who count mere numbers as evidence of success. When religion is safe to practice, hypocrisy and self-deception grow. Oh that the Lord would cleanse the Church and our hearts! Oh that many would be awakened from their deadly stupor!

I have been grieved by the state of the visible, professing Church for a long time. But when it really hits home when one of the victims of apostacy was a friend.

It's Official!

No, I am not pregnant.

But I am a newly certified kinesionics practitioner. Woo Hoo!

Going to hang out my new shingle....

"Cheryl Defined"
From a friend in an email sent to me today:

"Cheryl... very colourful and interesting lady...

She makes her own herb capsules...
she's trim, neat, smart and spruce (at least some of the time )...
she sometimes falls asleep at the computer or during family worship...
she likes groovin' music...
she uses EFT on herself and others...
she wants to get a zapper...
and she thinks she has a pretty good road map for figuring out life's perplexities.


Hmmm... you could define her as a dapper capper, mapper, napper, rapper, tapper and zapper.

Just be glad I didn't include "flapper" in that definition... "flapper - a young girl considered bold and unconventional in actions and dress." Unconventional, yes, but bold?..."

Some things...

...just go too deep for words.

Mabel Rose Savoy

June 13, 1914 -- November 6, 2003

Rest in peace, Grammy.

They're Gone! :-(

I just arrived home from taking my parents to the airport. Who knows when I shall see them again? [sob]

This visit has been the best visit I have ever had with them since leaving home. I think part of the reason for this is the fact that for the first time I haven't felt a need to prove anything to anyone. When I was young, I did (and failed miserably). Life has beat a lot of the baloney out of me and, I hope, humbled me. Humility as a way of living is much more comfortable and less energy consuming than trying to maintain the facade of having your act together. And having nine kids at home who regularly expose my many faults and weaknesses does a lot to prevent me from trying to put on the dog in front of anyone anymore.

Some things I discovered from this visit:

~You are never too old to want your Mommy and Daddy.

~ I am very blessed in having parents that I genuinely like and admire. There are a lot of unlikeable duds out there in the world, and many of them are parents. I am happy to say that neither of my parents are duds. Both of them are personable, sociable beings who live with integrity. Although I have some doctrinal differences with my Dad, his love of the Lord and his desire to share the Gospel is very evident. My mother is one of the classiest ladies that I know. I am so happy that we had time for several good heart-to-hearts.

~I had no idea how much fun it can be to have the whole family together and listen to my older kids share stories and reminisce about the things they used to do when they were really little.

My kitchen table was transformed from an old, battered, piece of junk into a priceless (to us) family heirloom when everyone, including Grammy and Grampy, carved their names and the date into the paint of the tabletop. Grammy and Grampy also had their height measured and recorded on the family measuring wall, and the date duly inscribed in permanent marker for all to see. Thankfully, we were able to buy a digital camera before the end of the visit and record not only some nice photos, but even some video with sound.

It was a good visit.

Time Flies!
Wow, I guess it has been a while since I posted. Blame it on my company. I had a very dear friend (Queen Willy) visiting me at the end of September/beginning of October. Then a few weeks later, my parents have arrived for a visit as well, and are currently with me even as I type. I don't even want to think about when they are leaving (sniff)!

It is at times like these that I wish I had the gifts and abilities for writing and chronicling my life's events like Queen Willy. So much has happened or been experienced in the last little while, but I don't have the time or patience to do more than write about the highlights of it.

First of all, thanks to Sora, I have re-visted the Writing Road to Reading and am seeing a dramatic improvement in the spelling/composition skills of my offspring.

My really, really, really big news is the fact that, Lord willing, all my children will be baptized on the Lord's Day, October 26, and I will finally be a communicant member of my church and able to feast upon the Lord at His Table for the first time in about 10 years. I have longed for this day for so long and now that it is here, I can hardly take it all in. This week is being spent in preparing for the Table during private worship time and it has proven to be a time of great enjoyment. I am thrilled beyond measure over the fact that my parents will be here to see their grandchildren added to the membership of the visible church as well.

Speaking of my parents, it has been such a blessing to have them here. I always thought I had very good parents, but I have realized afresh what a blessing it is to have parents who know and love the Lord. Sharing one's life takes on a new depth when you can share not only the details of everyday life, but the deeper levels of faith in Christ, and know it is known, understood, and shared. God has been so merciful to me in this regard and I cannot praise and thank Him enough.

More Hope for Weary Parents

I know that God is doing a work of grace in my life, and the evidence is that even hearing the reading of God's Word in corporate worship is food to my soul, rather than a meaningless excercise now.

To continue in the vein of nurture or nature or neither, we read 2 Chronicles 33 this past Lord's Day for our Old Testament reading.

Manasseh was the son of godly, reforming King Hezekiah who had done much to restore a right worship of God on all levels in the nation of Israel. Yet despite his upbringing in a godly home, he rebels and rebels grossly to the point of re-instituting worship that demanded the sacrificing of his infant sons, as well as witchcraft and sorcery. If you read of his story in II Kings 21, you think that the story ends there with this man dying in his wickedness. But behold the lovingkindness and mercy of God: after time in a prison in Assyria, Manasseh repents and God allows him to return to Jerusalem. He re-institutes the proper worship of God (though the people refused to follow him in repenting), and by all accounts dies reconciled to the Lord.

Here is our encouragement, and here is our rest: It is *God* who works in us to will and do his good pleasure. Left to ourselves, we will fall back into idolatry and all manner of gross sin unless the Lord restrains us. Let us rest in Christ alone for salvation.

The Payoffs of Diligence

One of the most aggravating aspects of child training is the sheer number of times one must call a child back to either complete a job they have started, or have them re-do a job that didn't get done correctly to the proper standard in the first place. I find it extremely trying at times to have to do this. Multiply this tendency with children times 11 and it makes for a lot of aggravation!

There are pay offs for the children in the end, however. I was working in the kitchen the other day and thinking of my three eldest children. My oldest daughter is now 21 and just before her 20th birthday, she was made manager of the shoe store she works at. My second daughter is married, has a two year old, owns her own car and home, and is now a supervisor on her shifts at work (done in the evening so that she is with my dear granddaughter all day) at the ripe old age of 19. My oldest son just turned 17 and he shares the responsibility of finishing off some products with one other man in his division at his workplace. It looks like all that training in diligence is going to stand them in good stead in life.

Last night my eldest girl called and told me some of her experiences in managing the shoe store. Sounds like she is learning quickly. She related how she can tell almost from the beginning what kind of employees she is dealing with based on their work habits. Those who slack off and want breaks in the beginning never change. They continue to slack off and want breaks and never improve. She has learned to cut her losses with these people quickly and let them go asap instead of investing what turns out to be wasted time in them. Man, I wish I knew that much when I was her age!

I relate this information as a source of encouragement to myself and to other parents who get weary with the day in day out aspects of child training. We do reap a reward if we don't faint or become weary in well doing.

This is Stupid

Still reeling, the Brownlees were just beginning Monday to come to terms with the painful death of their 18-month-old dream home in the Kettle Creek neighbourhood of southern Kelowna.

Painful death of a home? Either someone has a severe problem with grammar, or with investing inanimate objects with feelings.

It's Official

After reading through more of the stuff flowing from the conclusions of the "Monroe Four" I have come to the conclusion that I can't stand it.

Nature or Nurture or Neither?

This past Lord's Day I was blessed and encouraged by both the Scripture reading and the sermon. They sermon provided the perfect counterpoint to the OT reading we had in II Chronicles 28. Here we have the sad saga of King Ahaz who burned incense in the Valley of the son of Hinnom, burned his children in the fire, sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on hills and under green trees, and worshiped the gods of the Syrians because they seemed to be the ones who would help a guy to win a few wars. This is hardly the sort of wholesome atmosphere one would want to subject a covenant child to, and yet his son, King Hezekiah, grew up in this man's home. Moreover, he was faithfull to the Lord God and "did what was right in the sight of the Lord."

The sermon was preached from the text, Mark 14:10-15. What really stuck with me was the beginning part of the sermon which dealt with Judas Iscariot. Here you have a man who spent three years with the Lord of Glory. It doesn't get any better than that. This man was chosen to be an apostle, was commissioned to preach, and even did miracles in Jesus' name and cast out demons (Matt. 10:1). Yet in the end he betrayed the Master to death with a kiss for 30 pieces of silver.

Is it nature or nurture that determines if a child or adult will serve and follow Christ?

Neither.

It is grace alone.

May the Lord make the means effectual to salvation for our children.

Why I Do Not Believe Matthew 24 is 70 A.D.

From a post I wrote earlier today:

I would agree that Luke 21:5-24 is speaking of the fall of Jerusalem that took place in 70 A.D.

Luke 21:25-26; Matt. 24:3- end of the chapter, and Mark 13:3-37 all are parallel passages that speak of Armageddon. The key verse to look at is Luke 21:37:

"And in the *daytime* He was teaching in the temple, but at *night* he went out and stayed on the mountain called Olivet."

Before you think I have lost my mind, if you look at Luke 211-24, Jesus is outside the temple proper, but still in the vicinity of the temple speaking. But from v. 25 to the end of the chapter, according to Matt. 24 and Mark 13, we are now on the Mount of Olives and he is not answering the same question. The reason it is so confusing is that part of the *pattern* is the same: wars and rumours of wars, earthquakes, etc.

Now carefully compare Luke 21 with Matt. 24.

Luke says v. 10 -- nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom
Matt. 24.v 7 -- nationa against nation; kingdom against kingdom
Luke 21.11 -- great earthquakes in various places and famines and pestilences
Matt. 24.7 -- famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.

So far it sounds like the same thing is being spoken of right? But the next verses are what tell us that they are not

Luke 21:12 -- BEFORE all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons.

Matt.24:9 -- THEN they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.

IOW, in Luke 21, the famines, pestilences, earthquakes, wars and rumours of wars all happen AFTER they lay hands on and persecute God's people, but in Matt. 24 the persecution happens after the wars, rumours of wars, famine, pestilences, etc.

Luke 21:5-24 *does* tell us about 70 A.D. but then when you compare the rest of the passage, it is pretty well parallel to Matt. 24:29 and onward.

Parallel passages to look for in regard to Armageddon include Psalm 118; Zechariah 14 and Revelation 19.

Another reason why I don't believe Matt. 24 is speaking of 70 A.D. is because of the abomination of desolation spoken of in V. 15. If you go back to Daniel 12:11, the *earliest* that this could happen is about 700 A.D. There is a huge time discrepancy between 70 A.D. and 700. A.D. In actuality, the papacy was set up in 756 A.D. so this corresponds nicely, I would say.

Ok, that was just a snippet to get you started.

A Change is as Good as a Holiday

I return home to recuperate from my vacation in Edmonton. I had a jam-packed time visiting with friends and spent a wonderful afternoon and evening discussing theology with one of my elders. It is wonderful when someone hands you a key that unlocks all sorts of doors that were previously closed to you. And the real thrill comes from knowing that you are able to figure a lot of this stuff out without the use of commentaries or other specialized Bible tools! I'm exhausted from my trip, but eager to get back in my household routine of being Queen of the Mudroom and all the other parts of my domestic kingdom.

This next month will be devoted to painting a few rooms in the house, preparing for Queen Willy's visit, and getting ready for homeschooling in the fall.

Wonderful History Link

"For more than 350 years most of the original manuscript “Minutes” of the Westminster Assembly have remained unpublished. These official Minutes record the debates of the English, Scottish and French theologians at plenary sessions of the Assembly as well as the Assembly’s inner workings and resolutions. The large three volume manuscript of the Minutes is housed in Dr. Williams’s Library, London. These volumes contain 550,000 words and span the years 1643 to 1652. Much of the third volume was published in the late nineteenth century from an imperfect transcript.

This project intends to publish all three volumes of the Minutes from the original manuscript in Dr Williams’s Library and the recently discovered papers of the Assembly.

The publication of The Minutes and Papers of the Westminster Assembly will more than triple the available sources on the Assembly and will fill a major gap in our understanding of the Assembly and its documents."

The Beauty of Libraries

I meant to blog about this the other day, but forgot in the daily rush of things until I read Carmon's blog today.

I got an unusual treat the other day -- some time at the library, free of babies. I love my babies, but having them with me makes it difficult to browse as they are such busy little people who hate being confined to strollers and who are a menace to the books if turned loose.

Being in the library literally causes me to have an endorphin rush. I love books. I could happily live in a library and spend most of my days reading and discovering. The other day I stumbled across a section that contained books on household hints for home management, how to budget properly, cleaning tips and related items. Several of the books there were reprints of old books published back in the 1800's. Looking at these books brought a nostalgic feeling as I remembered reading such things with delight back when I was a young mother and had only one or two babies under foot.

I always take out more books than I can possibly read in a month. This time I came home with one of the few remaining Georgette Heyer novels still in the library. I also got the first Poldark novel, one of Miss Read's books, a book on the HHV6 virus by Nicholas Regush, and one of the home management books. I still have a P.G. Wodehouse book to finish. In addition to all of the above (which I read simultaneously -- I have a book in every room for the few free moments I may get to read it) I have several books on herbs and natural healing that I am reading. Oh, and don't forget my books for the Lord's Day -- one on the martyrs of Bloody Mary's reign, and William Goudge's book, "Domestical Duties."

Does this qualify me as a bona fide bibliophile?

My pet peeve about libraries -- they always sell off the old classics to make way for junky, shallow, trivial new stuff. I can't find a single Elizabeth Goudge novel there any more. And Georgette Heyer has been reduced to only one or two books. Don't even bother looking for anything by Rafael Sabatini. Now THERE is an author who is worthy of reprinting!

Thoughts on the Incarnation

Mary, the mother of our Lord-- a young girl who had the derision and infamy of an unmarried pregnancy cast in her face and the face of her son, all of her life. Here was a girl who probably knew what some of the implications for her position would be, and yet who still said, "Yes, Lord."

Did she wonder what it meant when she was told that a sword would enter her heart? When was it that it happened? Was it when she saw her beloved son hanging on the tree dying? I doubt it.

I think the sword entered her heart when she realized that it was her sins that put him there.

Family Reunion

Yesterday was a bittersweet reunion with all my kids together for the first time in about 19 months. My eldest daughter, Patricia, came down from Grande Prairie for a visit and to see the baby sister she has never met. It was interesting to me to see how strong the bonds of blood can be as Patricia delighted in being surrounded by all her little brothers and sisters again and tried to make overtures to Elodie in the hopes that Princess Punkadunk would allow her to have a cuddle. (Nothing doin'.)

Patricia is staying with her sister in town and we went to visit her there. At one point all the children went to the park and I took group photos of them all on the playground equipment. I was so relieved to get those pictures and I pray they turn out well. You never know what life will bring and I would hate to never have a single picture of all the children together.

Last night I brought my granddaughter home for the night while her mother and eldest aunt went out for the evening. I returned Keiannah home to her parents and then guilted Patricia into coming to church with the rest of us. I don't know if it accomplished anything, but hope springs eternal that some part of the ministry would be a means of drawing a wayward child back to the Father.

Even if Trish got nothing out of the sermon, I did. Pastor Greg Price has been preaching a series on baptism and today's text was I Peter 3:21. One point that stuck with me was the illustration in Scripture of the ark that was the outward means of salvation to Noah and his family, yet proved to be only an outward form for Ham. I sat there in the service, at the back of the church nursing my baby and watching my older children in front of me. Grieving. Would this child or that child have only the outward form but fail to look to Christ?

My heart is heavy as I contemplate a daughter who is beautiful on the outside, but who demonstrates a shallow, worldly, and vain view of life. I fear for her eternal destiny. I know that if she is not of the elect, one day I will view her utter destruction with the knowledge that God is just to deliver her over to torment for her sins. But it isn't a prospect that can be faced with equanimity, even as I deliberately place my trust in God, that He does all things well.

No Wonder unNatural Family Planning Doesn't Work!

No 'safe' time to avoid pregnancy
'Flabbergasted' scientists find they've been all wrong on ovulation

Sharon Kirkey
CanWest News Service


Tuesday, July 08, 2003



In a finding that is expected to rewrite medical textbooks, Canadian researchers have discovered that, for many women hoping to avoid pregnancy, there is no "safe" time for sex.

For 50 years, doctors have believed that about a dozen follicles, or egg sacs, grow at one time during a woman's menstrual cycle. From this group, only one follicle actually bursts and releases an egg, while the others shrivel and die.

But, in a finding that left even researchers "flabbergasted," University of Saskatchewan scientists have found this pattern of follicular development actually occurs two to three separate times during a woman's menstrual cycle. What's more, 40 per cent of women have the biological potential to ovulate more than once during a cycle.

"The old idea of one time per cycle is wrong," says senior author Dr. Roger Pierson, director of the Reproductive Biology Research Unit at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon.

The results help explain for the first time why some women get pregnant while on birth control pills, and why the window for safe sex may not exist at all for many women -- because there may always be an egg sac waiting to release an egg.

"We all know people trying to use natural family planning, and we have a word for those people. We call them parents," he said.

The discovery could lead to more effective contraceptives and could boost success rates for women undergoing expensive and invasive high-tech infertility treatments.

The study, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, is published this week in the journal Fertility and Sterility.

For decades, the medical dogma held that a woman's ovaries behaved "one very certain, very specific, very predictable way," Dr. Pierson says. Normally, women have a 28-day menstrual cycle, and the belief was that most women ovulate once, around day 14. The cycle begins on the first day of bleeding. By about day five, the theory held, about 15 to 20 egg sacs start to mature and then, by day 14, the most mature follicle ruptures, releasing an egg.

But, those assumptions were largely based on blood samples and menstrual diaries. "We actually looked at the ovaries to find out what they were doing during the cycles," Dr. Pierson says.

The team tracked 50 women with normal menstrual cycles who volunteered to undergo high-resolution ultrasound every day for a month so researchers could follow the fate of every individual follicle.

They found follicles grow in waves "like you see in the ocean," Dr. Pierson says.

Forty per cent of women had multiple, major waves, while 60 per cent had minor waves, followed by a major wave.

"We were flabbergasted. We knew this happened in animal models (in horses and cows), but we read the books like everybody else and they said this isn't supposed to happen in humans."

Although the women all released only one egg during the study cycle, "they had the biological machinery to ovulate more than once." Two women with abnormal cycles actually ovulated twice.

"Many women will ovulate two follicles at once, typically on the same day. That's how fraternal twins come about," Dr. Pierson explains. "But these women ovulated at different times."

He says more research is needed to determine what causes some women to experience more follicle waves than others, and how long the follicle actually has a viable egg.

In the meantime, "it tells us why some women don't get along well with oral contraceptives." Most birth control pills are based on a 21-day treatment cycle, where women take active hormones, followed by seven days of placebo or "dummy" pills, which trigger menstruation.

Another study by the same team in the same issue of Fertility and Sterility suggests women can still get pregnant during their hormone-free interval, because there's enough space in the pill-free period that allows the development of a new wave of follicles.

Some fertility experts say the finding makes an argument for a continuous pill regimen. "It questions the need for women to have a pill-free week," says Dr. Arthur Leader, chief of reproductive medicine of the University of Ottawa.

The research may also explain why some women undergoing in vitro fertilization and other fertility treatments don't respond to ovary-stimulating drugs.

"We're probably giving at least some of the women drugs at the wrong time," Dr. Pierson says.

© Copyright 2003 The Ottawa Citizen

Sushi

For the past several weeks my dh has been working in a little town about an hour's drive south of us, called Quesnel. Because he has to be on the job early, and because the company pays out of town expenses, he had taken a motel room there. Last week he brought one of our sons down for a little road trip and son spent an enjoyable two days wandering around the town seeing the sights on his own. I drove down on day two to pick him up and my dh took us both out to eat at a Japanese restaurant that he had discovered.

The restaurant was called the Tokyo restaurant I had this wonderful soup with Udon noodles, veggies, chicken and an egg in it with some slices of yam and potatoe in tempura batter on the side. Marc also suggested that I try some sushi for the first time. Being in an adventurous spirit (but not TOO adventerous -- I couldn't bring myself to try the raw fish sushi) I chose the California rolls with imitation crab meat (pollock), avocado, cucumber, rice and the seaweed stuff they wrap it in. I fell in love! It was absolutely wonderful. I don't know how authentic it was, but it was sure good. I even learned how to manipulate chop sticks without making a mess. BQ and Emeth would be proud of me.

Recently, my second daughter introduced me to a Vietnamese restaurant in Prince George. I have to say that the Oriental people really know how to make good soup! I had the best bowl of soup I have ever had there. It was a hot and sour soup with a clear broth and delicate flavor that I couldn't place, and it had celery, pineapple, bean sprouts, rice noodles, chicken and green onions floating in it.

The soup was too good not to try making it for my family so I went to the library and found several books on Vietnamese cuisine. There was no chicken hot and sour soup, but there were recipes for fish hot and sour soup. I suspect that the addition of chicken was an adaptation for Canadian palates. At any rate, I used the fish soup recipes as the basis for creating my own version of it and I think I came pretty close to what I had at the restaurant. It was a hit with the family. And the secret to the flavorful broth was the addition of tamarind. Mmmmm..... Think I know what to make for supper tonight!

Cheap Medicine

When the year 2000 phobia had many of us in its grip, I acquired a book that I have come to really love. It is called, The Herbal Medicine Chest by Debra St. Clair. It is not a book about herbs and their properties. Rather it is a book about how to prepare these herbs into medicines once you have them. So far this week I have made an antiseptic throat gargle, slippery elm lozenges, and black cherry cough syrup. And they work quite nicely, thank you!

Herbal medicine is cheap, but it still costs money or time to acquire the herbs and then concoct with them. So what is the cheapest medicine available? My hands.

Or the hands of others. The other day I crunched my finger hard between two stools. After muttering incoherent sounds of anguish at the top of my voice, I noticed that my finger was beginning to swell and turn blue. I grabbed my son Nathanael and had him hold his hands on each side of the offended digit until we felt the electrical energy stop pulsing (meaning it had balanced out). It stopped hurting immediately and was back down to normal size within the hour. You can't even see any bruising two days later.

[For those wondering if I am into witchcraft, I will state categorically that I am NOT. I am a Calvinistic, Presbyterian Covenanter with no interest in the black arts. All I did in the example above was utilize the electrical energy system produced by our body to heal my finger.]

How about a cheap and fast way to relieve ear ache pain when your child is awake in the middle of the night? I used the tapping procedure called EFT the other night on my daughter Bethany. Earlier in the evening she had awakened me with a raging ear infection. I gave her tylenol and sent her back to bed. An hour later she was back howling outside my door and screaming inconsolably. So, I tried EFT. In three rounds of tapping the pain was gone and she went to bed and slept the rest of the night. In addition, she wasn't troubled with it anymore though she still had a cold.

I also used EFT to help a woman with back pain from an old injury. In several rounds of tapping, her pain, which was constant, was gone.

BTW, if you visit the EFT website, I don't endorse everything on it. There is plenty of false worldview stuff you need to sift through.

Feeling Virtuous Today

It's early and already my laundry is all washed and hanging out. But that isn't what makes me feel virtuous.

I picked wild red raspberry leaves early this morning while the dew was still on them. They are now in my dehydrator in preparation for medicinal teas in winter. Now THAT makes me feel virtuous.

Boo, Hiss

Vancouver has won the 2010 Winter Olympic bid. Now the taxpayers of this province can prepare to be soaked good and hard for tax money to build the infrastructure and sports facilities required for this event.

Why do I have this sense of deja vu? People preoccupied by sports and living decadent and depraved lifestyles?

Hail Cesear!

Canada Day

Today is Canada's national civic "holy day" when all Canadians are supposed to show their national pride in their country.

I find little to celebrate in a nation that is more and more rapidly degenerating before my very eyes. In our misguided zeal for toleration, we have learned to tolerate depravity on a scale unprecedented in this country. Yesterday I read that American sodomites are flocking to Toronto to take advantage of our newly approved marriages of same-sex couples.

Abortion is rampant.

Divorce and common-law marriage rates rise each year.

Perversion is openly taught and promoted to young people in our schools even while grades in basic disciplines like math and english continue to drop.

Evangelical Christians comprise less than 6% of our population according to polls in recent years. Standards are so lax in the Church that Christianity is more of a country club with really nice versions of heathens rather than a Church militant that is shaking hell's gates.

Oh, Canada.

Birth Control and Hard Cases

It is inevitable that whenever the topic of birth control is broached, the issue of the hard case where a mother or baby's life could be in danger by pregnancy is raised. I'm not gonna comment on that directly. Instead I just want to share the story of Ida Mae Fisher.

In 1918, Ida Mae Fisher found herself ill with breast cancer and pregnant at age 43. What to do? She carried the baby but both died when she was eight months pregnant. It was a terrible tragedy and loss, not only for her husband, but for her four motherless children.

Two of her children grew up to have children and currently the number of her descendants stands at 132. Miost of these descendants are professing believers in Christ.

I am one of them. Ida Mae was my great grandmother.

Spiritual Birth Control

I am just wondering how many Christians out there who read this blog would consider practicing spiritual birth control of their children in order to prevent them entering heaven?

Full and Partial Preterism Bites the Dust...
...and the key verse that does it is Luke 21:37.

Encouraged to Pray

I find it amazing how God looks after little details for His children, and how His doing so is an encouragement to ask for bigger and better things.

The other day I drove myself and my eldest son, Nathanael, to the gym and skateboard park. Nathanael had his BMX bike with him for doing tricks at the skate park. Instead of working out in the gym, I decided to do a few laps around the outdoor track. When I was finished, I wandered over to watch Nathanael take some jumps. He did a spectacular 360 out of the bowl and then tragedy struck: he landed wrong on his foot and toppled over. I could tell something was up by the way he got up and wouldn't put any weight on his foot. He rode his bike over to me, pushing with the one good foot.

"What's up?" I asked.

"I think I broke something. I heard it snap and it really hurts!" he replied.

I helped him over to the car, and then drove to the health food store and bought some arnica homeopathic pills and then bought some ice at the 7 Eleven. From there we proceeded to the emergency department at the local hospital to be met with a full waiting room. Nathanael hopped to a chair after giving his name and we sat down to read the signs that said that the hospital was full and if people needed admitting, they would likely end up in a different hospital out of town. We also were informed that we had at least a 3 hour wait ahead of us before he could be seen.

"Oh great!" I thought, considering the fact that I had left son Ben (aged 15) in charge of his younger siblings, including 1 year old Princess Punkadunk. I called to apprise them of the current state of things and then sat and wondered what I should do. A few moments reflection led me to call my second daughter and ask that they consider going out to the house to stay with the kids until I could get home.

I guess Nathanael's foot looked bad enough that we got in to see a doctor fairly quickly. She was a tiny little woman who was bird-like in her movements. His ankle looked pretty deformed and she said that it looked pretty much like it was broken on both sides and possibly on the back, but not to worry, we had a really good orthopedic surgeon on call and she didn't think it would take much hardware to repair.

My jaw nearly hit the floor. Nathanael began to think that maybe BMX wasn't such a great sport after all as he prepared to kiss his summer job doing yard maintenance good-bye. I, in the meantime, began to feverishly make plans in my head for getting the various supplements and herbs together that he would need to prevent infection and to speed healing, and also to figure out ways of getting him some decent food.

They got him into a bed, dressed him in a horrid hospital gown, propped his leg up and stuck an IV in his arm with some demerol and gravol to help ease the pain. We sat there for a while, a thin curtain all that stood between us and the injured biker gang members who were cursing and swearing about the fight they had with the cops before being brought in to be patched up.

Before long, a technician from radiography came and we wheeled him down to the X-ray department. While he was in there, I began to lift up petitions to the Heavenly Father that somehow He would give us a miracle and have there only be a sprain and not a break.

We barely made it back to the cubicle and the doctor already had the X rays in her hands. She came into our "bedroom" with an amazed look on her face and told me to follow her. She led me over to where his X rays were and there I saw a picture of bones in perfect condition! You could see a great deal of soft tissue damage as well, but the bones were all sound. [big smile]

I couldn't contain myself. "Praise God! What an answer to prayer!" I exclaimed as I came around the corner with a huge grin on my face. The bikers, who moments before were filling the air with their profanities, stopped and grinned back at me. I helped Nathanael get dressed and we left the hospital less than 2 1/2 hours after we had arrived.

There is some serious stuff going on in my church family right now. When God answered my prayer about Nathanael's foot -- a foot that definitely looked broken -- I immediately thought, "God is encouraging me to pray with faith over this other situation." I am beginning to understand what Christ meant when talked about faith that moves mountains. I am encouraged to pray.

I would despair...

...if I thought that baptism was so critical to the salvation of my children, that without it they were lost. Is baptism a means of grace? Yes. Is it necessary means for grace to be conveyed? No. Thank God!

Nothing Much....

...to say these days. Mostly because I can't find the time to sit down and blog great and wondrously deep things. I am finding it a full time job just to keep up with the laundry, especially since my husband bought the children a pool. I do a load of just towels daily now.

Current reading -- "Ditch that Jerk" - I have a friend who is going through divorce from an abusive professing Christian, and the insights this book and another like it (Why Does He DO That: Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men by Lundy Bancroft) have given me into abusive marriages and partnerships has been very enlightening. As I read Bancroft's book, I realized that I actually knew men in the church who would qualify in being abusive because of their tyrannical methods of ruling their homes.

"Infectious Diabetes" -- this is a very intriguing book about the role of fungus in causing not only diabetes, but also certain forms of cancer and other diseases. What is interesting to me is that my type II diabetic dh was told by a kinesionics practitioner that he had a long standing fungal infection in his body. Hmmm... I think this is very interesting and will be pursuing my own investigations into this. At any rate, t his book explains the *why* of another book I own called "Dangerous Grains." Grains all contain fungi and their mycotoxins which can then take over the body. Basically, people who walk around with systemic candida or other fungi, are the walking dead. I imagine they would tend to decompose very fast compared to people who don't have fungal infections...

Anyhow that is it for tonight.

Gruesome Twosome
Princess Elodie has morphed into Destructo Chick now that she is ambulatory. It is amazing how quickly she can trash a room. But she really shines when she is joined by her partner in crime and niece, Keiannah, my 21 month old granddaughter.

EEEEK! [what was that crash I just heard in the background?]

Good to Go

I received the official word last night from my presbytery -- I can now resume building my practice as a kinesionics practitioner.

My career was halted in its tracks because some in my church were feeling decidedly nervous about my chosen calling. A fifteen minute search on the Internet had turned up several articles from Christian "heresy hunters" who claimed that energy therapy of any kind was a form of the occult arts. Red flags were waved and so things came to a screeching halt while I prepared a paper for my elders on the theory that lies behind most energy therapies and a positive position that demonstrated that this was indeed a lawful form of therapy (though one that hasn't received the "validation" of triple blind, peer-reviewed clinical trials).

Just a few comments on this whole episode. First, many Christians fall into the genetic fallacy trap. I happened to read a few articles on one prominent "psycho heresy" website that in a number of articles condemned various practices because they had their origins in non-Christian cultures. This would be like saying we must not drive cars because someone discovered that Henry Ford was a Satanist. (He wasn't, as far as I know.) This mindset implicitly denies common grace. It seems to believe that the only people who can make discoveries or contribute to progress are Christians. But God has revealed much in general revelation through many non-Christians.

Secondly, I found the whole trial to be rather annoying at times, but ultimately for my good. Because of the research I had to do, I now have a far better understanding of how things work and why. Not only that, I can see the overlap between various schools of healing and can see where they either do the same things in a different way, or complement one another.

It hasn't quite sunk in yet that I am now free of the dreadful burden of being accused of practicing occult arts. But I do know that it is great relief to be able to pursue my studies free from this encumberance.

If there is enough interest in this post, I may publish bits and pieces about energy therapies in general. I'm probably a real anomaly in this field -- a die-hard Calvinistic, Presbyterian Covenanter who does things normally associated with being done only by New Agers.

SARS Insanity

I read a lot of stuff on things medical in both allopathic medicine and alternative medicine fields. One of the big stories that is currently in the news concerns the outbreak of SARS and all the hoopla over corona viruses that may cause it. After reading the articles on SARS that are in the newspapers, I have the feeling of deja vu all over again. SARS is getting treated in the same manner as AIDS.

AIDS, as you will no doubt remember, is supposedly caused by HIV. This is despite the fact that AIDS as a disease does not follow Koch's Postulates. "What are Koch's Postulates?" Glad you asked.

1. The specific organism should be shown to be present in all cases of animals suffering from a specific disease but should not be found in healthy animals.

2. The specific microorganism should be isolated from the diseased animal and grown in pure culture on artificial laboratory media.

3. This freshly isolated microorganism, when inoculated into a healthy laboratory animal, should cause the same disease seen in the original animal.

4. The microorganism should be reisolated in pure culture from the experimental infection.

Now if AIDS is caused by HIV, we should find HIV in everyone who has AIDS. But this is precisely what is not found. And not only that, not everyone who is diagnosed with HIV goes on to develop full blown AIDS unless they are foolish enough to start standard toxic drug treatments, which incidentally, destroy the immune system.

There is much I could say on AIDS, but to save us all time, I refer you to Dr. Peter Duesberg's website.

Mass hysteria is being propagated around SARS. Influenza kills far more people than SARS does. And strangely enough, SARS seems to be killing the people who are getting treated for it in hospital. SARS appears to be another case of scare mongering on the parts of the drug pushers.

Queen of the Mudroom

We have a mudroom that, in spring and after a rain storm, is well named. This room, in addition to being the catchment for boots, shoes, coats, etc., is also our laundry room. Until recently, this room, the entry way into our home, was a source of great shame and disgrace because the untidy mess was the first thing that assaulted the eyes of every visitor who came to see us. Well no more! The Queen of the Mudroom has arrived.

I got tired of getting my laundry back inside out, discolored and stained, and grey. That, combined with the fact that one of the older children is now working outside the home means that I have to pick up the slack in yet another area. Generally, the children each have one chore a day that they are responsible for before rotating to a new one on the following day. This gives them training in all areas of caretaking of a home without overtaxing them or loading them down with work. But laundry was something that none of them could/would do to my satisfaction.

Now, to my great joy, my laundry is sorted properly, stains are treated properly, and everything is organized. I gain great satisfaction in seeing things neatly folded and placed in the appropriate laundry basket for dispersal to the proper owners. And my mudroom sparkles at all times. The children are learning that now that the Queen reigns supreme, they durst not leave muddy boots and shoes here and there or neglect to hang up their coats properly.

Long live the Queen!

My, How Things Change.

Three years ago my eldest girls were telling all and sundry what an awful mother I was. Now one of them is trying to get me to be the community model for "Mother of the Year" in our local newspaper.

Funny how growing up, getting married, and having a baby can change things.

More Evidence...

...of the insanity that an over-sexed culture has been driven to can be found here. This makes me froth at the mouth.

One of the primary purposes of a woman's breasts is for the feeding of her infants. God designed this and it is GOOD. We are not talking about women flashing and exposing themselves deliberately in an attempt to cause lust in the male. We are talking about feeding babies, usually under the cover of a blanket. But the exclusive sexualization of a woman's breasts in our perverted culture have made that natural function an action of indecency. Grrrrrrrrr.

Myths of Child-Rearing

A popular myth of child rearing that shows up in many circles is the myth that a mother only need be at home for the initial months, year, pre-school, or pre-teen years. The idea seems to be that if you breastfeed for at least six weeks, or are home in those important first few years, you have done your duty and may now go off and do something else with a clear conscience. Once a child reaches the age of say, 13, and is able to use a door key without losing it, or operate a microwave, mom may depart the home in search of fulfillment through full time employment or higher learning. But it ain't so.

True, children require less maintenance as they get older. Most teens don't need their diapers changed, they can feed themselves, and if you crack the whip hard enough, they will even clean up after themselves and others. But while their physical needs impose less work on mom, their emotional and spiritual needs come more to the fore. They need as much care as a baby or toddler, but they just need it in a different way.

The teen years are years that are fraught with danger, at least in our society. No more a child, but not yet an adult, they are caught in the no-man's-land of puberty where they lack the experience and discipline needed to avoid some serious mistakes. Many of us can attest to the fact that we sowed some pretty awful stuff into our lives during the teen years and we are still reaping their effects years later. It seems to me to be the height of foolishness for parents to abandon their posts at this time just because they can go out and the kids no longer need a baby-sitter.

It takes time to develop a good and lasting relationship that allows the transfer of wisdom and guidance from a parent to a child. It is hard to get this time when both mom and dad work outside the home and are both exhausted by week's end. Saturday may be devoted to catching up on household chores and maintenance and Saturday evening is a time for mom and dad to have a date in order to maintain their relationship. This doesn't leave a lot of time for spontaneous activities and heart-to-heart talks with your teen sons and daughters. And since young people can be notoriously difficult to get to talk, the necessary time it takes to break down this resistance is one thing that is often in short supply.

I am thankful for the Providence that has allowed me to stay home with my children. There will be a lot of things in my life that I will look back on with regret, but staying home for my teens won't be one of them.