paulmoreland.com

Archive for the ‘Family’ Category

Marriage is like a motor. No maintenance tends to cause breakdowns. Are you changing the oil and ensuring proper cooling of the system or is your marriage merely a case of rapid wear and blown headgaskets waiting to happen?

I do believe that we are but pilgrims and strangers on this earth.  We are on a journey, hopefully along The WAY, and therefore our stay here is but temporary.  But part of that journey is learning to serve God by serving others and it behooves us to do the best we can where God places us or where He leads us.

We know that God lead us to our current place of residence and ministry.  We sought His face and His wisdom and His guidance – and He brought us here and has kept us here in the face of many trials and problems.  We also know that our enemy does not wish for us to be here. Read the rest of this entry »

This afternoon I was going through my e-mail and came upon the following quote:

“The most important consequence of marriage is, that the husband and the wife become in law only one person… Upon this principle of union, almost all the other legal consequences of marriage depend. This principle, sublime and refined, deserves to be viewed and examined on every side.” –James Wilson, Of the Natural Rights of Individuals, 1792

This got my cogitation gears to turning and soon I flipped (clicked) to Genesis.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman, ‘ for she was taken out of man.” For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

Read the rest of this entry »

Pornography, porn, dirty pictures, “art”, nasty movies, “eroticism”, freedom of expression… what is it all about? What is, after all, this thing called “pornography”?

The word “pornography” is derived from the greek language. The etymology is as follows:

Greek pornographos, adjective, writing about prostitutes, from porné - prostitute + graphein – to write

But, what does that mean for us today? And why am I writing about this topic? Today the term “pornography” relates not just to “writing about prostitutes” but also to pictures and videos of women who’ve no more morals than a prostitute. And this “industry” is having a negative influence on our society. Read the rest of this entry »

There’s a “social networking” website called “Facebook“. I was a bit leery of such places for a while. The whole “My Space” and such whoopla left me cold. And then I started paying more attention and saw that there’s actually some value to these places. So I set up an account. And then started finding friends, and friends started finding me. The whole thing is interesting, because it shows how we all have rings of influence in our lives. It’s interesting to take a look at friend lists on other people’s profiles. It’s amazing how many of us know the same people – and yet each of us knows oodles of folks the others do not know.

Read the rest of this entry »

Yep, when I was a kid I wasn’t “Smokey’s Friend” – I played with matches. Never did we burn down a forest nor even a house or anything we shouldn’t. But we played with matches. And gun powder, fireworks, power tools, firearms, airguns, slingshots, bicycles, machetes, axes, lead based paint – etc.

And yet, we grew up. All our appendages were intact (in spite of that one incident where we re-enacted a knife fight from a Louis L’Amour novel and someone got their fingers cut) and our hearing wasn’t too badly damaged (I’m only deaf in one ear but can still sometimes hear out of the other – don’t tell my wife) and the only damage to our eye sight was genetic. We rode bicycles without helmets. We played soccer without pads. We played volleyball in the street. We paddled canoes without lifejackets. We climbed trees and chopped them down. OK – THEY climbed the tree and I chopped it down). Skinnydipping, fishing, bee hunting, wasp nest capturing, campfire building, lead smelting, gun building – all these and more were part of our lives. And we lived and grew up and became reasonably stable, sane, productive citizens. Read the rest of this entry »

The thoughts below were provoked by an accident in farming country. A well meaning friend responded to news of the accident in a “I’d NEVER let MY kid do that” way. He was raised in San Francisco, far from rural America. And has absorbed much of the overprotection culture inherent in that bed of socialistic “We’ll save you from life” society. Read the rest of this entry »

The shop. It sat out back of the house. At first, in our case, it was an old wooden shed that my dad had built for storing our household goods while we were out of the country – back up north on “home service” or “furlough”. When we returned and then built our place the shed first provided living quarters for one of the workers who was helping dig the well and then other such labor. Then when we moved in it was where the generator that provided our electricity and water pumping capabilities was kept. It was full of tools and miscellaneous scrap wood and metal and old bolts and nuts and “junk” that gave us many hours of entertaining occupation as we fabricated one thing or another. Later it was replaced by a brick and mortar building that had proper wiring and a concrete floor that was easier to find things on than the old wooden boards that would let stuff drop through to the dirt below. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday was “Hallowed Evening”, popularly known as “Halloween”. The celebration of this pagan holiday has gotten pretty big down here in Colombia. Last night as I went to pick up my wife from work I was faced with teeming throngs of “trick or treaters” moving through the downtown section. Along with the little kids dressed up as a spiderman or a princess and other such “cute costumes” there were also great numbers of teenagers and adults of varying ages dressed up as everything from “Playboy Bunnies” (better known as shameless hussies) to “cats” (I’m guessing here, a black nose with whiskers painted radially around it with pointy ears on top and often a long tail seemed to be an attempt to be a “cat” and was a very popular costume this year to judge from the sampling on the street) Anyway, I was having “fun” dodging around and trying not to run over any of the revelers, not even the stoned out ones that begged for a trip to the hospital by their imprudent chemically induced behavior. And we managed to make it through with no mishaps and only a slight elevation of the blood pressure.

I’ve long wondered why Christians would celebrate this “holiday”. The themes that prevail are dark, sinister and devoted to death, corruption and decay. Look at the “monster” masks, the one that glorify deformity and decay. What about the skeletons, those that celebrate death. And then there’s the “cute little witches” – what’s cute about the occult? Yes, I’m a “kill joy” – when it comes to getting joy from joining in with the camp of the enemy. Why should the sons of light pretend to be sons of darkness – even for one night?

You see, I serve a RISEN Savior. He did NOT undergo corruption and decay. He rose on the third day and lives today preparing a place for those who also turn from death, corruption and destruction to walk in a new life with Him. He came to defeat death. He came to bring LIGHT. He is calling us to also pass from death to life and to walk in the light even as He walks in the light. So why would we want to celebrate death, corruption, decay and darkness? This is something I do not understand.

And then comes another “holiday”. “Christ’s Mass” – popularly known as “Chrismas” – is a celebration of the coming of the Christ to bring new life and hope to those who walked in darkness. Yes, we KNOW He was not really born on December 25 but we DO celebrate the birth of a Child Who came to give His life for us so that we can walk in God’s light. And since we do not know what day He was born, December 25 works as well as any other date. I’ve no problem with that, just as I have no problem celebrating my wife’s birthday on October 30. As an adopted child she has no idea what day or hour she came into this world. A judge said “Let’s call it October 30″ and they did. So now each year we celebrate her birthday on October 30 – even though the real day could conceivably be much earlier or even later in the year. What matters is that she WAS born and this celebration is a celebration of her coming into this world – and I especially celebrate because the Lord brought her into this world to serve as my life partner, no matter what day she was born.

Now that the darkness and corruption of Halloween are behind us, let us turn our hearts and minds to the coming popular festival of Christmas. Let us prepare ourselves to put Christ back into the celebration. Why use some fat guy dressed in red as a symbol of the Savior’s coming? Why use a tree covered with baubles and lights? Let’s let folks know the REAL “Reason For The Season” this year. Let’s make sure folks KNOW that we’re celebrating the fact that Jesus the Christ came to earth as a baby and that He grew into a Man who was MORE than a man, ultimately giving His life as a ransom for many. The manger or the empty cross can equally symbolize the coming of the Christ. Yes, He came as a baby – but He came on a mission. He came to live and die and rise again to proclaim His authority and power and ability to help us too overcome the death and corruption brought into this world by the evil one.

In a way we too celebrate death. We celebrate that the “baby of Bethlehem” came to die for us, allowing us to escape the trap of the devil and to walk in the Light of our Creator. Now as we head towards “Thanksgiving” and then on to “Christmas” let us take time to encourage each other to truly walk as children of the Light. We have much to be thankful for this year, not the least of which is the opportunity to live as Christ would live in our place. We are not perfect, but we know He Who can help us to throw off the sin that so easily entangles us. We know that He can help us to live according to His will, in spite of our weakness and frailty. He is glorified through our weakness because He uses us for His glory, first by changing our pitiful lives and then by using us to help change others.

Remember during the upcoming holiday season that Christ is not necessarily glorified through the gifts we give, not that giving gifts is wrong. He is not necessarily glorified through the variety and quantity of fine food on our tables, not that preparing feasts and enjoying them with friends and family are wrong. He is not glorified through the parties and the holiday “rush and bustle” as we try to make it to this party or to find that gift. During the upcoming “holiday season” He is glorified when we put off the old man we once were and as we live in the new life to which He has called us. So, let’s not conform ourselves to the image of the worldly season of greed and emptiness, let us be transformed by renewing our minds so that we can live as Christ would live in our place. Let His light shine through us so that those who see us will glorify our Father above.

As the Apostle wrote:

1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:1-17

Well, it’s been almost a week since she came into our lives.  We’d talked about picking up a pup and checked our local pound.  They had few younger dogs to choose from, and of those only two that looked like what we wanted, small non poodle type pups.  Well, I picked one out and made arrangements for her to be spayed and then I’d pick her up.  When we came by on the appointed day, she’d contracted the parvo virus and didn’t survive.  And nothing else in the pound caught our eye.  So we went to the neighboring city pound and there we found much better conditions for the animals as well as a way to check them out better, we could actually interact with them in an open yard.  There was one little black pup that caught my eye, but she was more than shy, she seemed terrified of people.  They had three month old or so pups that looked about ready to burst from their overstuffed tummies, but they had a lot of poodle in them (apparently) and I didn’t want one THAT young either.  There was a three legged bitch that kept following me around, but she was much older than we’d thought and I wasn’t sure about my ability to adjust to the needs of a three legged animal.  And there was an ugly mutt with a severe undershot jaw and a hairdo that looked like something out of the movie “Gremlins”.  But the one that really stood out was a small black and tan bitch about three to four months old that while not overly friendly wasn’t extremely shy either.  And when I saw her brighten up at the sight of the folks who cared for her, well that clinched the deal.  So we asked for more info and they said she’d shown up with one eye hanging out, apparently abandoned on the street and who knows WHAT happened.  But they got her eye back in and she’d healed up well.  So we signed on the dotted line and brought her home, with a commitment to take her back for her shots and spaying once she’d overcome the swelling still found around her eye.  No permanent damage apparent there, but she also has a hernia.  Poor thing, she’s had a rough life, but you can’t tell it now!  She does well in the backyard on her own when we’re out, no whining or fussing at all.  And when we’re in the house and let her in, she’s right behind us, nipping our heels and letting us know she loves attention.  She’s no longer the shy little scrawny pup we picked up just five days ago, she’s really blossomed out and is already gaining weight.  Our main worry is that she’ll not be as small as we’d thought, if she keeps growing like this she may outgrow her crate!  Anyway, enough for words.  I’ll toss in a couple thousand words’ worth below…