Get Real

Who Can You Trust?

Once someone betrays my trust, it takes a long time and a lot of care on the offender’s part before I freely trust them again. Today, please consider who you have trusted (family, loved one, authorities, educational system, politicians—okay now I’m just kidding). Who has kept their word and who has let you down, or worse yet—betrayed you?

I recently spoke to someone who said, “I used to trust God, but not anymore.” He felt as though God had let him down because things didn’t go right in his life. I am certain this man is not alone in his assumptions about God’s responsibility to humans. Unfortunately, it is a naïve assumption that concludes that God is required to make us happy or keep our life pleasant.

As I consider all of the various people and entities in my life, there is only one with a proven track record for always keeping his word and his promises. That one would be God.

Before you click the red X and close this window, consider what you know about God personally and from independent research. If you’ve not read His words (the Bible) for yourself, you’re being cheated. He does not promise life to be a bed of roses and free from trouble. In fact, those whose stories are captured on the pages of Scripture reveal just the opposite. However, throughout 6000 years of recorded history, God has kept his word. He does not change. He is trustworthy.

Who can you trust? You can trust God through Jesus Christ his son.

Read the prologue to the story here.  Let me know what you think.

You can find more intriguing writings like this at http://www.keytofreedom.org/resources.html

Who Should Teach Our Children What?

Yesterday, I mentioned my first blurb on politics, today I offer a second based on a quote that captures another piece of California legislature in a nutshell.

(SB 777) Sacramento, California –– In a repeat of legislation vetoed last year by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, homosexual-bisexual-transsexual activists are pushing a pair of bills (SB 777 and AB 394) that would require all textbooks, instructional materials, school-sponsored activities, all school policies, and all teacher training courses to promote the transsexual, bisexual and homosexual lifestyles to children as young as kindergarten…

…This means boys becoming girls and girls becoming boys would have to be positively portrayed in health textbooks, sex education classes and school assemblies…

…Additionally, because parental units are gender-specific, married couples or a family with a “father and a mother” would be portrayed as mere stereotypes – outdated ideas –– and could be prohibited from textbooks because their discriminatory inclusion “reflects adversely.” Under SB 777, school curriculum in every public school throughout California, in every grade K-12, would have to portray transsexual and bisexual “parents” as normal. In essence, SB 777 would teach schoolchildren that there is no such thing as the natural family.¹ (SB 777 has since been signed into law)

The 1987 R.E.M. song with the lyrics, “it’s the end of the world as we know it…and I feel fine” is one we could be singing at stadiums throughout our land. Twenty years later and two decades farther away from a sense of what’s right and wrong, laws are governing what’s natural regarding sexual orientation and gender.

Consider how this bill “will permit transgender students to enter the locker rooms and restrooms of the gender with which they identify…Under the guise of preventing discrimination and bias against homosexuals, transgenders and other sexual variants, SB 777 will force innocent school children to accept alternative lifestyles.”

Oh, it won’t happen right away. It could take a few years before transsexual men or those posing as such feel comfortable using women’s public restrooms—or vice versa. And just because you don’t live in California, doesn’t mean you can disregard the news. You know Cali just sets the pace for the rest.

We, the parents, should teach our children biblical truths. Why? Because there are no others that stand the test of time. With these truths, we live in the brilliance of eternal hope, not the end of the world in the shadow of doom.

I can’t help it. I have an opinion. Jesus is the only way. So, what do you say? Would you like to know more about him today? (I said I was opinionated, not a great poet).

As always, I welcome your feedback and would like to show you the Way.

¹ Read the entire article here.

You can find more intriguing writings like this at http://www.keytofreedom.org/resources.html

Banning “Hate Speech” and Other Ludicrous Ideals

I am not one to rant on my Blog. However, I am known to be very opinionated in life. So allow me to pull back the curtain on one of two recent pieces of legislature in my former home state (which I am deeply disturbed to be associated with at this moment) and voice my opinion.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California recently signed into law SB1234 which:

…classifies as "hate speech" any public expression that makes certain favored citizens feel "unwelcome" or "intimidated." Anyone found guilty of using such expressions could face six months in prison and a $25,000 fine.

Homosexuals, transsexuals, women, the homeless and assorted minority groups have been given the authority to decide what constitutes "hate speech." It's all based on their emotional response to a speech, a conversation, a book or article, a poster, a radio broadcast--whatever. If it makes them feel uncomfortable, it's hate speech.¹

I find this disturbing because it goes against the absolutes of right and wrong that I value. I find this absurd because it is inconsistent with a culture that shouts and teaches “tolerance at all cost!” yet it will not tolerate someone speaking his or her mind if it offends another. Lastly, I find it ludicrous because there is no way to identify every “minority” group thereby offering them protection from some sort of emotional offense.

As a Bible teacher am I not in the minority? Does this mean I can sue someone who offends me because their doctrine of immorality (based on my values) makes me feel unwelcome? On the other hand, will I have to suppress my doctrine in order to avoid offending them lest I find myself in jail?

It is impossible to capture the complexity of this issue in a few words on a blogsite. It is wise to realize the important aspect of this legislation is more than merely protecting the emotions or rights of a few minority groups. In America, we’re seeing the fruit of a seed was planted more than 20 years ago. It will affect every American citizen regardless of what you believe about absolutes and right and wrong.

I have said before, without absolutes we’re all subject to the relative winds of those with the loudest voice, the most political clout or the most money. But, those who build their lives on the rock-solid absolute foundation of the one and only God through Jesus Christ can withstand the ludicrous ideals of our mislead culture.

¹ Read the entire article here. Other articles on this subject may be found at NPN; California Family Council

You can find more intriguing writings like this at http://www.keytofreedom.org/resources.html

Seven Wonders of the World

Consider this: 7 Wonders. Still think there’s no God?

You can find more intriguing writings like this at http://www.keytofreedom.org/resources.html

A Bug's Life

A recent conversation with my daughter about a book she read made me stop and think.

Here’s my summary. The book tells a story of the main character that woke up one day and found he had turned into a bug. The family handled this peculiar change by closing the bedroom door, bringing him food twice a day and waiting. But, for what did they wait? I’m not sure. Eventually the bug—the family member— died and the book ended.

Speaking of how does that make you feel (see 11/14 post), aside from the absurdity of a human physically turning into an insect, don’t you feel empty at the end of that story? To think that a human life has no more value than a creature with six or eight legs which at the end of his or her existence ends up in a dusty corner, like a dead  spider or dehydrated cricket is a meaningless life.

We are not insects. We are not part of the animal kingdom. When we die, it means something to someone. If no one on earth notices, there is a God, the creator of all life, who notices and who cares. He cares about our life as well as our death.

Insects do not love, do not think and do not feel. Humans do. God created us in his image, so he does too.

Do you feel like your living a bug’s life, that someone could squash you and no one would care or notice?

God cares. Look up and ask him if what I’m saying is true.

You can find more intriguing writings like this at http://www.keytofreedom.org/resources.html

How are you feeling?

Recently a man kidnapped a 7 year old from her home in a large city. He sexually molested her, strangled her to death, set her small body on fire and left her in a field. The man came to trial. The judge said, “All the evidence is in. You are guilty. However, I don’t want to deal with your guilt at the moment, I’d first like to ask how are you feeling? Are you lonely? Do you feel empty? Let’s take a recess and talk about it. I value you as a person.”

The above story is a fictitious adaptation. The response of the judge is ridiculous as the criminal in this story is in a courtroom for one reason, he is guilty and justice must be served. The law will be read and he will be punished accordingly, regardless of how he feels or if he agrees with the law.

There is another law in place. It says humankind is guilty. He has committed an injustice just like the man in the story. It is God’s law that says, we shouldn’t lie, murder, steal, desire or have someone else’s spouse, mistreat our parents, etc. Humankind has a moral conscience as part of his DNA. Society and culture may sear it so that some of these offenses go unnoticed to the conscience. However, the ones that sting are proof that there is a moral law in place. It is a law designed to save us.

Who can say, I have kept my heart pure, I am clean and without sin? ¹

All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord.²

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.³

I would not have known what sin was except through the law. I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “Do not covet [or steal or murder or lie or …].”⁴

The man in the story could say he was innocent because he didn’t believe in the law that could and would punish him. You and I can say we don’t believe in the Law of God that can and will sentence us, but nothing changes based on how we feel.

What will you do with this truth?  I welcome your feedback—in agreement or not. Do you think man is basically good?

You can find more intriguing writings like this at http://www.keytofreedom.org/resources.html

Ref: Proverbs 20:9, 16:2, 14:2; Romans 7:7

The Restless Quest for…Something

If I were stranded on a deserted island without any worries, this includes too much sun and too little of my favorite coffee, I wonder what I would think about. How long before I’d start talking to a basketball or a coconut and give it a name?

Prior to my desperation to invent someone to share my days with, I would finally have time to sort out all of the to-do’s that ultimately plague my brain when I’m living my “normal life.” I think I would reflect on relationships—good and bad. I would resolve to “fix” things when I returned.

While I’m there, I would ultimately realize how alone I am. Before the deserted island, I didn’t notice the loneliness or the emptiness. That’s because I was too busy living my life at the speed of light, too busy partying, too busy staying busy. Now that it’s quiet, there’s a subtle haunting and reality of the void that has not been filled.

Back at home, life in the fast lane is ultimately powered by a quest for something. The quest leaves you restless. You are bound to your empty pursuit unless you know the One who can release you.

If you have two more minutes to ponder the evocative emptiness that you know is there, then this click is for you.

You can find more intriguing writings like this at http://www.keytofreedom.org/resources.html

Back from the Technical Trenches

In case you wondered where I've been the past month, my computer and I have been battling in the technical trenches of Internet Security Enabled/Disabled zones or sites or something, Pop ups on/off, blah blah, blah.

Thanks to my computer genius husband, Get Real postings will be coming your way soon!

Stay tuned...