The Great Separation

What's Decorating My Monitor Tonight?

Now for something completely random. - I'm was sitting here reading a book on writing book proposals. And I looked up, spied my monitor decorations and the digital camera setting on my desk. Can you guess what happened next?

Never mind. Here's the pictures (click on 'em for larger pics).

The top of my monitor:

Some of you may recognize a couple of those items. My Grandma Tate for one. I can't wait to see her again at that giant party in that Heavenly City. Then there's that cartoon about never giving up that another wonderful lady passed onto me and I've passed onto a number of my dearest friends (you know you're wonderful, Mom, just accept it).

What's with the cats? Well, that's for me to know and you to find out.

Hmm.. How'd that Trooper get up there?

Next is the bottom of my monitor:

Okay, I'll admit it. I love comic strips. It's the best part of any newspaper hands down. And this particular one... well.... High Five to all you '61 one beetles out there. You are not alone, brothers!

Oh, and what's underneath?:

Yeah, looks disgusting. But oh, what heavenly fire to the palate. Just a few left of a bag once chucked full with Wasabi Peanuts - Extra Hot! Alas they aren't long for this world though. I've been nursing that bag along since September of last year when my bro and I went on vacation to North Carolina. Picked those delicacies up at the Ye Ole Mountain Store in Burnsville.

Well, anyway, I guess I should get back to that book.

This book: Author 101 Bestselling Book Proposals.

Good book by the way. Covers both fiction and non-fiction (that being the majority).

Technorati tag(s): Books, Weblogs, Comics, Wasabi.

More Christians Reportedly Arrested in Afghanistan.

They hate you because of me - I wasn't surprised when Abdul Rahman was released this past week. I expected it, because I knew that the national news he was making would mean that political heads in Afghanistan would be afraid of the light shining into the darkness of the hearts in that country.

But don't think that Abdul Rahman is safe. He isn't and perhaps he's in greater danger now than he was when in custody. Which is probably why it's being reported that he is seeking asylum in another country: Afghan Christian Convert Is Seeking Asylum, UN Says.

Now, do you suppose the national media and our politicians will take any action on behalf of the remaining Christians in this country we liberated?

WorldNetDaily.com reports:

A monitor of Christian persecution says two more Afghan believers have been jailed in the wake of the case of Abdul Rahman, a convert to Christianity who faced the death penalty under the nation's Shariah law.

Also noted in the report is the beating of another Christian by six men.

We Christians need to remain in prayer for our fellow brothers and sisters in lands that Satan controls. Pray that they can continue to show the love of Christ to those in darkness.

For further information on Christian persecution around the globe the Persecution Blog is a good source.

Related Posts:

Taliban Cutting Throats Because of Christianity.

Technorati tag(s): Christian Persecution, Afghanistan.

Follow Through.

AKA - Commitment. - Sometimes I just don't have what it takes.

I woke this morning muscles sore, lungs congested, sinuses clogged and the beginnings of a headache in my left temple.

Sounds like the onset of a cold when I write it, doesn't it? It's not. It's just the result of over extending my muscles via exercise this past weekend and an outdoor yard sale with lots of pollen blowing around.

After pushing sleep aside and becoming fully 'Hal' this morning, I lay there trying to convince myself that perhaps it would be best to forego the morning workout because of how I felt. After all, the muscles were complaining, the lungs were wheezing and the head surely wasn't going to appreciate the extra blood pressure.

So I opened my Bible for the daily devotion and turned to John 19.

In short, John 19, tells of Christ before Pilate, His flogging, the jeering of the people for His crucifixion and finally of His death upon the cross.

After my devotion I searched for my sweats, which, praise God, are a lot bigger than they used to be.

I climbed onto the exercise bike out of sheer obedience to the commitment I made some 9 months ago. I set the timer to forty minutes and began my journey to no where better than the throne of God in prayer for the people He's given me to love.

At some point along the journey, despite the sub 60 degree weather (I know, I know, but I'm a Florida boy with orange juice in my veins), the muscles found joy in the motion, the lungs cleared in the bright morning air and the headache became a fading memory.

In making my decision to follow through with my morning exercise I was reminded again of John 19. Christ knew what was before Him when He chose to come to earth as my redeemer. He knew the struggle and pain it was going to bring Him. That night in Gethsemane, I imagine His spirit was sore pressed. Weary even, with the weight of the task before Him and with the knowledge of the pain that awaited as He followed through with the commitment He made to the Father.

The exercise is a minuscule thing compared to Christ's choice to follow through in obedience to the Father, but fourteen miles later it reminds me that much of the difficulty in completing the tasks that the Lord gives us is not in the task itself, but in the starting. Once we decide to start and accept the task, the grace is given to us to see it through.

How many times in our walk have we looked at some task before us and groaned or even thought it impossible? How many times does what's before us cause us to cower? How many times have we thought, 'I just don't feel like striving and exercising my faith in this situation?'

The Father provided that grace for Christ before those who wanted Him dead and that same grace is provided to we partakers of the Holy Spirit.

When we make that choice to step out in faith and exercise those spiritual muscles we will find that His grace is more than sufficient. I know it doesn't always seem so in the face of the beast before us, but when the time comes and we are able to look back, I am assured that we will see how the Father supplied our strength for that difficult task; that situation impossible for us but not for Him.

And we will find that coming through it, we have matured closer to that perfection that He envisions for us in that City which awaits.

The Great Separation continues.

Technorati tag(s): Faith, Exercise, Grace.

What Children See, They Do.

Duh! - Here's a link that reports on a study which makes the assertion that what children watch in the media influences them: Underage sex 'link' to media | the Daily Mail.

Children exposed to sex in TV programmes, films, magazines and music are more likely to engage in sexual activity than those who are not, according to research out today.

Of course most common sense people, folk who aren't self-centered and actually care about others probably already knew this fact. But hey, now that a study has been done I guess it means it's new information.

Another interesting bit is that the study found that the media portrays sex pretty much as being "risk free". Who knew?

Yeah, my sarcasm meter is high today.

[hat tip: Drudge Report]

Technorati tags: Media, Sex, Teenagers.

Liberals Just Aren't Famliy People.

Who knew? - Here's an interesting opinion/editorial piece that my friend, Caleb, sent me.

From USATODAY.com - The liberal baby bust.

It's a pattern found throughout the world, and it augers a far more conservative future — one in which patriarchy and other traditional values make a comeback, if only by default. Childlessness and small families are increasingly the norm today among progressive secularists. As a consequence, an increasing share of all children born into the world are descended from a share of the population whose conservative values have led them to raise large families.

It's funny that in the article the writer uses words like "enlightened" in describing the liberals and words like "narrow" in describing the conservatives. Narrow of course isn't exactly a bad thing and in many ways can be a good thing. Of course the idea that conservatives aren't progressive is a bit silly. Unless your defining progressive as open to promiscuity and amorality. And of course Phillip is just using the catch words that have been used to describe these groups by the popular media, but my antenna always perk up at the choice of words we choose as writers.

But the data in the piece, if it's valid, is very interesting in regard to what the future holds since it is conservative families which are producing children. I very much agree with him that there is a cyclic process at work, one that we can view historically.

Also interesting in the piece is that the data shows it is religious people who produce the most children.

It's worth a read. May spur liberals to get busy.

My Answer to Whether or Not We Can Lose Our Salvation.

The following is my answer to this question from Jen.

Hal, I was looking at Hebrews 6:4-6 and I was wondering how you would interpret it. Does it mean that you can lose your salvation?

It's a bit of lengthy answer to an important question so I thought I would post it as a new post.

Hey Jen!

This probably will get a little long, but bear with me. Such a question requires a good look at the rest of the Scriptures.

First thing I need to ask myself on this question is, "What is salvation?"

The Bible teaches us that it is deliverance from our sins and the death that those sins require as payment. That salvation comes through Christ; He is our Savior.

This salvation is not something we can earn or buy or work for, but is a gift from God.

Romans 6:23 encapsulates what salvation is and calls it a gift:

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Ro 6:23 NIV)

In Ephesians it is again called a gift and referred to as something that we are given in God's grace which means it is something we do not merit or deserve. I'll quote the Williams paraphrase:

“For it is by His unmerited favor through faith that you have been saved; it is not by anything that you have done, it is the gift of God.” (Eph 2:8 Williams)

Romans 3:24 tells us that this gift is free:

“...but anybody may have right standing with God as a free gift of His undeserved favor, through the ransom provided in Christ Jesus.” (Ro 3:24 Williams)

A gift is something freely given and it becomes the possession of the one to whom it is given.

But the gift of God becomes something even more amazing in us when we accept Christ as our Savior and ask Him into our hearts. Because, unlike a gift that we could carry around in our pockets or place on our mantel, the Father's gift is a new creation in us.

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (Eze 36:26 NIV)

“Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2Co 5:17 AV)

“For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” (1Pe 1:23 NIV)

“Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.” (1Jo 5:10 NIV)

These scriptures help illustrate the change that takes place in us when we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:9).

God takes our dead spirit and gives us a new spirit and makes us alive through the Holy Spirit which comes to dwell in us. We are spiritually awakened and united with the Father as Christ is united with Father (John 17: 20-26).

To describe this wonderful transformation we are given the metaphor in Ezekiel of God gifting us a new heart to replace our dead heart. 2 Corinthians gives us the example of a new creature being created and in 1 Peter we are told that this gift, this new creature, this new heart, does not perish. And 1 John tells us how this new life manifests itself in us by testifying to Christ as Savior and Redeemer.

So what does this new creation, this new condition, this gift that we possess mean?

It means that, unlike a gift we might carry in our pocket, it is part of us. Even more, it is that part of us that keeps us alive! It is our very heart.

So, because it is part of us, it is not something that we can just lose. But, because it is our possession, we can choose to give it back, just as we chose to accept the gift.

Why would a person give this gift back?

There is a problem that we are faced with as new creations in Christ, we are still bound to the old body for the present time:

“For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.” (Ro 7:22-25 NIV)

So we need to recognize that there continues to be an inner battle within us, between what we know is right in God and with the sinful nature that hangs on to us through our fallen flesh.

What I believe is taking place in Hebrews 6: 4-6 is the description of person who was given that new heart but over time, through whatever temptations and sins, neglected that gift and chose again and again sin as a better way than life in Christ. A horrible thought.

Look at these Bible verses:

“No one who is born of God makes a practice of sinning, because the God–given life–principle continues to live in him, and so he cannot practice sinning, because he is born of God.” (1Jo 3:9 Williams)

“For if we go willfully sinning after we have received full knowledge of the truth, there is no sacrifice left to be offered for our sins, but only a terrifying prospect of judgment and that fiery indignation which is going to devour God’s enemies.” (Heb 10:26-27 Williams)

If I, with my new heart, choose to "practice" sin instead of making an effort to please God and seek His righteousness in my life and mature in Him, I believe that over time, because I am giving in to sin and not the Spirit of God that dwells in me, that my spirit of selfishness would become so aggravated by the Holy Spirit that I could choose to cut out that new heart and give it back to God.

It's not at all unlike what Satan chose. He knew God as one, intimately; knew the power and grace and love. But he made a decision to separate himself from the Father, to sever the tie between them and chose his own way.

I think that giving one's salvation back is a point very difficult to reach. For one thing, the Spirit in us is at war against the flesh and striving to keep Christ before us. It strives to mature us. There are also people who constantly pray for us and minister to us in correction and instruction.

But I do believe that is possible to give that salvation back because God's Word speaks about in Hebrews 6.

And here's something very important to know: it's not that God won't take such a person back, but that such a person WILL NOT want to go back to God. Just like Satan, there will be no desire to seek repentance from God for the sin in ones life, but instead, like Hebrews 6:6 says, such a person would rather hold Christ, our gift, up to public disgrace or as the Williams paraphrase puts it:

“...and then have fallen by the wayside––it is impossible, I say, to keep on restoring them to their first repentance, since they continue to crucify the Son of God to their detriment and hold Him up to contempt.” (Heb 6:6 Williams)

Such a person finds Christ and the gift He gives us contemptible.

It's when such a person finds the gift, the new creation, contemptible that I believe he or she will choose to give that gift back.

Here is a scripture I think that speaks about Christ's love for us and the fact that He will never take that gift back from us Himself:

“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” (Joh 6:37 NIV)

He "will never drive" us away from Him. But that doesn't mean we won't walk away. On the notion of backsliding, we never backslide so far that we fall off the mountain. The idea of back sliding, of stumbling in sin is spoken about in 1 John. It does happen, mercy do I wish that I never stumble, but I do war with sin and Satan and sometimes give in to temptation and fall into sin. Praise the Lord that the Holy Spirit convicts me of such sin and I have a redeemer who is faithful to forgive me of those sins when I confess them to Him. And that is key. A person who has given back their gift will not desire to confess those sins he or she committed and seek repentance, but will hold them up as a badge of honor in the face of God.

So what are we to do as Christians, as new creatures in Christ?

We should recognize that the gift is from God and that we need to care for that gift. We do this by seeking out God in His Word and in prayer.

We ask him to renew the spirit within us (Psalm 51:10).

We keep that spirit in us burning:

“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God....” (2Ti 1:6 NIV)

We don't neglect this gift (1 Timothy 4:14).

We recognize that we are children of God (John 1:12) who have received an inheritance from Him (Acts 26:18).

And we recognize that though we are weak in the flesh (Matthew 26:41) we are more than conquerors through the love of Christ (Romans 8:37).

Well, that's how I interpret Hebrews 6: 4-6. I hope this helps.

TGS Bloglet Subscribers Switched to FeedBlitz.

Technical difficulties. - Hello everyone. For those of you who were receiving the bloglet email daily digest, I've had to switch you to FeedBlitz.

The bloglet service quit working back on Thursday or Friday of last week and I couldn't get a response from them as to the problem.

So I did some searching and other blogs were having similar problems so I've switched to a service called FeedBlitz. They imported the mailing list and hopefully you are now receiving this via them.

You may need to add the FeedBlitz email address to your address book so that it doesn't get treated as junk mail.

If you did sign up and are not receiving eMail updates, that may be because a number of eMails were thrown out by FeedBlitz as being bad eMails so you will need to sign up again. Sorry for the trouble.

Technorati tags: bloglet, FeedBlitz, RSS.

Another Reason to Scrap the School System.

Home Schooling anyone? - Kathleen Lucadoma reports: New York Daily News - Home - Crayons, snacks ... & HIV.

Beginning Monday, kindergartners in public schools will be told that HIV is a "germ" and "not easy to get."

The kids also will learn that HIV could lead to AIDS, which is hard to "get well" from, according to the city's new HIV/AIDS curriculum.

Frankly I find the idea of teaching kindergartners about HIV abusive. They don't have the mental facilities to understand this virus or any virus. All I see this doing is scaring and confusing many of them.

Not only that, but I have to wonder if there isn't a greater scheme in trying to remove over generations the stigma of the virus.

Technorati tags: Schooling, HIV, AIDS.

This Week's Scripture: Isaiah 6:3

Stand in it! - One of my favorite verses is Isaiah 6:3 because it's one of those verses you just have to sing in praise of our holy and wonderful God who sent His only Son to take my place on the cross of death.

But not only did the Father do this for me and everyone else but He has filled the earth to over brimming with His glory! His wonderment, His inventiveness, His creative thoughts and creations!

As a writer the thought of His earth filled with His glory excites me and thrills me. I want to write about it, share it, explore it and create just like Him.

On my walks I look for His glory. The bird's nest wedged between three bare branches that oscillate back and forth like a metronome. The wonder of the varied people I greet who are out enjoying His creation too.

In my garden I see His glory radiating in the delicate and vibrant beauty of one of my orchids that He brought into being.

Jen, a good friend of mine, recently introduced me to a couple of great music groups, Shane and Shane, and Chris Tomlin.

On his album, Arriving, Chris Tomlin has a song based on this verse.

“And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, [is] the LORD of hosts: the whole earth [is] full of his glory.” (Isaiah 6:3 AV)

I love this song. It lifts me up and I can envision myself worshiping before the throne praise my King, my God, my Savior.

The Great Separation continues.

Technorati tags: Scripture, Music.

Habanero Peppers Keeps the Prostate Cancer Away.

I knew there was a reason I liked it. - Friends and family know I love to grow and consume hot peppers. My favorite is the Habanero.

So I felt justified for my passion when I saw this headline: "Hot pepper kills prostate cancer cells in study".

According to researchers in the U.S. and Japan, the ingredient, capsaicin, in hot peppers which gives them the oh-so-satisfying, mouth watering fire causes prostate cancers cells to commit hari-kari.

The researchers said that 80 percent of the human cancerous cells in mice were induced to commit suicide because the capsaicin inhibited a mechanism in the cells leading to apoptosis.

Lehmann [Soren Lehmann of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the University of California Los Angeles School of Medicine] estimated that the mice ate the human equivalent of 400 milligrams of capsaicin three times a week. That is about the amount found in three to eight fresh habanero peppers, depending on how hot the peppers are.

Guess what I had for lunch today? Some very hot soup with three fresh habanero's from my bush out back. Mmm-mmm Good!

Guess I'll have to start pickling them too! Hmm.. That reminds me, I think I already have some pickled in the back of the fridge.

[hat tip: Drudge Report]

Technorati Tags: Habanero, Prostate Cancer, Science, Food.