The Tabernacle Experience - The Laver

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Make a bronze basin, with its bronze stand, for washing. Place it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water in it. Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet with water from it. Whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die. Also, when they approach the altar to minister by presenting an offering made to the Lord by fire, they shall wash their hands and feet so that they will not die.
~ Exodus 30:17-21

As you can imagine, the priests had need to clean up after their sacrificial duties, however per the Lord's command they were to clean themselves before they began the Lord's work as well. This cleansing was not so much an actual cleansing as it was a symbolic cleansing. This ritual washing represented their purified life of service to God in the Tabernacle.

This cleansing was necessary because as humans with our sin nature we are not pure and holy to stand before the Lord or to do His work.

They made the bronze basin and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
~Exodus 38:8

Some believe it is significant that we can see our reflection in the water which cleanses us from our sin.

Jesus cleanses the church (his bride) "to make her holy, cleansing her by washing with water through the word and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless." (see Ephesians 5:26-27)

By washing ourselves in God's Word we purify ourselves and enable ourselves to do His work, holy and pure. Continually washing ourselves in His Word keeps our focus on God, not on the world.


Tabernacle Experience

Tabernacle Experience - Altar of Burnt Offering

They built the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood, three cubits high; it was square, five cubits long and five cubits wide. They made a horn at each of the four corners, so that the horns and the altar were of one piece, and they overlaid the altar with bronze.
~Exodus 38:1-2

The first seven chapters of Leviticus details a variety of offerings which were made on the altar in the Tabernacle. These included

* Burnt Offerings
* Grain Offerings
* Fellowship Offerings
* Sin Offerings
* Guilt Offerings

For Sin and Guilt offerings, worshipers placed their hands on the head of the sacrificial animal to symbolize their sin being transferred to the offering. The fire of the altar was from God and therefore Holy. His Holy fire consumed the sins/guilt of the worshiper when the sacrificial animal was placed on the altar.

In this same way Jesus is the sacrificial lamb which we transfer our sin onto and the cross is the altar which redeems us of that sin.

At the Tabernacle Experience they had pieces of wood to take up to the altar and throw onto the fire to symbolize us throwing our sins/guilt on the altar of the Lord. This is the part that made the greatest impression on my daugther. She told anyone who would listen about it the next day.



Tabernacle Experience

Splat Design Contest - Win a Custom Blog Design

Splat Designs is having a contest through April 1st. Enter to win a custom designed blog for free. They have lots of examples of what they've designed in the past on their site and I must say they are good!

Tabernacle Experience - The White Linen Garment

Weave the tunic of fine linen and make the turban of fine linen . . . Make linen undergarments as a covering for the body, reaching from the waist to the thigh. Aaron and his sons must wear them whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting or approach the altar to minister in the Holy Place, so that they will not incur guilt and die.
~ Exodus 28:39,42-43

The linen cloth worn by the priest symbolized his righteousness and his worthiness to enter God's sacred tent. Prior to dressing in the linen garments, they would wash their entire body as a rite of purification. The sacred linen garments made the priests holy as they worshipped the Lord.

We are also to be "clothed in righteousness" when we come to God in worship. This covering of righteousness comes in the form of our High Priest, Jesus Christ who is holy and pure. He does not have to offer sacrifices day after day as the Israelite Priest did though, because he has already offered up the ultimate sacrifice to once and for all redeem us of our sins.

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
~ Isaiah 64:6

All that we do, no matter how good, is no better than filthy rags in the sight of our Holy God. However, Jesus covers us in His garments, His Righteousness, so we can approach our Most Holy God.

Original post can be found here: The Tabernacle Experience


Tabernacle Experience

Oprah - Her View on God & Jesus

This is so sad. I truly pray someday Oprah will let the Lord be the Lord of her life. She could do amazing things for the Kingdom of God if she would let Him work through her. She has so much influence in this country and she is leading people astray.

College Kid Proves Creation - Listen in Thurs. 3/29

I received this email today and thought it was worth sharing with all of you. The call is tomorrow evening (Thursday) at 6PM if you are on PST. I'm going to try to listen in online, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to. If you do, please comment and let me know what you thought. This could be pretty interesting. There is a link at the bottom of this post to the website for the Blog Talk Radio site. All you need to listen, is Microsoft Media Player. There is a number as well if you want to call in to participate.

* * * * * * * * *

(WE WILL BE TAKING CALLS) Tell Everyone you know, and anyone who believes in evolution should really hear this.

Who is Samuel Hunt?? Well I will tell you, he is going to be bigger than Charles Darwin ever was. Why bigger than Darwin? Because he has PROVEN CREATION!!!!!!! This Guy is amazing, and I am going to be interviewing him on Thur. 3/29/2007 at 8 PM (CST).

Read about him below:

"College Kid Proves Creation, Writes Book About It.'"

Bowling Green, KY, March 23, 2007 - In what has turned out to be the most controversial document since Charles Darwin penned the "Origin of the Species", "Episteme Scientia-The Law of All that Is," suggests science has been proving God's existence, all along. The abstract states, "An examination of the sequential mathematical and experimental dual proof of the Genesis record of origins underlying the institution of all that is in the universe-from waves to matter to the mind." According to the author, the Scientific Method has been subtly proving the Genesis cosmology in every classroom around the world for more than 450 years-in spite of the fervency to promote evolution and big bang theories.

Known online as "the kid," the author, Samuel J. Hunt, a student at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky, boasts of being able to prove all matter was spoken into existence just as Genesis records. The kid says it's as easy as 1, 2, 3. First Order Logic states: if A=B, and B=C, then A=C. This means that if the premises are true and equal, then the conclusion must be true.

1) There is a mathematical and physical relationship between all (a) matter and (b) frequency,

2) There is a mathematical and physical relationship between all (b) frequency and (c) sound.

3) Therefore, there is a mathematical and physical relationship between all (a) matter and (c) sound.

By first order logic (the premises 1 and 2 are confirmed by all physics and chemistry to be true and equal) it can be shown that matter not only has a mathematical relationship to sound but a physical one as well. This proves that God did speak all things into existence; and the body of every living creature from bacteria to human, as all perform this process millions of times per day through their senses, is living proof.

Samuel says that his document is the mathematical and empirical proof that the bible can and is compatible to and verifiable by science on levels that are only just now beginning to be recognized. The proof also answers dozens of other scientific, theological, and philosophical questions. Hunt says, "I'm not here to argue for evidence of this or that. It's important, but that's like putting God on trial and allowing people to believe whatever they want. My document proves the Genesis record as the only infallible scientific explanation for our origins." According to Hunt, his 84-page document holds the missing factor in the quest to find the Grand Unified Theory of Science.

Even now, the Darwinists are taking up arms. After reading only a short quip of Hunt's wisdom they're talking about "a good book-burning," "paradigm shifts," "eating crow" and the threat of losing more scientists "to the other side." The paper's genius lies in its simple, yet profound integration of several mathematical systems, scientific experiments, and observable phenomenon that happen all around us every day. Hunt's book is available for purchase on-line at www.scienceprovescreation.com.

About Samuel J. Hunt: A Third year student at Western Kentucky University majoring in Pre-Physical Therapy and Nutrition/ Dietetics. Funds created from the sale of the book will support further research and experimentation and the dream of opening a rehabilitation clinic after finishing his education.

Special Radio Program. DO NOT MISS THIS ONE!! (WE WILL BE TAKING CALLS)Samuel J Hunt Has Scientifically proven Creation.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/hostpage.aspx?host_id=3657

The Tabernacle Experience

Tonight my house church visited a traveling display (for lack of a better term) called the Tabernacle Experience. This is a replica of the Tabernacle Moses was instructed by the Lord to create in Exodus.

I took my daughter with me. It was an amazing experience and even her attention was kept for the 50 minute tour. She actually was able to understand the meaning behind many of the items and relate them back to me after. She said she really enjoyed the experience.

Basically a replica of the Tabernacle was built in a side yard at this church. Most all items are to the exact measurements given in Exodus. Where they are not, it is noted. You get to take a 50 minute self guided tour through the replica. They have a recorded tour that Tyler and I were able to listen to together. You can hook up to three headphone onto the one recording.

The tour consists of ten stations. Each station represents an important part of the Tabernacle including its history, the meaning behind it in Moses' time and how it relates to/points to Jesus.

The ten stations included:

1. The White Linen Garment
2. The Altar of Burnt Offering
3. The Laver
4. The Golden Boards & Silver Bases
5. The Lampstand
6. The Table and the Bread
7. The Altar of Incense
8. The Curtain
9. The Ark of the Covenant
10. The Atonement Cover

Over the next few days, I'll be posting about each of these stations, what I learned and my experience.

If this group comes to your town I highly recommend going. I'm sure someone with more knowledge than I have regarding the original Tabernacle may see discrepancies that I did not, however it was amazing to walk through something that is very similar to what the Israelites would have experienced. It was especially meaningful to me as I've been on a journey to grow closer to the Lord lately by learning more about his chosen people, the Jews and their history, culture and traditions.

If you want to learn more about the Tabernacle Experience and not have to wait for my postings you can visit their website. The Tabernacle Experience. The site includes 5 easy steps to bring the Tabernacle to your church.

Keep visiting to see more on this experience in the next few days!


Tabernacle Experience

Logic of a Kindergartner

Friday night I made cupcakes for Tyler's Opening Day. With two little ones to keep track of, baking was the thing I could volunteer to do and not have to feel guilty about leaving my poor husband alone with the boys!

I had made chocolate cupcake with white cream cheese frosting which I then decorated with red and blue gel to look like baseballs. I had a couple left over at the end of everything. I had frosted one and wrote A loves S on one. I left it for my hubby.

If you look closely, you can see where the S was.

This morning I noticed the S was gone. Shaun informed me that he had asked our daughter about it and her story was that she had picked it up to smell it. She wanted to know whether or not it smelled like the others had.

In the process of smelling the cupcake her tongue "accidently" touched the S. She told him she did not know what to do because the S came off on her tongue, so she figured she should just eat it.

Personally I don't smell things with my tongue, however that is the logic of a 5 year old. Go figure!

TBall - Opening Day for Pony League

This year Tyler is playing Pony Baseball. She is in the Shetland division and is on the White Sox team. It is really nice because the coach is one of the dads from our house church. Of the three assistant coaches, one is another dad from our house church and another is my uncle. Three of the other kids on the team are from our house church and another is my cousin. We are all just one big happy family!

Today was opening day. What Fun! This morning they introduced all the teams and let them run around the bases in front of everyone. When Tyler runs she looks like a pinwheel. Her arms go round and round and round!

We had our first game after the opening ceremonies. Today we played the Angels which just happened to be coached by the dad of one of Tyler's kindergarten classmates. This is a little boy that Tyler talks about quite often. She was very excited when she found out they were playing each other today. In the last inning (there were only 3) he was playing catcher. When Tyler went up to bat she turned and said something to him and the announcer made a comment about the batter "having words with the catcher." It was pretty funny. Maybe you had to be there. The announcer did not know they knew each other, but we all did.


It is so much fun to watch the kids. They really don't know what they are doing yet, but they have tons of fun! We usually have almost as many "coaches" on the field as kids just to keep them all going where they are supposed to be going. Many think running the bases is a relay race and wait for the person behind them to get to the base before they start running to their base! They don't understand base lines, so when someone actually gets the ball and tries to tag a runner you never know where they will end up. Sometimes they forget where they are supposed to be going!

Our team is really good about throwing to first base, but that is all they really know. If you tell them to throw it anywhere else they look at you funny and then throw to first. You just hope the first baseman is paying attention!

At least today they all ran around the bases the correct way. Nobody hit the ball and then ran to third. It really has happened!

In the third inning Tyler played short stop and actually stopped 3 or 4 grounders. She can almost throw the ball and get it to first base. She also hit the ball really well each time she was up to bat (at this age everyone gets to bat every inning, another reason they only play 3 innings). She can hit the ball as good as any of the boys. It stays in the air and goes pretty far. Even the other coach mentioned that she hits really good!

After our game we stayed around and watched a little of the other games. They had bouncy houses and a cake walk as well that Tyler participated in. All in all it was a fun day, although tiring. We will ALL sleep well tonight.

Tyler & Eve after the game

Pearl & Shawna!

Other Baseball Moms!

And my Friends!

Austin cheering on his Big Sister!

MySpace

Okay, so I did it. I have a MySpace page now. I figured I would never do this, but what do you know. I once said I would never live in California too! :)

Anyway, Joni Aimes sent out an email recently about how she had started a MySpace page to be a light to others and when I thought of it that way, I figured it would be a good idea.

So if you happen to have page, send me a friend request! See ya out there!

Ang4him MySpace page

Blood on the Door - Passover

Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. Not one of you shall go out the door of his house until the morning.
~ Exodus 12:22

At the first Passover the blood of the lamb on the doorposts set apart the homes of those who believed and obeyed God from the homes of those who did not. The blood was a special mark for those who feared the Lord, which exempted them from the coming destruction. This is not the only time a special mark is used to single out and save those who followed the Lord.

In Ezekiel 9:4-6, Ezekiel has a vision from God regarding Jerusalem in which a man clothed in linen with a writing kit went through the city and marked the foreheads of those who "grieved and lamented the detestable things" done in the city. Other men armed with "deadly weapons" followed and slaughtered "without pity or compassion" those without the mark, whether women, men or children.

In Revelation a special mark on the forehead seals the 144,000 prior to the four angels being given power to harm the land and sea (7:2-3) Later the locusts released from the Abyss are instructed not to harm those marked on the forehead as believers/followers of Christ in Revelation 9:4.

To better understand the sealing of the early Israelites it helps to have knowledge of what the ritual would have entailed. The basin mentioned in Exodus 12:22 was a ditch dug in front of the doorway. This was done in Egypt at that time to avoid flooding and would have held a container to avoid seepage.

The Passover lamb would have been killed by the Israelites right by their doors, therefore the blood would have ran into the ditch and collected in the basin. A hyssop branch would have been dipped into the blood caught in the basin and touched first to the lintel (top horizontal part of the doorframe) and then to each side post. In this way, the door was effectively "sealed" on all four sides (the basin on the bottom, the lintel on the top and the door posts on each side). Those within the home were also considered to be "sealed" by the Lord as followers and therefore exempt from the Angel of Death passing through that night. (Note, none were allowed to go out the door of the home until morning in order to be "sealed".)

Even more thought provoking is the fact that Jesus says in John 10:9, "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture."

The Israelites of that first Passover went in through their blood-sealed doors that night and found safety. They were protected and redeemed by the sacrificial blood. The next morning they went out and began a journey to the Promised Land, their good pasture.

For us, the exemption seal is the blood of Christ (our Passover lamb). When we believe and obey Christ we are entering through Him, our gate. We then go out and begin our journey to the "Promised Land" of a future, eternal haven built by the Lord, where we will spend eternity in His Presence.

(Thanks to be given to Christ in the Passover by Ceil & Moishe Rosen)

Passover_Blood on Door

The Secret - A Good Post

If you found my earlier post regarding The Secret interesting, I suggest you check out what my friend Rebecca has posted on her blog (Blogging Obsession) - I Just Can't Let it Go.

She makes some really good points and I think anyone who is interested in The Secret should check out her post and really put some thought into what she has to say.

Remember there are no true "quick and easy" fixes in this world and anything that appears to be one, is probably not the Truth! The enemy is constantly twisting the truth into lies that he hides behind pretty packages. Trust in the Lord, it may not always be the easiest or quickest thing to do, but it is the best thing you can do. He is the Truth and you can't go wrong with that!

The Secret

The Call of God (Abraham's first sacrifice)

Imagine living in one of the great prospering cities of the United States with all the conveniences of our modern day technology. Anything you may ever need is at your fingertips and available 24 hours a day. Not only your basic needs, but also your wants, any types of entertainment, pampering or luxury that you may desire. You are living your life in comfort when you receive a call from God. He wants you to leave all of this to follow Him. Following Him means constantly moving from one place to another in temporary housing. In fact your only protection from the natural elements is a tent. Even more, the Lord tells you He is leading you to a land of great promise, but He is not telling you ahead of time where that land is located AND you won't actually see the land yourself. It is for your descendants. Oh yeah, you are also past the normal age for bearing children and are currently childless!

Now answer me honestly, what would your response be? I know we've all heard and/or read the story about Abraham being called by God to leave his land, but have we really thought about it. Have we thought about what Abraham gave up, especially conisdering he did not really know where he was going. Would we have responded the same way he did?

Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Harran they settled there.
~Genesis 11:31

The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you". . .So Abram left, as the Lord had told him.
~Genesis 12:1 & 4

In Genesis it tells us Abram left Ur with his father and they settled in Harran. From there God called Abram and told him to leave all that he knew to go to the land He (God) would show him. Not the land He had already shown him, but which He would show him.

Now, to hit this home a bit more lets understand what Ur and Harran were like at this time in history. They were not little, poor villages. They were both great cities at the time and about as modern as you could get at that time.

Ur was no small village. It was one of the oldest, most important cities of Mesopotamia, covering an area of about four square miles by the Euphrates River, which empties into the Persian Gulf. The citizens of Ur lived in walled safety. They enjoyed the advantages of the highest culture and civilization of their time.

From the comfort, advantages, and sophistication of Ur, Jehovah called Abraham and his family to a seminomadic way of life.
~Christ in the Passover - Ceil & Moishe Rosen

I did a search on Harran and found it was "a centre of Mesopotamian culture which in its prime controlled the point where the road from Damascus joins the highway between Nineveh and Carchemish." (courtesy of Wikipedia).

I know for me, I've seen Abram/Abraham leaving all he knew to live in tents for the Lord to be an amazing step of faith. However to put it into perspective and really understand what he was leaving behind really humbles me. I've always thought of his life before and after the call to be primitive. However, based on my recent studies I'm beginning to rethink this. Even though Ur and Harran may seem primitive compared to what we know now, to Abraham what he was giving up was no different than what we would be giving up in today's world. Could I do the same and willingly give up all that I know to follow the call of God? Could you?

He Did It! Potty Time

Okay, so some of you won't care that much, but it is a huge thing for us!

Austin came to me this morning saying he had to go potty. Usually this means we'll spend the time to undress him and put him on the potty, he'll sit there for less than a minute and and say "All done!". Usually there is nothing to show for his efforts, which are usually just him scrunching up his face and trying not to smile.

Today however, he sat down and actually went poo on the toilet. After mommy praised him profusely telling him what a big boy he was, he wanted to get up and see the efforts of his work. I was wondering how that would go over because I still remember the first time Tyler saw her poo in the toilet. She started screaming!

Austin got up, turned around and looked for a second in the toilet. Then he bent down a little and mommy got ready to stop him in case he decided to pick it up. Instead he looked up at me with his big ole dimpled grin and said "Look Mommy! Austin poo'd a hot dog!"

So now I'm hoping it is just a matter of time before we have only one in diapers instead of two! We'll see.

The pictures are ones I took with my camera phone of the proud Austin after the poo'd "hot dogs".

Leaven

Passover (Pesach) this year begins at sundown on April 2nd and ends at sundown April 3rd. On the Hebrew calendar this Feast falls on Nisan 14. With the upcoming Feast I figured now would be a good time to start posting what I’ve been learning about the Feasts of the Lord again. Today I’m gong to be posting about leaven and the symbolism of the unleavened bread eaten at Passover.

That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast.

Exodus 12:8

One of the traditions of the Passover meal is to eat unleavened bread. When the Hebrews left Egypt they were instructed by the Lord to eat unleavened bread that night with their Passover lamb and bitter herbs. In addition, they were not to eat leaven for another seven days (the Feast of Unleavened Bread).

Jews take this very seriously, in that they not only ensure they eat bread without leaven, they clear the entire home of leaven. Preparations for Passover usually begin up to a month prior to Passover in order to clean the home from top to bottom to ensure there is no leaven left. (For tips on preparing your home for Passover visit Preparations for Passover at Hebrew for Christians.)

While many know this tradition symbolizes the haste in which the Hebrews left Egypt, there is an even deeper meaning to be found.

Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast – as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with the bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.

1 Corinthians 5:6-8

This passage is powerful, however understanding the underlying concepts makes it come even more alive.

The Hebrew word for leaven is chometz which means bitter or sour. In the Bible, leaven is almost always a symbol of sin. The Hebrew word for unleavened bread is matzo which means sweet, without sourness.

Jesus even refers to leaven as false doctrine and hypocrisy. (see Matthew 16:11-12, Mark 8:15 and Luke 12:1)

Why is leaven so often used to symbolize sin?

Just a little amount of leaven (yeast) permeates the entire batch and causes dough to rise and become puffed up. It adds volume to the bread while remaining at the same weight. This is similar to when we become prideful and puffed up, thinking we are more than we really are.

During the time of the first Passover Jewish women used the sourdough method of making bread. This consisted of tearing off a chunk of the raw dough to be set aside in a cool moist place prior to forming the dough into loaves to be baked. The next time a batch was prepared for baking, this chunk would be mixed in with the new dough of flour and water and a new chunk would be torn off and set aside for the next batch. By doing this each “generation” of bread was linked by common yeast spores to the previous loaves.

This parallels our sin nature passed down from Adam, which connects each of us to the rest of the human race. Sin left unchecked will quickly flourish and multiply, permeating the entire batch of dough (our life, our community, etc). By becoming a new batch without sin we become like unleavened bread, which is sweet with sincerity and truth, no longer full of malice and wickedness.

For the Hebrews, the putting away of leaven symbolized breaking the cycle of sin and starting a fresh new walk with the Lord. They put away the leaven not to become redeemed (this occurred when they spread the lamb’s blood on their doorposts) but because they were redeemed!

_____________________

Information for this post was gleaned from Christ in the Passover by Ceil and Moishe Rosen and Hebrews for Christians at www.hebrew4christians.com

Leaven

Splat Experience - Woodside Bible Chapel

I received this link this week via email. It is a little long, but I thought it was amazing and wanted to pass it along. If you have sound make sure you have it turned on, as this is not going to be as powerful without the sound. Let me know what you think.

http://www.woodsidebible.org/splatvideo.htm

I'm Famous!? Read my Interview

Okay, so maybe I'm not totally famous, but my blog is now listed on 5 Minutes for Mom and they did an interview with me! Click on the picture above and you can read it!

Also, heads up! Quarter end at work is officially over now and I'm going to start blogging galore again! I have tons to share in the days to come, so stay tuned!

Created to Love by Pastor Cecil A. Thompson

I subscribe to a daily e-votional written by a pastor from Washington State named Cecil A. Thompson. He actually pastors a church which a couple of my high school friends attended for awhile. The other day the e-votional I received from him really spoke to me so I wanted to share it with my blog friends, with his permission of course! If you are interested in subscribing to this daily e-votional (called Blessings from the Heart) I've included the subscription information below.

DAILY-E-VOTIONAL
BLESSINGS FROM THE HEART
March 8, 2007
Pastor Cecil A. Thompson

"CREATED TO LOVE!"
Colossians 1:15-17
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together."

The battle lines have been drawn and the Creation vs. Evolution debate has raged for years. It is no surprise that those who deny Christ, the Bible and the concept of God, are on the side of evolution. Even as every discovery in science has confirmed creation and disproved evolution, they continue to hold their mistaken position.

They are forced into this position, since to accept the creation account, they would be forced to admit there is a God, that the Bible is true, and that they need to accept the Lord into their life. How interesting to discover that a vast number of professed atheists and evolutionists, when they came to the last few moments of their life, cried out to the very God they had denied, to save them.

I will not get started on my proofs for creation as opposed to evolution - - - at least not today! I do want to share with you a thought provoking poem which was sent to me several years ago.

LOVE MEANS EVOLUTION DIDN’T

"They’d like for us to believe that//Mere matter in various forms
Combined in coincident order//Like particles driven by storms.

For millions and millions of ages//Without any reason or rhyme,
Those random events replicated//Until after eons of time.

Some cells became interconnected//Then life in its simplest occurred--
That even without a director/This process was never deterred.

They try to convince us that thousands//Of changes were forced to be made;
Adjustments then deemed as advancing//Yeah right-- only those made the grade.

The odds of the oddest occurrence//Were met during millions of years;
Each chance was allowed its own trial//And bested the best of its peers.
At some point some brain cells developed//They must have or none would survive;
Except for the strong or the many//Whose numbers kept species alive.

The dinosaurs perished as nature//Reached out for the best that evolved,
And unlike the previous failures//With brains all the problems were solved.

And then the intelligent triumphed//The smartest and best beat the rest;
The cave men lost out in the ice age//As men of our ilk passed the test.

The process continued for ages//Excluding the weak and the slow--
Each century ever evolving//Expanding man’s mental plateau.

If so, how does “Love” keep existing//When only the fittest survive?
It’s such an unselfish emotion//What accident kept Love alive?

You’d think that the first time a mother//Paused briefly to wait for her child,
That both of them would have been trampled//The case for extinction thus filed.

If only the fittest move forward//(Their sons lying cold in the dust)
The human race would have been stymied//That thought churns up utter disgust!

For Love took the lowest position//Though meek, science still can’t defy.
So, what fact negates evolution?//God does it, with Love that won't die."

Anonymous

May we live each day with love filling our heart and life. Love that originated with God was made perfect in His Son, given to us through the sacrifice of Jesus and empowering us by the Holy Spirit.

Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today, trust Him completely, and be a blessing.
- - - Pastor Cecil
.......................
SUBSCRIBE: If this newsletter was forwarded to you and you would like to Subscribe, please click on the linked email to mailto:PastorCecil@Daily-E-Votional.com?subject=SUBSCRIBE

BLOG PARTY!!! Come Join

I don't have a lot of time to blog this week with the time I'm spending at work, but I wanted to make sure I participated in this blog party because I love the idea.

It is being hosted by one of my favorite blogs which I visit regularly . . . 5 Minutes for Mom

Take a moment and check it out. It is a great way to find some wonderful new blogs and you can even win prizes if you participate. Many of the prizes have been contributed by those participating in the blog party.

Let the party get started!!!

Snow Time!

Today was Jesse's first experience with the snow. I had to work today (quarter end) so Shaun decided to take a trip to the snow with the kids. Tyler absolutely loved it and he almost had to drag her out of there. She kept looking for bigger hills to take her brand new purple sled down!

Austin just got over a cold and was not quite feeling himself yet, so he was not as excited. Shaun said he kept falling down and would cry each time. He also cried everytime any snow stuck to his gloves. However, he did say he was amazed to see the snow on the way up. Last year I took him with me to Colorado Springs and so he'd been around snow before, but he was just over a year then and I'm not sure he still remembers it. Shaun told me he fell asleep on the way up to the snow today and when he finally woke up, the snow was about 4 or 5 feet high. He said he all of a sudden heard Austin say "Ohh!" and looked back to see him staring out the window with wide eyes.

Jesse loved the snow. Shaun said he just kept grabbing handfuls of snow and stuffing it in his mouth. He said he did not even care about how cold it was and had a "death grip" on his handfuls of snow.

We've decided we need to head up to the snow more often. Next time I'll be able to make it as well and maybe Tyler will let me try out her sled.

Curriculum - What is Appropriate?

I don't usually just link to someone else's posts, however this one I think makes some very good points and it does relate to my family. Our daugther is currently attending private school because we want to have a say in what she is taught and feel we do not have that right with public schools.

It is a bit frustrating when we think about the fact that we are paying taxes for the local public schools AND paying for private school because the state wants to teach our children morals that fly in the face of what we are teaching them. A voucher program as Jodi mentions is a good idea. We are fortunate enough right now to be able to afford to send our daughter to a private school, however once our boys are old enough for school I'm not sure how we'll be able to manage. I'm praying the Lord guides us in how to handle that when the time comes. I know quite a few families who are home-schooling now due to some of these issues.

Jodi has made some really good points regarding a recent ruling in Boston regarding appropriate curriculum. Check it out and let me know your thoughts.

Appropriate Curriculum - Jodi Cowles