Does Sin Matter? Aren't we all just saved by grace?

My friend Marc Carrier wrote, "I stumbled upon this video on facebook and it really got me thinking. It made me think about how secure I should be about my salvation. It made me consider that my life should reflect Jesus' character moment by moment.

It made me repent for all the false hope I had planted in folks throughout the years through "easy-believism" evangelism methods. Most of all, it made me consider the multitudes of friends and family I have that have misplaced security in their salvation.

It also made me consider my complacency with sharing the truth. I know that hell awaits many of them--yet as the video states, we have a culture that disdains correction. We have a Christian culture that relishes their eternal security when the evidence of faith is lacking.

Hell is real, and destruction awaits many unassuming "believers." They believe with their mouths but deny Him with their lives.

All church-goers are convinced they are going to heaven. Their complicit pastors and other Christian leaders have told them so. Reminds me of the movie Shawshank redemption where everyone is "innocent." Every inmate held steadfast to their innocence regardless of their guilt.

All cultural "Christians" are convinced they have in their hands the "ticket" that will get them through the gate (the "magic prayer").

However, there will be tremendous remorse when they stand in judgment and realize that the ticket they possess is not accepted.

Scripture tells us to examine ourselves. Please watch this video (in 2 parts) and listen to what it says. It is the truth. Repent and align your life with the Word."

Here is a short video in 2 parts:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzs4mEUhK78http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8yvmDPJHRc

Here is a longer video by Paul Washer for those who have time. It's important enough to "make" the time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cncEhCvrVgQ

Groundhog's Day

It's like the movie
Groundhog's Day
with me every morning.


(NOTE: Bible students, please read this all the way to the end.

Like Bill Murray, I groan, look at the clock, and think, "NO, NOT AGAIN. But wait, perhaps today will be different." And of course, it's not.

Every morning when I wake up, it's JUST LIKE YESTERDAY.

SCARY! Is today going to repeat itself AGAIN?

Am I stuck in this one single day

FOREVER?

I head to the kitchen, take the coffee out of the cupboard where it is in the same place as yesterday, look for the metal coffee filter for my coffee machine, cannot find it anywhere in the kitchen (just like yesterday), pour the water for the coffee into the glass cup for the coffee machine anyway, try to put it onto the tray in the coffee machine, but it won't fit. That's because the metal coffee filter is still in the machine.

Just like yesterday.

Sigh.

Remove the coffee filter, fill it, put it back in the machine, put the glass cup onto the tray, fill the glass cup with water, put it on the coffeemaker and start wiping down counters in the kitchen while it perks.

After I've wiped down, the counters, stove, cutting board, and kitchen table, I pause. Seems like I have spent a lot of time wiping stuff and the coffee has not even begun to perk. That's because I forgot to plug it in.

Just like yesterday.

(Is this a repeat of yesterday? Am I STUCK in yesterday?)

I plug in the coffeer maker, look for my vitamins in their little plastic medicine box. I keep it in only one place on a shelf in my kitchen. They are not there. I look everywhere for them. They have slipped behind the cutting board where I couldn't see them. It sinks in that I truly may be stuck in yesterday. HORRORS!



I walk the dog who keeps me waiting for five minutes while he explores for the right place to do his business, picks EXACTLY the same spot as yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that.


OH NO!! This IS yesterday and the day before that and the day before that! AAACK! Have I been cast in a movie, replacing Bill Murray with a female actress? And is it one of those creepy movies where I've been cast into a movie I know nothing about and I live my whole life on a movie set and the people I think I know are all just actors?

I come back home, still no coffee. That's because I forgot to turn it on. Just like yesterday. OK, so I turn the $%^&* thing on!

STOP IT! STOP IT!

Let me out of yesterday!

I want it to be TODAY!!!

The coffee perks. I look for my coffee mug, can't find it. Finally discover it in the dish drainer. Just like yesterday.

I pour the coffee into the cup, get out the milk to steam it, pour it into another cup, hold it under the steamer, and turn it on. Nothing happens. That's because I turned the knob the wrong way. Just like yesterday.

Turn it the right way, holding the cup in the steamer part of the coffee maker. Nothing happens. That's because the machine has run out of water. (I can't bear to think it, let alone say it: JUST LIKE YESTERDAY.)

The steamer won't work without water, so I open the top of the coffee maker to add more water. I get a blast of steam on my hand, (do I have to say this?) OWWWWW! just like yesteray.

Rinse my hand under cold water, add water to the coffee machine, screw on the top, put the cup of milk under the steamer part of the machine, and AH! it bubbles. Pour it into my coffee cup and take a sip. BLEAGGGGH! I forgot to put in the sugar. (Oh, please just say it for me.)

Add the sugar, take a sip, AH! I'm starting to wake up. Perhaps it IS today, but then I think of last night's Bible study and I realize I really AM stuck in a time warp because that study was EXACTLY the same tiresome discussion about EXACTLY this same topic that I have heard in EVERY Bible study on these EXACT SAME VERSES for the past 50 years.


(Bible students: Read Ephesians 5:21-6:9 today.) Yes, this IS the beginning of a Bible study (and you thought this had ANYTHING to do with coffee? HA!) We'll take it up again next time -- after I've had my coffee. Thanks for reading all the way to the end, where the good stuff like morning coffee usually is, and may God's grace and peace be with you today.)

Death by Banana Cake

By demand, here it is--the recipe!

First make the crumbly mix for the bottom of the cake.
Mix together:
6 cups flour
2 cups chopped pecans or walnuts
1-1/2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed

Use a pastry blender or two knives to cut in:
1 pound butter (not margarine)

It should look like cornmeal. Then spread it in large shallow baking pans. Bake at 375 degrees about 15 minutes or so. Let it cook, then crumble and store in an airtight container. (This will make enough for the cake, and some extra; use it all within 6 weeks.)

Now, for the cake!
Combine 2 cups of the crumbly mixture with 1/4 cup melted butter.
Press into a large casserole pan.

In a large bowl, combine:
2 eggs (preferably pasture-raised organic ones; oh yeah, like THAT will make this a healthy cake!)
1 cup butter (not margarine--don't even bother counting fat grams)
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
Beat this mixture for about 15 minutes, until smooth.
(Yes, this cake is worth all this work. Keep going.)
Spread this over the crust in the pan.

Slice 4 bananas over the top.
HINT: for the correct way to open the bananas, please view: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBJV56WUDng
You have been opening bananas wrong all your life.
Learn to TURN THINGS UPSIDE DOWN; look at common things in a DIFFERENT WAY. Watch lots of nature shows.

Drain a large can of crushed pineapple and spread it over the bananas.

Whip a pint of whipping cream adding sugar to taste.
Spread over the fruit.
Top with chopped nuts.
Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving.

At your party, pass out two bananas to each guest.
Ask them to open one.
If they get it wrong, show them the video, and
let them try again.
Have fun!

Lummi Grandmother Naming Ceremony

Nineteen painted native canoes from many different tribes arrived on the shores of Lummi Island today, pausing on their journey. Some of these tribes had been mortal enemies of the Lummis in the past. Yet they were welcomed at the water's edge, requested permission to land, and granted permmission by the tribal leaders. The young men of the tribe helped carry the canoes to dry land. It would be a celebration today to honor the canoe paddlers and all their families would be fed by the Lummi tribe.

I had volunteered to help cook lunch that day because the chief cook's close relative had died. My new friend Rhoda came with me and Braveheart. I began learning from the Lummis the moment we entered the longhouse. We were accepted immediately and without question. Braveheart, too. My friend Rhoda and I were given a comfortable place to sit, a crate of oranges, cutting board and knives. We sliced them for lunch.

They invited us to eat. Before we ate, some drummers chanted and drummed a blessing. People stood and raised their hands in front of them to bless God. Their hands were held at waist level and lifted from the elbow to the shoulder; this was repeated several times.

The people (both men and women) served the elders first (including me though I am not a part of the tribe).

After lunch, we waited. Braveheart sat on my walker and high-fived the natives. Both children and elders delighted in him. The oldest woman in the tribe invited me to sit beside her (I felt it quite an honor).

Some of the white people looked at their watches and wanted to know when it would begin. The natives just said soon or in a while. Time did not see urgent to them; they were taking things as they came.

The Grandmother and other elders of her family were sitting on comfortable couches at the front side of the longhouse. Other elders (including me) sat on chairs around the longhouse, and the rest of the people sat on bleachers behind us on both sides.

After awhile the ceremony began.

The drumming began. People stood out of respect. Guests were welcomed by two leaders. The purpose of the ceremony stated: the Grandmother would receive her name today, a day for which she had long waited, a name her mother had carried well.

The Grandmother's children and grandchildren pinned blankets around the shoulders of the chosen witnesses. Each member of the Grandmother's family lined up and took coins from their small bags (like medicine bags), passed by each witness, and put the coins into the bags of the witnesses.

Next, they pinned blankets around the shoulders of the two doorkeepers who guarded the place of the ancestoral dancers. Again they lined up and passed by the doorkeepers, putting coins into their bags.

The drumming continued as women placed layers of blankets in the middle of the floor. They placed a woven cedar mat on top and a chair beside the blankets. With great formality, the Grandmother was escorted to her place. She wore a long skirt, a plain but beautiful red blanket/robe with long fringes, another fringed robe over that, a scarf around her neck, and a woven cedarwood hat.

Again the leaders of the ceremony talked of what we were about to see. This Grandmother would receive her name today, the name of her mother. He said you can carry a name and it is just a name unless you carry it with respect and add honor to it. From this day forth the Grandmother would have the duty to carry her new name with great care.

People attending were cautioned to take no photos, that what they were about to see was sacred, and was meant to be carried only in the heart.
A priest blessed the ceremony with a Christian blessing said in the native language of the Lummi.

Drumming began. There was rustling from behind the curtains where the spirit dancers were. They rushed out with frightful headresses, with protruding pegs with brass circles for eyes, painted figures of birds and other animals on their tall, large wooden masks, long velvet capes with sequins sometimes in the shape of animals such as snakes. Very long strips came out the back of their headdresses with feathers on the end that bounced as they moved. They carried wooden circles with clam shells rattling. Some had cedar sticks or feathers tied to the tops of their headdresses. They wore deerskin shoes and fur leggings with bells around their ankles. Their plain white tunics were covered with white shells and white feathers. They carried eagle feathers and rattles.

They danced and chanted around the longhouse, then formed a large circle around the Grandmother who was sitting in regal and somber silence. They shook their clamshells as they rushed toward her. She lifted her hands to receive blessings from her ancestors.

The dancers repeated their dance and this rush toward the Grandmother several times. Then the family again lined up and passed by each dancer putting coins into their hands (for they carried no bags). The dancers returned to their place behind the curtains at the front of the longhouse and the two guards resumed their position in front of the curtains.

With great formality, the leader of the ceremony pronounced the Grandmother's new name: Sane ne, the name her mother had carried well. She receive it with quiet emotion. Many of the women in the tribe wept quietly. It was a sacred moment. A ray of sunlight beamed down at just that moment illuminating the front of the longhouse right in front of the large drawig of the raven (their tribal symbol). That was amazing.

The Grandmother remained sitting regally and invited a white woman who has helped the tribe very much to come forward. The Grandmother gave her the woven cedar mat that had been placed in front of her. She received it with great thankfulness and humility.

The daughters of the family came forward, helped the Grandmother move her chair to one side of the beautiful new blankets piled on the floor. Each blanket was given to someone the Grandmother mentioned. The family members again lined up to give each person money in addition to the blanket.

Each elder in the tribe was presented with a new blanket and coins, in the same manner with the family members filing by the elders.

The women of the Grandmother's family brought out large baskets and placed them on one side of the Grandmother's blanket. The canoe captains were called out, lining up on the other side of the blanket of the Grandmother. The family presented the canoe captians with blankets, gifts, and money in the same manner as the others.

More baskets were brought out and the cooks and cooks helpers called forward. The family filed past, giving them blankets, money and other presents.

A white man sitting near me was flabbergasted and said, "Surely they must run out of money soon!" The old woman I sat beside just laughted.

Finally, huge baskets and tubs were brought out until they filled about a quarter of the floor of the huge longhouse! The family went to every person who attended and gave each one gifts and money. I had only come that day to cut up a little fruit for lunch, but I received a new blanket, a drum, a fan with Sane ne's picture, a beautiful necklace with semi-precious stones, and a Bible cover.

The ceremony was over. The leader invited people to give gifts of songs. In several corners of the room, drumming and chanting began and continued through the next meal which was fresh alder-smoked salmon, huge containers of crab, beef and macaroni, beef and vegetables, rice, beans, potatoes, salad, potato chips, and cake. It was delicious! All the food was provided by the family of the Grandmother. Over a thousand people were fed.

I learned how to eat a crab as the Lummi do, cracking the claws with my teeth and using a small claw to dig out the meat. No napkins were provided. (The natives never had them in the past; no need for them when they were so used to eating without them.)

I told someone that I was amazed that this one small family (whom I knew to be quite poor) had given out so much money and so many gifts and fed to many people. The woman said, "Oh, we do it all the time. We spread the money around, so no one is poor here."

Almost all the Lummis are Christians now. The woman who sat next to me said that this ceremony had been banned by the U.S. government for many years and that they had to go underground to preserve their ceremonies and culture.

I'm glad they did. There is much we other Christians can learn from them.

And That's the Way It Is for Women in Today's World

Jimmy Carter Resigns as Member of the Southern Baptist Church Due to Their Treatment of Women:

Former President Jimmy Carter issued a statement Sunday announcing he is leaving the Southern Baptist Church due to their treatment of women. Carter has been a devout Southern Baptist for more than sixty years, but differs ideologically on points where the religion justifies the subordination of women.

Carter calls "on all leaders to challenge and change the harmful teachings and practices, no matter how ingrained, which justify discrimination against women."

Carter sees women's inferior position within religion as a problem among many faiths. He wrote that , "the male interpretations of religious texts and the way they interact with, and reinforce, traditional practices justify some of the most pervasive, persistent, flagrant and damaging examples of human rights abuses."

He also says that religion justifies male superiority and promotes "the belief that women must be subjugated to the wishes of men excuses slavery, violence, forced prostitution, genital mutilation and national laws that omit rape as a crime...[and] also costs many millions of girls and women control over their own bodies and lives, and continues to deny them fair access to education, health, employment and influence within their own communities."

Carter says that it is time to challenge the Southern Baptist Church's views on women because "the evidence shows that investing in women and girls delivers major benefits for everyone in society. An educated woman has healthier children. She is more likely to send them to school."

And This Item from the Jerusalem Post today:

A serving member of the paramilitary Basiji militia has told this reporter of his role in suppressing opposition street protests in recent weeks. Asked about his own role in the brutal crackdowns on the protesters, whether he had been beaten demonstrators and whether he regretted his actions, he answered in part:

In the Islamic Republic it is illegal to execute a young woman if she is a virgin, he explained. Therefore a "wedding" ceremony is conducted the night before the execution: The young girl is forced to have sexual intercourse with a prison guard - essentially raped by her "husband."

"I regret that, even though the marriages were legal," he said.

Why the regret, if the marriages were "legal?"

"Because," he went on, "I could tell that the girls were more afraid of their 'wedding' night than of the execution that awaited them in the morning. And they would always fight back, so we would have to put sleeping pills in their food.

By morning the girls would have an empty expression; it seemed like they were ready or wanted to die.

"I remember hearing them cry and scream after [the rape] was over," he said. "I will never forget how this one girl clawed at her own face and neck with her finger nails afterwards. She had deep scratches all over her."

Returning to the events of the last few weeks, and his decision to set free the two teenage detainees, he said he "honestly" did not know why he had released them, a decision that led to his own arrest, "but I think it was because they were so young. They looked like children and I knew what would happen to them if they weren't released."

He said that while a man is deemed "responsible for his own actions at 13, for a woman it is 9," and that it was freeing the 15-year-old girl that "really got me in trouble

What a monkey can teach us

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=121359661078&h=YmnmT&u=qsj5w&ref=mf

In churches, as well as in our own lives, we do things the way we have always done them just because that is the way we have always done them. Perhaps there are better ways.

Casual Encounter

Shirlena surprised me last night. She was in Bellingham with her three children and three foster children. We all went to Olive Garden. The children had pizza and I had mussels cooked in butter, garlic, and wine. I also had the best chicken gnocchi soup ever!

We had six children ages 9 and under: 9, 8, 6, 3, and TWO 2-year olds. I was delighted at how well mannered they all were. I think it's important to take very young children to nice restaurants and not just pizza and burger joints. How will children learn good manners if they never have an opportunity to use them?

Said of prayer of blessing for a foster grandaughter. She is leaving Shirlena's home today and going to live with an aunt. May God bless her on her journey.

Put up a flat of raspberries and 3 flats of strawberries for winter.

I had a routine blood draw this morning. The lab worker was named Josh. I talked about my wonderful son-in-law, also named Josh, who recently bought me software. I told him I used LOGOS software for Bible study and asked if was interested in the Bible.

“Uh, no,” he answered.

And that might have been the end of it; I was with him for less than two minutes. But I add people like him to my “Encounters” prayer list: I type “Josh, the phlebotomist at St. Jo’s” into my prayer calendar. I set it to remind me to pray for him regularly. Some people have no one else to pray for them, so I never take encounters like this as “casual” encounters. Rather they are opportunities to pray for those who may have no one else to pray for them.

Lord draw Josh to you; may he answer when you call. Put your fire into his heart; may he burn with desire to know and serve you. May he be filled with a passion to read your Word.