Potpourri – Page 13 – The Welcome Home

“Off the Face of the Earth”

My husband reads to us at night. He has done this for many, many years. The things he reads don’t always sound like they’re going to be the most interesting and certainly not necessarily ‘entertaining.’ I’m always glad for what he reads, though. It’s never a waste of time — far from it.

Last night he read us a story — the incredible story of survival of a group of Holocaust Survivors… who escaped certain death by hiding in one of the world’s largest caves. You can read this story for yourself here.

God has been so very, very merciful to us all. I kept thinking of the times we’ve fretted life… considering our small. small. inconveniences and trials. I shall never forget this story. Ever.

New Year’s Resolutions

It happens every year. I resolve to do this or that thing – more or less or better or not at all. In addition to those resolves, I always think there’s something unique or particularly inspiring about the New Year. New Year. New calendar. New date book. New pages for the notebook — yes, as antiquated as it is and it remains, my palm pilot, my blackberry, my iphone, my lapbook, etc., etc is, simply: a spiral bound notebook of lined paper in which I write notes, message, recipes, web addresses, grocery lists, quotes, Scripture verses. And doodles.

Another thing coincidentally happens. I sort of secretly resolve to not resolve to do anything new/better/different/again. Well, except to lose weight, read through my Bible, spend more time in prayer, spend more time with my family, exercise, read more, write a book, blog more regularly…

It’s like I attempt to trick myself into complying with new (actually, old – but recycled) resolutions. I do this by saying I’m not going to make any *written* resolutions. I say: I’m just going to do a few things better.

Two days into the New Year’s Resolutions new year I’ve already had some recalibrating (I got that one from President Obama). I’m recalibrating several things. My time schedule, bedtime schedule, weightloss, exercise routines and Bible reading. My-o-my is it ever easy to set lofty goals on December 30th. You know, when the resolve to not eat any more Christmas goodies is strongly in place — you know, bcz you’re sort of full & tired of them — that, and the New Year looks far off!! And doable.

It’s easy to sort of smugly think you’ll do so much better with the new year on the horizon — that, and a new decade, too!

So, if you’ve already had to readjust or recalibrate the expectations/resolves you put on your self or things you wrote down on a scrap of paper. Know that you’re not alone. Studies show that something like 10-12% of “resolvers” ever keep those resolutions anyway. That’s not saying that you shouldn’t strive for bettering yourself or that you shouldn’t regroup and get back up and keep on keeping on… it just means that you’re not alone. There are a bunch of other people who’re commiserating with you on this one.

So, my solution? My advice to you (and to myself)? What does the LORD require of thee? Ask Him… He is ready to answer you. His Word says that He has shown you what is good and what He requires of you (Micah 6.8):

“…But to do justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God.”

May He richly bless you, keep you, direct you and joy over you with singing in this new year!

with love, pamela

Happy Christmas

May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His Face to shine upon you and give you peace. I pray you have received the gift of Christ… the gift of salvation through faith in the Only One who can save, the only perfect atonement for mankind. His life for yours, His peace for your pain, His forgiveness for your sin, His payment in full, His presence in your life.

Christmas is about His presents. His presence.

God bless you this Christmastime with the Joy of the Greatest Gift ever Given.

with love, pamela

Leave it to Levi Strauss & Co to be at the forefront…

Of some sort of trend or controversy or something… These are just some things I’ve been mulling over since seeing a Levi’s ad.

DockersPants

Do you s’pose this just might be a boon to the company — a marvelous marketing campaign that just might bolster sagging retail sales?

I appreciate the seeming change of heart at LS & Co — or the affirmation that men — hard working men — not social causes, have built their company. That, or someone in their ad department had a brilliant idea to market pants to — da ta da dahhhhhh — Men!

I remember fifteen years, or so, ago that Levi Strauss was on my personal “do-not-buy-retail” product list. That was for its stand on marriage and benefits to other than traditional marriage and later its stand on the Boy Scouts, et al. Well… I feel fairly certain that their overall corporate position on roles and gender blending/blundering and moral ambiguity, etc., etc., has not changed. And, for that matter, the company has more than likely attempted to keep a step ahead of metropolitan trends.

Not that Levi Strauss is, in the grand scheme of things, the end all be all, but as marketing goes, there will be others who join in the affirmation of God ordained uniqueness just as there will be those who mock the company relentlessly. Though you won’t hear about God or God’s marvelous design. You’ll hear something else — a message of the importance of being strong, perhaps of men who are dashing and debonair, mannerly and in style. Or something along that line. I think just like this country is bound to break under the strain of economic chaos, so also, men can’t stay on this feminized or, figuratively speaking, emasculated role to which domineering women have relegated them. Men were not created to be what many women are demanding them to be.

So, do you think men might finally take a stand against the lies that have been foisted on them and begin to see their incredible worth, their design and God given roles and responsibilities — as defenders, leaders, protectors, providers, endowed by the Lord to be heads of their homes and responsible for their families to be respectful and to guard women and children, etc., etc.?

Or will that happen when women embrace their unique and precious design and calling… and eagerly live it?

Patriotism is one thing. But…

So… things are working…

It feels like we’ve been in a sort of relay with changing and adding and moving our domains to a new account. I now have a ton of catch-up work to do on the A Christian Home website, the Welcome Home Company Store website the A Bella Cake website and this blog!

In many ways, the ACH website that was begun ten years ago(!) still has the clunky old style look and feel — whereas most sites today have the ‘blog’ format or the pretty polished and well designed format — the ACH site is definitely “homegrown!” I started that site with very little web design and very little formatting/html knowledge and really had to work at every step of the production! Thus, every now and then I see a complete fiasco of links and mess and want to just delete the whole thing… but then I stop and want to protect it like a pitiful old friend and want to, in some way, revive and preserve what’s taken ten years to accumulate and arrange.

So… much is needed — but the necessary changes will have to wait for long, cold winter days when I can just sit here at the table and comb through the site culling all the dead wood, the dead links and no longer needed articles, etc., etc. But those cold days a still a ways off! For this, I am grateful: God is good and His mercies are everlasting. how thankful I am today for all of this.

At this ten year point… I just want to say thanks for the memories and thanks for all who’ve written through the years. I’ve been so blessed!

———-pamela

still reworking…

For the next few days we’ll be moving the rest of our sites to a new account and so there will likely be some interruption in service and website availability. In addition to all that, we’re trying to be sure not to lose any more files in this transfer. And… in addition to all that, I’m just learning how to use this new program and it’s been a bit of a challenge to learn the protocol. So… for tomorrow, I think I just might make bread, read some of my new cake books and sew for the girls. These are a few of my favourite things… 🙂

A Christian Home website might be down for a bit.

My email might be down for a bit.

Thanks for reading!

♥ pamela

New Look, New address

As you can see, we’ve made some necessary changes. Problem is, these changes have sort of incurred some problems of their own. As with every web change for me over the years, there is that learning curve and the time required to become familiar with the programs. Thank you for your patience. The Welcome Home blog will have sort of a new look and I’ve decided to use it more for homemaking, marriage, family, motherhood, etc., though I cannot say for certain that I won’t make a comment now and then about ‘the church today’ and ‘politics’ in general. :o)

with love, pamela

slip-slidin’ away…

So, you’re here again today for a visit at the kitchen table. I’m having a cup of tea… because of some recent health problems, I’m making some radical changes. Yes… sniffle, sniffle, one of them includes drastically reducing coffee consumption — caffeine, really, and anything that contributes to high blood-pressure and high cholesterol. I have a little elevation of one and a lot of the latter.

So, I’m trying not to get too caught up in the going’s on. But it’s really difficult to ignore blatant apostacy. I mean, as I have written a number of times in the past, it’s expected that the world will decline, degrade and decay. And it’s really not unexpected that the most effective way or place for the devil to move is to have a slow and steady, multi-pronged attack against and within the church — either subtly, boldly, directly or indirectly. Watch for it — you’ll see: it’s happening! It’s really happening. And I’m not talking about trends of worship style in what most mainstream Christians mean when they refer to church — the meetings that happen on Sunday mornings — or for the very contemporary: Saturday evening. Because, contrary to common misconceptions — what happens on Sunday mornings (or Saturday evenings) isn’t church — it might be a meeting of the church, but it’s not church. Church is not a place or event but a body of believers — and people do a lot of things for or against ‘the church’ because of what they think of the event (or location) that happens on Sunday mornings — or what’s happening to the building ‘the church’ meets in.

The Proverbs (27.12 & 22.3)

A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.

A combination of local and national headlines and news stories, recent ‘church’ news and clips, and recent scripture studies have me just shaking my head again and again. I’m grieved over the slip ‘n slide of the church in America. Just read titles of books in the “christian” bookstore or read anything by “progressive” christians and you’ll see the blast of decay. I’ve been trying to make a point to not be caught up in all the verbiage and mess of politics and global garbage and all the emergent lies — I really have been looking for glimpses of fruit — sweet fruit. So, truly, it’s with near anguish I consider the pitiful decline of the church... the shameful view or portrayal of God and His Word — the utter lack of wisdom, knowledge and understanding of God’s Word coupled with the arrogance and carelessness of so-called “pastors” and “preachers” of the Word.

So… here at the kitchen table this afternoon I’ve been reviewing some different mails that have come in, newsletters and links that have been suggested. I think of the different things going on and I marvel at the stunning actions, remarks and positions being made or taken by notorious ‘mega church’ pastors and ‘leaders’ today. People are flocking after many of these illustrious individuals and I would hazard to guess they don’t really even know what these men are actually saying — and truly, it’s a lack of understanding what the Bible really says and their simple acceptance of whatever’s being bandied about.

I had no idea that Frank Navasky was so down-to-earth… You read his stuff, you think he’s going to be so obscure and abstruse. He’s always talking about Heidigger and Foucault and I have no idea what any of it’s about, really.”

This is a line from the movie, You’ve Got Mail, and the character was gushing over reporter, Frank Navasky’s work. It seems to me that that’s how many Christians are behaving toward *many* of the mainstream church ‘leaders’ today — just gushing. It’s amazing… and what’s so astonishing about it all is that I truly believe a lot of them don’t even know they’re being totally duped by these ‘pastors.’

In the “you-just-can’t-make-this-stuff-up” category, consider this: a local church is giving away money to its congregants —or, actually, anyone…

“People who take the money aren’t required to be members, and it doesn’t matter if they’ve never been to the church before, Ehoff said. He’s not worried about losing the odd $100, and expects most families to bring in a profit.”

They say the plan is biblical… a loaves and fishes sort of deal. I’m trying to be charitable here, I am. I really am. But I’ve just gotta say — this. is. unbelievable. and. it’s. sad. Considering the justification of what really is looking a lot like gambling… justifying their decision because of Jesus’ parable of the talents and also His miracle of feeding thousands with five loaves and two fish. And to make it applicable to their situation?!?!!?!!?!! So… in three months the folks will return the money and any profit they miraculously make — hmmmm… it’s like a game — each member needing a $40,000. miracle. Only… it’s not a game — the church needs a f.o.u.r m.i.l.l.i.o.n. d.o.l.l.a.r. “miracle” for their expansion bcz their bank loan fell through. It’s like they might as well just check in with the government and its form of miracle-making… you know: money out of thin air — but it’s really money that’s not even theirs to budget, grab and spend.

I know I am sounding critical — and believe me, I do not want to be harsh—I so want to be loving here. I just must say — this seems to me to be sooooo lacking true faith, trust and obedience in, for and to the LORD — our Living LORD God. It’s just unconscionable.

I keep wondering… will the church wake up and see?

Random thoughts on intolerance

I’m doing housekeeping today… many things needed sorting and filing, washing and ironing. Teatime brought to mind some thoughts from the past weekend.

It’s getting fiercer and fiercer, the slick and sick double standard of those who scream to be tolerated — not just tolerated, but venerated — endorsed — lauded. I’m not a proponent of beauty pageants per se, but it’s sure detestable that a ‘qualified contestant’ is being dragged through the mud for articulating her answer to a question regarding her thoughts on marriage — the answer was contrary to one or more of the “judges'” personal beliefs and, therefore, she’s unqualified. So much for tolerance.
The new Free Speech: You’re free to say what you like and hold the beliefs you choose to hold so long as you make sure you agree with homosexual behaviour and the propaganda machine that is ravaging the world. And if you don’t believe there’s an agenda, read: The Marketing of Evil by David Kupelian — you’ll be introduced in that book to another book, After the Ball, and if you dare to read it (and I don’t say this lightly, it is not light reading and may not be suitable for anyone) it is sobering, you’ll see the agenda is well underway and very, very successful in a dark way. (I wrote about Mr. Kupelian’s book a few years ago…. I can’t recall the blog date on that).
Voddie Baucham

Family Driven Faith

A man who is not afraid to speak the Truth.

David Kupelian’s

The Marketing of Evil

it’ll change the way you see everything in society!

As long as you don’t mess with the agenda, you’ll be accepted — if not, you’ll be castigated, mocked and scorned to death. You can read a bit more of what happens when you dare to teach the truth which is not believed by a percentage of the population. We attended the Worldview Apologetics Conference held at the Crossroads Bible Church in Bellevue last weekend — obviously a predetermined target — at the start of the conference, the church building was vandalized by a group determined to “bash back” with pink paint, foul words and phrases and broken locks and other damages.

Two of the speakers at the seminar were Voddie Baucham and Doug Geivett. Both were excellent at articulating the Truth of the Word, the climate of society today and the bold attempt to destroy the Truth and Believers. Voddie Baucham is probably one of the most articulate and inspiring speakers I’ve ever had the privilege of listening to. I first heard him and thought this two years ago at the Heritage Homeschool conference — he will be the keynote speaker again this year. If you haven’t heard him or read any of his books, I would highly recommend that you hear his talks and read his books. For info on the Christian Heritage Conference being held this coming weekend go here. I would recommend this conference for *every* believer… *every* parent.

One of the weapons against the church or “conservatives” is the word: hate. If you disagree, you hate. If you disagree, you’re a hater. If your view is Biblical, you’re intolerant. If you, on biblical grounds, disagree with a lifestyle choice, you are an intolerant, judgmental person. But those who disagree with Christians… are not judgmental?Christians must judge situations — Christians must prove all things — must hold to that which is good.

Those in disagreement are duping Christians into believing they must be tolerant… they say Christians are not to judge — au contraire — Christians must identify that which is Truth and follow it — and those things that are contrary to the Truth are to be condemned – it takes wise judgment to discern good and evil. I marvel that Christians are willing to allow ideas contrary to the Word of God to determine their world view. For lack of knowledge, believers are being destroyed. When Bible teachers do not teach what the Word says and believers do not read what the Word says — and when, instead, “pastors” teach from stories of paraphrases of the Bible, people, who do not study for themselves what the Scriptures say, will be ignorant of the Truth.

Fear of being judged by those who hate God’s Word
is keeping those who would love God from obeying His Word.