Help, I am stuck in a pit!

Okay, I've been a little distracted this week, a little stressed, quite anxious actually.... I could name any number of circumstances as the source; I wrote of one such situation in my previous entry. Tonight I just want to get of the pit and into the light of Christ. His perspective is so different from mine - I am sure of it. I need His perspective tonight! To set my sights on obtaining Godly insight, I am reviewing some recent quiet time reflections.

On 2/17/09 (wow - that feels like months ago), I read and reflected on Acts 7:51-59 (NLT). This is the portion of scripture when Stephen boldly confronted the religious leaders. Here are his words:

"You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? But your ancestors did, and so do you. Name one prophet your ancestors didn't persecute! They even killed the ones who predicted the coming of the Righteous One - the Messiah whom you betrayed and murdered. You deliberately disobeyed God's law, though you received it from the hands of angels."

Wow - Stephen did not mince any words, did he? This clearly maddened his audience - they were "infuriated" and "shook their fists in rage." In these moments, Stephen saw the glory of God!

This evening in the local newspaper, a man wrote a letter to the editor responding to a recent controversy. It is a typical Christian vs. non-Christian public debate: the Christians are standing up for what they believe to be true while the non-Christians respond with accusations of intolerance. Public debates of this kind are disturbing to me. The writer states, "It has been my experience to see Christian faithful use God for violence and hatred.... I just can't understand how it is preached that God is love and all forgiving and to see Christians with such hatred for one group or another." Hmmm.

What are the underlying assumptions of these words? Based on anecdotal evidence from this man's perspective, Christians are violent and hateful. Also based on anecdotal evidence from this man's perspective, God is loving and forgiving. So, I ask: Is every Christian violent and hateful? Does love mean that humans can not disagree with one another? Is is possible to receive forgiveness when one does not recognize his/her need of it?

No one enjoys being negatively stereotyped - neither believers nor unbelievers. On one hand, I am offended by this author's words about me. On the other hand, this author does not claim to know Jesus, so I can neither expect him to know Truth, nor can I expect the Holy Spirit to reveal Truth to him. In short, the author can not speak of God's love and forgiveness because the author does not know God.

The next sentence is heartbreaking, "I myself have shied away from Christianity just for this reason, how can I believe in God and watch his faithful resent and hate others...." If I could respond to this man (and I do not believe a letter to the editor would be an effective response), I would say, "Dude, you are watching the wrong players!" Humans, faithful to God or not, will always disappoint, but, in a devoted relationship, God will not."

Stephen was in a devoted relationship with Jesus. He followed the teachings of Jesus closely on earth. He courageously stood up for what he believed based on his relationship with Jesus. He ranted before the religious leaders and God smiled down upon him with approval. "Stand up for you what you believe. Be courageous. Be strong. And everything you do must be done in love." (Acts 4:13, NLT). Stephen had the love, but the leaders did not choose to accept it; the leaders did not know to accept it. As a result, Stephen was brutally stoned to death. "Then they put their hands over their ears, and drowning out his voice with their shouts, they rushed him. They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him" (Acts 7:57-58a, NLT).

Over Christmas break, I read The Kite Runner. Khaled Hosseini described a death by stoning in this book. Had I not lent it to a friend, I would add the desciption here. Without it, you will have to rely on my recollection: It was sickening!

Unbelievers witnessing, or hearing of, Stephen's death might have deduced that Stephen's life was meaningless saying, "He died standing up for a lie. What good does that accomplish?" Based on scripture, we know of several huge by-products of Stephen's death. One of those by-products viewed the event as an unbeliever, "The official witnesses took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul" (Act 7:58b). Yes, this is The Saul who later in Acts is renamed Paul! I don't know about you, but I would die for that by-product.

A few years ago a friend faced the possibility of death at a very young age. She had children similar to the ages to my own baby boys. I remember pleading with Christ to save her life. I also remember the response He laid in my heart - If someone else could lead your sons to Christ and into purposeful lives of Christlike service other than you, then would you be willing to die and trust me with your boys? Ummm, I know the answer is supposed to be "Yes!" but that is a hard one, God.

Following Christ does not promise a life of ease, freedom from pain, and limited to zero persecution. Following Christ does promise purposeful living (and dying), a future with Christ as King, and powerful support for the burdens of this earth.

Dear Jesus, You have pulled me out of the pit tonight and shined the light of your perspective upon me. Thank You - May your Name be praised!

All you have to do is ask!

I am thrilled with the advice I have received regarding protecting our children from internet evil - and that is exactly what it is! My friend Kris, from Nebraska, recommends K9 - it is free. My friends The Wests, from Mount Vernon, recommend B-Safe - I believe they said it is $50 a year.

My cousin, Chad Keller, from Seattle, who works for Microsoft gave some great information and he agreed to be my "guest speaker" today.

Here is what Chad has to say:

I like to keep it simple. Windows Vista has some standard tools that I really like in this regard. When we started getting pre-teen and teen foster kids, we really needed a plan for internet usage. With our kids growing so fast, and learning how to use google to find things, I had to act fast as well. Ticking time bomb...

So first, I created ... 3 separate accounts: Kids, Teens, Parents. The teens have a password that the parents know. The kids have no password. The parents have a password that only we know....

Second, use the schedule tool that allows you to turn off their account based on day of week and time of day. So no more argueing about "I just need 10 more minutes!" and then having that same discussion all the time (10 turns into 30 pretty fast!). They are booted off their account at 9pm or whatever we set it to...

Next, what do we feel is safe for them? We all know a 'safe' site can have links that take kids to non-safe sites - just a click away.

Most filtering is not effective: too many workarounds and accidents....

So again, keep it simple. With windows vista, you can lock down their internet access 100%. I start there. Then I ask them for a list of sites they want. If I approve, I add them to their account. I add others I know are safe as well. So the kids have about 20 sites, and the teens 30ish. No google. No myspace. No youtube. If they don't like it, they don't have to use our computer....

We do allow email on the teen account. But there is no risk of clicking a link and ending up at a bad site or downloading a virus or spyware...

Also, while not looking good to the eye, we've found that many ads on the safe sites are avoided. Ads that are generated from a non-approved site don't work.

Anyway, if you want more info on how to set this up, let me know.

-Chad

My (Heidi) first question is: What if we do not have Vista, but XP?

Chad says:

For XP, try these links for some info. Not as straight forward as Vista, but I think you can still lock it down pretty good.

http://www.windows-help-central.com/parental-controls-in-windows-xp.html

http://www.microsoft.com/protect/family/guidelines/basics.mspx

http://www.microsoft.com/protect/products/family/onecarefamilysafety.mspx

Many thanks go to Chad!! He and Rebecca are an incredible Christian couple who love kids and have made it their ministry to foster kids and teens. Wow - they are amazing! It is very exciting to see and hear about God working in their lives and in the lives of their children and foster children.

Some Helpful Links Regarding Parenting

See Lysa TerKeurst's Feb. 25, 2009 Blog Entitled "Oh My Words."

See Focus on the Family's Broadcasts for Feb. 24 & 25 on "Teaching Sexual Purity to your Kids" Part 1 and Part 2.

On another note, I have subsribed to a "Lenten Series" by Women of Faith. Since today is Ash Wednesday, I thought some of you might be interested.

I need a little help from my friends!

Lest you think I have it all together (what a joke!?!), let me tell you what I discovered yesterday.

But first, let me give you some background insight about me.... When we brought our firstborn home from the hospital, I was petrified! I had read many books and articles while pregnant; I had baby-sat many, many hours during my youth, but nothing prepared me for what it would feel like to have my own child - utterly dependent on me to sustain his life 24/7. I remember picking up baby/child resource book and thumbing through it. I came to the chapter on potty-training and I felt the life sucked from me.... How in the world would I accomplish that feat!!! I could not even think about it. Well, at 3 years and 3 months both of my sons were potty-trained (I waited for my mom to come visit - ha)! Yes, it was a little late - especially in light of the current trends to potty-train infants (whatever!?!), BUT we had so few "accidents" I could probably count them on one hand.

Anyway, I say this to illustrate that I am not good at dealing with these types of lifespan changes. I drag my feet, worry about it, dread it - you name it! I am so thankful for my even-keeled husband and my ever-so helpful mom. Tanner and Tyler have no idea how weak their mother really is as it relates to them! SOOOO, guess what Friday brings - the 5th grade puberty movie at Tanner's school!?!?!?!?!? Hello? I remember that day at Washington Elementary like it was yesterday!!! My baby was just potty-trained and now we're expecting puberty! Once again, Steve, you are going to have to lead the way because my stomach is nervous just writing this post!

Just is case you are wondering - that is not what I discovered yesterday. Tanner is 11 and in 5th grade. He loves sports, especially football (though I am really pushing soccer, which is clearly not working at this point). He subscribes to Upper Deck Kids, a sports website, and we allow him to IM with his friends. To do these things, we have allowed him to have an email address that is connected to ours. He doesn't use email to communicate, yet. Yesterday I checked his email account just to see what was going on there.... He is receiving some awful spam - which, thankfully, he is clueless about right now.... I believe it is associated with the sports-related websites he frequents. Once I picked up my jaw from the floor, I quickly realized that we need to step up our internet precautions - BIG TIME. I don't know everything about boys, but I do know they do not need temptations dropped in front of them and puberty is at our doorstep. Oh Lord, help us (especially me)!

What do you do to protect your children from the internet? I need advice about filters and such because the intenet is a part of our home - we are focusing on protection and discernment, rather than avoidance. Our computers are in public locations, we monitor the boys' usage, but I need to be a few (big) steps ahead of them. I need your practical advice (and your prayers)!

The Book of Acts = Pebbles, Ripples, Circles

I need focused options for my quiet times with Jesus. As I have mentioned before, I am memorizing Scripture, journaling, and reading the Book of Acts - though not all on the same day. My pastor also provides study questions with his sermons each week - I really enjoy working through the questions. With the Book of Acts, I am slowing making my way through the Life Application Bible Commentary. I prefer to purely read the Bible first seeking how the Holy Spirit is teaching me, so reading the commentary is usually secondary.

Going back to the beginning of Act, there are several notes from the Life Application Bible Commentary I want to highlight. The Book of Acts introduces two Truths: 1) Christ's resurrection is fact, and 2) the presence of the Holy Spirit is real (p. 1). Believing in Christ has several privileges including: the Holy Spirit as teacher/revealer of The Word, the power to be inwardly transformed, and the opportunity to join Christ in His work on earth (p. 6). In the culture of Jesus' life on earth, the Jews were awaiting the Messiah to bring an earthly kingdom of wealth and power. The actual kingdom Christ brought to earth was, and continues to be, a Spiritual kingdom within the hearts and lives of Believers. We are still awaiting the earthly kingdom promised upon Christ's return.

As I read of how the Jews and the disciples struggled with the political rulers of their day, I relate at some level - I am not satisfied with the politics of our day. I am drawn to reading Acts because I want to understand how Jesus taught the disciples to live in their day so that I might know how to live a God-glorifying life in 2009. "History is not haphazard or cyclical; it is moving toward a specific point - the return of Jesus to judge and rule over the earth. We should be ready for his sudden return" (p. 11).

Jesus' last recorded words on earth were:

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8, NIV).

The Bible commentary goes on to say that our experience of Christ is "like ripples caused by a pebble thrown into a pond, not stopping at just your city or state but moving beyond regional influences to the very 'ends' of the earth" (p. 10). This is where my purpose for the blog originated. The Book of Acts, through the leadership of the Holy Spirit, is guiding me to start where I currently am and allow my experience with Christ to be made known and shared. You, my friends and bloggy readers, are a part of the ripples and circles made from the pebble of Christ made known through each of us, His children. My litmus test is: Does (fill-in-the-blank) please God? If the answer is "yes," then go for it believing He will guide each step.

Those of you who have made yourselves known to me are in my prayers by name. For those who have not made themselves know to me, you are still in my prayers - God knows your names. We are sisters in Christ, we are divinely loved, and we have an exciting purpose on this earth.

It's a Slow Fade....

As the mom of 2 boys, I frequently think about the evils that vie for their attention. My oldest is 11 and my youngest is almost 9. Two summers ago they were literally a few feet from me when they happened upon a pornographic website. I fluctuate between anger and fear in considering the ease with which such filth is available to the innocent eyes of my beautiful sons.

My husband and I believe the very best thing we can do for our boys is to talk with them frequently about how we protect ourselves from evil; about how we discern between good and evil; about how to make wise choices on a daily basis. The boys often question us about why we do not allow them to watch certain TV programs and movies, and why we care so much about the types of video games they play and websites they frequent. Most of what they are interested in right now is not too questionable, but their interests are only a few short steps away from more serious issues. If we open our home to questionable media at 11 and 9 years, then what will we be facing in at 18 and 16 years of age?

The following song by Casting Crowns is featured in the recent film titled Fireproof. It is a powerful reminder of the short steps that lie between innocence and deep hurt in families. We are trying to teach our boys that everything we do has an impact on others. We are trying to prepare them to consider how the choices they will make as teenagers might affect their futures. We are trying to show the boys how our choices today impact their futures. If they do not experience a Godly marriage through Steve and I, then they will have a difficult time being Godly adults. Who each of us is today has a whole lot to do with our early experiences in our homes of origin - not that God can not do some serious damage control if we allow Him to work in us - Praise His Name (because none of us are perfect, right?)!

Ideas to Quiet Your Mind & Quench Your Soul

I have been thinking of items to blog about, and several ladies have spoken of a common theme: struggles with having a consistent, high-quality quiet time. I can certainly relate! Several of my friends are currently reading a chronological Bible. I think I would like this one, or maybe this one.

Lysa TerKuert, one of my favorite bloggers (and the speaker for MVNU's 2010 Women's Retreat), wrote an inspiring blog recently about this Bible (it is from November 14, 2008). Whoa - amazing! I have also recently read a great book by Lysa titled What Happens When Women Say Yes to God. Good stuff!

My personal inspirational favorites are: anything by Beth Moore or Stormie Omartian, Henry Blackaby's Experiencing God, and Anne Graham Lotz's Just Give Me Jesus Journal (which outlines an inductive form of Bible study). I would love to hear what others have found particularly helpful! Leave a comment, if you choose.

Need an inspirational reason to seek God? I like Colossians 3:2 -

"Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."

P.S. I learned how to add links today - can you tell? :)