"Freedom from Christianity" Group

WHAT is UP with this "Freedom from Religion" group? The "religion" part is just a guise for "Freedom from Christianity". It is soooo bold-faced and blatant the minute you look at their stuff. What jerks. They would not dare insult Hindus, Muslims (definitely not Muslims. Remember Solomon Rushdi or the famous European cartoon making light of Mohammed. . . ? YEah.), Jews (because then they'd be anti-semetic, although, by ridiculing Christianity, they are ridiculing them also because we both worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob :) ), Buddhism or any other religion on the face of the planet, because that would be intolerant . . .

"Yeah, why not? Christians are easy targets and no one likes them. They can't do anything about it."

I put my name to the petition of protest against abolishing the National Day of Prayer. These "freedom from religion" people are sooo proud that they got a supreme court justice, Martinez, to agree with them about the "unconstitutionality" of the day. Is not the judge's leaning in favor of this group unconstitutional in and of itself? Judges aren't allowed to make decisions in favor for or against religious groups because of the separation of church and state. But, of course, nothing is sacred in the Obamanation. There are no rules because the rules (the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution) are changeable, a "living document", as the administration so aptly put it. It's expected that one by one things will be and attempted to be, taken away from us. It's in Revelations, after all.

The National Day of prayer is not a mandatory thing. It's an acknowledgment that there is a Creator. George Washington put into affect many "national days of prayer."

The reason the United States of America has been, and hopefully will continue to be someday, such a hope and light to those around it, so wealthy in spirit and earthly ways, is because it began with leaders who knew God. They revered God and His Word, leading them to make wise and prudent decisions.

For Heaven's sake, President Obama's hero and idol, President Abraham Lincoln was the one who designated the National Day of Prayer in the first place. (Show's him how well he knows him. I only learned how devout he was recently. Of course you don't hear of it in public school).

"'Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficent to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God who made us. It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness . . . . I therefore designate the 30th day of April 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting, and prayer.'"

Sorry, Mr. Obama, but we are a Judeo-Christian Nation, whether you say so or not. Just because you declare something, does not make it true (a fact which has been proven more than once. Oh snap).

America is indeed arrogant, but not in the way you say it is. I pray not only for you and the First Lady's salvation, but also that your lovely daughters will also come to Christ, perhaps before you, and be shining examples to you. That would be a wonderful thing to see, for your sakes.

I close with another excerpt concerning Lincoln. It comes from the pen of Mary Lincoln's seamstress, Elizabeth Keckly, which she recorded in her memoirs Behind the Scenes:

". . . the Confederates were flushed with victory, and sometimes it looked as if the proud flag of the Union, the glorious old Stars and Stripes, must yield half its nationality to the tri-barred flag that floated grandly over long columns of gray.

. . . One day he came into the room where I was fitting a dress on Mrs. Lincoln. His step was slow and heavy, and his face sad. Like a tired child he threw himself upon a sofa, and shaded his eyes with his hands. He was a complete picture of dejection. Mrs. Lincoln, observing his troubled look, asked:

'Where have you been, father?'

'To the war Department,' was the brief, almost sullen answer.

'Any news?'

'Yes, plenty of news, but no good news. It is dark, dark everywhere.'

He reached forth one of his long arms, and took a small Bible from a stand near the head of the sofa, opened the pages of the holy book , and soon was absorbed in reading them. A quarter of an hour passed, and on glancing at the sofa the face of the President seemed more cheerful. The dejected look was gone, and the countenance was lighted up with new resolution and hope.

The change was so marked that I could not but wonder at it, and wonder led to the desire to know what book of the Bible afforded so much comfort to the reader. Making the search for a missing article an excuse, I walked gently around the sofa, and looking into the open book, I discovered that Mr. Lincoln was reading that divine comforter, Job. He read with Christian eagerness, and the courage and hope that he derived from the inspired pages made him a new man. I almost imagined that I could hear the Lord speaking to him from out of the whirlwind of battle:

'Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.'

What a sublime picture was this! A ruler of a mighty nation going to the pages of the Bible with simple Christian earnestness for comfort and courage, and finding both in the darkest hours of a nation's calamity. Ponder it, O' ye scoffers at God's Holy Word, and then hang your heads for very shame!'"

Duuuude. You go girl.

It's a Good Thing I'm Already a Christ Follower . . .

Ran into some "pet peeves", I guess you could call them, Sunday and today. I went to McLean Bible Church's new Prince William campus' service for the first time on Sunday. I decided to attend their "Open Doors Community Bible Study". I enjoyed the group study, but when I first walked into the room, there were already two women and they were chatting away, obviously good friends. The one closest to where I was standing (at the complimentary coffee stuffs) introduced herself to me. I did the "nice to meet you's" back and then silence . . . Normally, in Christian circles, being social is expected, well, the woman she was speaking with, sitting next to her just sat there and didn't introduce herself as well (of course, her friend could've done that for her). So, I said "and . . . " after a moment, looking at her expectantly. She didn't even turn her head my way, much less look at me, just curtly said her name, "Max." That was it.

It's a good thing I'm already a long-time Christian, because, if I was not a believer or if I was a new believer, I would've walked right out of that room. I'm a very self-conscious person by nature and I was offended and a little hurt. If she hadn't been talking to a white woman already (she was black), I would have assumed that she was prejudiced against whites, or something. That sort of thing steams me up! What if I wasn't a believer? What if I was a new Christian? You can't assume that everyone who walks into a church and/or Bible study is Christian! A friend or parent might've brought them, or they were brave enough to take the initiative and go by themselves!

The rude woman only spoke to me when her friend noticed me doodling in the margins of my notes and was impressed. Oh, now I'm worth your time? *Sigh* Oh, well. I admit, in initiating social interactions, I haven't been so good lately. I've been letting my shy, insecure side take over. Got to pray for confidence!

The other incident was MORE OUTRAGEOUS! This morning I was watching the kids of a friend of my sister's, at a church. The friend was attending the home-group art class with her two other children. So, I babysat her three year old (cute-as-a-button) girl and her three-month old son. His stroller is pretty heavy. It takes a lot of effort to push and keep control of the steering. It's like the Hummer of baby-carriages! Anyway, so the children and I go outside. I push the stroller out, too, with herculean effort since there was no one to open the door for me.

The moment we get outside, the little girl announces, "I need to go potty". I make a u-turn. I pause before the doors a moment, in the hopes that someone will come and open it for me (the doors are glass, by the way). A man who looked to be in his mid-to late sixties, came up from behind and walked through the door next to me ( 2 sets of double-doors, went through the pair next to me). Of course, the stroller is too unwieldy for me to quickly get in behind him, AND HE JUST OPENED THE DOOR ENOUGH TO LET HIMSELF IN!! You know, the kind that follows close behind your back as it closes . . . ?

So, I push open the door, hold it to let the girl in first, then push and shove and maneuver the heavy stroller over the threshold. Of course, the little metal threshold cover gives me trouble. Then, somehow one of the wheels turns in the opposite direction and gets stuck against the edge of one of the double doors. I'm pushing and pulling, trying to pick up the stroller and turn it, all the while holding the door open (which is also heavy) with my back (it's the kind that's on like a tension wire, so it will close itself . . .).

The man had gone to drop off some canned goods in the charity bin at the end of the narthex (church lobby). I was still struggling half inside and half outside within the door as he came back to the entrance. He actually looked at me as he exited back through the same doors he entered through! And I was obviously struggling! WHAT GIVES? I've never seen such rudeness in my entire life! AND I'VE LIVED IN THE D.C. AREA UP UNTIL RECENTLY!!! Come on, brothers and sisters! AAARRRRGGGG! Makes me so frustrated! If I wasn't a Christian and knew that this sort of rudeness is not business as usual . . . It also shocked me that it was a man, a much older man, who was so indifferent!

*Rumble, rumble, rumble! Mutiny, mutiny, mutiny . . .*

Waiting and Wondering

I was just thinking out what went through the disciples' (and Christ's other followers') heads on that Saturday. They couldn't do anything to take their minds off their disappointment and despair since it was the Sabbath. No matter how many times Jesus told them that He would rise on the third day. They understood what he was saying, the Pharisees and Saducees certainly did. Why else would they request guards to be posted by His tomb? They expected the disciples to come and try to steal His body then claim that He had risen:

"The chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 'Sir,' they said, 'we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, "After three days I will rise again." So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.'

'Take a guard,' Pilate answered. 'Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.' So they went and made the secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard." -- Matthew 27:62-65

The disciples, the ones closest to Him, all pretty much despaired. The women seemed to hold onto hope while they cried.

It all seemed so final, watching (those that had the strength to) Him die on the cross, Joseph and perhaps Nicodemus taking Him down off the cross, wrapping Jesus with grave clothes and closing the stone.

The women were probably preparing the burial spices that were supposed to be applied before the closing of the tomb, but because of the Sabbath approaching, they had no time. They were going to go to the at first light.

What were some of the Roman soldiers and officers doing during that time? The one's who were affected by all they had seen and heard. I wonder if the centurion who placed his faith in Jesus, who recognized His authority, had asked him to heal his servant who was deathly ill. Jesus commended him for his faith and trust in Him. He felt so out of league with Jesus that he could bring himself to bring his request to the Lord in person.

"[Jesus] was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: 'Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority with soldiers under me. I tell this one, "Go," and he goes; and that one, "Come," and he comes. I say to my servant, "Do this," and he does it."

"When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, 'I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.' Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well." -- Luke 7:6-9

I wonder if he was near Pilot during Jesus' "trial", or the crucifixion . . . I wonder if it was the same centurion or another who looked up to the cross after Jesus' death, saying "'Surely he was the Son of God!'"

I wonder what the rest of the soldiers who were present thought, as they went back to their usual posts or barracks. I'm sure a lot of them had seen executions of all kinds before. But the moment Jesus died, as signaled by his loud cry, there was a major, ground-splitting earthquake, (Matt. 27:51) tombs also broke open "and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the city and appeared to many people."-- Matthew 27:52-53 (Pretty awesome).

I can definitely picture them sitting in their barracks staring at the floor between their sandaled feet and wondering, "What . . . just happened . . . ?"

Of course the best part was when the veil in the temple that separated the Holy of Holies (the Ark of the Covenant) and the Altar of Incense, was torn completely in two . . . from top . . . to bottom. God made a way. "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through me." -- John 14:6

Man could now approach God, sins washed clean by the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world . . . The ultimate Passover Lamb. Put Him on the posts and lintel of your heart and death (Judgment, Hell) will pass over you.

"Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, 'Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb.

'Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.

'For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.'" -- Exodus 12:21-23

"The next day he [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!'" -- John 1:29

"Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities under foot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old." -- Micah 7:18-20

". . . As far as the east is from the west, so far does [God] remove our transgressions from us." -- Psalm 103:12

Oh, the suspense! . . .

Where Have I Been?

I've just moved to Virginia. I've lived in Maryland all my life so it's quite a change. I have a beautiful cherry tree in our front lawn (a.k.a. patch). We're in a townhouse. Some of the branches touch my windows. Pretty white blooms against a clear blue sky!

I'm working on two commissions at the moment. Yay! One is for a t-shirt line graphic and the other, illustrations for a children's book. I'm starting on the latter next week. Oooo! There's a sparrow singing on one of the topmost branches of my cherry tree! I love Spring!

I'm off to church for the Maundy Thursday service!