Does Time Heal All Wounds?

I have heard the statement that "Time heals all wounds." I have even used it on occasion until one day when I stopped and thought about the ramifications of this statement.

Time does not heal all wounds!  Time can heal wounds of a physical nature, but what about wounds that are inflicted with the desired interest of painful, lasting jolts of insult, hurt, and the ultimate destruction of the soul.

"Surely," you may ask, "no one would deliberately hurt someone to give them lasting or permanent pain?"

Yes, we see it everyday.  My sermon this past week was called "The Big Lie" and I spoke of the way we use our words and that the old saying "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" is a lie.  Words hurt and there are those who are out there viciously hurting others with their words.

Many reasons are at the root of this attitude.  I remember a sermon I heard from one of my mentors, Jim Hackney.  He told of the children in the sand box playing together until one of them became upset at how the playing had progressed.  Ultimately all play stopped and words were slung with the savagery with the power that even adults will many times avoid.  One of the children who had a sand shovel and pale decided she/he didn't like the way things were going and so left the group vowing never to return.

We, as adults many times, do the same thing in our relationships and wounds are created and over time begin to fester and even bleed in an emotional mess.  Words can maim, wound and yes, even kill relationships and even total groups of people.

Time can't heal all those wounds.  It is impossible for them to go away, even when healed, without leaving the visible scars that torment us for the rest of our lives.  Words, used in anger, jealousy, hate, etc. are better left unspoken, because time does not heal all wounds, but scars remind us for the rest of our lives.

Be careful to choose slowness of speech as you are confronted with the situations in life that bring about the desire to sling the arrows of disgust, hatred, and anger.  Words do hurt and time can never heal all wounds.

I'll see you later!

The Political Side of Me

I was sitting at my desk and reading some of the political junk that is floating around.  There, I said it.  I think it is junk.

Look, as a Christian I have to do what I can to inform and encourage those around me who might not be as morally motivated as I am.  So, let me make just a few statements that will let you know where I come from on my political views.

First...I believe in doing things the way I believe the Bible teaches and I always try to ask the question "what would Jesus do?"  I really believe that this is a great start to any decision. 

Second...I will not vote for someone who is affiliated with or believes in a platform of acceptance to abortion, same sex marriage, or has a lack of moral fiber based upon the establishment of this country through its constitution.

Third...I will not vote for someone who wants to make bigger government. I think that the "fathers of our country" wanted us to be governed by men of the community not career politicians.

There, I said it.  These are the three things I think about the most when it comes to my vote.  Where a man stands on my issues will determine my vote.

I'll see you later!

Time to Go!

Ready? Set? Go!

My granddaughter said this over and over as she would run from one side of their living room to the other.  The only thing is she would begin running before she got to "Go!"  I laughed and told her to not leave before she said go.  Quick as a flash she answered me, "NO!  I got to go fast!"

How many times are we in such a rush in our lives that we start running before it is time and before we get to "Go!"?  I have found myself in those situations so many times I can't count them.  You get ready to do something but you are too ready and you jump the gun.

In track, if you jump the gun too many times you are disqualified for trying to gain an unfair advantage.  In life, if you jump the gun, you are just not doing your part with as much thought as you probably should have in the process.  I wonder if our lives are lived trying to gain an unfair advantage. 

My granddaughter wasn't trying to defeat anyone in a race, she just wanted to get where she was going "fast!"  The mentality that we have in our society is that getting there first or the fastest means we are better than those behind us. 

In Christianity, it isn't who finishes first, it is just finishing.  "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace." Acts 20:24.

But it is important to run to win the prize "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize." 1 Corinthians 9:24 But we never jump the gun or run in a way to cause others to question our motives.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us..." Heb.12:1

I need to plan my future but I need to run a good race.  I need to plan it out and live life as to win the prize at the end of the race, but I also need to run the race cleanly so that others watching will realize I have not "jumped the gun" or run in a way that could cost me the prize.

Run to try to win, but run with the intent of finishing, and never jump the gun or make others question the motive behind your race.

I'll see you later!

You Say There Is No God?

I have faith that there is a God, so much so that I do not doubt at all His existence nor His work in my life. You have faith that there is no God and I am sure that your faith is just as strong. The outcome of this is that my faith looks forward to an eternity in heaven because of my acceptance of my God and His teachings. Yours is that there is nothing after this life. If I had your faith, I

look forward to nothing. If I have faith in my God I look forward to everything. Which has the better faith?

Proof is in the faith because we don't have people coming back from the grave never to die again. That only happened once. My question is, your faith enslaves you to the laws and regulations of this world. My faith frees me from the outcome of this world. My faith is hope. Your faith is...well, I don't see the world getting a lot better in my lifetime. And if I had your faith, why would I care?

Just curious

God's Purpose for Music

I found this today and wanted to share it with you.  Thanks for taking time out of your day to see what I have to say.

 

What is the biblical approach to music in the church and in the life of the Christian? And why does it matter to the Holy Spirit.
Throughout the New Testament as well as the Old, biblical music and singing is vocal, joyful and respectful to God and finds its origin with God (Exodus 15:1,21; Acts 16:26; Rev. 5:9). The use of a concordance to find verses that contain the words: "song," "singers" and "singing," will confirm that God has purpose in music.
Notice particularly the special assignments given to singers and the special provision for singers in 2 Chronicles and Nehemiah. God also uses trumpets, harps, and other musical instruments for His purpose.

Satan also instigates the use of music amongst God's people to enhance his deceitful influence. Obviously, he has accomplished his agenda amongst many well intended Christians. Particularly, we see a weak endeavor to know what kind of music comes from the heart of God and what derives from the mind of Satan and little desire to discern the difference.

The music pattern and methodology of your church is very revealing about the intent and motive that drives that ministry. The fact is: what motivates us, conforms us, thus, methodology is conceived. For many Churches, the devil has a manipulating strong hold in the area of music that is emotionally driven. Churches across all denominational lines have been seduced to a false and vain obligation to provide a non-convicting environment through the use of musical enhancement and entertainment.

Charles Spurgeon, the great English Baptist preacher, declared with conviction:

"The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the Church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them... providing amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the Church...The need is biblical doctrine, so understood and felt that it sets men of fire."

The character of Biblically based music is distinctly different in its origin and purpose. It is not intended to draw the world... it is separate from the world. Unlike biblical music, worldly methodology in music with religion sprinkled on it, is at its core a predator for the emotion of the vulnerable and carnal believer... while biblical based methodology in music compels devotion to the one and only true God... The Lord Jesus Christ (Col. 3;16). Amen!

Sincerely, Dr. Arthur Belanger

How Do I Feel About 8-1-12

I want everyone to know that I do not hate anyone nor do I believe we should hate anyone.  I believe that you have the right to your life and I have a right to mine.  My beliefs are based upon the word of God and I will stand for that as long as I live on Face Book, my blog, or anywhere else in my life.

You may not agree with what I believe and God gave you that right and I will accept and honor that right.  I may try to persuade you to see through God’s word how I believe if it seems that our understandings are different, but I will try to listen with an open mind to what you have to say. 

You have the right to your opinions as does everyone else on the face of this earth.  I will not condemn the person that I differ with in my beliefs unless it harms me or my way of life.  I will not picket, nor will I stand and scream at you for what you do with your life.  I will differ with your opinions and stand against them if they violate, or seem to violate the word of God.

However, I do not understand how standing up for something I believe in makes me an enemy or judge of men.  I can only state what I believe and as long as it is legal in this country to do so I promise I will do just that.  I believe that God gave us all that right and it is our right in the constitution of our country.

God gave mankind His word that we call the Bible.  It is written to those who believe in Him and want to follow Him.  In His word he gives us the examples of how we are to live and how we should share that with those in our world.  Not everyone is going to accept this way of life and there is nothing I can do about it. I will, however, love and respect you as a creation of God and hope and pray that we will remain friends.  I will never disown someone who holds a different belief than me, unless I am compelled by God’s word to do so.

I may not spend as much time with some as I do others because of these differences, but it does not mean that there is no love for them in my heart.  I believe in my heart that I try to love every person I meet with the hope of getting to know them better so that I may allow my beliefs to be shared with all men.

I will continue to stand for what I believe and what I understand the Bible to say.  If your opinion is different than mine, so be it.  We will just have to differ.  I still care about you and your stand with God and that is my primary reason for standing for what I believe.  May God grant us the ability to share our thoughts with anyone who asks us about what we believe in.

May He bless us all in our lives.

 I’ll see you later.

Grounded!

Grounded was a term that started sometime when I was a kid.  I don't remember being grounded.  I remember getting what we called a "whoopin", which we deserved most of the time.  "Whippings" got my attention and I believe that they filled the need of discipline in my life anyway.

Then we grounded our children.  There is nothing to do but go to your room and sulk.  Think about what you have done (in reality figure a way to do a better job of not getting caught next time ) and  consider what you did that made you have to enter that solitude and desolate place called your bedroom.  Parents then quickly forgot their children, and the children made sure that they would do better (yes, a better job of not getting caught.)

I am calling for making a change!  Let's do something that will make our children and grandchildren realize that when they do something wrong they are going to have to receive something that disciplines them into understanding that they don't ever what to do that again.  I don't know what that is but let me give you some thoughts on this.

First, when your children need discipline...just do it.  But what ever you do, don't make it something that they will quickly forget the ramification of.  It needs to be a memorable experience.  They need to know that certain behavior is not acceptable and will "cost" them something for behaving in an unacceptable way.

Second, love them through it.  You can discipline without your child thinking you hate them.  They are not even capable of understanding the amount of love you have for them when you are disciplining them.  I know I didn't, and I don't think my children did either.  But, I do know that my children, for the most part, understand that I loved them more than they knew at the time.  Why?  Because I made them understand there were repercussions to certain actions that caused them to think about what they were doing and why.

Finally, pray for them.  Pray with them and pray for them.  Let them hear you talk to God concerning them and their actions.  They will get it at some point if you are sincere in your prayer life concerning them.  They need to know that God is that important to you.  Never give up your faith and your faith will never give up on you.

Think about it!  What if God grounded you?

I'll see you later.