Tree Of No Fruit

The Tree Of No Fruit

Hab 3:17 Though the fig tree shall not blossom, and fruit is not on the vines; the work of the olive fails, and the fields make no food; the flock is cut off from the fold, and no herd is in the stalls,

Ever had a day like that? Raise your hands because I know you have. You sit at your desk and look at the sun coming up and the depression that oppresses your soul is like a sore tooth, but you do not know where the soreness is coming from.

Seriously, I never thought Habakkuk could ever teach me a lesson. I do not think I’ve every heard a sermon on Habakkuk. But, there is was in black and white. Verse 17 of chapter 3. Yes. I feel that way. Empty. Void. Depressed. Where is the fruit that God needs from me? Where is the stuff that He works through me? Then I read verse 18.

Hab 3:18 yet I will exult in Jehovah; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.

It’s like Job declares, “Though He slay me, I will still praise Him.”

I get it! In the time it takes to blink, a thousands years could expire… it all depends upon perspective. God has no time constraints because He invented time. From my perspective, 30 seconds seems like ten years sometimes. These few months of grief are but a speck in my time line, and do not amount to a nano second in God’s time. And it all means absolutely nothing compared to the wonders God has planned for eternity.

To God, fruit is the purpose, not the tree.

Mat 21:19 And seeing one fig tree by the road, He went up to it, and found nothing on it except leaves only. And He said to it, Let there be no more fruit from you forever. And the fig tree immediately dried up.

Crikey!

Disappointing God has huge repercussions. This fig tree is in Tanzania. Why an arch had to be cut through the tree instead of going around it, I do not know. But it teaches me a lesson just as the verse from Matthew does.

Jonah blathers about Nineveh’s repentance and pouts on a hill. God causes a vine to grow that protects Jonah from the scorching sun and the beating heat. Then God causes a worm to eat the vine, the vine withers and Jonah, fainting from the sun and heat, pouts even more. I can see God shaking his head at Jonah.

“Don’t you get it yet, son?” God asks. “You have pity for a plant that lasted 24 hours, how much more pity I have on the more that 120,000 innocents of Nineveh who do not know their right hand from their left hand. Quit looking inside your self, having pity on yourself and start looking at Me."

God spent a lot of time teaching me, training me, carrying me, dancing with me, loving me and walking with me. Now it is time that I walk His way, follow His steps, wait for His timing, bear His fruit, work His works.

I never realized writing a post would lift that darkness… but, I see the Light. I feel good. 

THe Election

Jerome Teel is a new author and is one that I think will go very far. If you like John Grishom, then you'll really like Teel's offering, The Election.

Ed Burke has waited a lifetime to become president of the United States. He's not about to let his nemesis, Mac Foster, stop him now... especially when he's sold his soul for the Oval Office.

This is good fare. But, I have to say that I think there are too many characters. I did not like The Pelican Brief where all those judges were killed at the beginning of the book... four chapters and we were still meeting new characters. This one is kinda like that. For some people that isn't a problem. For me, who is old and set in her ways, it becomes a problem because I sleep after I read and then I forget who is what and who is who and it takes a while to get back up to speed. But, don't let that stop you from getting this book. Once you've learned the character, it's a rocket ride.

I asked Jerome my favorite questions:

Gina: What did you learn about God while you were writing this book? How has that impacted your life since?

Jerome: I learned that God is completely in control of every situation no matter what we may think or feel. We can't rush His timetable. Things will happen in His perfect will, in His perfect time.

What a perfect lesson to learn! I like this guy.

Jerome Teel
The Election
Bible
Christians
Christian Living
Christian Book

The question is Why?

Over on Lynn Scanlon's blog, there is a firestorm of controversy going on. Seriously, I have never, ever read 52 posts on anyone's blog. I read these.

I live in the Deep South. We have whites and blacks living next door to each other. We get along. Race is only an issue in political arguments and in other places. Here we get along and when we make friends, we forget what color we are because we are friends.

I do not see the reasoning behind a black author getting upset because she is asked, "Are you black?" There was to be a book signing in a bookstore in Florida. Someone emailed her and asked her that question and she hit the ceiling. There is more to the story (links are all on Lynn's blog so I won't relink here.) It seems that the bookstore is an African American bookstore. Why didn't this author share that bit of information in her rants?

The question is "Why?" Why get so upset if someone asks what color you are? If they read your book and couldn't tell, bully for you. If they are a black book store, then why in the world would you get upset if they asked what color you are and on top of that, why assume when you answered "yes" to that question that the answer would be wrong????

I just don't get it.

The claim is made that black authors are niched and boxed in to a place in the bookstore, you know, that corner where you find all the black authors. So?

I have found Colin Powell's book in the political section and ran across it in the biographies and again somewhere else to the point I was wondering if there were any other books in the store.

In my estimation, the focus is too close and narrow on this discussion. And it seems that no one is listening to anyone. I have read so many books in all my years that I can generally tell where an author is from just from reading the book. As I said on Lynn's blog. Background bleeds through into the prose. That's something that is great not bad. The truly sad thing these days is that fewer and fewer Americans are reading books. They tend to get their entertainment from TV and from xbox. I pray that books never go out of style, no matter what color the author.

The focus is too close because every author should be looking for the perfect hook to sell their books and should capitalize on their background, not decry it or cover it up.

I have many black friends and I adore them. We get caught up in the friendship and we forget there is a difference in our skin color. Is that a crime? Maybe I should keep reminding myself... no... I like it better this way.

Remain calm while the storm rages

Did God allow Job to be harmed past endurance?
Did God share with Job that Satan was the one playing havoc in his life?
Were any of us around when God laid the foundations of the world and when He hung the stars in place?

Well, if you answered "yes" to any of those questions, please email me, we need to talk.

No, God did not allow harm to Job beyond Job's endurance. Anyone else might have committed suicide. God knew the exactness of Job's strength, faith, will and mental health. God did not allow him to be pushed past a point of no return. God will do no less for us today. He is the same past, present and future... we can depend on that.

Do you ever get a sore soul? I mean a soreness like a sore tooth in your spirit. The feeling just washes through, leaving a feeling of dread or bleakness. I usually get this feeling when something bad is going to happen. This feeling is not from God. It is something that comes from Satan, and I know this through experience. Some scholars say that we cannot depend on experience, but must depend on and lean on exactly what the Bible says, forgetting feelings... rejecting feelings.

But look at the "set up" in Job 1: Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, his name was Job. And this man was perfect and upright, and fearing God, and turning away from evil....
Job 1:9 And Satan answered Jehovah and said, Does Job fear God for nothing? Job 1:10 Have You not made a hedge for him, and for his house, and for all that is his all around? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his livestock have increased in the land. Job 1:11 But put out Your hand now, and touch against all that is his, and see if he will not then curse You to Your face.

First, Satan has no power except that which God allows and that which we give. Knowing this, we are forewarned and forearmed against an evil foe. However, just like Job we have to endure. The point with Job was not at all to teach Job, but to prove a point to Satan. I am convinced that Job had that soreness in his soul.

This is such a huge lesson that I just sit back and marvel. I had always thought all our trials and tribulations were forms of education, tests and basic school work that prepares us for our eternal purpose. That is true in part, but God's good purposes may not be for the person that undergoes the trial, but for the education of an observer... or for later ministry to someone who will go through the same thing... or to prove to Satan some Truth. Those kinds of trials are extremely hard (the things that happened to Job are tremendous stress triggers as well as huge grief causers).

What an amazing thing.

The witness to Job's wife who said, "Curse God and die." She had 10 more children.
The witness to Job's friends who had advice that produced such contempt from God.

Job 42:7 And it happened, after Jehovah spoke these words to Job, Jehovah said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My anger glows against you and your two friends. For You have not spoken the right about Me, as My servant Job. Job 42:8 And now take for you seven young bulls and seven rams and go to My servant Job, and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. And My servant Job will pray for you. Surely I will lift up his face so as not to do with you according to your folly, in that you have not spoken the right about Me, as My servant Job.

But, look! How sweet the thought... "I will lift up his face..."

Job 42:9 And Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as Jehovah spoke to them. And Jehovah lifted the face of Job.

Can't you just feel the soft and tender fingers of God under your chin? Can't you see His tender smile and gentle laughter? How glorious that would be, to have my face cupped by His hands... just to lean into Him and let Him lift not only my face, but my whole self. Yea, Lord, I shout Your praises and Your glory. I am enthralled with Your beauty.

After all that, Job had 7 more sons and 3 more daughters and he gave them all inheritance. That's probably about 10 years. The timing seems so LONG, yet to God, it is a mere 'blink, blink... blink'.

Remain calm. Be still and know that God is God. Our face will be lifted. We must make our decisions based on our knowledge of God because He always keeps His promises. 

Perfect Peace...above the storm

Psa 4:8 I will both lie down in peace and sleep; for You alone, O Jehovah, make me dwell in safety

Isa 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace the mind stayed on You, for he trusts in You.

Isa 26:12 Jehovah, You will ordain peace for us; for also You have worked all our works for us.

Isa 32:17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the service of righteousness shall be quietness and hope forever.

Going it alone...

What did the disciples try to do under their own strength?

Sail across a lake in a storm... cast a demon from a boy... walk on water... understand Jesus's teachings...

Probably a better question would be what did they not try to do under their own strength.

Jesus made it very clear when He called them little-faiths: ὀλιγόπιστος oligopistos (ol-ig-op'-is-tos) From G3641 and G4102; incredulous, that is, lacking confidence (in Christ): - of little faith.

We smile and shake our heads and say, 'How could they not have faith?' Jesus spoke and the storm calmed, He reached out and plucked Peter from sinking in the water, He cast out the demon from the boy and the boy was well ever after that, He fed the 5000 and the 4000 with baskets of food left over. When God shows Himself in that glory, how could anyone not have faith?

How indeed.

I sit in a chair and know it will keep me from falling on the floor. I turn the key in the ignition of my car and expect it to start the engine and for it to take me where I need to go. I don't have quite as much faith in my computer as it has failed me more often than my car.

There is the key. My car, actually, has never failed me... the one I have now. Other cars failed me and one in particular I never had faith it would start. I'd always pray and hope it would start.

God has never failed me.

Why is it, then, I sometimes have doubts? It is my point of reference.

People have failed me... even the ones that I never expected much from, failed me. It isn't their fault because they are human, with human natures that are imperfect. We do not have the capability to be perfect within our flesh. That is impossible. God, on the other hand, is perfect and infallable.

But... we guage God through our human-ness. We think with our finite minds and see with our imperfect vision and this is how we see God, forgetting that we are made in God's image (not the other way around) and not in His perfect nature and character. We have the potential and we will be perfect one day, just not today. Therefore, we cannot see all that God sees or know all that God knows and that makes for a very imperfect understanding of our own situations and future. It also makes for a very imperfect, and perhaps quite wobbly faith.

Here is the tricky part. God is okay with the wobbly faith up to a point. There comes a time when God expects trust no matter the cost, and trusting Him can be quite costly from a secular world point of view. Yet, it is our weakness that glorifies His strength. Our trust magnifies His name. Our frailties in concert with God's power makes the angels wonder.

God has never failed me. So, I put my hand in the hand of the Man that stilled the water because He kept His promises no matter the cost. How, indeed, can my faith falter? 

Dandelion Dust by Karen Kingsbury

Karen Kingsbury has written lots of books. Dandelion Dust is the first book of hers that I have read.

I didn't email Karen and ask her any questions either. I have been up to my neck in alligators, frankly, so I didn't even post this on Wednesday like I was supposed to.

It has been some 40+ years since I was 4 years old, so I do not know if Karen got the 4-year-old mentality down, or not, in Joey. It sounds right, so it works for me.

The book starts out really sweet... and stays sweet a bit too long for my taste. There isn't any conflict for quite some time. The build up is there, but no tension until several chapters into the book. But... it made me smile, and it made me cry. That's two things that are very good recommendations for a book in my estimation.

I like the characters... they are a little two dimensional, yet believable. and Joey stole my heart along with Mr. Monkey. I think this is a book that would be an excellent addition to any library, but it is not a book that I'd read again and again. It is a nice afternoon with tea read and that is what I needed this past week. Enjoy.

You can click on the title to buy the book and please visit Karen at her website, click on her name at the beginning of this post.

Tormented day and night...

This is precisely how I feel sometimes: the depths of despair, as Lucy Montegomery has Anne Shirley sigh in Anne of Green Gables.

It feels like forever. The constant waiting and waiting. When, Lord? When will You go to my defense? When will You fix this problem? When will I see daylight? When will I feel normal again? When will I be able to look up from this problem and focus on others again? When will You release me from this prayer vigil? When can I stop and rest?

That's just it. We must rest or we burn out. God knows just how long we need because it was He that issued the 6 day work week and the 1 Day of Rest. Only that day of rest is supposed to be competely devoted to God and the worship of Him.

Huh?

Isa 58:13 "If you watch your step on the Sabbath and don't use my holy day for personal advantage, If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy, GOD's holy day as a celebration, If you honor it by refusing 'business as usual,' making money, running here and there-- 14 Then you'll be free to enjoy GOD! Oh, I'll make you ride high and soar above it all. I'll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob." Yes! GOD says so!

I am not preaching "no football" on Sunday afternoon. What I am saying is that I have to sit down with God everyday or the anxiety takes over. I have to practice giving it all to Him or I'll take it back and try to "fix it" all the while making the matter worse. Some problems fix themselves, other problems need the hand of God. I have a lot of God Problems that I get in God's way while He's trying to fix them... or teach a lesson. You can go ahead and admit you are like that, too, because I know I'm not in the boat alone. We are skimming over the water far too fast, I can't row that fast so I know I'm not the only one rowing.

Keeping God first is a DAILY thing, not just a Sunday thing. Peter sank when he took his eyes off Jesus. The disciples couldn't remove the demon from the boy because they didn't have the faith of a mustard seed. David was lollygagging at the palace when he should have been at the war front with his men and that's when he lounged on the roof and caught sight of Bathsheba. The Bible is full of all kinds of examples of life situations that went awry when folks quit putting God first and that was the first step down their path to trouble.

And that is just the beginning of trials and tribulations. God never promised easy living. What would we ever learn if life's most pressing decision was which bon bon to eat next? Job had an easy life until God allowed Satan to put his foot in it. So, guess who's messing with us now?

Did God allow Job to be harmed past endurance?
Did God share with Job that Satan was the one playing havoc in his life?
Were any of us around when God laid the foundations of the world and when He hung the stars in place?

to be continued... 

A living dog is better than a dead lion.

Well that is certainly true. Did you know it's in the bible? Solomon writes that as a proof for hope for the living.

Hope is an absolute must for healthy living. Without hope, there is despair. Without hope there is depression. Without hope, faith cannot survive. Without hope, love gasps for breath.

Notice something with me. Hope. Help. One letter difference, but what a difference. In the center of Help is El... God. I believe that is by divine design.

Hope and Faith are not designed to last forever. We hope and we put faith in the Everlasting Father. But Love is the Everlasting Father. I am quite satisfied with the hope and the faith that God gives me... I could not live without it. While we have breath, there is hope. While we have breath we have faith, but once breath leaves us, we either have Love, and love lasts eternally; or we do not have Love, and a soul without love is tortured.

Help does not come to the dead. Help comes to the living, breathing physical beings that we are. So, indeed, a living dog is better than a dead lion. How can it not be so?

Psa 121:1 A Song of Ascents. I will lift up my eyes to the hills; from where shall my help come?
2 My help comes from Jehovah, the Maker of the heavens and the earth.
3 He will not give your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel will not slumber nor sleep.
5 Jehovah is the One keeping you; Jehovah is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night;
7 Jehovah shall keep you from all evil; He shall keep your soul.
8 Jehovah shall keep your going out, and your coming in, from now on and till forever.

 

Do You Trust Me?

God asked me that question last Tuesday, again on Wednesday, again on Thursday and for the last time yesterday.

It reminded me of when Jesus asked Peter, "Do you love Me, Peter?" "Yes, Lord, I love you," Peter replies.

"Yes, Lord, I trust You. I've trusted You since I was a little girl." My reply was instantaneous. I never hesitate when God asks me that question for I know to the depth of my soul that God is in control and His will is best for my life. I haven't always lived that way, but I have always known in my heart that His way is best.

Every day I get a rejection letter in the mail and every day I get job offers in my inbox. The rejection letters come from those jobs in Chicago, Denver, Nashville, and other big city places that I just do not want to move to, but I had to face facts a couple of months ago that there is nothing within commute distance that would pay me enough to build up a retirement. So I shot off my resume to all these exciting, exotic places, knowing in my heart of hearts that it was a waste of time. Until, I got a phone call from a company in Florida. They were impressed with my skills and my credentials and would I be interested in going through the interview process for the editor position they had for their Grants Alert Newsletter? Would I! Of course! Great pay, live in Florida where Mom could make friends... and the cost of living is about as high as the Moon.

So... what am I trusting God about? It has a lot to do with why my picture will be in the paper next week.

I am the new editor for our local paper.

The pay is terrible. They know its terrible and they also know that I am by far over qualified for the job. But...

What a challenge! I have a sales person to train and motivate. I have a parish/county just about emptied out -- we have about 5800 pop -- but look how many stories to tell that could be. The paper has been neglected and needs some tender loving care to build back the circulation and to build back the advertisor base. We don't have to move. We can have fires during the winter. I can wear sweaters. It might snow. Okay... I know! I'm trying too hard to find the positive in this.

When I first sent in my resume last May, I didn't care the pay was bad. But, on Tuesday I woke up wrestling with God about this job. Keep an open mind, He said. Just go talk to them, He said. How can you ignore the voice of God? I can't, so I went. I got the job on the spot. This is the first time anyone has hired me on the spot. This is the first time I had so much fun at the interview, I didn't want it to end. I can't wrap my brain around that.

Who in their right mind would even think twice about taking a great paying job in Florida over a podunk part time editor job in a podunk village in the sticks of Louisiana? Apparently, God has some plans in mind that He isn't sharing with me at this moment. It's for sure He has some work for me to do. I'm all for that! If this job turns out to be even half as much fun as being the economic development director for the parish/county... I'm in for a great ride.

I have news...

My picture is going to be in the paper next week. In The Tensas Gazette. I thought I'd share it with you. I'll tell you tomorrow why it's going to be there. 

Violette Between...

...is a book about a young woman who is an artist... is in an accident... relives her love from the past... must choose the past or the present. (Sorry there isn't a picture, I can't get Blogger to cooperate with posting them.)

It is different. It is rather written well. But... I absolutely hate, let me repeat, hate books that flip from the past to the present to the past to the present and all points in between with no guide except a chapter heading "August 4-5, 2005". I hate them with such a passion that I won't read them. I have read a little over 1/3 of this book and suffered the flips from past to present while gritting my teeth. This isn't the first one like this that I've had to review... I do not know what the world of publishing is coming to... this kind of flip is becoming the norm and I have to wonder why. It does nothing for tension and it usually causes a disconcertment on the reader's part. I'm in one mind set then I have to draw back and get used to a whole new set of characters. Reading for pleasure should not be work.

Alison Strobel wrote Violette Between and if it were not for her writing, I would have tossed it to the side after the second chapter... seriously. Here's the thing. This book should have been at least 175,000 words instead of about 97,000 in order to develop both love stories. The tension is there, the conflict is there early on which makes for a great story, but the development--easing into the second story isn't there. This could very easily have been the fault of the editor and not Alison. I don't know because I didn't ask.

I immediately cared about Violette. I don't know if it was because she is an artist or because her burnt umber paint got squished all over the parking lot... I just did. Knowing she was going to have an accident, the tension built by her going after that tube of paint was delicious. Then it all fell flat... rather Violette fell flat off a ladder in the high school gym while painting a mural of knights. (I didn't spoil anything, that's on the back cover.) I also immediately cared for Christian, her love interest. He is adorable. Any guy who will buy lunch for me and bring it to me at work... hey, I'm in love!

I didn't ask Alison any questions. Either I am too embarassed because I didn't like the continuity (or lack thereof), or I am too embarassed to ask questions and then say what I have to say because I can't lie or fake it when it comes to books.

Alison, if you read this, please do not take it personally. I am old and set in my ways and I just do not want to have to get used to reading books meant for twenty year olds.

Parents Responsible or Responsible Parents

I have been against parents being held responsible for the actions of their children for a very long time. I'm starting to rethink that stance.

Violence in schools is just a symptom of our society. The symptom is surfacing in younger children. In my day, everyone in the Nation knew about Kent State. You didn't have to explain what happened, or who was involved, or what it was about. You just said, "Kent State," and everyone knew what you meant.

(If you don't, do an internet search on Kent State + Violence, and see what you get.)

Today, if you say Columbine High School, everyone knows what that was all about. Not so many know about Pearl High School and the other schools where shooting occured. But, we all know about youth violence. At Columbine, the authorities found video tapes and all kinds of violent-type paraphanalia that any observant parent would have asked questions about if they had cared what their kids were up to behind closed bedroom doors.

What if...

What if, the parents had said, "I do not care about your privacy. It is your safety that I am concerned about... your health, your mind, your Spiritual growth."

Do children have a right to privacy? To take a bath, yes. To surf the internet, no way! To develop fight videos, to purchase or steal guns, to draw pictures of frightening things... these are symptoms of disturbed minds and a parent has every right under God and this nation to know what their kids are up to.

If you consider what kinds of violence kids are exposed to these days from X-Box games to cop shows to forensic shows, is it any wonder that children grow up to think that it is okay to solve their problems with violence. The survival of the fittest was part of my science class, but it was also tempered with Jesus' teachings.

I have discovered that after I watch a show with violence, I have a reaction to some situations with anger or violent urgings. It may have something to do with menopause, but my thinking leans more toward the exposure to violence.

I believe that if some parents were held responsible for their children's actions... even put on trial for those actions, I believe we would see more responsible parents. It is the parents responsibility to raise their children to be responsible adults adhereing to societal norms rather than handling problems with violence. Violence as a solution is unacceptable, yet, this is exactly what more and more people are turning to in order to overcome obsticles.

I know there are some children that are so rebellious they are uncontrollable. There are ways to handle those. Where the buck actually stops is at the parents' feet and how they raise their children. If the parent lacks self-control, then that is what the child learns. It is time to put more focus on the family unit and less interest on acquiring bigger/better everything.

Lessons from Joseph

Isn't it grand when daddies keep teaching and teach by how they live?

Joseph is an amazing person when you think about it.

Joseph valued God’s Law and knew what God meant when He said He wanted tender hearts instead of sacrifice. He showed mercy when the Law said stoning. Mary was pregnant and he was not the father.

Joseph immediately obeyed God. [I wonder how many can say they immediately obey God.] I believe that when the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in his dream that Joseph got up immediately and got Mary that night from her house and brought her home to be his wife. This did numerous things, but one thing it did was eliminate any shame Mary might be subjected to because of her pregnancy. Joseph didn’t say, ‘But God…’ He didn’t drag his feet trying to figure out “what it all meant”, he just got up and went and did God’s bidding.

Joseph was a young man and passionate (they had eight kids including Jesus), but he was able to keep his hands off his wife until Jesus was born. That took considerable self-control, or perhaps God had a hand in that to help him… who knows? Joseph realized the importance of the virgin birth and behaved accordingly.

And if the Angel of the Lord wasn’t enough, Joseph had the testimony of the Magi who brought Gold Frankincense and Myrrh. These were gifts signifying the royalty of the child. Gold was given to kings. Frankincense and Myrrh were spices used in the embalming process developed by the Egyptians. Only royalty and nobles received the ultimate type of embalming where these spices were used. That kind of embalming cost about $2000. I believe God had these Magi give these gifts so that Joseph and Mary could sell the spices in Egypt for a good price in order for them to live comfortably until it was time to go home to Galilee.

Joseph was a man of action, self-control, patience and a good daddy bringing up his boys in fine Jewish tradition and in the Lord. I think he was an amazing man.

In God We Still Trust

Dealing With Anxious Thinking...

There are times when a little fear is good... like when walking across a swinging bridge that has no guardrails and the drop down is about 100 feet or so to cold rushing water. Did that one time and my heart still pounds at the thought of it.

Those times don't come around very often. God says we are not to worry. Jesus said, "Do not worry." Angels have told men, "Do not fear." I don't know how many times this is said in the Bible and we all do it. I do it.

Worry is a sin.

So how do we deal with worry? I love what Dale Carnegie said, "Figure out what's the worst thing that could happen, then make a plan if that thing happens and set the whole thing aside." We worry about things that 90% of the time do not happen. Why is that?

When we are anxious, it affects our thinking. It clouds our thought process and we are consumed about what might happen... then it never does, or rarely does.

Unfortunately, anxious thinking or negative thinking can become a habit and we never realize what we are doing to ourselves. When walking into a room, have you ever thought, "Gee, everyone is staring at me, I must look awlful." Or "No one will like me here, they all think I'm stupid."

Seriously... think about that. Maybe one person... maybe two, might think that but, trust me on this, a room full of people have a room full of thoughts and they are not all centered on you! Well, perhaps if you are the Governor or the President, they might. Get a grip on those negative thoughts! (I'm talking to myself, here.)

What are some other ones?

"If I don't do this with no mistakes, I've failed."
"This is a total disaster. I made an absolute mess."
"Everybody hates me, I'm going to go eat worms."

That is stinkin' thinkin'. Face the fact the world does not revolve around you. We do not live in a world of black and white... but in a myriad of colors and shades. The likelyhood of any event striking instant dislike for you in the breasts of a roomful of people is nil and none. You do not have to do a poll on that to find out.

The bald fact is, our thoughts should not revolve around our own selves, but we should consistently and constantly keep our eyes on Jesus. If Peter had never taken his eyes off Jesus, then he would never have sunk in the waves... or denied him three times.

Jer 17:5 So says Jehovah, Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and who makes flesh his arm, and who turns aside his heart from Jehovah. 6 For he shall be like a juniper in the desert, and shall not see when good comes. But he shall live in parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land that is not inhabited. 7 Blessed is the man who trusts in Jehovah, and Jehovah is his refuge. 8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters. It sends out its roots by the stream, and it will not fear when the heat comes; but its foliage will be green; and it is not anxious in the year of drought, nor will it cease from yielding fruit.  

Dark Hour

Dark Hour is by Ginger Garrett.

I have to say that I was a bit disappointed. I did not ask her any questions.

I really do like fiction that takes place back in OT times or even in NT times. Books like The Robe, for instance that focused on a character not written in Scripture and just a few Apostles walked through the book. I am very wary of books that take a very significant happening and weave fiction around it. That just doesn't work for me.

Two things. Ginger takes a few liberties with history, such as the goddess Ashorah (or Astoreth) did not require sacrifices of new born babies. That was the god Molech which is who Hezikiah's son Mannesseh worshiped and caused much innocent blood to be spilled paying homage to it, namely his own first born son.

She also made it seem that Queen Athaliah put a spell on Jehoram which is why he killed all his brothers so he wouldn't have to fight anyone for the throne. While Jehoram actually did kill all his brothers, I do not think that the text leads the way of some spell. 2 Chron 21:4 says that Jehoram rose up and made himself strong and killed his brothers with the sword. Now, that is a totally different kind of man than what Ginger Garrett depicts in her book.

I think the book is fairly well written. But, it was very difficult for me to get around those two things so my enjoyment of it was quite marred. I really think that there are Biblical stories that should remain UNfictionalized and this was one of them. You can visit Ginger's website here.

This is the story of Jezebel's daughter who became queen of Judah and after King Jehoram died and Jehu killed Jehoram's and Athaliah's son Ahaziah, Athaliah claimed the throne for herself and ruled Judah for seven years. A truly gripping story straight from the Bible.

I want you all to know that the reviews I give are honest and from my heart. This story had great potential... maybe written from a servant's point of view rather than from the king's daughter, Jehoshabeath's POV, it would have had a greater impact.

Studio 60 or whatever...

I have watched this show twice now... missed the first one.

It is actually sort of a Don Rickles approach to TV... insult everyone and those who are not insulted should feel insulted. At least that's sort of the impression I've gotten.

However, I think this TV show should be a huge slap in the face for a WAKE-UP call to Christians.

Think about it. Last year we were subjected to The Book of Daniel a severely handicapped TV show that truly had no resemblence to how a real pastor should live. Isn't it sad? Do we actually act that way? Is this how the world sees us?

Now we have a Christian actor on a pretend SNL-type TV Show that really doesn't act like a Christian, or does she? Do we act that way? Is this how the world sees us?

It is truly a sorry state of affairs that we get all "fired up" that we are being protrayed as bleeding hearts with the wrong kinds of causes. If we acted more like Christ, then the world would actually see Christ and not something that bears no resemblance to our Father God.