Today's post is simply this

Dealing with the heart of the matter.

Ever feel like this??

Invisible

20/20 IFB episode

This was big news in my circles.  If you missed it, you can watch it here.  It is the story of child abuse that seems to fly under the radar.  This is one story of many.  How is it that things like this are allowed to be buried in our churches?  These are churches who claim to have cornered the market on God's Word and the truth.  If you aren't of them, then you are not right with God.  


The importance of hiding such sin is one of appearances.  We have fostered an attitude of appearances above truth.  (Please note that not all churches are allowing such corruption to be hidden.  There are enough, however, to warrant television media attention.)  As long as we appear good to outsiders, then by all means we are good.  Christ talked about this when he addressed the pharisees and called them whited sepulchres.  They were beautiful outside but the inside was corrupt.  


God has given us the means of taking care of sin in our midst.  We love to tout Matthew 18 and church discipline.   Let's face it, church discipline is hard.  It hurts.  The thing is, it works to keep us pure.  So, instead of dealing with the sins of our leaders, we let it go.  We blame the abused and ship them off to places like Hephzibah House.  We cause our children to flee our religion because our religion tolerates sin in the leadership because leadership is never wrong.  It is never to be called to answer because leadership speaks for God.


What is the proper course of action in questions like this?  We must turn the abuser over to the law of the land.  This is a crime.  We must allow the sin to be pointed out and dealt with publicly in our churches, and then allow the law to take its course.  So what if that means a preacher goes to jail for molesting children?  So what if that means the good name of the church is called into question?  How much better is it for the church to respond nobly and properly than to wait for 20/20 to pull it through the mud?


I Corinthians 11:31 says that if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.  What a mockery of Christ's name when we try to cover our sin.  Have we not spent years hearing sermons about sin being brought to light?  We must be honest people above all others.  We must not handle the Word of God deceitfully.  We have got to trust that when we do what HE has commanded us, we will be safe in HIS hands.   We can trust HIM when we follow HIM.

Nice little updates

Well, it appears that we finally have the results of Michael's black belt test.  He failed two areas of the test.  Normally if one fails two areas, he must retake the test at a later date.  If he fails one area of the test, it is called a conditional pass and you must complete that area successfully before you get your belt.  However, in Michael's case it is being called conditional pass.  He will have to redo forms and board breaks in June at the next test.  I guess that's okay. 


My dishwasher arrived, but they wouldn't install it because the shut off valve leaks.  Of course, at halfway closed, it streams water.  If they had closed it all the way, they would have seen two drips a minutes and I'm pretty sure they could have worked with that.  I have to call and have them come out again.  I think the issue may have been that it was Friday and they wanted an early day.  Anyway, my dishwasher is now sitting in my garage where it won't be manhandled while we wait for installation.


My toaster died.  It was a nice 4 slice Krups and it lasted about 5 years.  You have to understand that appliances around here get heavy use.  Dishwashers only live out half their expected lifetime.  When another family  might get a toaster that lasts through the children and then some, ours gets used every day, several times a day.  We don't fix minor appliances.  The dishwasher is the only major appliance we don't fix.  Rod has fixed my dryer.  He's fixed my washing machine until he can't fix it anymore.  But for some reason, we don't mess with the dishwashers.

Local happenings

Two weeks ago (about) Michael had the privilege of testing for his black belt, first Dan.  It takes about two weeks for the results.  The results are in and...we still don't know whether he passed or failed because his name is listed in both columns.  We hope to know by tomorrow night what the deal is with that.

Rod is travelling abroad for work again.  The climate is warm and sunny for him.  As long as he keeps away from public crowded places, he will probably be safe.  His luggage was waylaid in Toronto, and then again in Tel Aviv.  He was in Ashkelon for 5 days before he got it.

This is a view of the Mediterranean from Tel Aviv.  Incredible, isn't it?


We have been down with various illnesses for most of the past three weeks.  It hasn't been a lot of fun here.  Someone coughing, someone puking, someone just not feeling up to par has been our order.


Tomorrow, my new dishwasher will arrive.  I've been without for about 5 months now.  I assure you that I will be grateful for this piece of machinery.  


These may seem like such small things, but I need to describe it like this: God has chosen to define my life as wife and mother. My family is my world.  I want nothing else; I need nothing else but those things which help me in these roles.  

Sometimes, I'm just on the verge

Sometimes, the urge to write becomes unbelievably strong.  I know that there is an earth-shattering subject close at hand--just on the tip of my brain.  I have that feeling tonight, but I cannot quite get to it.  My heart is full of rejoicing, so I could cheat and copy one of the Psalms.  I could write my own poem.  The problem is that I am not quite certain of the source of this joy.


I take that back.  I do know the source of this joy.  It is Christ.  It is the greatness of HIM who loves me beyond  anything that I deserve.  When I see HIM answer prayers just because HE can and I know that it isn't because I deserve it--but because HE loves to do great things--I am amazed.  When I know that all of my moments are securely in HIS hands, I am at peace.


When my heart is overwhelmed and I cannot look up to HIS face, HE comes and lifts my head for me.  


I have a God who is for me all that I cannot be.  Where are the words to express all of that?  I'm sure they do not exist in this world.

The oddest discovery

I discovered last night that cabbage seems to have some very powerful medicinal uses.  I am sensitive to wheat, but can tolerate it now.  Sometimes I over do it and my respiratory system is affected.  My sinus get inflamed and occasionally my soft palate swells.  I typically take Benadryl but now, I believe I have found a new remedy. 


Last night I ate some leaves of raw cabbage.  About an hour later, I noticed that my sinuses felt more open.  When I got home from church I did some searching on cabbage and found that it seems to have anti-inflammatory properties.


This morning, I tried again.  I had toast for breakfast.  I had enough to cause the swelling.  I ate a few cabbage leaves and once again, the swelling is gone.  If I can take care of the swelling with a natural food and avoid the Benadryl, I'm very happy with that.  I don't really have the time to hit the drowsy period always brought on by the Benadryl.


You can read about cabbage here.

This doesn't mean I'm going to start eating wheat just because I can eat cabbage.  It just means that I'm going to start experimenting with what cabbage can do.