In Theme of Giving Up Children..

I had a conversation with a fellow at work earlier today. Gospel sharing. He is the one I've talked to the most in my (nearly) year here. The conversation boiled down to this: Someone once said to him, "What would you say/do if God came to you and said, 'I need to take your child. His time here is up and so I need to take him with me now.'? Your response should be 'yes' because God has to be number 1 in life." The fellow then said to me, "But I'm telling you right now EMA, that that will not happen with me. My kids are too important. I love them too much and so there is NO WAY that I could put God first. It'll never happen. If He needs to be number one, I couldn't do that to my kids because they are too important to me. I love them." **Sidenote -- This is why it's so great for me to continue to share my faith, because what is the first verse that pops into your head when you think about witnessing to someone about Jesus? What is the first verse we memorize as children? What verse did NOT come to my mind? John 3:16.** The fellow told me if I could give him a good answer to that he would like to hear it. God gave up His ONLY child because He loves us that much. Pray for this fellow to be saved. We've had long talks about sin, hell, heaven, God, the Bible, truth, rejecting the truth, being 'good,' Catholocism etc. It would be great to see him come to salvation.


John 3:16 (Amplified Bible)


For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.

Child Sacrifice

Moloch, the ancient pagan God of child sacrifice.



Moloch was one of the false gods that Israel would worship during its periods of apostasy. This false deity is associated with Ammon in 1 Kings 11:7, "Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon."


One of the practices of the cult that worshipped Moloch was to sacrifice their children. Of course, this was forbidden by God's word: Lev. 18:21 says, "Neither shall you give any of your offspring to offer them to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am the Lord." (See also Lev. 18:21; 20:2-5; 2 Kings. 23:10; Jer. 32:35).
In some passages the reference is clearly to a deity to whom human sacrifice was made, particularly in the Valley of Hinnom on the SW of the Jerusalem hill (2 Ki. 23:10; Je. 32:35) at a site known as Topheth (‘fire pit’ in Syriac).1


The ancients would heat this idol up with fire until it was glowing, then they would take their newborn babies, place them on the arms of the idol, and watch them burn to death. I can't help but compare today's abortion massacre to the sacrifice of children by these ancient pagans. In both, innocent life is destroyed for the gain of the parent.


1. The New Bible Dictionary, (Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.), 1962.
Link to the online article.

Question:

How come, if my eyes are moist I can get dry crusty eye boogers in the inside corner of my eyes? My eyes are wet, how can something be so dry inside of it?

Facing the Book

Facebook. I got to thinking last night... We all are on Facebook. We all have a LOT of friends on Facebook. People that we used to know, people we met in 2nd grade, our 2nd grade teacher, friends from Jr. High, High School, Junior College and College, friends from our 1st, 2nd, and 3rd jobs, the guy we met through our friend because we all went out to dinner because there was a volleyball day the day before at church, my friends boyfriend's sister and mom. We seriously have so many 'friends.' Then my brain, scratch that, the Holy Spirit triggered this thought: Out of my 532 (number drawn at random) Facebook friends, would I love them all and be sacrificial for them - EQUALLY? Would I Acts 2 them? It doesn't matter how close I am to them, I am called to love them and to treat them as better than myself out of humility, because I love the Lord. Or would I have preferences and treat some better than others and some worse? It was convicting. Especially as I think about church planting with Adam. I need to continue to beg the Lord to help me love everyone and to set myself and my preferences and my material items and my comfort and my rights aside, for the sake of loving others. Whether they are believers or not, close or not, annoying or not, love is not an option; treating them as better than myself, is not an option (though the Bible does emphasize prioritizing believers).


Romans 13:8 - Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.


Philippians 2:3 - Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.


1 John 4:7-13, 19-21 - 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. 21And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.


Matthew 22:39 - And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.


Matthew 5:38-48 - 38"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' 39But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.
Love Your Enemies 43 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.


Acts 2:42-47 - 42And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

A Great Reminder For Us All

It's nice to see something from the other side. If she lost the pageant because of her answer then God bless her.

Matthew 5:10 - Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

John 15:20 - Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

2 Timothy 3:12-13 - In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

And shame on Perez Hilton. His judging isn't surprising but to follow it up on his blog. Shameful.

Proverbs 24:23-25 - These also are sayings of the wise. Partiality in judging is not good. Whoever says to the wicked, "You are in the right," will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations, but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, and a good blessing will come upon them.

This Pic Makes Me Happy..

Because Hillsong Changed My Life.. #3

This song. This song has encouraged my heart countless times. I've wept to it. It is, by far, one of my all time most favorite Hillsong songs.


Son of God



Hold my hand and walk with me.
You’re the light that makes me see.
On this path my soul You lead
Oh, my Shepherd, walk with me.



I need You more than breath.
You’re my hope. In You I live.
Angels worship at Your throne.
Power and glory to You alone.



My Savior, Glorious One.
My Redeemer. Living in my heart.
Now and forever, Your kingdom come.
Jesus, Son of God.
Jesus, Son of God.




It's long. But when you are just soaking it up, 9 minutes pass in a flash and I find myself pressing the repeat button.

Always a Kid with Grandma..

Date night last night. It was the best date night in a while. (And the first date night in a while too since I've been so sick.) For Easter, Grandma had made the best strawberry pie. They left some at our house but I didn't get a chance to eat any of it.

When I got to the grandparents last night, Grandma asked if I got to have any pie they left and I said, "No."

Grandma had more strawberries and still had some whipped cream and cream cheese and leftover strawberry glaze and so she was VERY grandmotherly and whipped up a batch of the berries and cream for us (no crust). Isn't that so nice? Because her granddaughter didn't get leftover delicious pie she just made another one! So we stood in the kitchen cooking dinner and mixing up pie stuff and when she was done whipping the whipped cream/cream cheese mixture she pulled the beater out of the bowl and handed it to me and said, "You wanna lick?" and I said, "Yes!" I haven't really licked a beater in years, but there is just something about your inner child that will always come out when you are at Grandma's house.

Hot Fudge Sundae

I got to have one of THESE at work yesterday and it tasted soooo good. As I'm typing this I'm wondering why it is spelled Sundae? Let me google.

Excerpts:

It is spelled s-u-n-d-a-e so as not to disgrace the meaning of Sunday as a treat. A sundae is called a sundae because most local laws banned Ice Cream sodas to be made on Sunday, so this treat was made to be eaten on a Sunday. It was stated that ice cream sodas were too "sinful."

Sundae:


1897, Amer.Eng. thought to be an alteration of Sunday, perhaps re-spelled in deference to religious feelings; but the reason for the name is uncertain; perhaps "ice cream left over from Sunday, on sale later." For a fuller account of the speculations, see H.L. Mencken, "The American Language," Supplement I (1945), pp.376-7.

Then I Found This:

World's most expensive dessert: $1000 sundae


Posted by Cory Doctorow, February 14, 2006 12:38 PM permalink
The Daily Olive site documents the $1,000 "Grand Opulence" sundae sold by New York's Serendipity restaurant:
Made with "5 scoops of the richest Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream infused with Madagascar vanilla and covered in 23K edible gold leaf, the sundae is drizzled with the world's most expensive chocolate, Amedei Porceleana, and covered with chunks of rare Chuao chocolate, which is from cocoa beans harvested by the Caribbean Sea on Venezuela's coast. The masterpiece is suffused with exotic candied fruits from Paris, gold dragets, truffles and Marzipan Cherries. It is topped with a tiny glass bowl of Grand Passion Caviar, an exclusive dessert caviar, made of salt-free American Golden caviar, known for its sparkling golden color. It's sweetened and infused with fresh passion fruit, orange and Armagnac. The sundae is served in a baccarat Harcourt crystal goblet with an 18K gold spoon to partake in the indulgence served with a petite mother of pearl spoon and topped with a gilded sugar flower by Ron Ben-Israel."

Then This:

But what's really impressive is the $60,000 "World's More Expensive Most Expensive Ice Cream Sundae." If you buy this you get to travel to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro where Three Twins Ice Cream founder will handchurn a batch of ice cream using the glacial ice found at the summit. The mountain's glaciers are expected to disappear in 10 to 15 years and the purchase will bring awareness to climate change (the company will also make a five figure donation to an African environmental nonprofit.) The cost includes first class airfare to Tanzania, five-star accommodations, a guided climb, an organic T-shirt and all the ice cream you can eat.

Easter Tears Me Up

It happens every year. This year I'm really sick and I'm always more emotional when I'm sick. That's just the way it goes. But when it comes to Good Friday/Easter it is hard! Just thinking through Isaiah 53 and other related passages. Words that say he was beaten beyond any recognition. That Jesus did that when He was innocent because He loves me .. breaks my heart. Words that say that He drank the entire cup of God's wrath so that I don't have to thirst in separated hell forever .. tears me up. I am so thankful and so emotional. This video only brought the tears to the surface further. It is just impactful. Think about Him. Imagine being unrecognizable because you've been so badly beaten all the while knowing you were innocent. Think of what you are saved from. Thank the Lord. Thank You, Jesus.

Still in La La Land..

This has been my life and I can't remember the last 10 days of it. I'm almost back though.