iLoVeIt

180 Movie

2012-01-11T00:00:00.000-08:00

Para ver a la española "Gadget Google Translator Sitio Web"

I've spoke about this film recently in an entry titled "The Amazing Miracle That We Call Natural". The "180 Movie" is my topic of discussion today. The Second Wednesday of every month is known as the 180 Day and to commemorate this day on iLoVeIt I'd like to share some news about this moving film. It is now available in Español!! There are over 20 countries where Spanish is the most common language spoken making the spread of the "180 Movie" even more convenient. Praise the Lord!

Here is the Spanish version of the "180 Movie":

Para obtener más información acerca de los "180 películas" mira aquí: http://www.180movie.com/spanish/

The English version can be found here:

Also my blog is now available in multiple languages for the convenience of others. I like to visit different sites but not all of them are in English and it would be very helpful to already have a translator on site rather than having to go find a translator for the site. So I'm glad to introduce this new gadget, the Google Website Translator Gadget, located in the upper right hand corner of the iLoVeIt blog.

PeAcE!

The Old Testament Versus The New Testament

2012-01-08T20:43:00.000-08:00

I was discussing with a fella a few years back, the Old Testament versus the New Testament. You see he believed that the Old Testament was greater than the New Testament. He saw God as much stricter and he liked the rules God gave us back then. He thought the New Testament was too soft on people.

The New Testament is a fulfillment of the Old Testament. It has been said that the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.

We see this in the first chapter of Matthew where Jesus' genealogy is listed. To anyone just coming in this just looks like a list of people but to those who've studied the Old Testament you see the type of people that God allowed to be apart of His Son's earthly family.

Matthew 1:1-17

The Genealogy of Jesus

1 A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:

2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,

Isaac the father of Jacob,

Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,

Perez the father of Hezron,

Hezron the father of Ram,
4 Ram the father of Amminadab,

Amminadab the father of Nahshon,

Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,

Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,

Obed the father of Jesse,
6 and Jesse the father of King David.

David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam,

Rehoboam the father of Abijah,

Abijah the father of Asa,
8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,

Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,

Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
9 Uzziah the father of Jotham,

Jotham the father of Ahaz,

Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,

Manasseh the father of Amon,

Amon the father of Josiah,
11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

12 After the exile to Babylon:

Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,

Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
13 Zerubbabel the father of Abiud,

Abiud the father of Eliakim,

Eliakim the father of Azor,
14 Azor the father of Zadok,

Zadok the father of Akim,

Akim the father of Eliud,
15 Eliud the father of Eleazar,

Eleazar the father of Matthan,

Matthan the father of Jacob,
16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ.

Verse 2 -Abraham: He was blessed by God with a son at the age of 100 by his wife, Sara, who was in her late 90s and had been barren. He and his wife also did not wait for God's timing when God promised Abraham a son but went ahead and bore a son with one of Sarah's servants, Hagar. This first son was named Ishmael who is now known to be the father of the Arab nations whom are mostly Muslim. (You see what sin does?)

Verse 2 -Jacob: He took advantage of his brother's weakness and took his brother, Esau's birthright. Jacob also stole Esau's blessing from their father, Issac.

Verse 3 -Judah: He schemed with his other brothers to kill their younger brother, Joseph and he came up with the idea to sell Joseph into slavery for a profit.

Verse 5 -Rahab: The mother of Boaz was the prostitute who hid Israelites when they came in the power of God to knock down Jericho by marching around the city seven times and on the seventh day blow trumpets and shout.

Verse 5 -Ruth: The mother of Obed and wife of Boaz stayed with her mother-in-law after her first husband passed away and so redeemed her mother-in-law's family through her marriage to Boaz.

Verse 6 -David: Described as man after God's own heart, David accomplished many great things relying on the Lord. One of his greatest sins; however, was in his relations with Uriah's wife. With her he committed adultery and to cover it up he murdered Uriah. Because of this God took his first son with Uriah's wife away from him. Later they conceived Solomon, who followed the Lord like his father and was blessed to become one of the greatest men in the world.

I'm going to stop here but there is so much more as you can see. Side note: Christ's lineage is made up of people who were not perfect but God can use anybody. "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'[a] For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." - Matthew 9:10-13

Now about the New Testament being too soft... When we think of the Old Testament most will remember the 10 Commandments as one of the great things written in it. So much so that many in the world have taken this as a moral measuring stick for their life even if they don't believe in God. So let's look at the 10 commandments:

Exodus 20

The Ten Commandments

1 And God spoke all these words:

2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

The fellow I spoke to thought highly of the 10 Commandments and so I showed him Matthew chapters 5 and 6 which is located in the New Testament. Matthew chapter 5 and 6 takes the 10 commandments a step even further dealing with your attitudes. The New Testament deals with the origin of sins which starts in our hearts. Not to say that those from the Old Testament time did not worship and obey the Lord whole heartedly but (using the guy I was talking to) it was more of rituals and rules dealing more with their actions. Jesus addresses some of the commandments and gives out even more commands in Matthew 5 through 7.

Matthew 5:21-24 Murder

Murder

21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,[c]’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.

Matthew 5:27-32 Adultery

Adultery

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

Divorce

31 “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.

Matthew 6:19-24 Idolatry

Treasures in Heaven

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

24 “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

Matthew 5:17-20

The Fulfillment of the Law

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

There are actually two ways into heaven but we only talk of one because the first is impossible for us as human beings being born into sin. You can either be perfect, having no sin in you and committing no sinful act, you can win your way into heaven by your own righteousness. But that's impossible because when Adam sinned that messed it up for everybody. Or you can admit that you're a sinner and in need of Christ's gift of salvation, repent of your sins, admit Christ as Lord and accept his gift of love, grace and mercy. Because Christ died for our sins in place of us as the perfect sacrifice He gave everyone a chance to live with Him in Heaven, making the impossible possible.

The Old Testament serves a shadow, a vague reflection of what the Lord is going to do and has done. The New Testament shows God dealing with our sin, giving us a way to Him. The things that God said He will do in the Old Testament, He fulfilled a lot of it (some are still yet to pass) in the New Testament and the promises and prophesies He's revealed in the New Testament are yet to come. Hebrews 8 and 10 talks of Jesus Christ being our High Priest bring in the new order, a new covenant. The New Covenant created the need for a New Testament.

Hebrews 8

The High Priest of a New Covenant

1 The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man.

3 Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. 4 If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. 5 They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”[a] 6 But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises.

7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8 But God found fault with the people and said[b]:

   “The time is coming, declares the Lord,
   when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
   and with the house of Judah.
9 It will not be like the covenant
   I made with their forefathers
when I took them by the hand
   to lead them out of Egypt,
because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
   and I turned away from them,
            declares the Lord.
10 This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
   after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
   and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
   and they will be my people.
11 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.
12 For I will forgive their wickedness
   and will remember their sins no more.”[c]

13 By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.

The Old Testament taught the way of the old covenant, that we must sacrifice animals on an altar usually with a priest interceding for us because we were too sinful to be in the presence of the Lord and His Holy Temple. Like Hebrews 8 tells us the old covenant was done away with when Jesus died on the cross being the perfect sacrificial Lamb wiping clean our sin forever and doing away with the need for any priest besides Himself. Now He personally intercedes on our behalf to God.

Hebrews 10

Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All

1 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4 because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:

   “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
   but a body you prepared for me;
6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings
   you were not pleased.
7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
   I have come to do your will, O God.’”[a]

8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them” (although the law required them to be made). 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. 13 Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, 14 because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:

16 “This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds.”[b]

17 Then he adds:

“Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more.”[c]

18 And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.

A Call to Persevere

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[d] and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”[e] 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. 33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34 You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.

35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For in just a very little while,

“He who is coming will come and will not delay.
38 But my righteous one[f] will live by faith.
And if he shrinks back,
I will not be pleased with him.”[g]

39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.

The Old Testament and the New Testament are both guides on how to find and be like Christ for believers and those seeking Christ on this earth. One day both will pass away when we meet God face to face. There is no need for a guide when you're at your destination. Whether you are His child or His enemy you will meet God on the day of judgement. Don't harden your heart to His call and gift of salvation.

So that you will know the people of the Old Testament who believed in God prior to Christ's arrival are in heaven read Hebrews chapter 11.

This was a long one. Love ya,

Temp

Merry Christmas!

2012-01-02T20:57:00.000-08:00

When Christmas was on it's way you heard Happy Holidays all the time in the US but when New Years came I kept hearing "Happy New Years!" You know Kwanzaa is still going on but no one is telling me "Happy Holidays" even though it's New Years and Kwanzaa! Yea, I see Happy Holidays as an attack on CHRISTmas. I'm not going to tell anyone Happy Kwanzaa because I don't celebrate it nor endorse it and most people won't either for the same reason. So why tell people to say Happy Holidays when they only celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah? Is it to make others comfortable? If some else feels offended or uncomfortable with greetings from a holiday they don't celebrate, first they should realize that people have freedom of speech and secondly that they can wish others a Happy (Whatever) also. This compulsion that media is creating to support saying Happy Holidays is bogus.

Happy New Years!!

Dear Future Husband (Open Letter)

2011-12-26T22:48:00.000-08:00

(This is my babe's Christmas present)

"Love is patient..." (Corinthians 13)
In a world where everything is wanted and provided in an instant you should know that some things in life are worth the wait.

Since infancy we were betrothed in the eyes of the Lord. He made you for me and me for you. He sees us as we are maturing and with every passing day brings us closer together. He knows you inside and out, your weaknesses and strengths and chose you as a spouse for me. He knows my personality and still chose to make me for you. (lol)

I tried to change my personality several times but I guess this is just the way God made me. I'm learning to accept it and grow and I pray you do too. God knows us entirely and created us the way we are on purpose and for a purpose. He knows how our personalities will work with one another and has destined us for each other wisely. I don't know why and I'm anxiously awaiting the time(s) I discover the reason(s) the Lord has for putting us together.

I believe spouses can be from the Lord that's why I pray for you (Proverbs 19:14). I trust the Lord to send you to me in due time. He has picked someone specifically for me who has what I lack and attributes I don't even know I want or need.

I can't wait to get to know you, discovering your talents, secrets and growing together. I'm looking forward to the days where we can pray together and encourage and "spur one another on toward love and good deeds" (Hebrews 10:24).

God is making us into iron while we're apart so we can sharpen one another when we're together. Wood rubbed together starts a destructive fire but "as iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another" (Proverbs. 27:17). I want us to be iron, helping and building each other up not tearing each other down.

I need not worry if you'll ever show up because whether you do or not isn't the point. The meaning of my life is not defined by man or my accomplishments but God and His will for my life. If I obey and rely on Him I'll find fulfillment. Everything is in the Lord's perfect and capable hands there is no need to worry. I trust Him and pray that you do also.

Longing for the day when I can say, "This is my lover, this is my friend" (Song of Solomon 5:16).

I hope you and everyone else reading this open letter had a very Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year.

All My Love,
T

"Words don't ever seem to come out right
But I still mean them, why is that?
It hurts my pride to tell you how I feel
But I still need to, why is that?

I miss you, like everyday
Wanna be with you, but you're away
Said I miss you, missing you insane
But if I got with you, could it feel the same? " - B.

iLoVeIt... Christmas!!!

2011-12-24T23:11:00.000-08:00

Christmas is about the celebration of the birth of Jesus. We celebrate Christ's life because He came to die in our place and take the punishment that we rightly deserve for our sins in action and in our heart. We were born in sin and even before we know right from wrong we've already sinned. God saw that there was no one who by works or righteousness could enter the Kingdom of Heaven so He provided a means and a way. God is the only deity who ever sacrificed Himself for His followers and people who curse and hate Him. Jesus is the only Savior who comes to us as a friend. No one else has been so self-sacrificing, loving and righteous nor will there ever be another.

Christmas is about the love of a God who cares about little old you and me to send His own Son to give the world to give us a chance to be with Him and make a way for direct communication between ourselves and Himself. When we accept the gift of Jesus' life, death and resurrection on Earth with repentance of our sins we accept a second life with Christ, a personal gift from God.

Isaiah 59:1-20

Sin, Confession and Redemption

¹ Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save,
   nor his ear too dull to hear.
² But your iniquities have separated
   you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
   so that he will not hear.
³ For your hands are stained with blood,
   your fingers with guilt.
Your lips have spoken falsely,
   and your tongue mutters wicked things.
⁴ No one calls for justice;
   no one pleads a case with integrity.
They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies;
   they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
⁵ They hatch the eggs of vipers
   and spin a spider’s web.
Whoever eats their eggs will die,
   and when one is broken, an adder is hatched.
⁶ Their cobwebs are useless for clothing;
   they cannot cover themselves with what they make.
Their deeds are evil deeds,
   and acts of violence are in their hands.
⁷ Their feet rush into sin;
   they are swift to shed innocent blood.
They pursue evil schemes;
   acts of violence mark their ways.
⁸ The way of peace they do not know;
   there is no justice in their paths.
They have turned them into crooked roads;
   no one who walks along them will know peace. ⁹ So justice is far from us,
   and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness;
   for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
¹⁰ Like the blind we grope along the wall,
   feeling our way like people without eyes.
At midday we stumble as if it were twilight;
   among the strong, we are like the dead.
¹¹ We all growl like bears;
   we moan mournfully like doves.
We look for justice, but find none;
   for deliverance, but it is far away.
¹² For our offenses are many in your sight,
   and our sins testify against us.
Our offenses are ever with us,
   and we acknowledge our iniquities:
¹³ rebellion and treachery against the LORD,
   turning our backs on our God,
inciting revolt and oppression,
   uttering lies our hearts have conceived.
¹⁴ So justice is driven back,
   and righteousness stands at a distance;
truth has stumbled in the streets,
   honesty cannot enter.
¹⁵ Truth is nowhere to be found,
   and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.
   The LORD looked and was displeased
   that there was no justice.
¹⁶ He saw that there was no one,
   he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;
so his own arm achieved salvation for him,
   and his own righteousness sustained him.
¹⁷ He put on righteousness as his breastplate,
   and the helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments of vengeance
   and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.
¹⁸ According to what they have done,
   so will he repay
wrath to his enemies
   and retribution to his foes;
   he will repay the islands their due.
¹⁹ From the west, people will fear the name of the LORD,
   and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory.
For he will come like a pent-up flood
   that the breath of the LORD drives along.^[a]
²⁰ “The Redeemer will come to Zion,
   to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”
            declares the LORD.

Lyrics:
Jesus I am broken now
Before you I fall I lay me down
All I want is you, my all

I cry out from the ashes
Burned with sin and shame
I ask you Lord to make me whole again

For you say if I will come and will
Pray to you
There's forgiveness when I
Turn from me and pray
For you say if I will come and will
Pray to you
You hear me and heal me when I pray

Your ways are not my own
But I long for them to be
So this what I pray
One with you you'll make me

Melt me away 'til only you remain

For you say if I will come and will
Pray to you
There's forgiveness when I
Turn to you and pray
For you say if I will come and will
Pray to you
You hear me and heal me when I pray

Jesus I am broken now before you
Take me I am yours

iHaTeIt When... (Christmas Blunders)

2011-12-24T01:07:00.000-08:00

While wrapping gifts tonight with my sister I started thinking about the Christmas errors I seem to have almost every year.

Buying a present you think "they'd" love only to realize that it's actually something YOU'D love. (Snap, Crackle and Pop!!)

Running out of tape because I usually don't remember that I'll need it. (so annoying)

Leaving a gift at home on Christmas when it was suppose to leave with you. (rrrrr)

Traveling to the store 16 times because you can't find that one person a gift! (still looking)

When making gift:

Forgetting the small but essential details like supplies to create. (lol it's not so funny when you're the victim of forgetfulness)

Last but certainly not uncommon:

Your wallet runs dry. (*cough* Why?! *death rattle*)

I rarely ever buy a large number of gifts so these mistakes I'm sure will be repeated next year. Maybe one day I'll get better.

Temp,

It's Christmas EVE!!!!!

The Amazing Miracle That We Call Natural

2011-12-16T11:41:00.000-08:00

A baby develops in a mother's tummy but we really don't stop to think that a baby is being formed. No man is touching the child as it develops but most babies are formed with a pattern of humanity's likeness. How do our hearts beat? We don't will it to and most of the time we forget it's even there. How does a babe form inside a womb with all organs in place and grow? There is no doctor molding the child.

I was thinking about this topic because a friend of mine commented on how odd it was that babies were tiny little human beings. This brought to mind a fact I learned a while ago that babies develop all of the organs of a fully grown adult as an even smaller human being in side of their mother's womb.

It's amazing what the Lord does.

Psalm 139:13-16

" 13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be."

The development of babies: http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/facts/fetaldevelopment.html

180 Movie

I think this movie, Maafa21, goes hand in hand with the 180 especially in light of the fact that basically none of the black people questioned about Hitler in the 180 Movie knew anything about Hitler. This one is much longer than the 180 movie. This movie has some foul language also.

Disclaimer: Not all caucasian people hate black people. (I don't even think a majority does.) This movie could start some on race and/or class wars but that's not my point of including this film. I just want to open the eyes of the black community and others to the horror of abortion and its history in America. Protect the innocent.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZrot0Z_drs&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

1 Samuel 2:6 "The LORD brings death and makes alive;
he brings down to the grave and raises up. "

God gives life and takes it away. To indulge and support abortion and birth control is to play God thinking you can give life and take it away.

Just look up these people's lives and there accomplishments.

Steve Jobs (creator of Apple) was adopted.

Dylan McDermott (actor) lost both of his young parents but that didn't stop him from becoming an accomplished actor.

Gianna Jessen survived abortion which crippled her physically but certainly not spiritually. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrPuOrEMNwE

Tim Tebow (football player) was considered a tumor and fetal tissue by a doctor. Plus his parents already had four children and most would think you should stop having children. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7J9eFNu6RY&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Nick Cannon (celebrity) was about to be aborted but given a chance to live. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdOCwd9EttE

And many many more people who may not have turned out to be the best in the world still had the chance to live and change. A life is a valuable treasure. Whether you choose to accept Christ as Lord and Savior of our human race is your choice but to stop another from being able to make any choice by taking their life makes you a murderer.

Think you're in control of your life? What happens when you want to have a child? You cannot make yourself conceive. Yes we have clinics that assist in the process but no one but God opens and closes the womb. Stop playing God.

1 samuel 1:4-5 &19-20

4 Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. 5 But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the LORD had closed her womb. ...

19 Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the LORD and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah lay with Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. 20 So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I asked the LORD for him.”

Media Malpractice: Fools on the Hill

2011-12-12T15:07:00.000-08:00

Short and hopefully educational.

So watch this...

A film about an ordinary citizen pitching a bill to the government to sign into law. When Jerrol LeBaron learned that politicians weren't actually reading the bills that they were signing into law he started a campaign to change this reality.

Visit foolsonthehill.com for more information.

iLoVeIt

2011-12-03T00:51:00.001-08:00

This entry is going to be tumblr-like, meaning it's going to be random things I love.

Quotes from My Fave Movies

Margaret Hale: You've been blessed with good luck and fortune, but others have not!
John Thornton: I do know something of hardship. 16 years ago, my father died, very miserable circumstances. I became
   the head of the family very quickly, and was taken out of school. I think I might say that my only good luck,
   was to have a mother of such strong will and integrity. I went to go work in a draper's shop, and my
   mother managed so that I could put 3 shillings aside a week. I taught myself denial. No I am able to keep
   my mother in such comfort as her age requires, and I thank her every day for that early training. So Ms.
   Hale, I do not think that I was especially blessed with good fortune or luck. I have stayed my welcome. North & South

Tamina: You know you really walk like one, head held high, chest out, long stomping strides.The walk of a self-satisfied

   Persian prince. No doubt it's comes from being told since birth the world was yours, and actually believing it.
Dastan: I wasn't born in a palace like you! I was born in the slums of Nasaf where I lived if I fought and I clawed for it.
Tamina: Then how did you become a prince?
Dastan: I don't know, the King... (pause)... marched in the market one day and he... I don't know he... he found me. He
   took me in, he gave me a family, he gave me home. What you're looking, at, is the walk of a man who just lost
   everything. Prince of Persia

Cowboys I love

Clint Eastwood

- Seriously who can resist the squint? That is just one handsome man who's forever immortalized in my mind as a cowboy.

Adam Cartwright

-Cute smile, always in black and hardly gets in trouble but is devious as all get out when he wants to be.

Movie Search Sites

Fast-rewind.com
It's all about the 80s films From 1980 to 1989 they give a huge list of popular films of that time. I won't say all because I just don't believe that's all of them. There are several 80s Christian films that are not present. Anyways "The 80s Movies Rewind" gives trailers, descriptions and critics of films with a colorful 80s themed background. I seriously love this place when I'm in the mood for a throwback film I've never seen. Unlike the 80s however this site is more comprehensible than their technology in those days. The only barrier is the large supply of films that'll take all week to read.

Mysoju.com

This enormous library of Asian films and dramas engrossed my teen years. Maybe I'll go back to it one of these days but I'm alright for now. I still love it though. I'm extremely happy to have a database like this one just lying around the internet for our exploration. I've lost tons and tons of studying hours here. LOL!! It's a little overwhelming for newbies but just look up the genre of what you'd like to see and I'm sure you'll find something that interest you. and yes I know that soju is the name of an Asian alcoholic beverage. I'm not promoting drinking. lol

Cooks & Bakers

Giada De Laurentiis After finding out her age you don't know how many times I prayed, "Dear Lord please allow me to look as good as her when I'm in my 40's." I'm serious that girl can cook, eat and still look good. However I'm not one to jump too conclusions, I know she may have to work hard for that body as well.

Buddy Valastro

I admire his family business and accomplishments. Just watch his showssssss. Yea there's more than one.

Fave Christmas Songs

Gee Whiz, It's Christmas -Carla Thomas

I've literally been singing this song all year long.

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas -Kenny G.

I fell in love with this instrumental when I heard it playing in the 1994 version of Miracle on the 34th Street

And on that note I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I hope to see you soon but yall know how busy this time can get. Plus on my down time I want to spend it with my fam this Christmas season.

Not praying for the world to change but praying for Christ to come back soon and reign.

The Heart of the Matter: Waiting

2011-11-25T22:09:00.001-08:00

Just me thinking my way out of a depressed mood. The Lord was helping me as you can see.This is also an example of one ways the Lord speaks to those who seek Him.

Have you ever had hope deferred? (Proverbs 13:12) It's a painful thing. I'm on the brink (of letting go / giving up).But I find that I'm like Stacie Orrico -still holding on. "Are you still holding on to your [faith? Live life your way!]" (Job 2:9)  I know those who overcome have great rewards (James 1:12-13) and I've failed enough times already. I'm really sick of not living up to the potential that God has established for me. I know he won't let me be tempted beyond what I can bare (1 Corinthians 10:13) so the only explanation for my failures are that I gave up when it got hard. These test are here to make us stronger (James 1:2-3). Like when you just start exercising and you can't run a mile but when you strive and push yourself a little more each day your body learns to run 10 miles. God is training us to win this race (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).Job was reimbursed family and wealth with twice as much as before (Job 42:10-17). Simeon got to see the child Jesus (Luke 2:25-35). Jesus gave his life for us and in return gets to sit at the right hand of God [and so much more that would take my entire life and infinitely more to list]. (Revelations 3:21). Waiting, hoping and trusting the Lord to provide is worth it. Let's not forget to actively obey the Lord's command and seek Him first. It gets hard but I want the best God has for my life.

Isaiah 40:29-31

29 He gives strength to the weary
   and increases the power of the weak.
30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
   and young men stumble and fall;
31 but those who hope in the LORD
   will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
   they will run and not grow weary,
   they will walk and not be faint.

Good night world,
   Tempress

Fall Favorites: Fashion

2011-11-12T10:03:00.001-08:00

I meant to get this out in October but November is still the fall so it's ok. I'm playing my Seasonal Outfits game again but this time I'm focusing on the Fall season- Autumn. So for those who don't know, this game is just about my imagination running wild. This time I picked states and venues I'd like to visit along with the outfits I'd like to wear in the Autumn season.

Aspen, Colorado - Viceroy Snowmass Mountain Resort

Clothes: Top- Rue21's Cascade Belted Wrap, pants- Gap's 1969 Skinny Boot Corduroy, earrings- Betsy Johnson's Leopard Heart Bow, shoes-via Dulce Candy
Hotel by Kiwi Collection
Background by Mike Thomas

Fulton, New York - The Pratt House

Clothes: Top- Rue21's Aztec Lace Dolman, pants- Fashion Lab's Crop Jegging with Suspenders, shoes- Adi Women's Glaze, headgear- Black Scoodie
The Pratt House by Dennieorson
Background by HALLDOR_K

Hiawassee, Georgia - North Georgia Mountain Fair

Clothes: Top- Rue21's Belted Floral Chiffon, pants- Seven for all Mankind Cargo Roxanne Brown shoes- Adi Women's Glaze, jacket- Rue21's Long Sleeve Wool Hood
MTN Fair by Aleeya Hargrove Photography
Background by Mharoldsewell

Smugglers Notch, Vermont - Shelburne Country Store

Clothes: Top- Rue21's Sulphor Fushia, pants- can't recall where I found the white jeans, shoes- Christian Louboutin Lastic Bootie , jacket- Rue21's Long Sleeve Polyurethane
Store by Guillermo Smith
Background by Sierra Springs Photography

I told you I've been working on this thing since October so forgive me for not remembering where I got every bit of info and pics from. I'd like to give credit where it's due. I'm a graphic designer so I just put everything together, altering some photos to fit my concept. This isn't my best work because it's just for fun.

Fall Favorites: Movies

2011-10-05T23:06:00.000-07:00

Ahh it's October, the season's mark that Fall is officially here. iLoVeIt!! I love the crispness that comes with this season and the movies. :D

Now I don't celebrate Halloween but I do enjoy the films that depict fall and it's beauty. Growing up I wasn't allowed to watch things that involved magic as something to be obsessed over like Sabrina the Teenage Witch or Harry Potter, which I understand. Kids are impressionable and I know for a fact that I'd be out trying to imitate them when I was younger. There are certain things that kids just shouldn't be exposed to until they're mature enough to discern what's real and what's not.

Now that I'm adult I have the freedom to watch whatever I please but I use discernment in choosing what I watch and what I don't (most of the time). "Everything is permissible for me"–but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"–but I will not be mastered by anything. (1 Corinthians 6:12)

Here are some of my favorites:

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Mars Attack (1996)

Hocus Pocus (1993)

Halloweentown (1998)

Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge (2001)

Halloweentown High (2004)

Teen Witch (1989)

Scary Godmother: Halloween Spooktacular (2004)

Scary Godmother: Revenge Jimmy (2005)

That Darn Cat (1997)

Casper (1995)

The Addams Family (1991)

Addams Family Values (1993)

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Mirror Mask (2005)

Scared Stiff (1953)

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)

It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown (1966)

Twitches (2005)

Twitches Too (2007)

Mom's Got A Date With A Vampire (2000)

Star Trek (2009)

The Little Vampire (2000)

Little Shop Of Horrors (1986)

Things I haven't seen
Edwards Scissorhands (1990)
Lost Boys (1987)

... but may watch if I get the courage
Frankenweenie (1984) [there's a new one coming out 2012]
Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
Phantom of the Megaplex (2000)
Gremlins (1984)
Fright Night (1985) [maybe the 2011 version]
Pet Sematary (1989)

Valerie

2011-08-29T17:58:00.000-07:00

I really like Amy Winehouse's song "Valerie". It's strange though that I know someone with the same name of the song who's suffers with drug addiction like Amy. Someone particularly close to me who I pray for constantly because I don't want her to end up like Amy. I saw her recently and she was in the worst state I'd ever seen her in before. It kind of scared me. It was like she didn't recognize me and she was really disoriented. When she was younger she'd like to party and do all the typical things people who think they're grown do (drink, smoke, and party). She wasn't a big alchy but she sure is addicted to smoking. It makes me sad that there are going to be more people like her who will not think about the future effects these drugs are going to have on their family and their ability to function.

O how I wish I could go into more details about her life but these tragic tales have been told over and over again yet few heed the warnings. I wish I could tell you how her drug addiction has caused her to lose her family, her peace, her independence and grand children. You think you're only hurting yourself but mistakes draw on for generations.

However, I've witnessed first hand the difference Christ can make in a person who grew up around that type of environment and now see the stark differences between the families of one who chose Christ and the other who chose to live life their own way. There's always hope.

Help me in praying for Valerie. I love her so much and I don't want her to die young or without Christ.

The Pianist

2011-07-28T11:50:00.000-07:00

I watched "The Pianist" today. It's been out a while but I've been timid to actually watch it because of the descriptions I've read. I really don't like war movies but I've not hated the ones I have seen. They're usually not told in story form and if they are it's usually a boring narration of events. Plus like wars it's a war movie so it's bound to make me sad.

What prompted me to overcome my anxiety was the music. A friend of mine introduced me to Chopin's "Nocturne in C sharp minor" via youtube.

I thought that maybe this song would be somewhere in the middle of the film so that would keep me watching throughout the terrors of the story but it turns out that this particular song was at the start of the film. By the time the song was finished I'd been drawn into the plot against my longing to turn to a more pleasant subject.

I really don't know what to say here. Go watch the movie if you haven't seen it. I only remember one swear word and that was toward the end of the film. It's a grim topic but it's educational and inspirational. I know it doesn't seem like the type of film that wold illicit inspiration but I found it in the hope that not everyone's the same. There are decent people among madness and from madness rises courage to survive and fight for freedom. Inspiration of the human tolerance. God designed us well, for people to survive and endure such traumatic circumstances. Inspiration that troubles won't last forever and that other's will support the weak and helpless.

It was like the movie "Remember Me" it gave a face to the victims of horror. This was no longer a tale of historic events but the life of a friend, a second hand experience.

There's another film that sheds the light on victims of horror and that is "The Stoning of Soraya M."

I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to purposefully watch this movie but I'd like to see it. My fear let's me know that watching films of this type has not desensitized me to the violence people suffered and suffer at the hands of evil. My sister thinks I'm odd because I really can't stand fictional scary movies but I instead find interest in the depictions of true life stories.

I don't know maybe it's because the real stories give me the opportunity to pray for the people of this world by reminding me that while I sleep in peace someone else may not be. I'm reminded that this is a fallen world and people constantly fall asleep without ever knowing the One, True God. So I pray for the people portrayed on screen, the people all over the world who don't know Christ and the people who do but aren't living like Christ would have them to. I pray for my own spiritual growth and that of my family in Christ.

Love It or Leave It: Film Reviews 5

2011-05-27T13:24:00.000-07:00

Throwback is the theme of this "Film Review". All of these films have been out for a while. I'm sure I'm not the only one late to seeing these films so I decided to continue with my review. Instead of using stars to rate I use ♥ (hearts) meaning I love it and to represent leave it I chose this symbol: ☞ (pointing hand).

Unstoppable

I believe I only heard one ill use of Jesus' name but folks were using God's name in vain a ton of times with the GD swear word. I didn't expect to be flipped off twice though. Most of the this seemed unnecessary, uncalled for and unwarranted. It's not something you want to be watching around kids because of the language.

Other than the negatives this was very entertaining. Centering around an out of control train headed for a heavily populated town in Pennsylvania, two workers decide to go renegade against authoritative commands to stay off the track and stop this train. They risk their jobs and their lives but the sacrifice for the ones they love mean everything to them. This film is based upon real life events. The real life story can be found here: http://www.wtov9.com/news/25762443/detail.html

It might be just me but the trailer kind of ruined some of the suspense so I'm warning you all before you watch the trailer. For myself it showed me scenes that I put together while watching the movie so I knew what wasn't going to happen and what would not before the actual scene unfolded. You've been warned. If you still want to know about the film without watching the trailer I'd recommend the summary above.

Your ears will be accosted so I'm not sure if the entertainment value will outweigh it. I don't think I'll ever watch this movie again because of the incessant swearing and misuse of my Master's name so I'm going to LeaveIt. ♥♥♥☞☞ (3 hearts)

Sherlock Holmes

I had been avoiding this movie for some time. lol False assumptions about it being boring or scary, I suppose. I heard that they made Holmes gay but as I watched the film I can understand how they were coming to that conclusion but I couldn't come to the same assumption. I found more of a great kinship not commonly praised among men.

Set in 1892 Sherlock Holmes and his partner Dr. John Watson races against time to prevent yet another attack from Lord Henry Blackwood. This thrilling adventure sends your mind reeling in time with the film to figure out how these unbelievable events are coming to pass.

The character, Holmes portrayed by Robert was so very different from what I expected. He did bring in a cockiness to the character which I was afraid of but he toned it back from Tony Stark's childish ways to a more sophisticated know it all who liked to jest. They made Sherlock Holmes fight. To my limited knowledge of the books I can't recall anything like that happening before. However having him fight was a pretty good idea, it added action to an otherwise dull film broadening the potential audience. A fighting Sherlock Holmes also made a bit of sense as they showed him predicting the moves of his opponent and readily adjusting to it like he does with every mystery. Now for his accent: we all know Robert is American but wow was I surprised by his ability produce such a thick accent for which I could barely recognize. They kept intact the famed explanatory Holmes telling how he came to solve the crime (to film company's benefit).

The cinematics: even the way the film was recorded and edited added not only a touch of old but a quick and clever way to keep the audience intrigued. It reminded me of the way "The League of Extraordinary Men" was filmed. Last but not least the artistry of the credits was awesome, I rewound the movie three times just to see that.

(Sorry I just watched the film my english is a little dated. This usually happens when I really enjoyed watching a film.)

I got one word for this film "iLoVeIt" (yes, that's one word now). ♥♥♥♥♥ (5 hearts) I can't wait for the sequel set to come December this year to premier in theaters.

Tangled

Tangled is a story of Rapunzel. I've never really looked into the original story of Rapunzel but growing up a child of media you really couldn't help learning the basics of her story. A girl with golden hair, who lived in a tower and let down her hair for the first guy who asked. lol Why was she in that tower was never really a concern for me until this film. :D

Rapunzel, a long-lost princess, lives isolated in a tower with Gothel, whom she believes is her mother. Gothel had kidnapped Rapunzel when she was a baby because of her magical golden hair that kept her young. She knew Rapunzel's magical hair, if cut, would turn brown and lose its magic. Every year on Rapunzel's birthday, her kingdom sends thousands of lanterns into the sky wishing their lost princess would return. On her eighteenth birthday, Rapunzel asks Gothel to let her see the floating lights, but Gothel says no because the world is full of dangers. When faced with the chance to go see these magical lights she takes the opportunity with Flynn, an on the run thief.

When I first saw the previews for this film I thought Jake Gyllenhaal and Taylor Swift (lol they were dating at the time of its release)!! It's funny, a little bit too much singing for my taste but they had a few numbers that had me wanting to join in song. I watched this film with friends and family and we all pointed out similarities of certain scenes to older Disney films like Aladdin, The Little Mermaid and Beauty & the Beast. Reading comments on several trailers for this film others have said the horse reminds them of Pegasus of Disney's Hercules, Donkey from Shrek and the horse in the "The Road to El Dorado". Disney seems to be losing their originality. The movie's aesthetically appealing and the journey's entertaining.

I'm giving this film ♥♥♥♥☞ (4½ hearts) iLoVeIt

__________________________

I hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts on the above films. Please leave a comment if you've seen these movies or plan to see them.

; ) Tempress

Media Malpractice: Men in Tights

2011-05-02T15:48:00.001-07:00

   We all know the story of Robin Hood. The brave man who dared to defy his crooked government to feed the poor and starving. We have something like that going on today and it's not as glorious as Robin's adventures. You see Robin Hood took from his government the money taken by insanely high taxes for the king's lavish usage but today we're taking from hardworking taxpayers to give to people who don't pay taxes and into services that the majority doesn't want.

   Around the time Obama was getting elected in '08 I asked a peer what she thought of democrat's concept to redistribute the wealth of others. She claimed to be fine with it and said it was fair because some people were born with a silver spoon in their mouth. I was appalled by her answer. What a way to think. I couldn't allow her to just have that opinion in her mind. So I told her I thought it was wrong and gave her the scenario of her currently working hard at school to make her dreams into a reality. "After all your studying here in school, you graduate and get your degree. With lots of hard work you build your career and become successful. Now here comes Uncle Sam, the tax man taking a huge chunk of your hard earned income and giving it to strangers." She didn't like the last part. I hadn't even gotten to the point where she'd want to save for her kids and to give them a better life but with her ideology someone else would be taking from her gift to her kids.

There's already a huge degree of wealth redistribution going on with the welfare system.


  As of late there has been the Occupy Wall Street people protesting the greed on wall street. What these people are missing is the greed in Washington. These people believe the rich are out to get them. They've been poisoned by Dems and libs in congress like former Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi starting class wars. Pitting the poor against the rich.
   Let's look at the fact that NANCY PELOSI is apart of the 1% she's berating. In the year 2010 she was worth $35 million. Now in 2011 she's had at least a 62% increase in her salary.IT's an insult to poor people, saying you aren't strong enough to make it on your own, "YOU NEED OUR [the government's] ASSISTANCE [handouts]!"

   It's the rich who makes jobs. Not the poor and not the government. Everything the government touches turns ugly and makes the people more dependent. The government doesn't even have the money to make these jobs. Their money comes from taxpayers! (Speaking of taxpayers the rich pay the most taxes. People who say they don't pay their fair share haven't done their research.) Rich people create business, help others establish their business, spend money that puts even more people to work and still pay more than half of taxes in America. We, the people, can make it without government interference in our economy. It's called capitalism.

PSA: My Generation!!

2011-04-20T00:34:00.000-07:00

If you say you're not a follower you most likely are. To my generation I see people constantly trying to speak unification of the world but hate those whose views oppose their own. They say older adults and children are drones yet look at your choices, you're no different. You think you're above the masses? Hey you maybe different from your neighbor and friends but there's someone out there who's influenced your decision to be so very "different". Assess your choices.

Adults are dumb? "When you grow up your heart dies"?

Every teen generation ahead of your own (especially the 60s) thought they were smarter than everyone. Some (not all) adults got the memo that life isn't all about pleasure. Life isn't all about art, music and love. If you want to own something, you're faced with Uncle Sam the Tax man and all other little fees placed on you. If you have kids, your heart walks around in a little body that you try desperately to protect from harm. I hear celebs say they're free and above the law influences you that you can be too. Well they may be (with crooked judges and lawyers running amok), but you're not. You break the law, they don't put you in rehab, instead you go to jail. I'll go deeper into this another time.

All I hear from my generation is I'm special, I'm different, I don't care about your opinion of me.

While this sounds fine and dandy at the core of each statement is "I". Man you think you run the world. In reality you're just selfish and bordering on bratty.

Yes, you are special, God made you unique but in no way way did He make you better than anyone else.

Cool you're different from the "norm" (whatever that is). I tend to find the people that strive to be different from everyone else are usually copying someone else.

When it comes to others' opinions of you I say take it with a grain of salt. Be wise, not everyone who talks about you is trying to tear you down. Some may not say it the right way or say what you want to hear but a wise man listens to sound advice and accepts discipline.

I have no problem saying I'm a follower. I'm a follower of Christ. Who are you following?

Drugs? They'll eventually kill you. Music? It'll just be. Celebs? They can't help you.

To those who may assume that I hate all forms of entertainment I say this: I don't. LOL!!! It bothers me though, when I see my generation worshiping happiness and entertainment at all cost.

A passage all young ones who claim Christ should learn to live by

Proverbs 12

1 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,
but whoever hates correction is stupid.

2 Good people obtain favor from the LORD,
but he condemns those who devise wicked schemes.

3 No one can be established through wickedness,
but the righteous cannot be uprooted.

4 A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown,
but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.

5 The plans of the righteous are just,
but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.

6 The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood,
but the speech of the upright rescues them.

7 The wicked are overthrown and are no more,
but the house of the righteous stands firm.

8 A person is praised according to their prudence,
and one with a warped mind is despised.

9 Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant
than pretend to be somebody and have no food.

10 The righteous care for the needs of their animals,
but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.

11 Those who work their land will have abundant food,
but those who chase fantasies have no sense.

12 The wicked desire the stronghold of evildoers,
but the root of the righteous endures.

13 Evildoers are trapped by their sinful talk,
and so the innocent escape trouble.

14 From the fruit of their lips people are filled with good things,
and the work of their hands brings them reward.

15 The way of fools seems right to them,
but the wise listen to advice.

16 Fools show their annoyance at once,
but the prudent overlook an insult.

17 An honest witness tells the truth,
but a false witness tells lies.

18 The words of the reckless pierce like swords,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

19 Truthful lips endure forever,
but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.

20 Deceit is in the hearts of those who plot evil,
but those who promote peace have joy.

21 No harm overtakes the righteous,
but the wicked have their fill of trouble.

22 The LORD detests lying lips,
but he delights in people who are trustworthy.

23 The prudent keep their knowledge to themselves,
but a fool’s heart blurts out folly.

24 Diligent hands will rule,
but laziness ends in forced labor.

25 Anxiety weighs down the heart,
but a kind word cheers it up.

26 The righteous choose their friends carefully,
but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

27 The lazy do not roast any game,
but the diligent feed on the riches of the hunt.

28 In the way of righteousness there is life;
along that path is immortality.

Media Malpractice

2011-04-08T15:05:00.000-07:00

There is a documentary by this same name that I'm using called Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected. You can find the film on YouTube, I strongly recommend all of my readers to check it out. I titled my blog with the same name because I've been wanting to talk about politics more and media schemes and I believe this will give me that platform. I need things to be organized which is why I have so many series.

This will be the first of prayerfully many more post on this theme. Today I'd like to build the foundation on why I'm even starting this subject.

I am a Conservative, socially and fiscally. I believe many others are also fiscally (financially) Conservative even if we don't agree on social topics. Growing up I've run into a lot of (I'm sorry to say) ignorance when it came to politics. I'm not trying to be mean but when I've asked people about why they believe the way they do they can't explain themselves or give factual information to back up claims they've laid against opposing candidates. I soon became aware of the reason so many folks were in the dark about issues they are so passionate about. The main problem was traced back to the media. Prominent news and entertainment outlets were spreading lies, twisted truths and promoting whom they wanted.

I believe the media's problem stems from journalist not doing their jobs. A journalist's job is to report factual news not bend it to what they please.

I'm not sure who's inciting these journalist to malpractice but it needs to be stopped. I know we can't stop it over night so I'm doing what I can to relay the truth to others.

Prime Example
Today I was listening to one of the major news outlets talk about the government shutdown. The news anchor talked bout how the government was going to shut down tonight if republican (Reps) and democrats didn't come to an agreement on the year's budget. Now here's the twist, they played audio of two democratic (Dems) leaders talking about how the hold up is republican's fault and that the Reps are trying to take away all health care and are attacking abortion rights. Then the news anchor went on to quote yet another democrat pointing the finger at republicans. The only republican view given was a skewed opinion on what they believe (or want you to think) the republicans to be doing.

Now besides the story itself I'd like you to look at what actually happened in you receiving the news. There was a blatant slant toward the democratic side.

1. Three Democratic representations and one opinion of the Republicans cast in negative light.
2. The Dems not held accountable for them not helping this along.
3. They showed the Dems attacking the Reps about failures done on the Reps side.
4. The media also failed to bring up the fact that this debate is happening because last year when Democrats had control of the House, Senate and Presidency and by congressional law were suppose to create a 2011 budget by September 2010 they instead continually pushed it back because they didn't want to take political heat in the 2010 elections.

Now if all you heard about the situation was the news anchors message and continued to hear throughout the days and weeks what kind of conclusion would you come to? Obviously, that the Republicans are responsible for the government shutting down instead of laying blame where it should be which is on the Democrats who forsook their duties to our government for political gain. I really want to go into this issue but I'm going to stay on topic (the more pressing issue). This is the kind of malpractice I'm referring to and below I'm going to show how it has effected America in two videos.

Media Malpractice by John Ziegler

Why Do 91% of African-Americans Still Support Obama by John D. Villarreal

I just want people to know the truth in order to make a well-educated decision on where they stand. If your beliefs are opposed to mine I respect that wholeheartedly if that's what you believe. I don't like it though when some people are just stubborn and feeling a sense of loyalty and peer pressure, even though they know it's hurting them, won't change.

If you are one of the loyalty types I say think about your future and the future of your children. The people that you support and put in the government are suppose to represent your views and protect America, their decisions in office will effect you and your children.

I hope and I pray that you objectively look at your views on life and what persons actually line up with it and has a record of voting and promoting what you believe. Look at their actions, don't just believe what you hear.

I still love ya,
Tempress

Love It Or Leave It: Music Review

2011-04-07T16:09:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you but I love free things especially free music. I've found a few free mixtapes that I thought were cool and want to share with you all. I love it all so no need for the instructions this time. Yay my first music review in the LoVeIt Or LeaveIt series.

Fruit Cocktail
B3AR FRUIT: Various Artist

"A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit." Matthew 7:18
Kind of old but if I didn't know about this until now I'm sure someone else doesn't know about this either. This mixtape features only a few people I know but the music is inspirational, educational, encouraging and you get introduced to several different artist. The whole album has a kind of jazzy 90s feel to it.

My favorite song: Gentleness by Trip Lee, I like how he personifies Gentleness and the flow of his verses.
Release Date: November 2010
You can find it here: http://b3arfruit.bandcamp.com/

PSA
PRo

The Mixtape

"I don't know if you noticed but humanity is dying slowly. Many times we take the ostrich approach to viewing the world and stick our head in the ground. PSA was designed to remind us that we have a job to do. That's job is much bigger than our methods and checking off the perverbial box (i.e. rap concerts, albums, vain schemes, etc...) but it's rooted in a genuine love for God and his people. Minus that our efforts will continue to be fruitless. PSA"

Folks who read my blog know I'm a Conservative and not too fond of Barack Obama and Pro put his healthcare plan on blast. :D Finally Christians are speaking up politically in the entertainment industry. There's a lot of talking from others on phone calls seeming to be validity shout outs and silliness. The other tracks however are good.

My favorite song: Where Would I Be, because he talks about the after effects of an indulgent life of drugs and idolatry.

Release Date: 2010
You can find it here: http://reflectionmusicgroup.com/component/content/article/52-pro-albums/80-pro-qpsaq?directory=84

Volume 2

"PSA: Volume 2 serves as part two to the first installation of PSA. While PSA: Volume 1 was purposed to remind us of our commitment and dedication to God, Volume 2 serves as a collage of ranging ideas including attainable transformation, daily conquerable temptations, and God’s unfailing grace. With insertions of realistic everyday trials we face, PRo intended for the average person to relate to this project. Volume 2 acknowledges struggles while revealing that conquering any of these battles rests solely on your faith in God."

The music is harder than the Volume 1 but the message is still the same.

My favorite song: Ride ft. Brothatone, Chad Jones & Canon because I'm addicted to bass and the grit in the rapping.

Release Date: March 8, 2011
You can find it here: http://www.reachrecords.com/musicmadness/

Who is KB
KB

This is our real introduction to KB. He has a song on Lecrae's album "Rehab" but to get to know "who is KB" I'd recommend this mixtape which displays his skills and what he believes much better.
He does what I love in rapping. He spits so fast I have to listen carefully to decipher the words.

There's this hilarious track on here that you might not get if don't listen to Background by Lecrae and C-Lite first.

My favorite song: Lion King, I love how KB talks about Christ. It's so true and we should have the right perspective of the Creator.
Release Date: March 21, 2011
You can find it here: http://www.reachrecords.com/musicmadness/

SIN IS WACK
C-LiTe

Before this mixtape the only thing I heard from him was Lecrae's "Background" (shown above). There's pure Gospel on here. Even though it's older it's still free and true. The music is jumpin and he spits fast also. That's all I got to say.

My favorite song: Washed because I loved the rapping style, beat and teaching.
Release Date: 2009
You can find it here: http://kevinpulley.wordpress.com/2009/08/03/c-lite-sin-is-wack-free-mixtape/
(You can also find it on the site [siniswack.com] but there's no direct link for me to give.)+

Temp is back. Let's celebrate!! :D

iLoVeIt: Youtube Channels

2011-03-20T19:21:00.000-07:00

I wanted to spotlight my top 3 favorite Youtube channels. Theses fall under the category of favorites because their entertaining, inspirational, and sometimes educational.

Fagottron: My sister introduced me to this channel and I've loved it ever since. Pogo, the guy who makes these songs, brings together pieces of sound and lays it over his own tunes creating these 3 minute masterpieces of art, whether he makes the vids or not I don't know. He's currently trying to remix the world like he does with movies. In his venture to take the world by music he needs funding and if you want to help out visit "kickstarter". I've talked about one of his vids in my "Phantasy" post a while back but didn't really talk about the work so there it is.

ginaBiina: This girl is funny. I like her vids because they're not only beauty tips but vlogs and I haven't found that many black females doing the whole package deal with nice quality cams to boot. Gina really looks like and acts like a good friend of mine that I haven't seen in a while and I think that's why I'm addicted to her vids. lol Anyways iLoVeIt!!

ArthurTV1996: This has almost every episode of Arthur uploaded and it looks the best also. I've loved this show since I was 7 and grew up on it. I don't like trying to catch it on tv so I just watch it online when ever I want. Funny stuff. :D

Ahh feels good to have another blog done. :)
Tempress

Judging Others Defended

2011-03-14T11:10:00.000-07:00

Yes I know this is a very long blog but the read is worth it. I hear and read many people say that Christians aren't suppose to judge others but THAT'S NOT TRUE. If you want to truly know what gives Christians the right to judge read on.

"When Dan Quayle said that Murphy Brown’s giving birth to an illegitimate child wasn’t a good role model for America’s youth, he was ridiculed, called “judgmental,” and labeled arrogant. Who was he to pontificate about “family values”? Quayle wasn’t hit with the criticism rightly leveled against some—that they are hypocrites. He was accused of doing what no one has the right to do: telling others how to live.

It’s been said that the most frequently quoted Bible verse is no longer John 3:16 but Matthew 7:1: “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” We cannot glibly quote this, though, without understanding what Jesus meant. When Jesus condemned judging, he wasn’t at all implying we should never make judgments about anyone. After all, a few verses later, Jesus himself calls certain people “pigs” and “dogs” (Matt. 7:6) and “wolves in sheep’s clothing” (7:15)! Any act of church discipline (1 Cor. 5:5) and rebuking false prophets (1 John 4:1) requires judgment. What Jesus condemns is a critical and judgmental spirit, an unholy sense of moral superiority. Jesus commanded us to examine ourselves first for the problems we so easily see in others. Only then can we help remove the speck in another’s eye—which, incidentally, assumes that a problem exists and must be confronted.¹ But let’s take a closer look at this charge that Christians are judgmental when we speak out on moral issues.

Are We Judgmental?

What is interesting in these charges of arrogance and judgmentalism is this: Besides failing to definewhat is meant by “judgmentalism,” the accusers often act just as “arrogantly” and “judgmentally” as the “judgmental” ones. If the Christian (or any exclusivist) is denounced for judgmentalism, he can respond that his accuser is judging him for being judgmental!

To be consistent, judgmentalism cannot mean “being in disagreement with someone” or “considering someone to be wrong.” It is undeniable that the relativist disagrees with the absolutist, which makes the relativist just as “judgmental” as the absolutist. If judgmentalism is to be understood correctly (in keeping with the context of Matthew 7:1), it should be defined as an inappropriate sense of moral superiority over another because of that person’s moral failures.² Judgmentalism, then, is that ugly refusal to acknowledge that “there but for the grace of God go I.”

Furthermore, it is an act of theological blindness to cite the “judge not” passage while utterly ignoring Jesus’ charge to make proper judgments: “Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment” (John 7:24).

The accusation is unwarranted that those who hold to absolute truth are absolutely arrogant. Think of Mother Teresa’s speech at a Washington prayer breakfast in the winter of 1994, when she boldly spoke against abortion before the pro-abortion president and vice-president of the United States and their spouses. Although she spoke respectfully, she made powerful statements in defense of unborn human lives: “And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?” and “Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want.”³ One could hardly accuse this nun of arrogance.

There simply is no automatic contradiction between holding firmly to one’s convictions and treating with dignity and respect those who disagree. Living harmoniously with people who hold radically different views is a hallmark of maturity.⁴ Our society would benefit from the courageous words of qualified people who display both firmness of conviction and civility or respect,⁵ which is what Ephesians 4:15 refers to—”speaking the truth in love.” Martin Marty, the noted observer of religion in America, states that the problem of modernity is that the people “who are good at being civil often lack the strong convictions and the people who have strong convictions often lack civility.”⁶

Christians often seem to believe that firmness of conviction entitles them to belligerence, hostility, and closed-mindedness—not to mention a lack of intellectual responsibility. To the contrary, Paul exhorts Christians, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Rom. 12:18). They should live “peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” (1 Tim. 2:2). On the other hand, behind the mask of an apparently sensitive and compassionate “open-mindedness,” there often exists a moral gutlessness. Civility, then, is the remedy for arrogance, and conviction the corrective for spinelessness. But to achieve this uncommon balance, someone has suggested our interactions with others should concentrate on our own sinfulness and on the other’s humanness—rather than the other way around.⁷ Moreover, the relativist, for all his bluster about his own “tolerance” and the exclusivist’s arrogance, will still believe things that others don’t believe or agree with—namely, he will not accept the views of the exclusivist. If the relativist is to remain consistent, he can’t legitimately criticize another’s point of view. Furthermore, the relativist is guilty of the morally superior attitude that signals judgmentalism. He really thinks that he possesses a virtue that others don’t.⁸

The Hindu philosopher Swami Vivekananda came to Chicago in 1893 to address the World’s Parliament of Religions. He told the delegates, “We [Hindus] accept all religions to be true,” and “[it] is sin to call a man [a sinner].”⁹

The problem here is that the swami himself calls someone a sinner—because that person has called another a sinner. If the exclusivist is a sinner for calling all people sinners, then the Hindu is just as much a sinner for calling the exclusivist a sinner. Isn’t the relativist being “arrogant” for disagreeing with the exclusivist?

Are We Intolerant?

Intolerance has been commonly associated with religion—and not without basis. For example, the passage “compel them to come in [compelle intrare]” in Luke 14:23 (KJV) was used by religious authorities to justify a “conquest theology” during and after the Middle Ages.¹⁰

The Crusades, the Inquisition, and other abuses of religion are certainly a blot on Christendom’s history. However, what our society usually overlooks is both that a religious culture can foster genuine tolerance and that secularism—a “non-religious”¹¹ outlook on life—may pose a far greater threat to tolerance.

Closely tied to the notion of “judgment” is “tolerance.” Although many accuse absolutists of intolerance, these accusers most likely have an unclear and distorted notion of what tolerance really is. They often are unaware that the concept of tolerance implies a close relationship to truth. Contrary to popular definitions, true tolerance means “putting up with error”—not “being accepting of all views.” We don’t tolerate what we enjoy or approve of—like chocolate or Bach’s music. By definition, what we tolerate is what we disapprove of or what we believe to be false and erroneous.¹² Furthermore, tolerance presupposes an adequate grasp of what another person believes—as well as a knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of such belief. Actually, if disagreement didn’t exist, then tolerance would be unnecessary. It is because real differences exist between people that tolerance becomes necessary and virtuous.

The contemporary definition of tolerance as acceptance is simply wrong-headed. It lands a person in massive inconsistencies. Take the matter of “comparative religions.” The leveling approach of comparative religions (“when we talk with people from other religious groups, we should consider all religions equal”) arbitrarily asserts without qualification the equal validity or relative nature of all religions. Dialogue, however, shouldn’t begin by assuming the equality of all religions or truth claims(the erroneous definition of tolerance), but with regard for the equality of persons. Dialogue implies respect, not agreement.

A Christian can interact with and respect a Buddhist while still believing on rational grounds that he is mistaken. In fact, the belief that both views cannot be right is an impetus to engage in meaningful dialogue. Dialogue thus becomes an opportunity for both sides to reexamine their presuppositions and clarify their positions.¹³ True tolerance grants people the right to dissent.

It is very important that a Christian criticized for intolerance asks his accuser what he means by “intolerance.” The accuser will probably say something like “not being accepting of another’s beliefs.” To this the Christian can gently respond, “But you are not being accepting of my position. You think I am wrong.” The relativist simply cannot be accepting of all positions as true without falling into severe contradictions.

The reality of God actually makes tolerance intelligible, because God is the source of truth and because God has made human beings in his likeness. Naturalistic secularism has no such foundation for tolerance. If tolerance is a value, it isn’t obvious from nature; so if there is no God and we are just hulks of protoplasmic guck, how could tolerance be an objective value at all? Instead, if objective truth exists, as religion maintains, then we musk seek and seriously discuss it despite our differing worldviews. But if objective truth doesn’t exist, as secularism generally maintains, then relativism obliterates genuine differences of perspective.

Right for You, But Not for Me?

Philosopher of science Michael Ruse claims that morality is just like hands, feet, and teeth—the “ephemeral product of the evolutionary process.”¹⁴ Morality, according to Ruse, isn’t objective: “Morality is just an aid to survival and reproduction, and has no being beyond this.”¹⁵ Ruse brings up the once-acceptable Indian practice of suttee—widows being burned alive on the funeral pyre of their deceased husbands. From our perspective, this is wrong: “Obviously, such a practice is totally alien to Western customs and morality. In fact, we think that widow sacrifice is totally immoral.”¹⁶ Ruse’s evolutionary naturalism leads to the belief that one culture’s virtue is another culture’s vice. But he finds no objective grounds to condemn a “vice” like widow-burning.

Is morality relative, as Ruse seems to think? Is it nothing more than the by-product of evolutionary and social development? Is one culture’s virtue really another culture’s vice? While morality is considered relative by many in our culture, this view cannot be sustained—not only because it is illogical but also because it is simply unlivable.

When someone told the great British essayist Dr. Samuel Johnson that one of his dinner guests believed that morality was a sham, Dr. Johnson replied, “Why, sir, if he really believes there is no distinction between virtue and vice, let us count our spoons before he leaves.” In other words, how can the moral relativist really be trusted? Moral relativism leads to an inevitable breakdown of relationships and of society. It is existentially (or practically) unworkable. We simply can’t live without a belief—explicit or assumed—that moral standards exist. One Christian philosophy professor, for example, had an outspoken moral relativist in his ethics class. All semester the student contested the professor’s absolutist views about ethics. When the time came for the course final, the student, who had prepared well, took the exam and assumed that he had passed without a problem. He was shocked and infuriated to find an F instead of an A at the top of his paper—and without any explanation. The relativist stormed into the professor’s office demanding an explanation at this unfairness. The professor asked, “Did you say ‘unfairness’? So you do believe in moral absolutes after all!” With that, the professor took the exam out of the student’s hand, crossed out the F and put an A at the top of it. The student silently walked out of the office, realizing his inconsistency.¹⁷

The person who is, say, the victim of torture, slave labor, child abuse, rape, or apartheid intuitively knows that justice is being violated. Are we really willing to concede that there is ultimately no significant moral difference between Hitler and Mother Teresa? Are we really willing to believe that genocide, rape, and murder are just “cultural” behaviors? The person who embraces moral relativism needs to be pressed: What if he were arrested and tortured for no reason? Why should he protest if you took a sledgehammer to his BMW? If he were a Jew in Nazi Germany, where the culture was horrifyingly anti-Semitic, why should his disagreement with the standards of the surrounding culture carry any weight at all? Why should his wishes be respected? After all, for someone who says, “Your values are true for you, but not for me,” there can be no objectively morally degrading actions. Moral relativism is utterly unlivable.¹⁸

Why Should I Be Moral?

Atheists can be morally upright. People do construct fine ethical systems without God. Even so, we can point out, questions linger: “Why ought I to be moral at all?” “Why should I do the right thing if it doesn’t pay off?” “Why do human beings have dignity and value?” At this point, we can argue that the God of theism offers solid grounding for moral obligation, accounting for a number of facts that naturalism can’t explain.

We start by saying: There is no good reason to deny the general reliability of our most basic moral instincts.¹⁹ Humans intuitively know that certain objective moral values exist. For example, we know that kindness is a virtue and not a vice, that torturing babies is immoral, that child abuse is wrong, that a person like Hitler or Stalin is morally repugnant. We know these things virtually without reflection, without thinking them through.²⁰ While reason confirms the basic rightness of these intuitions, we don’t seem to know this by means of reason.²¹ And we regularly rely on these intuitions to make practical, everyday moral judgments.²² To deny such beliefs flies in the face of basic human knowledge and instincts.

If someone doubts these moral basics—someone, for example, who sees no ultimate distinction between a Hitler and a Mother Teresa—we can’t really carry on a decent conversation about morality. Instead of trying to prove the evilness of evildoers, we should call into question that person’s mental health. Denying the objectivity of our moral intuitions is denying a deep part of our humanity. We can press the moral skeptic by making our point another way. We could say, “Most people would find themselves in confident disagreement with your attitude. Now, why is this? How would you explain it?”²³

Second, God’s character explains the objective moral values that logically precede our having a moral sense. Although the non-theist may believe that objective moral values exist without reference to God, there is an ultimate question: What underlies those objective moral values?

Let’s hear the opposing point made by atheist Kai Nielsen. He admits that objective moral obligation exists. Though he maintains that naturalism can’t account for this, he won’t concede that theism offers a better solution to the problem. He presents the following interesting argument.²⁴ Suppose a parent who believes in God “abandons” or “loses” his faith in God. Is that parent going to love his child less—or not at all—because his supposed “basis or objective morality” is apparently lost? Of course not, Nielsen asserts. A parent would still maintain that it is objectively right to love his child even if God doesn’t exist.

Nielsen offers other evidence to deny that God is necessary to explain the existence of objective morality. He says that when Christians, for example, make moral judgments about God’s acts and commands or about the super ethic of Jesus Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, that implies a standard of goodness independent of whether God exists. To make moral assessments about God’s actions or Jesus’ teachings presupposes the existence of an objective morality.

This apparently persuasive argument, however, is flawed. It rests on a confusion of being andknowing. The normal sane person certainly knows—or at least acts as though he knows—that objective morality exists. But here is the crucial question: How did we get to be that way—moral beings who recognize right and wrong? We have to be moral beings before we can know what is moral. An atheist might suggest that if all humans—both those who believe in God and those who don’t—have correct, objective moral sensibilities, that fact implies moral intuition isn’t somehow rooted in God.

Nielsen, as an atheist and materialist, seems hard-pressed to show how randomness and chance can make sense out of moral obligation or human dignity. Getting back to the parent-child relationship, we have to ask how we could show love and sacrifice when it conflicts with our natural self-interest. Why resist selfish interests for the sake of the children? As the philosopher George Mavrodes has argued, a solely materialistic universe might produce in us feelings and beliefs of obligation—like the protection of our children or survival of our species or subculture—but that’s a different matter from actually having such obligations we ought to carry out. It truly seems odd that objective moral obligation could arise in such a world.²⁵

In the third place, the connection between objective moral values and God has to do with God’s personhood and ours. Christians see an unbreakable connection between objective morality and God. If objective moral values exist, as even atheists like Kai Nielsen believe, it seems plausible to argue that a personal, transcendent, perfect God is the source of and ground for morality. We resemble God—created as valuable persons by a personal Being, divinely endowed with conscience, with a capacity for morally significant relationships, and with certain objectively correct moral intuitions. We are moral beings because we have been created in the image of a moral God. Even those who don’t believe in God possess an ingrained moral sense that corresponds in some measure to God’s moral sense.

This explains how an atheist can know the content of morality without acknowledging God’s existence. For instance, we read in Amos 1 and 2 that God threatens judgment upon the neighbors of Judah and Israel. Why? Because they have flagrantly violated an objective moral law that they knew and should have obeyed. Syria treated its enemies barbarously (1:3); Philistia, with utter inhumanity, sold whole communities into slavery (1:6); Tyre broke a pact and treated Edom treacherously (1:9). The citizens of such nations should have known better.

In Romans 2:14-15, we read,

Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law [of Moses], do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.

Scripture assumes that God has written this binding law on the hearts of people. Although the awareness of these objective standards is clouded by the Fall, a seared conscience, and social decline, this doesn’t mean people can’t form moral beliefs or act virtuously through God’s common grace to all.²⁶

Another indication that God is the basis for morality is the problem of evil. One of the most common objections to a theist’s belief in God is that evil exists—and that it exists in such vast measure. Why does God allow Bangladesh to get hit again and again with disastrous tropical storms? Why does he let child molesters carry on their vile activities? Why would he permit large-scale inhumanities to take place in an Auschwitz—or through the brutality of Soviet communism?²⁷ Although those who raise this objection seldom realize it, the existence of evil and our grasp of the awfulness of evil cries out for an explanation. Even in a relativistic world, people are still struck with horror at human atrocities like genocide or gang rape. They get the distinct impression that evil really exists. Although the problems raised by evil are frequently marshaled against belief in God, an often-overlooked presupposition in the discussion of evil is God’s very existence.

What is evil? It isn’t simply chaos or pain or feeling bad. Real, objective evil is the lack or absence of goodness. That is, the presence of evil presupposes the existence of an objective moral standard that is being violated. If real evil exists, then an objective standard of goodness by which something is deemed evil must also exist. It is hard to see, given a naturalistic view of things, where this standard of goodness could come from if we are simply cosmic accidents produced by purely physical forces.

Theism answers questions that are problems for the naturalist: Why should we deem human beings to be intrinsically valuable? Why should I sacrifice my brief life for another human being? Why should we take the moral point of view when it seriously conflicts with our own self-interest or does not satisfy us? Appealing to a social contract or pragmatic basis for acting morally doesn’t work. It tells us only that doing the right thing is, practically speaking, a good idea, but this hardly shows why we’re dutifully obligated to be moral.²⁸ Rather, we act morally for moral reasons, because it is morally right to do so—just as we should believe the true thing because it is true. No further reason is needed. Non-theists can agree about such basic moral truths, but what are the grounds for these truths and human dignity?

Theism provides adequate answers to the questions just raised. We ought to be moral because we have been made as moral beings in the likeness of God, to whom we are also personally responsible as his creatures. Furthermore, knowing this God personally is the highest end of humans. When we are in right relationship with God, all other goods—which have also been created by God—find their proper place.²⁹

When we carry out our moral duties we approximate the character of the Creator, the ultimate Good, and function according to God’s design for us. We carry out the purposes for which we were made. We find self-sacrifice praiseworthy because it fits these purposes and assumes the intrinsic dignity of others. We experience guilt not simply because we have violated laws of society or of the universe but because we have violated the ultimate Source of moral values—a personal God. And just as human relationships serve as a motivation and basis for loyalty and obligation, so our having been created by God—and our relationship with him—serves as the source of ultimate obligation and the one real basis for a moral understanding of human relationships.³⁰

Paul Copan (Ph.D., Marquette University) is a Ministry Associate with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. This article is compiled from chapters 4, 5, 7, & 11 of his book “True for You, But Not For Me”: Deflating the Slogans that Leave Christians Speechless (Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1998)."

http://www.rzim.org/usa/usfv/tabid/436/articleid/94/cbmoduleid/1045/default.aspx

This stems from my hypocrisy blog.

Smoothies!!!

2011-03-11T12:46:00.000-08:00

I meant to put this up a while ago. lol Another food blog for March!!

After seeing how good Ree Drummond's smoothie looked I wanted to try it. Y'all should know that I love pink and if I can make pink food I definitely will. :D Remember my S'more pie? lol

What you'll need
A blender
Milk or juice
Yogurt
fruit (whatever you'd like)
protein powder (optional)

The process
Let's give a round of applause to the tool allowing this process to happen at all. The Blender!!

Now start to pile in your fruit. For small fruit I suggest you put in a handful for each.

1/3 of a banana, a handful of blueberries,

one apple sliced,

grapes, strawberries with the leaves intact (check Ree's blog), rasberries,

greek yogurt, a little milk,

last minute addition of 1/3 of an orange

1 teaspoon of honey

1 tablespoon of protein powder

It's time to mix! Turn your blender on Puree or high and watch your fruit blend.

It's Pink!!! Mix up the rest by hand if necessary.

Look at that!! I'm putting in Kiwis next time, it's going to be a tropical explosion. :D

Ahh I miss my smoothie. I need to make some more. It was delicious.
If you attempt this recipe you should make sure you have a jar to store the rest of the smoothie. The ingredients of this drink are based solely on your taste. You can and subtract whatever fruit you'd like.

Well I'm off to wreak havoc on another topic. See ya!
Tempress

Reblogged: DATING VS. MARRIAGE

2011-03-02T12:38:00.000-08:00

blog from MyIslandsugar

"DATING VS. MARRIAGE: A lot of people think that dating means they should just continue to date for years until they are ready..or they may NEVER be ready. That's fine too, if you choose to date for the rest of your life...but REMEMBER THIS:

If you're NOT married, then you're single...even if you're dating someone, you AND THEY are still LEGALLY single; hopefully, monogamous, but still SINGLE. Even, if you date for a long period of time before you marry, you are more likely to end up in divorce or split up...go figure. {see the Patti statement above for that one; although never-married Patti also just ended her engagement after SIX YEARS; she's now complaining about being too old {she's 49, I believe} to have her own children after wasting years with this man and others. This happens ALL THE TIME.

Its not that difficult to steal someone who only "dating" someone else. Why can't they see someone else, they are single, right...no?! Some may call that a committed relationship, but its really another form of still "dating" that person. AGAIN....this may be fine and this certainly isnt calling dating couples serial cheaters, but...they fact remains, they are single. I know some may be up in arms about this, but...it is what it is.

What is the definition of dating? Your either know or you don't...be HONEST. How long are you gonna date someone who is really...SINGLE. AND...if you are single, what is the hold up? They {or you} could be looking elsewhere and you are just...dating and waiting...for?! what exactly. There should be a purpose to dating {which is marriage}. You should get to know each other and at least be monogamous, but remember, within a reasonable period of time, you should know whether this has a marital future or not and MOVE FORWARD. Otherwise, you're taking a real chance of wasting your life...for real. I've heard of people dating for ten YEARS, then breaking up...what a WASTE..of your LIFE. You can NOT get that back---AND that is also your youth, child-bearing age {for women}, its NOT a good idea at all to waste your life wondering, running wild....and NOT settling down.

This is the vetting that the very gifted Evia Moore talks about...for women, but this also applies to men. There's a period in your life when you run wild, but time NOT ONLY sneaks up on you, it flies by before you even know it.

For those who are against marriage, that's fine. As long as you realize {or ignore} that you're dating or "in a long-term relationship" with a SINGLE person; you are single also and marriage may be just a piece of paper, so that's cool if that's what you prefer....it really is.

If you are against marriage, don't write me saying you're against my view of dating...as you have a choice and an opinion, I also have mine.

I know someone who was dating a man for four years...she came home one day, he moved out and was quickly ENGAGED {and eventually married} to someone else...I comforted her, but had also told her previously that she had no foundation with this man...he was one of those who considered himself single {and HE WAS} and moved on...she merely kept him company until he found what he wanted. Sad, but true.

And NO...being in a dating relationship is NOT the same as being married...having a girlfriend/boyfriend is NOT the same as having a wife/husband. For those who don't know the difference, there's no words to help you understand it...you have to KNOW it.

Husband/Wife have not only legal protections, but also made a commitment to each other in front of God, family and friends. Even atheists get married. It's not just a piece of paper, its an institution, it's a feeling of belonging to another, its CHILDREN, hearth, HEART and HOME. Its an exclusive of pride and a sense of belonging, not just to each other, but a very enviable part of society that even those who are NOT allowed to marry want to be a part of.....IF it is rooted in HONESTY and LOVE. And don't start on the statistics of one out of two marriages or more ending in divorce...if HONESTY and PURE LOVE were at the forefront, those statistics would be lower; also re-read the dishonesty post aforementioned for other a few other reasons why this may be...nothing is foolproof nor perfect...AND one out of the two DOES work, that's FIFTY PERCENT...look at the positive and keep your mind positive.

This isn't knocking single people out there, though...not AT ALL. Its their CHOICE. But legally, boyfriend/girlfriend share their emotions, bodies...they even share kids...they share a house or apartment, coffeemaker and cars, perhaps...they share THINGS and an UNDERSTANDING {or not}....and the truth actually is...people that "date" break up at an astronomical rate more than those who are married, because its more short term {one to three dates, perhaps to weeks to months to yrs...but MUCH more frequent than marriages}. Its just not as recorded nor reported. Some do work and marry and live happily ever after...some even NEVER marry and live happily ever after...its not impossible, but highly unlikely.

It's important to know that you're actually ready for a relationship with hopes of marriage or lifetime dating if that's what you prefer. YES, it is about compromise...no one person is perfect and exactly what we were looking for; heck, we are NOT perfect.

You've watched Judy Judy...all those programs. First thing she asks is if they had a RELATIONSHIP...that they dated for X amount of years....and then they split up PROPERTY, she scorns them about playing house then asking the courts to make it fair...and it cant even be done fairly in most cases because its all materialistic in nature. Its THINGS.

That's the bottom line, though....that's what dating is in comparison to marriage and not just from a legal standpoint. " a

"THE WAY THEY WERE: Halle Berry & Gabriel Aubry

*Sighs*....LOL. When a story starts off like that, it usually leads to some form of scorning; but so it goes.

This is only my opinion on this...since I simply adored this coupling and thought they were so grown up, its disappointing to see what is now developing and so I offer my opinion {even if it doesn't apply...which it really doesn't...LOL.}

This was the stunningly gorgeous duo of Halle Berry and Gabriel Aubry. As of lately, both have been trying to theoretically knife each other to pieces instead of thinking of who it is they are actually fighting over...their incredibly beautiful daughter, Nahla.

This fight has not only gotten personal and very public, its gotten NASTY...and RACIAL!?!

You know, I just wrote about this in this blog post, about the difference between dating an marriage - this is a perfect example of what happens when people make their own "arrangements" and the consequences suffered as a result {mostly by Nahla in this case, TBD of course}.

Just because you're gorgeous and successful and handsome and UBER-rich {well, Halle for the latter, which is probably why Gabe filed for custody PLUS child support}...or just because you like or even love each other is not a GOOD ENOUGH reason to not establish a solid FOUNDATION for something as important as HAVING A CHILD together. YES, this would be MUCH different if this had happened in a MARRIAGE...if you disagree, you may. It certainly doesn't change the facts. A long-lasting marriage is NOT guaranteed, but its a FOUNDATION whereas dating someone is NOT. But now, these former lovebirds want the courts, i.e. LEGAL PROTECTION, to establish this foundation for them, all the while spewing vile and destructive comments and accusations at each other.

Its not an good situation...and for those who said it could've been a marriage that went south...well, to that I respond: IT WASN'T a MARRIAGE. It was a relationship; they were DATING. A NON-LEGAL means of "playing house" which more than often ends up JUST like this situation, where LEGAL means are the after-thought of how to "work things out".

Is it not selfish to DATE someone and CREATE LIFE with no solid foundation for the child{ren} of such a choice having legal protection and stability under the protection of marriage--is it really that casual to just...have a child with someone you're dating?! Is it the BEST for the child{ren}?

Now, we all get to sit back and witness this vitriolic public display of love-gone-bad with the most innocent victim of all left to deal with the circumstances.

Who knows who's at fault for this dust-up. The bottom line is they both made a decision that has created a child and {Nahla} should NOT have to suffer HER PARENTS' DECISIONS. GROW UP, take responsibility for your actions and put HER best welfare before either of yours. It's no longer about either one of you since you are no longer dating. This is the kind of thing you talk about BEFORE you decide to make a baby together.

I certainly do hope that Halle and Gabe get it together - STOP playing games and slinging fault and STOP talking to the press; hash this out in PRIVATE and keep your dignity for goodness sakes...if not for yourselves, then do it for your daughter...remember her?!" b

"DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME: It all seems like all fun and games; don't get me wrong, you should have your fun...life is about having fun...but its not ALL ABOUT playing games or wasting time. There comes a time to grow up and take steps to plan and secure your future.

From about {age 23-27 for women, 28 for men to about age 35 for women, 36-40+ for men}...those ages of people seem to go through each other like changing their clothes...playing games, cheating, abandonment, wasting time, just kickin' it, being irresponsible, etc., etc. Then, before you know it, you reach adulthood and the landscape has changed, you're looking back at your life wondering where the time and possibilities has gone and what to do now.

Yes, people change and life happens...but if the foundation of the love you've chosen is solid, it is but another challenge for you to overcome. Easier said than done, of course, but not impossible. Love does conquer all...IF it is LOVE rooted in HONESTY." a

You can read the entire blogs here:

a. http://myislandsugar.blogspot.com/2011/01/controversy-perils-of-dating-getting.html

b. http://myislandsugar.blogspot.com/2011/02/way-they-were-halle-berry-gabriel-aubry.html

I believe life is all about Christ. Life is going to be fun at times but to like the original author says life isn't all about playing games.

Love It or Leave It: Film Reviews 4

2011-02-25T22:09:00.000-08:00

I meant to post this in January but things happened and here we are in February. (Happy Feb. btw) lol Atleast it's up now. Instead of using stars to rate I use ♥ (hearts) meaning I love it and to represent leave it I chose this symbol: ☞ (pointing hand).

MegaMind

I was really apprehensive about this film but after watching it I tell you if you love a good comedy you're going to love this. I was cracking up at almost every scene.

The leading blue man also known as MegaMind leads a life of crime and all around badness. His opponent: Metro Man, The Good Guy, has been his rival since their wee years. As battles ensue the fight between good and evil wages on deeper than expected.

There a lot of funny action movies out but there are few that are able to tell a good story and be unpredictable at the same time. This film is going in for the classics.

I was also surprised at how awesome the graphics were. Not as great as Avatar but you can see DreamWorks' quality of cgi growing exponentially.

You'll love this bad guy and all his bad grammar.

♥♥♥♥♥ (5 hearts) One of the best animated film of 2010. iLoVeIt!!!!!

Open Season 3

I can't believe they made a third film. I thought the first one was cute and funny but the second wasn't good. However the third one was pretty interesting. It was funny and the plot was better than the second.

This time around Boog and Elliot are back picking up where they left off. Elliot is with Gissell and his new family and Boog is the forest handy bear. When Guy's Trip is made into a one bear show Boog sets off on his own to find a home where all the bears are together.

I'm still upset that the original cast wasn't there on the second and third installment but the actors for Boog and Elliot kind of sounded like Martin Lawrence and Ashton Kutcher this time. The animation was still bad though. Maybe that's a some new art wave for kid films. I'd hate to think the creators don't appreciate their young audience enough to put out quality work.

I was happy to see some familiar faces from the second film in this latest feature. I really didn't think I'd see them in there.

♥♥♥♥☞ (4½ hearts) This was better than the last film but it was still lacking. I'm LeavingIt because the chances of me purposefully going back to watch this is slim (My own taste).

RED

RED is the acronym for Retired Extremely Dangerous and that's exactly what this movie's about.

Bruce Willis plays Frank Moses, a retired ex-CIA agent going through the motions of retired life. When his peaceful life is disturbed he reunites his former team to fight hit-men and understand who is attacking him and why.

Being a DC film I had to see this and guess what it rocked!! Hopefully DC will continue to make good movies.

Karl "Cute hair" Urban was in this film also. This is the third time I've seen him on screen. The first was in the Lord of the Rings Series and the second time Karl was portraying McCoy of Star Trek.

Besides the few swear words it was really good movie. I was guessing all the way through it. The plot was intriguing and unpredictable making the film worth the adventure to discovery.

For a movie filled with older people it had quite a lot of action packed into it. A few of the cast members even got romantic/action scenes. I really can't recall any scene where I wasn't laughing from the comedy included making this a fun movie to watch.

♥♥♥♥♥ (5 hearts) I really liked this film. iLoVeIt!!!

__________________________

I hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts on the above films. Please leave a comment if you've seen these movies or plan to see them.

; ) Tempress

Redemption, Passion, Glory

2011-02-24T20:37:00.000-08:00

A few happy moments but nothing can save you from the emptiness inside.

I tried to drown myself in music, going out, entertaining hobbies but none of the pleasures in life fulfill. The dull ache of loneliness can't be satisfied with people. Your want for more is never contented. There's a longing deep within your soul and you can't fill it.

After looking for hours on end for something to preoccupy this mind of mine from wandering into the abyss of questions that lead me into that longing, I quit. I gave up trying to fight the battle and just sat on my bed to think and allow my brain to explore the plaguing questions. To every unnerving question the ultimate answer lead to God, my Savior.

I sinned and hadn't asked for forgiveness because I thought I didn't deserve it. Truth is- I don't deserve forgiveness but it's granted to me through Christ. The Holy Spirit tugged at my conscience throughout the day and I kept ignoring Him. He saw the road I was headed and tried to stop me but I was stubborn and gave into my freewill and sin nature leading me to the emptiness I described above.

Now I'm sitting here dealing with the consequence. The Holy Spirit stood in my aftermath still telling me to return to the Lord, my first love. Ask for forgiveness, turn away the Lord's wrath and obey Him once again. Every vain attempt at happiness in this world means nothing. Christ is the ultimate answer, the fulfillment, the joy of life.

If you have not believed that Christ came to Earth to forgive us of our sins and if you have not repented nor accepted God's gift of life, you aren't a Christian. Now if you'd like to change that believe that Christ came to the world to die for your sins, pray to Christ for forgiveness and admit Christ as your Savior and ruler of your life.

I leave you with Ecclesiastes. If you get a chance read through the entire book.

Everything Is Meaningless

1 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem:

2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”

3 What do people gain from all their labors
   at which they toil under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go,
   but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises and the sun sets,
   and hurries back to where it rises.
6 The wind blows to the south
   and turns to the north;
round and round it goes,
   ever returning on its course.
7 All streams flow into the sea,
   yet the sea is never full.
To the place the streams come from,
   there they return again.
8 All things are wearisome,
   more than one can say.
The eye never has enough of seeing,
   nor the ear its fill of hearing.
9 What has been will be again,
   what has been done will be done again;
   there is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything of which one can say,
   “Look! This is something new”?
It was here already, long ago;
   it was here before our time.
11 No one remembers the former generations,
   and even those yet to come
will not be remembered
   by those who follow them.

Ecclesiastes 1:1-11

The Conclusion of the Matter

9 Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. 10 The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.

11 The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one Shepherd. 12 Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.

Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.

13 Now all has been heard;
   here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
   for this is the duty of all mankind.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
   including every hidden thing,
   whether it is good or evil.

Ecclesiastes 12:9-14

Hypocrisy

2011-02-17T22:49:00.000-08:00

This is my second time address the topic of hypocrisy this year. I thought I'd share this true story with you all to give a clear picture of what hypocrisy looks like.

2 Samuel

Chapter 11: David and Bathsheba

1 In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. 2 One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, 3 and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”

6 So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house.

10 David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” So he asked Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home?”

11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!”

12 Then David said to him, “Stay here one more day, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 At David’s invitation, he ate and drank with him, and David made him drunk. But in the evening Uriah went out to sleep on his mat among his master’s servants; he did not go home.

14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”

16 So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. 17 When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.

18 Joab sent David a full account of the battle. 19 He instructed the messenger: “When you have finished giving the king this account of the battle, 20 the king’s anger may flare up, and he may ask you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you know they would shoot arrows from the wall? 21 Who killed Abimelek son of Jerub-Besheth? Didn’t a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you get so close to the wall?’ If he asks you this, then say to him, ‘Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.’”

22 The messenger set out, and when he arrived he told David everything Joab had sent him to say. 23 The messenger said to David, “The men overpowered us and came out against us in the open, but we drove them back to the entrance of the city gate. 24 Then the archers shot arrows at your servants from the wall, and some of the king’s men died. Moreover, your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.”

25 David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Don’t let this upset you; the sword devours one as well as another. Press the attack against the city and destroy it.’ Say this to encourage Joab.”

26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. 27 After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the LORD.

Chapter 12: Nathan Rebukes David

1 The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.

4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this must die! 6He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”

7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

11 “This is what the LORD says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. 12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”

13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.”

Nathan replied, “The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. 14 But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the LORD, the son born to you will die.”

15 After Nathan had gone home, the LORD struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. 16 David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth on the ground. 17 The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them.

18 On the seventh day the child died. David’s attendants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, “While the child was still living, he wouldn’t listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we now tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.”

19 David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked.

“Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”

20 Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.

21 His attendants asked him, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!”

22 He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ 23 But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”

24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The LORD loved him; 25 and because the LORD loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah.

26 Meanwhile Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal citadel. 27 Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, “I have fought against Rabbah and taken its water supply. 28 Now muster the rest of the troops and besiege the city and capture it. Otherwise I will take the city, and it will be named after me.”

29 So David mustered the entire army and went to Rabbah, and attacked and captured it. 30 David took the crown from their king’s head, and it was placed on his own head. It weighed a talent of gold, and it was set with precious stones. David took a great quantity of plunder from the city 31 and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes, and he made them work at brickmaking. David did this to all the Ammonite towns. Then he and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.

Although Bathsheba was just as guilty as David the Lord came to rebuke him first. David was known to be a man of God, said by God Himself to be a man after His own heart. So when David committed adultery and murder he not only sinned against the Lord but his sin would caused others to mock the Lord. Many people act like David did when he heard the tale from the prophet Nathan. They see the thorn in someone else's eye and brutally judge and condemn yet can not see their own sin.

In my latest blogs I've been talking about God and how He's the ruler of my life and decisions but I want you all to never consider me perfect or above fault. I make mistakes and out right sin for I am still human but I'm also a growing Christian. As a believer in Christ I do my best to obey the Lord and in doing so I obey His command to spread the Gospel. In spreading the Gospel some look up to you as an example of what a true believer in Christ is suppose to be so I do my best not to cause anyone to stumble. In other words I try not be hypocritical in teaching one way but living another. I don't want to come off as fake but I definitely don't want to cause any harm in the spiritual (Christian) lives of my readers. I've been quiet about the movies as of late because of this issue. A lot of films are entertaining but a what cost? And at what cost to recommend these to my reader? My own walk with Christ falters when I watch certain movies should I then to suggest that same film to others? I can't do that with a clear conscience. I know I'm just doing critiques of movies but I keep finding the same problems yet endorsing the films. If the Lord allows I'll start the film critiques again but this time the films will be a bit different.

GOD is LOVE

2011-02-14T17:27:00.000-08:00

This series of blogs to my audience has been a difficult one. There are so many passages in the Bible about love. Even with three long blogs, I still haven't even broken the surface of topic yet. Love is more than feelings and words. Many people (including myself at times) have let the media make them cynical about this day dedicated to love. As much as we hate to admit it we all need love. Valentine's Day, oh how they've mistaken you.

GOD Is Love

" ⁷ Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰ This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
¹³ This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. ¹⁵ If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. ¹⁶ And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

   God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. ¹⁷ This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
¹⁹ We love because he first loved us. ²⁰ Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. ²¹And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister." 1 John 4:7-21

Love One Another (Fellow Believers)
^"11 For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. ¹² Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. ¹³ Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. ¹⁵ Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

¹⁶ This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. ¹⁷ If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? ¹⁸ Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
¹⁹ This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: ²⁰ If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. ²¹ Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God ²² and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. ²³ And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. ²⁴ The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us." 1 John 3:11-24

When love is mentioned in the verses above it is in the purest form, not the skewed way of excusing yourself to date and sleep with everybody. Although we are called to love everyone we have also been called not to love the world.

^"15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. ¹⁶For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷ The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever." 1 John 2:15-17

The interpretation? We shouldn't love the temporary things of this world nor become deeply/romantically involved with the people who are not believers (if you are one). Why?

Concerning Friends and love life:
"You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God." James 4:4
"Do not be misled: 'Bad company corrupts good character.'" 1 Corinthians 15:33
"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?" 2 Corinthians 6:14

With all the talk of love coming from everywhere today we must decipher the roots of the message. As Christians we have to be careful not to fall prey to anyone's teaching which would lead us away from Christ. The Lord tells us to test the spirits (teachings) and that includes my own. Take what I say and put it against the Word of the Lord and if it doesn't line up don't listen to me.

Everything written above is written to my brothers and sisters in Christ because these reminders of the Word won't work for a person who doesn't believe in Christ as our Savior. To live the life of a Christian without Christ is impossible. You're living a religion based on rules. God is more than do this and not that, as I've stated above God is love but He's also justice and perfection. No matter how good you are if the Holy Spirit isn't indwelling within you there's no pleasing God.

Sin, Confession, and Redemption
Isaiah 59

" ¹ Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save,
   nor his ear too dull to hear. ² But your iniquities have separated
   you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
   so that he will not hear. ³ For your hands are stained with blood,
   your fingers with guilt.
Your lips have spoken falsely,
   and your tongue mutters wicked things. ⁴ No one calls for justice;
   no one pleads a case with integrity.
They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies;
   they conceive trouble and give birth to evil. ⁵ They hatch the eggs of vipers
   and spin a spider’s web.
Whoever eats their eggs will die,
   and when one is broken, an adder is hatched. ⁶ Their cobwebs are useless for clothing;
   they cannot cover themselves with what they make.
Their deeds are evil deeds,
   and acts of violence are in their hands. ⁷ Their feet rush into sin;
   they are swift to shed innocent blood.
They pursue evil schemes;
   acts of violence mark their ways. ⁸ The way of peace they do not know;
   there is no justice in their paths.
They have turned them into crooked roads;
   no one who walks along them will know peace.

⁹ So justice is far from us,
   and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness;
   for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows. ¹⁰ Like the blind we grope along the wall,
   feeling our way like people without eyes.
At midday we stumble as if it were twilight;
   among the strong, we are like the dead. ¹¹ We all growl like bears;
   we moan mournfully like doves.
We look for justice, but find none;
   for deliverance, but it is far away.

¹² For our offenses are many in your sight,
   and our sins testify against us.
Our offenses are ever with us,
   and we acknowledge our iniquities: ¹³ rebellion and treachery against the LORD,
   turning our backs on our God,
inciting revolt and oppression,
   uttering lies our hearts have conceived. ¹⁴ So justice is driven back,
   and righteousness stands at a distance;
truth has stumbled in the streets,
   honesty cannot enter. ¹⁵ Truth is nowhere to be found,
   and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.

   The LORD looked and was displeased
   that there was no justice. ¹⁶ He saw that there was no one,
   he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;
so his own arm achieved salvation for him,
   and his own righteousness sustained him. ¹⁷ He put on righteousness as his breastplate,
   and the helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments of vengeance
   and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak. ¹⁸ According to what they have done,
   so will he repay
wrath to his enemies
   and retribution to his foes;
   he will repay the islands their due. ¹⁹ From the west, people will fear the name of the LORD,
   and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory.
For he will come like a pent-up flood
   that the breath of the LORD drives along.

²⁰ “The Redeemer will come to Zion,
   to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”
            declares the LORD.
²¹ “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the LORD."

If I didn't love my God I wouldn't have added this. If I didn't love you I wouldn't be reaching out.

^"3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, ⁴ who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. ⁵ For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time." 1 Timothy 2:3-6

GOD Is LOVE: Love Over Lust

2011-02-13T17:39:00.000-08:00

^"6 Place me like a seal over your heart,
   like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
   its jealousy unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire,
   like a mighty flame.
^{⁷ Many waters cannot quench love;}
   rivers cannot sweep it away.
If one were to give
   all the wealth of one’s house for love,
   it would be utterly scorned."

Song of Solomon 8:6-7

She
¹⁶ My beloved is mine and I am his;
   he browses among the lilies.
¹⁷ Until the day breaks
   and the shadows flee,
turn, my beloved,
   and be like a gazelle
or like a young stag
   on the rugged hills.

Song of Solomon 3

¹ All night long on my bed
   I looked for the one my heart loves;
   I looked for him but did not find him.
² I will get up now and go about the city,
   through its streets and squares;
I will search for the one my heart loves.
   So I looked for him but did not find him.
³ The watchmen found me
   as they made their rounds in the city.
   “Have you seen the one my heart loves?”
⁴ Scarcely had I passed them
   when I found the one my heart loves.
I held him and would not let him go
   till I had brought him to my mother’s house,
   to the room of the one who conceived me.
⁵ Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you
   by the gazelles and by the does of the field:
Do not arouse or awaken love
   until it so desires.

Song of Solomon 2:16-3:5

The book song of Songs located in the Bible is all about the topics of love, longing, virtue and sex between Solomon, his fiance/bride and "friends". Contrary to popular belief God isn't against love and sex. He made it!! lol God confines sex to marriage and eros love to a man and woman committed to each other and on the way toward marriage. This does not mean people who say they're committed and are going to get married one day, no. Most people end up wasting there time and heart on love without life commitments.

" Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity." 1 Timothy 5:1-2

We're given these commands not to take the fun out of life but give us the happiest, safest, carefree lives possible.

Sometimes I think I'm keeping myself pure for no reason if my future husband is out there "sowing his wild oats" (lol) but God reminds me that my body is not my own but His. The Holy Spirit indwells there and far be it from me to defile His temple just to fulfill my own desires. We're suppose to honor the Lord with our lives that includes our bodies and minds also.

"¹⁴ Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? ¹⁵ What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? ¹⁶ What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

¹⁷ Therefore,

   “Come out from them
   and be separate,
   says the Lord.

Touch no unclean thing,
   and I will receive you.”

¹⁸“I will be a Father to you,

   and you will be my sons and daughters,
   says the Lord Almighty.”

2 Corinthians 7
¹ Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God."
2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1

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1 Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God."

¹ Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God."