Marriage

Last week I took a much needed vacation for some turkey hunting.  While not in the woods I came home and relaxed in front of ‘TVLAND’.  I revisited ‘Leave it to Beaver’.  The show came out in the 60’s, I watched first hand the Cleaver family.  June, Ward, Walley, and Beaver.  This ideal family was a persona of what life was supposed to be like at the time.  June always wore pearls, Ward always wore a tie and jacket to the dinner table. Wally and Beaver had some discrepancies but always worked them out.  They were always polite to their parents.  Ward always handled every obstacle with great wisdom, and June was a complete lady always, I mean she always wore those pearls.  This afternoon I watched Wally tie a double Windsor (tie knot) on Beaver before heading for Sunday School.  I wonder how many thirteen year old boys own a tie in 2008?

That was definitely a different time.  Better?  I don’t know.  I do know that Kentucky reached the fifty persent mark in 2007.  Fifty percent of all marriages ended in divorce.  I’m not a marriage counselor, so I will not go into the reason.  I can say that when Terrie and I got married we were both Christians, and we married because we thought it was what God’s will was.  I know I did a lot of praying, if God wasn’t in this it would be a mistake.  After our vows, I asked everyone there to pray for us.  I closed with a prayer that the love she saw from me was the love of Christ.

Does that mean that every day is roses?  Not hardly, we don’t see eye to eye always.  But we work through them.  I’ve learned that I have some cracks in my armor.  And every day I wake up and ask Christ love shine through me, to her. Through prayer and determination we will not be a statistic. Posted by Steve Walrip

Are you living in the past?

Isaiah 43:18-19

18 “Forget the former things;
       do not dwell on the past.

 19 See, I am doing a new thing!
       Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
       I am making a way in the desert
       and streams in the wasteland. “

 

Jeremiah 31:33-34

33 “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
       after that time,” declares the LORD.
       “I will put my law in their minds
       and write it on their hearts.
       I will be their God,
       and they will be my people.

 34 No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
       or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’
       because they will all know me,
       from the least of them to the greatest,”
       declares the LORD.
       “For I will forgive their wickedness
       and will remember their sins no more.”

Father God forgives when we are willing to humble ourselves and repent. Then, this is huge, he chooses to remember our “stuff” (our sins) no more!!!

Seek forgiveness, seek emotional healing and let’s not get trapped living in our past.

 

A Movie Worth Watching — EXPELLED

I don’t often recommend a movie before it comes out, but I encourage Christians to see this movie. I have watched the trailers and read reviews. I believe it has a strong message about creation for everyone in the Judeo-Christian faith. You may watch the trailers yourself at the web site (http://www.expelledthemovie.com) and also locate a theater where the film is playing. I plan on seeing the film this Monday.      

Posted by Bro. Ray

Read for yourself some of the reviews by very trustworthy people taken from an EXPELLED ad:

“I recommend EXPELLED enthusiastically!”
- James C. Dobson, Ph.D., Chairman of the Board, Focus on the Family

“Four stars!” - Ted Baehr, Editor, MovieGuide

“A powerful and riveting film… every open-minded person will love it.”
- Rev. Donald E. Wildmon, Founder & Chairman of American Family Association

“EXPELLED is an enormously important project.”
- Michael Medved, national radio host

“We highly recommend EXPELLED to anybody.”
- Ken Smitherman, President, Association of Christian Schools International

“SEE THIS FILM, bring your friends and bring your church.”
- Lee Strobel, Author, Case for a Creator

“See EXPELLED and you’ll understand why they want to censor those who question their dogmas.” - Dr. Richard Land, Southern Baptist Convention

“Those who are suppressing belief in God and trying to make materialism the law of the land should beware. Ben Stein is on a mission to stop the suppression, and millions of Americans are behind him.”
- Pat Robertson, Host, 700 Club

“In EXPELLED, Ben Stein shows us what happens when academic freedom takes a day off. We should all be listening.”
- Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus

“EXPELLED is both an eye-opening documentary and riotous entertainment.” - Joseph Farah, CEO, WorldNetDaily.com

“This movie may trigger a cultural revolution.”
- Dennis Wagner, Executive Director, Access Research Network

“EXPELLED could easily be one of the most important movies of the year.”
- Denny Rydberg, President, Young Life

“EXPELLED is earthshaking. I was absolutely blown away. Everyone in America, even skeptics of Intelligent Design, must see this film.”
- J. Matt Barber, Director for Cultural Issues, Concerned Women for America

“A cultural earthquake… Everyone I talked to after the screening used words like ‘fabulous’ and ‘incredible’.” - Dr. Tom Woodward, Director, C.S. Lewis Society

“A solid case for giving the theory of Intelligent Design a respected place in the classroom alongside Darwin’s theory of Evolution.”
- Dick Rolfe, Co-Founder and CEO, The Dove Foundation  

Helpmate

This is going to be one of those blogs that gets rewritten more than once. This is the third time I changed my direction.  One might ask, why would you persist?  My answer, when God tells me to do something, it’s like a burr in your saddle, before I can be comfortable, I have got to get it out.  Want to know something really funny?  I’m not even an expert on the subject.  Did you know Moses had a speech impediment?  Go figure, he led the nation of Israel.   Well I’m getting off topic.

In Genesis chapter 1, God created all the heavens and earth, then he placed man on earth to watch over everything.  For a while Adam was alone, he had time to name all the plants and animals.  The Bible doesn’t say how long that was, but in chapter 2, it says God saw that man was lonely, and in verse 18 it says He made man a helper (NASB).  In Chapter 2 verse 22 it says, God fashioned into a woman, from the rib which He had taken from the man.  The point I want to make men is women are different. (Think about that for a minute.)

If you read those two chapters closely everything God made up to this point is made from the dust of the earth.  Plants, animals, man, everything but woman.  Woman was made from the rib of man.  The Bible says that the woman is like a fine peace of glassware that should be carefully protected.  This glassware will reflect the light when it shines on it.  The Bible says that we men are like clay pots, rugged and more durable.  We are built stronger to handle more abuse.  

Experts say that a woman’s brain is superior to a man’s brain.  They have a left brain, right brain thing going on that men do not have.  Guys that doesn’t mean they are smarter, it just means they have things going on up there we will never have.  They tend to think more horizontal, while we think more vertical.  They are able to see the big picture better than we do.  If a woman says she senses something, it might behoove you to pay attension to her.

In closing, God created both man and woman with individual purposes.  Together  is what His plan was.  He never intended for any Lone Rangers.  Men protect your gift from God, listen to what she’s says.  She was given to you for a reason.  If you don’t know what that reason was — find out.  I know why I have my gift.  To help me become a better Christian man.     Posted by Steve Waltrip  

 

The Warrior’s Journey: An Experiment in Cooperation

Daniel Boone was a great pioneer.  But he could never have settled Ft. Boonesboro alone.  It took cooperation with several others to settle this new community.

When God gave me the vision for this site I envisioned several “Men of God” writing about those things that Christian men struggle with in their daily journeys.  I want to thank Steve Waltrip and Chris Dennis for being the pioneers in this blog.  It shows a cooperation based not on meetings and planning sessions, but of a cooperation with the Holy Spirit that grows out of a daily walk with Christ.  No you won’t find a new blog every morning.  BUT when the blogs appear, they will be challenging and directed at issues we men face.  Thanks Steve and Chris for being the pioneers in paving the way, showing us the power of cooperation with God!

Posted by Dr. Ray England