Radical

I have heard reference made to the radical right more times in the past year than I care to count. For some reason, the term 'radical right' has a negative connotation to me. I picture crazed people who bomb abortion clinics or people like those at the church in Kansas who protest at soldier's funerals. But today, it occurred to me that my view of the radical right is not necessarily correct. The people who bomb abortion clinics and protest dead soldiers are not radical, they are brain-washed and somewhat insane - their behavior is not radical, but abhorrent.




As I was working today, I decided that being a radical Christian is not a bad thing. Matter of fact, I think if we are true followers of Jesus, we are called to be radical. One of the definitions of the word 'radical' is "Departing markedly from the usual or customary; extreme". I think that Jesus went WAY above usual and customary and was MORE THAN extreme in showing His love for us when He died on the cross, so why shouldn't we be radical in showing our love for Him? Considering what Jesus did for us, I think being radical in our witness, relationship to Him, and worship is the least we can do..........





Maybe it is time we all got radical for Jesus. To be radical means that there has to be a change in the status quo. Radical throws normal and average right out the window. Radical wants to know the heart of Jesus and do the will of Jesus regardless of the cost. Radical is not easy. Radical is not for the faint of heart or the fair weather follower of Christ........



Radical means it just might be time to leave that liberal church that says it's okay to live like the world from Monday through Saturday as long as you are there on Sunday morning and help in the soup kitchen downtown when its your turn. Maybe its time to exit the church where you go to hear a watered down message by a wishy-washy pastorette and start to look for a church that preaches the cross and the blood and judgement. After all, radical Christians don't live on milk anymore --- they live on the meat of the Word of God. A superficial message will not suffice for radical Christians. Acts 2:17 says, 'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams'. Maybe its time we get radically filled up with the Spirit so we can have something to pour out.



Maybe its time to let go of the stuff that makes you just like the rest of the world.....might be time to reevaluate your priorities and put Jesus first instead of 2nd, 10th, 20th or last. Might be time to speak up for Jesus in that group of friends who love the world a little too much instead of remaining silent and giving them the idea that you are 'one of the crowd'. Maybe its time to be radically different in a family or workplace where Jesus is never given a second thought. Maybe its time you quit acting like the devil with one group of friends and like an angel with another. Radical believers cannot be two-faced or double-minded. The Book of James says "a double-minded man is unstable in all he does'. Radical means going against popular opinion and speaking the Truth even when it will make you unpopular. Radical is excited to see God's will done no matter the outcome. Radical does not look, act, drink, or talk like the world.



Radical does not put on airs. Radical is REAL all the time. To be radical, we have to remove the words "politically correct" from our vocabulary and call people to Jesus out of love for them and love for Him. I doubt there was any more radical person than John the Baptist. His outward appearance was radical, his diet was radical (he ate locusts for crying out loud - eating bugs is quite extreme if you ask me), and his message was radical......He did not water down the message of Jesus, but he called people to repentance because he didn't want to see them perish. Why did he care if the people perished? Because Jesus cared. It is not God's will than any should perish. Radical cares about others the way Jesus cares about them and Jesus cared enough to speak truth to the worst sinner, not to condemn, but to save them from an eternal burning hell. Jesus did not sugarcoat the sin of the woman at the well, He loved her enough to bring it out in the open and tell her go and sin no more. Which was radical considering He knew He would have to die for her sins (and ours). If we want to be radical, we have to love people enough to tell them that sin leads to death and without Jesus, hell will be their eternal home.



One thing I know for sure is that the world will criticize radical, but radical gets God's attention (John the Baptist is proof of that). God was radical in His love by sending His only son to die a terrible, humiliating, painful death for us. Seems like that makes being radical our reasonable service to Him.

Look what just came by UPS........

Some Fall Festival Pics and A Short Video Surprise

At our church

He looks just like the actual Dash in the movie (and yes, I know Dash is not real - he is a cartoon character)

He loves to pose...gets it from his Daddy.

Rough Character....hope he doesn't grow up to look like this

Our kitchen was turned into a tattoo parlor yesterday

He actually had 2 tear drops on his face (like the guys in jail have -- it was his Daddy's idea, I promise) and I tattooed his name across his knuckles.....you might be a redneck if you dress your kid as a redneck for the church Fall Festival......yeah, that's how we roll.

Just wanted to prove that my kids are unmarked and normal (well as normal as they can be considering who their mother is)

I would like to apologize in advance for the quality and subject (me) of this video. Am I the only one who hates to hear her own voice???? Or see herself on video???? Guess I have no future in the field of acting. At least this video is short....you will thank me for that later. Anyway, I hope actually hearing the accent and seeing me in motion does not make you think less of me......... hit play at your own risk.

I Got Nothin'

So far today has been a wonderful day. Might be because it is only 9:30 and I have only been up for an hour!!! You read that right, folks! I slept until almost 8:30 am........8:21 am to be exact. I remember the good ole days when I thought that getting up at 8:30 on a day I didn't have to was torture, now it seems like such a treat. Sad that at 35, rest is a thing of the past. My yesterday was spent at Lake's school for Harvest Day. Every time I work at his school, it is apparent to me that teachers (well, the nice teachers....better not say anymore) definitely have a calling......a calling that I never heard. Oh my goodness. It was fun, but I fear if I went there everyday, I might have to be placed in one of those suits and stuck in a rubber room. It's not that I don't love the kids, it's just that chaos makes me nervous.......



I have taken all your comments about decorating for Christmas into account and I will let you know after I decorate next week when I decide what to do. Thanks for all your input though, especially for reminding me about having to dust the ornaments - I am trying to come up with a way to cover all decorations with plastic......or maybe we will skip decorating here and just ask if we can have Christmas at someone else's house....seriously, if you were at my house right now, you would see that I have an aversion to dusting....makes me sneeze....maybe I am allergic to Pledge.

While I have Christmas on my mind, let me encourage you to go to Sandi's blog and enter to win one of her beautiful creations. Sandi is starting and ETSY store and she is wildly talented! I mean she has a God-given gift for all things crafty.......go here to check her stuff out and enter to win a mixed media painting (and no I do not know what that really is, but I do know I love it). Sandi is my blog friend Heidi's mom (The Zawisza Tribune on my sidebar) and they are both a hoot!!!


I don't know about you all, but I am sick and tired of hearing about ACORN and their voting scandal. Believe it or not I am more sick of ACORN than I am of the words "Maverick", "Energy",or "Scranton" -which I would have never thought possible. I say we just shut down ACORN (not really sure what their purpose is anyway) and forget voting machines and paper ballots. Our banks have implemented thumbprint machines for identification verification, why cant we use thumbprints for voting? At least that way, we could know for sure that each person could only cast one vote. God made sure that all our thumbprints are different, so why not use the original technology straight from the Maker to keep our elections honest? Just my opinion.



So, I went to the store called Dress Barn day before yesterday. I cannot go into that store without thinking of this. It does make one wonder what kind of marketer would come up with a name for their store that gives the idea of a cow or horse. Anyway, after trying on clothes at every store in this area, I have come to the conclusion that nothing looks good on me. I either look 6 months pregnant (because the sweaters/shirts are in grand maternity style AGAIN!!!) or like I am 35 trying to look 15 OR like a grandmother. So, what will I wear this winter season? I have no earthly idea. Maybe I will just wear long johns thermal underwear under all my summer clothes. Who knows? I might start a trend.



I saw a story on my internet homepage the other morning ..... the headline read "Heaviest man in the World Marries". I had a dream about this last night.....I was the bride......the wedding was weird. Why on earth can I not be normal??????



So, for Fall Festival (we don't really do the Halloween trick-or-treating thing) Lake wants to be a "motorcycle rider". I am all about homemade costumes, so I thought it would be fun to put together. The hubs and I are not motorcycle kind of people. We think they are really pretty to look at, and we have friends that love to ride them, but we prefer to be enclosed inside a large metal casing while riding down the road (aka. and SUV or Truck - cause we ARE in TN, y'all, I mean, let's face it, there are nuts on the road and I do not want to meet them on a bike with just my jeans for protection against the concrete...I would not look good in a casket or with my limbs severed and laying in different parts of the highway). But that's just us....if you live to ride and ride to live....more power to ya....we will be sitting inside our SUV talking about how cool your motorcycle is as you fly by us!! Yes, we are so un-hip.

Anyway, I went to Smith-Brother's Harley here in Johnson City to buy Lake a t-shirt. I just have to say two things.....#1... Those people at the Harley store are sooooo nice!! They were the sweetest sales people EVER! I thought it would be kinda scary to go in there (I pictured lots of tattoos and big scary men looking for a Harley mama), but they were all so nice...I think they could give all the other stores in the area a lesson in customer service. (well, except for the guy who gave my 4 yr old a poster with a 1/2 nekkid Jessica Simpson on it --- he needs a lesson of his own ---I didn't know what the poster had on it until we got to the car and Kaden unrolls it and says "It's a lady on a motorcycle with big shoes on". I look to find Jessica in a leather 2-piece and high heels (it is at the landfill as we speak). #2.....Harley stuff is WAY EXPENSIVE!!!! When you see your average Harley rider going down the road in leathers and jeans that have the Harley logo-----he is wearing hundreds of dollars worth of clothing! I could go on and on, but this part of my post is already way too long.

Kaden wants to wear the Dash (Incredibles) costume he got for his birthday in January. Which was no surprise to us, but a good thing because it saved us about $40 bucks ....costumes are expensive y'all!!! Which is why I am a fan of homemade ones..... ;-) I usually like to have them dress up as something related (remember the referee and the football player and the State Trooper and the inmate???? Yeah, well, not this year ;-( ) We could have all gone as a biker gang..............

I will definitely post pics this weekend of Dash and The Harley Man......should be pretty funny....we have tattoos and everything....cause we are authentic like that. Have a great day.

Too Early?

Okay, it is cold here, really cold. It actually flurried last night (well, it is going to be in the 60's on Thursday, but still cold now). I am seeing all the Christmas stuff in the stores and it has occurred to me that I might like to go ahead and decorate for Christmas a little early this year.....like next week. So, tell me in your opinion, how early is too early to decorate for Christmas????

Tolerance

Yesterday, our pastor preached on John 2:12-25. You know the story. Jesus comes to the temple and is outraged to find that God's house had been taken over by money changers and marketeers. The temple that was supposed to be consecrated to God had become nothing more than a business and a marketing scam. I can just hear the money changers and evil entrepreneurs advertising their services now, "Get your doves, Get your cattle, Get your sheep.....Come see US for all your sacrificing needs". Jesus, who was and is always about His Father's business, didn't waste any time braiding cords into a whip and chasing out the dove salesmen and money changers.

I believe there is a great lesson for us to learn from Jesus' example in this story. See, Jesus didn't just throw His Holy hands up to the sky in disgust, He did something. He didn't stand by and allow evil to take over God's temple, He drove evil out. Jesus is not tolerant of sin, He takes action in the face of evil. When He met the woman at the well, did He look over her sin? No, He exposed it and told her to go and sin no more. Jesus doesn't overlook sin, He faces it head on and deals with it! Today, our society want believers to overlook the sins that are dragging America into the pit. Tolerance is the buzz word of they day. Unfortunatly, Christians have become wishy-washy and timid in the name of tolerance.

Our forefathers came to America so that they could escape religious tyranny and worship God as they pleased. Atheists would have us believe that our country was not founded on Biblical principals and that the first Americans came here to escape religion entirely. If that were so, then John Adams would have never said "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." And our first President, George Washington, would not have said, "It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible". Our forefathers were willing to take a stand for what they believed and they stood on the side of a Holy God.

Yesterday in his sermon, my pastor made the statement, "As goes the church, so goes the nation". History proves that statement to be true. When the church was willing to BOLDLY stand up for what is right in the eyes of God, non-Christians were not so quick to oppose her. When the church becomes tolerant and quiet, the world sees her as a doormat and satan takes over. Our problem is that the church has become tolerant and complacent at the same time.....tolerance and complacence are a deadly combination in this world. (Tolerance + Complacence = A Silent Church and a silent church is an open invitation for satan to work). We are quick to blame satan for America's problem, but it might be time to look in the mirror and realize that we share some of the blame.....the silent church is also a contributor to the downfall of our society.

I am sick and tired of hearing about tolerance. Tolerance is the root of America's problem. Even in the church (especially the emerging church) we hear people say that it is wrong to denounce homosexuality. What ever happened to hating the sin and loving the sinner? We can speak out against what God calls an abomination and still love and restore those who are involved in that lifestyle. Christians should be speaking against such things, we should even be speaking against the idea of 'tolerance at any cost', but instead we are buying into the lie that tolerance is of God.

John 2 proves that Jesus had no tolerance for blatant sin......He drove evil out of the temple. Today we live by the motto "live and let live". It's as if we have bought into the tolerance idea so much that we feel guilty sharing our faith and our convictions. As Christians, we should not be tolerant of sin and sinful lifestyles, we should be preaching "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand". What greater way to show love for sinners (which we all are) than to tell them the Jsus loves them and help them turn from their sin and accept Jesus so they can go to heaven?

John the Baptist, of whom Jesus said, "I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater" didn't sit back and sugar coat sin, He called sin what it is and called people to repentance. Where on earth did we ever get the idea that tolerance is God's idea???? God's idea is for His people to repent, pray, seek Him, and tell others about Him --- Can we tell others about God without telling them that He hates sin??? Maybe we have become so complacent that we have forgotten the fact that God never changes so He still hates sin (not the sinner, but the sin that separates His children from Himself).

The church has allowed liberalism to invade and we have come to the point in our society where a pastor has to reign in his tongue when preaching the truth (especially when it comes to political issues.....it is only a matter of time before pastors will not be able to openly speak out against homosexuality, abortion, gay marriage, etc). Today, if a preacher endorses a particular candidate for president, their church will lose tax exempt status (well, preachers except for Jeremiah Wright, Jessee Jackson, and Al Sharpton). If the church takes a stand against abortion, then they are accused of setting back women's rights (because babies apparently have no rights). If the church voices her opinion on gay marriage, then we are portrayed as backwoods bigots whose message is no longer relevant in a society such as ours.

Have I mentioned that I am tired of hearing about tolerance? Have I also mentioned that Christians have NOT been called to be tolerant of sin? Jesus tells us to love one another (and yes, that means even the vilest of sinners because we are all sinners). He never said to sit down and allow satan to take over and silence His church.

Is it wrong for a Christian to take a stand for Jesus? No, it is what we are commanded to do even when our stance is unpopular by the world's standards (Aren't we told that we will be hated because of our love for Jesus? Popular or not, we have a duty to stand up for what is right in the sight of God). Is it wrong for a Christian to stand up against the killing of unborn babies? No. Is it wrong for a Christian to say that marriage should be between one man and one woman? No. Is it wrong for a Christian to say that a vote for Obama is a vote for abortion, gay marriage, and the forced acceptance of homosexuality? No. A Christian's goal IS NOT to get a certain political candidate elected, but to spread God's word and speak truth whether the rest of the world wants to hear it or not. The truth is a vote for any liberal Democrat these days (regardless of who it is) is a vote in support of the sin that God hates.

Why is it that when Christians take a moral stand, they are labeled as hate-filled, psychotic, brain-washed, idiots?

The truth will stand when the world is on fire and it's time that Christians STOP APOLOGIZING for our Biblical world view and start speaking out (in love) against the sin that the world loves so much. The devil knows his time is short, so he is hard at work, we need to work even harder.

A Little Rambling

As some of you may have noticed, I have been absent from the blog for a few days longer than usual. Others of you could care less where I have been (and I am strangely okay with that). Things are extremely hectic for us right now so, the blog has not only taken a back seat this week, but it has been in a whole different car. Sometimes life gets in the way of blogging. There I said it....please do not disown me as your blogging friend or call Blogger and report me. I am sure that things will be normal again for me at some point, although I do not foresee normal coming anytime in the near future.







The few minutes I have spent on the computer this week have been spent trying to upload a video of myself to the blog. Now, you guys know that I am no Bill Gates, so even the simplest of tasks regarding this idiotic piece of of junk computer can stump me. I am not even trying to take video from my video camera....I am trying to transfer it from the Easy Share. Which I have done before without incident (which is my favorite video of all time). I even contacted Kodak and asked what the problem could be.....their suggestions didn't work so I sent another email asking them for other suggestions. Cause ya'll, I'm nothing if not persistent. So, if they come up with the reason that all my pictures transfer in seconds but my videos wont, then I will be coming live and in person to a computer screen near you. Until then, look at this picture and pretend it is moving......Sorry guys, it's the best I can do 'cause I got nothin'

I have thought more than once this week, that God may be totally against me sharing myself on video. Oh, there is nothing scandalous in it...in fact, it is quite boring and bland;-), but I am thinking He might be trying to spare you the pain of watching it and me the embarrassment of having you watch it. I fear that those who read this blog and do not know me in person may hear my voice or see me (in motion) and wish they could erase the video from their memory. So, God may be trying to tell me something and keep your eyes/ears in tact at the same time (you know I have a bit of an accent, right?).





Today, after running errands, I came home and baked some cookies while doing laundry. As you may know, the hubs referees Friday night football, and I always bake some sort of cookie/brownie/cake/etc. for him to take and share with his crew. I am very Martha Stewart like that (even though there is usually some sort of fire involved in the making of said confections which is not very Martha Stewart, but whatever). Anyway, I had some oatmeal no-bake cookie batter coming to a boil on the stove and some chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven when I decided to go through the house room by room to check for dirty laundry (cause the men in my family do not believe in laundry baskets or hampers -they prefer leaving their unmentionables in the floor where they took them off). I retrieved all the dirty laundry, folded another load of laundry, and started yet another load never once thinking about the cookies on my stove and in my oven. Needless to say, when the smoke alarm went off I remembered, it was too late to save either batch or the pans in which they were cooked. My point in telling you this story? To reiterate the fact that I am so easily distracted it is not even funny (or normal, it's just not normal, but what can I do about it?).






Do you have friends that preach to you at every opportunity? I am not talking about friends that are spiritual encouragers or friends that want to help you in your walk with Christ by sharing their struggles or Biblical advice. I am talking about pretend preachers who think the world is their pulpit and you are their congregation. You know the ones I mean. You can say you are having a bad day and they proceed to tell you that you are way too blessed to have a bad day and that God does not approve of Christians having bad days. You say that something gets on your nerves and they begin to tell you all the Bible verses that speak against the flesh and how you have to overcome your flesh. You tell them about a problem with another person and they tell you that you need to repent before the church...........am I speaking to anyone? Does anyone know this person? I know one or two and I have to say they really get on my nerves. There is a big difference between an encourager and someone who wants to wow you with their vast knowledge of scripture. I don't think God ever intended us to be on a "higher plain" when we encourage our brothers and sisters. He meets us where we are and He wants us to do the same for others. I know a person (or two) like this and have had this on my mind for a few days. I certainly hope I never come across as spiritually superior to anyone. The things I share on this blog are the things God is teaching ME. I share them to give Him the glory for the work He is doing in me. I also share just in case He might want to speak to someone else through what He has said to me (I believe He can use anyone or anything to speak to whomever He wants to reach). Anyway, I just wanted to say that I hope I never come across to any of you as a preacher, but as an encourager and someone who simply wants to share her love for the Lord with others. Thank you for allowing me to vent on this subject....moving right along........


Wednesday and Thursday, I spent working at the new house --- AGAIN. I spent the whole day Thursday crouching down and bent over. Today every bone and muscle in my body is protesting. I feel like I have done a thousand squats when in reality it was just one loooong squat. Have I mentioned that I know more about building houses than any girl should know? Yeah, well I do.


Went to Belk this week and bought 2 shirts for a total of $4.03. Yeah, I'm cheap like that. After I left Belk, I went to Target and bought a sweater off the sale rack for $4. I am telling ya, my husband should rise and call me bless-ed!!! hahhahahah just kidding (not about the clothes about the bless-ed part). You can see one of the $1.98 shirts and the $4 sweater in the picture above.


I got a catalog in the mail for a very famous company that sells clothes. I flipped through it and stopped at a page that showed these beautiful turtleneck sweaters. I decided I would order one UNTIL I looked at the price......$150 American Dollars. All I am asking is, "Why is cashmere so precious and do people REALLY pay that much for one sweater"????? If I paid that much for a sweater, I would not be able to sleep for a month.


Did ya hear OPEC is going to slow production? Did ya hear that I think OPEC is of satan? Did you also hear that I dislike OPEC very much and I believe the people in charge of it are complete idiots? (This is where my preachy friend would say, Now Beth, you know we have to love everyone, even OPEC and God is in control of everything so you are wrong to even mention your dislike of oil barons because God loves even the Iraqi people and when you show dislike for OPEC, it is the same as hating all Middle Eastern people..........does THAT kind of conversation ring a bell with anyone???? Just checking. Maybe I am the only one who knows someone like this).

The Toys R Us Christmas catalog came yesterday. The boys have already made their lists and after looking them over, I have found that they listed every item in the catalog (with the exception of all things pink of course). Did I mention that it annoys me to no end that the R in Toys R Us is backwards? To no end I tell ya!


Okay, I am off to play with my boys....maybe I will be able to be a little more dependable on the blog scene next week......and maybe I can put that picture in motion.......maybe.

Away

So, today, I tried to make a video blog........unfortunately (or fortunately for those of you who know me in real life) I was unsuccessful. Why is it so dern hard to take video from the camera and get it into my computer? Oh well, maybe some other time. Anyway, I will be away from the blog all day on Wednesday. I am working at the new house that will never be finished all day. More rebar, hopefully no more blisters -- I bought a tool especially for this job and it should make my life much easier.

I feel it would be hypocritical of me not to confess that I let the heat and air man have it with both barrels spoke a little too harshly today to the man who is supposed to be installing our heating/cooling system. The key word there is "supposed to be"...as in paid him, but have not seen him and cannot proceed until he finishes his work. I tell ya that old sin nature really comes out when I am mad; however, after our conversation, he assured me that he will be there first thing in the morning (might be because I threatened to camp out at his office until the job is completed - even heat and air man knows that a nagging woman is like a dripping faucet ;-).

Tomorrow night is the last night of Living Beyond Yourself (guess I need to go back and re-do the lessons on self-control, kindness, peace......okay all of the lessons......like YOU never lose your temper!). Of course since we are Baptists and we eat together every chance we get, we will be bringing food to celebrate the end of our journey together. Can I get a "woohoo" for the Bible Study buffet??

I have noticed that my sidebar update thingie is not always updating when one of you publishes a new post on your blog. So, if I don't visit you, it is because my notification thing is not working properly......computers get on my nerves.

See ya'll in day or two unless Jesus comes back first --- can I get a "Come Quickly, Lord Jesus"????.

Oh and if you want to watch a funny/thought provoking video showing what it will be like if Obama is elected......click here.