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Stay In the Fight
The battle that is waging right now is fierce, at least it is in my little circle. I would guess that if you are a Christ follower, you feel the battle too. It seems that in every sphere, evil is invading, chaos is creeping in, and my first inclination is to escape, to retreat as quickly as possible to my life of ease and comfort. For our real “struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” I did not sign up for any of this and…
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Good Intentions
I heard it said once that we judge others on their actions while we judge ourselves on our intentions. Give that some thought. Once I thought about it, I realized the truth of that statement, at least for myself. My husband can attest to the fact that I have A LOT of intentions, but the action related to those intentions is embarrassingly miniscule. My follow through is TERRIBLE. I am an A-B type of person with a new idea Every. Single. Day. All. Day. One of my friends commented, “That must be fun.” Well, maybe, but it mainly leads to a lot of good intentions and a lot of frustration…
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Who Wouldn’t Want to Camp with a Grizzly Bear?
Dear Friends and Family,My mom was always very good at getting a Christmas letter out. I have always had good intentions, but as you can see, even getting a card out on time is quite a challenge for me. But, this year, late or not, I am getting this one out! I wanted to tell the story of the photo on our Christmas card. We titled it the Shortest Camping Trip Ever, and it’s just a very good glimpse into our adventurous, somewhat unpredictable life. After Mark had been bear hunting for what felt like months, he came home ready to go back and figured he might need to not…
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Gospel Basics Series #2: What is the Gospel?
Alert, good news is coming in this post! When we hear or say the word Gospel, what do we mean? At the very core, what is the Gospel message? As I mentioned in the introduction to this series, I believe most people have some sort of idea about the Gospel or Biblical message. However, my fear is that many of us only have a very vague idea of what Christians actually believe, even MANY CHRISTIANS themselves! Herein lies much of the problem, and part of why I want to do this series. Anytime I see problems in someone else, I have to ask myself, is this same thing happening in…
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The Bible Basics Series: Introduction
Though the Western world has more access to the Bible and accurate Biblical teaching, Biblical literacy is declining. It amazes me how many people claim to be Christians but have never read God’s word, let alone study it. In addition, since the Bible is so easily accessible I usually assume that people, believers and non-believers alike, have an adequate understanding of the Gospel message. This is an incorrect assumption. I use the word adequate, because I do not think it is wrong to assume that most people have heard of Jesus, gone to church or have seen, held, even heard parts of the Bible. Most Americans have been “exposed” to…
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What Do We Do Now?
No matter who you are, what you believe, or where you live, surely you are aware, even alarmed at the changes in our culture in just one year. And, if you are not, may I sound the alarm? I am a Christian and from a Christian viewpoint, much of what is happening is horrifying and gratifying all at the same time. How can that be? Horrifying As I Christian, I do not support nor believe most of what the current “presidential” administration is doing is right, good or in the best interests of people in general, our nation as a whole, or the world at large. Regardless of what I…
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A Defense of Why I Will Vote Republican: Religious Freedom and the Devastating Effects of the “Equality” Act
The number 1 reason I will vote for President Trump and the conservative movement is their stance on religious freedom. Let’s go back to the Bible verse from the Introduction to this series. ‘The greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” In light of that, my number 1 priority is to protect our right as citizens to worship God and to live according to his word. Now, I know this might not seem important to many people. Maybe it seems like the economy, or global warming or abortion is more important, but again, in light of the…
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A Defense of Why I Will Vote Republican: Introduction
I recently made some posts on Facebook that were, of course, controversial. I have gotten reprimanded, or “corrected,” by Christians and non-Christians alike. At first it irritated me, but then it motivated me. If I am going to vote Republican and attempt to persuade any one on any of this, I need to be able to defend that position Biblically. This is my defense. It will come in parts as I get through each issue. Basic Assumptions I am not judging your Christianity or that of any candidate, Presidential or otherwise. We are all sinners and I am not here to judge one person’s sin against another because God hates…
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Where We Set Our Hope
“God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though the waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.” Psalm 46:1-3 It feels like the earth is giving way in Montana. On top of the COVID oppression causing many people to live their lives in fear, on top of the political war, rioting, deception, and hatred that is spewing from the mouths of many, we now have smoke, a lot of smoke. Our country that was on fire figuratively is now on fire literally.…
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The Water is Boiling
Surely you have heard about frogs in boiling water. The frog gets in before the water is even warm and slowly, ever so slowly the water gets warmer and warmer and warmer, but since the frog is in the water, he either doesn’t notice how hot and DANGEROUS the water is getting until it is boiling and kills him. Perhaps you watched this on a video in science class when you are younger or perhaps you haven’t seen it at all, but it illustrates an important point that we see play out in so many ways in our lives. Small incremental changes are less noticeable when you are experiencing them…
