What is in a Day? (part 2)

     

There have been times in my life that I just want to scream. How about you?

So, I had a perfect day on May 8th, 2018. Do you really believe that? Let me give you a more realistic summery of that day. This is really what happened. (Ok, this is made up, but it could have happened somewhere.)

6:00 am  Alarm clock goes off.*&%*#! "Shut up you stupid clock! Couldn't you have waited another half hour for a change?" I reset the alarm for 5 minutes and then 5 minutes after that until 30 minutes later, I bounced out of bed, ready for the day. Not!!! No, I grudgingly crawled out of bed, still half asleep. And wishing I could stay and not get up.
I splashed some water on my face and finally get to the kitchen to make breakfast for the kids. Ok, I didn't really make anything. I set bowls, spoons, the milk and a couple boxes of cereal out on the table so they can get it themselves, and I head for the living room to maybe catch a few more winks. 
6:30 No such luck, here comes hubby still half asleep himself %$^&* ( albeit a bit quieter) He says to me, Where is my blue dress shirt. I need it for today." Uh, oh. I had forgotten to wash and iron it. Now he was going *(&^$#! Instead of getting up to help him find another shirt, I sit there. Who wants to be around helping that grump? A couple minutes later, the kids start arguing about who is getting the cereal that is the most sugary in their eyes. I don't have the energy to yell at them, but I do my best.
7:15 They are still fighting but at least I did get another wink or two. Hubby left without even a "see ya tonight." What is with that man?
7:25 the kids go upstairs and get dressed in clothes that look like they were worn at least a couple of times without being washed first. I yell at them to change into some clean clothes. (If they find any)All the while they are grumbling at this atrocity. 

7:45 Oh no, the bus is here already. "Come on kids! She is going to leave without you." They run into the room and I hand them lunch money and off they go. At least they made it. 

8:00 I look around the house to see what needs to be done. It is a mess. The boys beds unmade and toys all over their floors. Ugh. I will do my bible study and prayer before I go to bed tonight. I am just too tired.  And now, I need a nap. I am exhausted. 

Well, you get the idea. Jane takes a long nap and when the kids get home from school, she hadn't done much at all. Chris needed help with his homework. And she brushed him off. When hubby comes home, he sits in front of the tv. He is tired as well. About 6, he finally asks Jane what is for dinner. She says she didn't get anything out of the freezer, so she orders pizza to be delivered. They are too tired to go to church and the boys have been arguing pretty much stop since they got home over the most minute things. So they skip. Hubby barely says goodnight at 9 and goes to bed. Jane fell asleep on the couch, not keeping to her earlier commitment to doing her prayer and study time after all. She finally makes to bed sometime during the night and at 6 am, the clock goes off and it starts all over.

Does any of this sound familiar in your home? Maybe not quite like this but still the arguing,  the tension, the lack of communication. Maybe you are in a situation where you and your spouse both have to work. Maybe you have little children that need your time and attention, Maybe your children are acting out just to get it. And what about the single parent that has to do it all by themselves, without the help of anyone else.
Life is hard for sure. Most of us have gone through some of these things at some point in our lives. Some are going through them now.

Maybe you have some of these problems in your life. Maybe they aren't quite as bad. Or maybe they are worse.  

Unfortunately, these scenarios and many more are played out in our families every day. In Christian homes as well as non-believers homes. 

So what are we to do? Are there any viable answers to get us on a better track in our home life? 

Come back tomorrow for part 3. In the meantime, have a wonderful and blessed day/night!

What is in a Day? (Part One)

Hi. My name is Jane.( a fictional character) I am keeping a journal of my daily activities and thought I would share a page with you.

March 8, 2018

6:00 am Alarm clock woke me. I jumped out of bed. Ready for the day ahead. I started humming quietly "This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice in it." I got dressed, and then went downstairs to fix breakfast for my wonderful family.

6:30 Don got up at 6 and came to the kitchen. I gave him a big kiss and said "Good morning." He works so hard to take care of us. This morning he had an early meeting to attend so he didn't eat breakfast. Instead, he drank OJ and took coffee and toast with him.

6:45 I woke the children up and they happily clamored downstairs to eat a hearty meal of oatmeal and fruit that I had prepared. We said the morning prayer and we chatted while they ate, about the day ahead. When they were finished, I cleared off the table while they went back up to get ready. I had laid their clothes out for them the night before.
7:45 The bus driver honked the horn, and the boys grabbed their lunches and backpacks, gave me a kiss goodbye and off they went.
8:00 With a cup of coffee and my bible I sat down at the table for my morning bible study and prayer. Today, I studied Psalm 91. It is so wonderful to know that God protects us. Thank you, God.
9:00 I looked around the house to see what chores needed to be done before I went off to the grocery store to buy items to make a nice dinner before church tonight. I swept the carpet and did the breakfast dishes. The kids made their beds as they do every morning and their rooms are tidy.
10:30 Back home from the store, I put the groceries away. I hid the treat I got for dessert until it is time to serve it. We eat healthy food and sweets are only allowed for special times.
11:00 I worked on my Sunday School lesson for my children's class until 12:00 and then ate lunch.
12:30 Working in the garden can be hard work but I started getting it ready for the veggies and flowers we will soon be planting. Ater that I needed a break.
3:00 The kids will be home soon. Charlie Jr. is working on a project for his Science Fair so I got out the materials he needs for it. While he works on that, I helped  Chris with his homework.
4:30 Don was home from work and went out to play catch with the boys while I fixed dinner.
5:30 The blessing said, we chatted about our daily events while we ate dinner.
6:45 Left for church. The pastor had a good study in Romans tonight.
9:00 The children in bed, Don nand I sit quietly on the couch watching a tv program and discussing plans for the weekend.
10:30 With Don now sleeping soundly, I pull out my bible and do my nightly devotions. After I laid my head on my pillow, that song runs through my mind again. This was truly a day that the Lord had made. Thank you, God. Good night. I drifted off to sleep knowing all is well.

Jane's day on March 8th was a good day and a very fruitful one. No problems. No worries. Perfect. Wouldn't you say?  But is your life really that way? I doubt it. I know mine isn't. Come back tomorrow for a look at a more normal kind of day And then what it should look like as we live the Christian life.

           Have a blessed day. Bless those around you. Take care.

Landing in the Lap of Almighty God

Weakness: the state or condition of lacking strength.

There are other meanings for the word weakness. However, it the lack of strength I want to talk about today, and what it has to do with us as Christians. 

There have been times when I have felt weak in my walk with the Lord. Some of you have read my testimonies of the years when I was first married and not living for God. My husband had a drinking problem. I had children too soon and was too immature at any being the kind of wife and mother I should have been. 

The time came that I had to get serious with God, or I would never make it to him at all. However, much I wanted to, even so. 

Life was not easy and I was so weak back then. However, little by little in my study of his word, I did begin to gain strength from him so that I could go on with life until the day that I landed in his lap for good. 

If anyone had ever felt weak in the Bible, it was the Apostle Paul. And yet all the things that he went through, according to 2 Corthianians 12:9-10, his strength came from Christ. And I like the end of verse where he says, "In my weakness, I am made strong."

Because that was where I had to get to those years ago. And actually, I did not even realize it until someone pointed that scripture out to me. It was my weakness, but Christ made me strong. 

And little by little, it happened as I spent time with God in his word. 

There came a day when I did land in God's lap. Not that I am perfect. That is not it at all. But I finally was able to see who it was that made me understand that I could not depend on myself to fix things. Our problems were much bigger then anything in my strength. It had to come from a greater source. And that source was God. 

Things in my life have not always been perfect even so, but when I get right down to it, I know that God provides strength every time I need it and ask him for it. And I can reflect back to those days when life was harder than it has ever been. And I thank God for his strength.

If you feel weak in your life, go to God. He wants to sit you on his lap and give you his strength. He has the answers you need. You just need to ask him for them.

Cartoon of the day: (I am glad he will never retire. How about you?)

Thanks for coming by! Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Techical difficulites

Hi Friends. I am having some difficulties today posting my blog. I will be working on it and hopefully be back tomorrow. I apologize for any inconvenience. Thanks for coming by.

God Bless America!!!!

Since today is Memorial Day, I want to thank everyone that has served in the military at any time in our history of this nation. And thanks to the police and firefighters as well.  Not only that but I thank families of these people that have sacrificed to keep us safe. It is because of all of these people that we can enjoy the freedom we do have, and many have paid the ultimate price. Thank God for all of you!

, Even more so, I want to thank God for sending his son Jesus who paid an even greater price for us through his precious blood. Without him, where would we be?

Enjoy your day Spend time with your families, in whatever activities you have planned. Stay safe! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will come back tomorrow God bless!

Praise God we live in the greatest Nation of the world!

Rasing our Children in the Declining Christianity of Americanism (part 7)

Children, like anything else, in this world come in all kinds in sizes and temperates as they grow. You can have several children and when it comes to discipline, what works for one doesn't always work for the rest. Sometimes all it takes for a milder manner child is for a parent to let them know ahead that if they don't do something, they will get not get something they want. Or that they may get a paddling if they don't do it. For other children, the paddle may be what they need. Nothing else works. With some, it doesn't matter how many times you paddle a child, it doesn't work. Sometimes it may just take a timeout and having them sit in a corner.

For older children, the loss of privileges may be in order. Taking their Ipads or phones away for a certain amount of time. Some parents could not fathom doing these things. But in my day, we had no Ipads or phones. Parents had to rely on other measures. And up until the past several decades, they did apply them. And then for some reason, many stopped their discipline and today we have a lot of selfish and spoiled kids. ( Not that they are all that way But a great many are.) Why have we allowed this to happen? Are we just too busy? Perhaps. For the single mom that has to do everything, maybe she gets too tired or too overwhelmed to discipline her kids. Maybe we see our toddlers doing something they shouldn't and think it is cute and so as they grow, we just don't correct them and they grow up thinking they are entitled. Maybe we grew up with nothing as children and want to give everything we can to our kids.  Maybe we are just too lazy.

Whatever the reason, American Christian families desperately need to get back to learning what the bible says and applying it to our families. Only then can we even think about reversing the decline of Christianity in this country. Granted, it takes a lot of hard work and a lot of prayer. However, it is possible.

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.2 Chronicles 7:14

If you would like more information on the different ways to discipline your children or grandchildren, please follow the following link for resources on this subject.

Effective Discipline: 20 Tools for Christian Parents | Cornerstones for Parents

Thanks for stopping in today. I hope you will come back tomorrow. Have a blessed day!

Rasing Our Children in the Declining of Christianity of Americanism of (art 6)

Discipline. That word that none of us really like. And in fact, we often hate it.

Why is it so necessary? Because without it, it leads from the smallest infraction in our home to chaos in our country and beyond.

In the home, can spanking be abuse? Sure it can. And I do not condone that at all. Many people get carried away in anger. Others are just going to abuse children anyway. Probably because they were themselves. However, that is no excuse for abuse.

But applied in the right way, it is a viable tool for teaching our children between right and wrong.

Is it necessary to spank our kids for each thing they do that we don't want them to? I don't believe so. The punishment we give them should fit the situation. And the child.

One of my sons had a little boy with his girlfriend a few years ago. They went to Florida to visit my daughter and while there, the boy being only about a year old had thrown a temper about something. His mother started yelling at him, and then sat him in a chair and put him in the corner. Not for just a minute or two but for several.
At that age, I think that was a little harsh.

As they grow from toddlers to teenagers, different forms of punishment should be applied. And sometimes what kind of it may work with one child will not work for another. I believe that spanking should only be used for those times that are more serious. And as the child becomes a teenager, any spankings should be stopped. There are other ways of getting teens to obey rather than to spank them.

We should always apply consequences. Such as, "Mary, until  you get your homework done, you will not be allowed to watch your tv program."  For a more serious situation as if the child has been caught stealing from a store, the parent could take the child to that store and have him apologize to the manager for it. (It happened to me once when I was 9 years old and had taken a candy bar.) Or have them pay for whatever they took. And that may be a situation where a spanking may be in order.

There are many ways we can properly discipline our children and I hope you will come back tomorrow for more on this subject.


Cartoon of the day: Have you ever had this problem? lol.

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Rasing Our Children in the Declining of Christianity of Americanism (part 5)

Most parents do not like to discipline their children. Some don't like it and so they just do not do it. Others do it because they love their kids and want them to grow up to be responsible people. Still, others use it as a tool to control them and are cruel in doing so.

Discipline is something God ordained. It is the kind that he wants us to use, so that our kids will grow up to be those responsible adults. It is not something we should ignore and just let kids be kids without consequences for bad behavior.

Yet it seems to me that in our society in the past few years or even decades has almost fallen by the wayside in many homes. Children are allowed to do pretty much what they want. And they rule the roosts as it were in a lot of those homes. Parents are to raise and nurture their children and children are not to be the ones in command. And yet so many are. Why is it adults allow this?

I know some would say, "But spanking a child is child abuse."
To that, I say it is not. Oh, it could become that. But if done with love it is quite the opposite. When I needed to be spanked, my dad would always do it with a calm spirit. Never out of anger. He would always say a little prayer beforehand and then tell me he hated to do this more than I hated it. He would then tell me he was sorry that he had to spank me. My thoughts were "Sure, you are not the one getting spanked." I didn't understand that as a child but later in life, I realized that as a parent, he did hate having to discipline me in that way. He was sorry that he had to. Because he loved me but he knew those spankings would grow me up to be the kind of person I am today and not a wild child like so many today are. After that, he would strike me just a few times on the bare legs with a stick. Never a belt, or a hairbrush or even his hands. Then I would go to my room to "think" about what I had done-for awhile.

In 1 Samuel 2:12 we read about the high priest Eli. He had 2 sons that grew up to be priests like their dad. However he did not discipline them and the fact was, they had no regard for God and were doing a lot in Israel that they should not have been doing. And they just plain rebelled against not only Eli but against God as well.

Sadly, Eli was so involved in preaching to the people but he forgot about his own sons. And the result? God judged him very harshly

“Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that members of your family would minister before me forever.’ But now the Lord declares: ‘Far be it from me! Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained. 31 The time is coming when I will cut short your strength and the strength of your priestly house so that no one in it will reach old age, 32 and you will see distress in my dwelling. Although good will be done to Israel, no one in your family line will ever reach old age. 33 Every one of you that I do not cut off from serving at my altar I will spare only to destroy your sight and sap your strength and all your descendants will die in the prime of life.

34 “‘And what happens to your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, will be a sign to you—they will both die on the same day. 35 I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his priestly house, and they will minister before my anointed one always. 36 Then everyone left in your family line will come and bow down before him for a piece of silver and a loaf of bread and plead, “Appoint me to some priestly office so I can have food to eat.

Respect for one's own parents, and then for authority and those outside the family should be taught to our children. Teaching them self-control is vital in today's world. There are so many that are not taught these principals and it can and does create crisis in the world around us as well as in our own families. We see it every day on the news.

How far should we go with spanking a child? At what age do they get too old for it? What other ways can we discipline them? Does one size fits all in a family, or should we use different kinds of it for each child?  More on this subject tomorrow. I hope you will join me. 



                                  Today's cartoon: Really?

Have a blessed day Folks. I am happy you stopped over! Jesus loves you!

Maybe you are one whose parents were abusive and you have passed that way of dealing with bad behavior to your own kids. Or maybe, you go the other way and don't discipline them because of the way you suffered. I want to tell you that God loves you. He wants to teach you to be the kind of mother that can turn that around to become what He wants you to be to them. All things are possible to them who believe. He has entrusted you to guide them and he will give you what you need to do that. Just ask him. He works all things to our good. Even though it sometimes does not look like it. But nothing gets past him that he cannot fix for us when we do. Trusting him is our greatest reward.

Raising Our Children in the Declining Christian of Americanism (part 4)

  Discipline: the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience.

"a lack of proper parental and school discipline"

If I were writing the dictionary today, I would add, 

"something that is severely lacking in homes across America today."

We see it everywhere. Kids out of control. Kids demanding and getting their own ways in the home, telling their parents what they are going to do. Many spoiled kids that get everything they want for no other reason then just because they want it.

Years ago we had a school teacher that lived across the road from us. One day she came over to see me and brought her four-year-old daughter. I don't remember what the little girl started crying about, but all of a sudden she kicked her mom in the shins. She had wanted her way about something, and when she didn't get it right away, that was her way of letting her mom know that she was angry for not getting it.

She and her older sister were used to getting what they wanted, usually when they wanted it. 

They were never properly disciplined and grew up deciding that they were "owed" what they wanted and were given what they wanted with no repercussions for any bad behavior. Sad to say, they grew up very selfish women.

This is the way that much of this country operates in many homes today. And why so many kids are out of control. We blame it on the kids. But actually, it is we adults that are at fault for giving in to their demands and allowing them to get away with their poor behavior.

The bible is very specific on discipline. Proverbs 13:24 says to spare the rod is to spoil the child.

But does that mean that we should discipline every child with a spanking every time he disobeys? And what about it going too far and becoming abuse? Is spanking a child abuse? Is the Bible outdated about this subject for today?

My dad had a paddle that he kept on a nail in our kitchen, in very plain sight. I can still remember it hanging there. It was a long thick wooden one with a leather string at one end. Painted on it was a boy bending over as if he were going to be spanked. And the words "Board of Education" were painted on it. I never knew where he got it, or where it ended up. But did he ever have to use it?

No. It was there just to remind us that he wanted us to obey him or else there were consequences.

The bible is not outdated for today. It too is a reminder of what is needed in a child's life that will bring him up to recognize authority in life and that when he disobeys he will be punished. That is true all through life. In school, our teachers are over much of our education. As parents, we teach our children morals and hopefully use the bible as our guide, teaching them God's standards. As adults, we must obey the law, or we will end up in places we don't want to be. Some of us, have bosses that oversee our work so that it is done properly. But it begins-or should begin at home. That is the foundation that God has created for us to grow into healthy, adults that know right from wrong. Why? Because he loves us and wants the best for us.

Tomorrow, I will be talking about the difference between godly discipline and abuse. There is a difference, although there are those that do not believe it. And maybe some have a good reason for it. Maybe they have had parents that have taken discipline too far that it was abuse. And that is so sad because loving parents do not discipline out of anger and rage. They do it because they love their kids.

I hope you will come back tomorrow for a deeper look into Godly discipline. The kind that God wants us to give. The kind that God gives us.

May your day present you with many blessings! Pass them on to those around you! Bless others and you will be blessed!

Rasing Our Children in the Declining Christianity of Americaism (part3)

Biblical parenting should begin in the home. From the time a child is conceived, it should be sung to and read to, talked to about Jesus. 

I doubt very seriously that my mother did these things during the time she carried me. And unfortunately, I did not do them for any of my unborn children. But I do know that my father did tell me bible stories and talk to me about Jesus as I grew older.

He had even found some 331/2 vinyl records (do you remember those) somewhere, which he gave me, and a little record player. The records had bible stories on them and I could (and did) play them over and over to listen to stories about David and Goliath, Jonah and the Whale and Samuel....and others. And I loved them.

He would be there during my night time prayers, take us to Sunday School and do many other things that set me up for the person I am today. He took time to teach me what was important even though he had a plate full of other problems he dealt with on a day to day basis. 

Eventually, I would drift away from God. I would go my separate way as the bible says that we all do. However, even during those years, God was in the back of my mind. And when I got sick of myself, I finally turned back to him. And though life has never been perfect for me, since that time, I have not departed from my faith. Because of those years of his teaching me and being an example, as flawed as our family was-God never really left me. I still believed even when I wasn't living for Him.

The bible says,  if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

Living for Jesus, being an example of him, and teaching our children about Him, and humbly praying according to that verse, I believe is some of the first steps we can all do to get this country truly on the right track to make America great again. Left solely up to the government, and people that have no love or intentions towards God and His ways, the decline in this country will continue on until we no longer see any of Him. And to me that is scary. That we might become a godless nation where mindless people rule and those of us are subjected to communism or the like. 

If Jesus does not come back in the next few years, my life may end and I will be in heaven. So what does it matter to me? After all, I am heading towards being at the tail end of my 60's. However, it does matter. Because after me, came my 4 children and their children. My oldest grandchild-a grandson is almost 20 years old. He is at the age that he could leave home and get married and bring great grandchildren into my life. What will life be like for them in a few short years? We must be willing to share the love Christ to anyone that will listen. 

To our children. To our grandchildren. To nieces and nephews. To children in the neighborhood or where ever there are children that need to know about Jesus. We need to be willing. Though there will be some people that are not saved and do not want us teaching their children, well that is sad and if there is nothing we can do about it, we can at least let them see by our example and then pray for them. Because we might be the only ones doing that for them. 

I hope you will join me again tomorrow as I continue on with more on this subject. 

Thanks for coming by Friends. Have a blessed day and share Jesus with someone!

Rasining Our Children in the Declining Christianity of Americanism (Part Two)

Going back to yesterday, and the books that have been and are being published on the subject of parents who raise their kids without God in the home, it is a very disturbing subject.

Many kids these days are raised not knowing the true meaning of why we celebrate Easter and Christmas. They get to college and beyond and think it is about Easter bunnies and Christmas trees.

A friend of mine a couple weeks ago had a garage sale. A little girl and her mother came and the girl saw a display of Noah's Ark that my friend was selling. The girl was interested in it and my friend told her about it. She had never heard the story about Noah. Her mom came up and said, "Oh, that is Moses."

Where do we go wrong these days? Many families are not teaching their children about God. Is it no wonder that this country is heading towards a decline in Christianity?

So how do we stop this decline in our country?

Some parents raise their kids with the idea that when they get older, they can choose to believe whatever they want to. Is that the kind of attitude we really want?

Years ago, Dr. James Dobsen spoke on that very thing during one of his radio broadcasts. He said the problem with that is, if you don't teach them about God, someone else will come along and teach them something that you might want them to learn. That is not a direct quote but think about it. Do we really want someone teaching our kids the things that we don't want them to learn apart from God?

Personally, I believe we need to....
fill their minds with the goodness of God.Modeling godly behavior to them and start teaching them about God when they are young. 

Children are always wanting to mimic whatever they see. You and I are sometimes their first teachers. Why not let them see Jesus in us?

Start children off in the way they should go and they will not depart from it when they are old. Proverbs 22:

The King James version of that verse says to Train up a child in the way they should go. 

The words to train, or to teach are action words. It involves the action of not only doing but being an example for our children to see Godly qualities in us. 

To turn our country back to the core of beliefs it was founded on, we must start in the home. It begins with us as parents. It begins with you and I. That is just one way, it happens. Stay tuned for more on this subject. There will be more to come.

Thanks for coming by today friends. Have a blessed day and be a light to someone's life. Because you may be the only light he/she sees. Take Care!

Rasing Our Children in the Declining Christianity of Americam (Part One)

Have you ever gone to buy a book on raising children? And if so, have you seen just how many there are? Back when my kids were little, the most popular book of the day was one that Dr. Spock wrote. He was an American pediatrician whose book, Baby and Childcare became a best seller in 1946. According to the New York Times, it sold 50 million books by 1998, second only to the Bible.

As of more recent years, many more secular books have been and are being written today. Some titles include: Godless Parents Are Doing A Better Job, My Kid Will Be Raised Without Religion, and Why I Am Not Raising My Children To Be Religous.

The list of these books is endless. And more and more are written all the time. They are leading many unsuspecting parents away from the Bible.

Where did we go wrong in the belief system that taught us that parents teaching their kids about God in their homes was no longer normal? When did it become ok to not say prayers in school or pledge our allegiance to a flag that had become our nations symbol of freedom? When did it become fine for our schools to teach evolution and not creationism? When? When? When?

How has these kinds of belief systems in this country been able to sneak up on us? Or have they really done that?  Why have we allowed the truth of the bible be traded for a lie?

Did you know that one in five people do not believe in the story in the Bible concerning Christ's birth? And that figure is declining as well. Source: 5 facts about Christmas in America | Pew Research Center

Take note of the following:

The other day we came across an article in Advertising Age that blew us away. The article was discussing marketing and religion, but what impacted us so profoundly were some figures from the American Religious Identification Survey by the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society & Culture at Trinity College.

According to that survey, 15% of Americans now say they have “no religion” which is up from 8% in 1990.

It is important to realize that not all of those 46 percent are unbelievers. According to a survey by Bohan Advertising/Marketing, the Barna Group and the United Methodist Church, 62 percent of Americans in that age group consider themselves to be “spiritual”, and 43 percent of them have prayed to some higher power in the last 2 months.

But what it does mean is that almost half of all Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 do not identify themselves with any particular religion.

And when you look at more recent poll numbers for Christianity in particular, the numbers become even more staggering.

Another new survey by the Barna group reveals that less than 1 percent of all Americans between the ages of 18 and 23 hold a Biblical worldview. This new poll data clearly demonstrates that the youngest adults in America are clearly rejecting traditional evangelical Christian teaching.

The Barna survey defined “a Biblical worldview” as holding all of the following six key beliefs:

1) Believing that absolute moral truth exists.
2) Believing that the Bible is completely accurate in all of the principles it teaches.
3) Believing that Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic.
4) Believing that a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or by doing good works.
5) Believing that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth.
6) Believing that God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today.

So what do all of these poll numbers mean?

They mean that evangelical Christianity has totally lost almost an entire generation of American young people.

Meanwhile, the Christian Science Monitor recently published an article about the “coming evangelical collapse” that they believe is coming. They openly predict that “within two generations, evangelicalism will be a house deserted of half its occupants.”

 source: The Decline of Christianity in America

If our belief in the God of the Bible and all it entails is declining in this country, what is to become of us? Where are we headed? Is there any hope for our families?

Please come back tomorrow for more on this crucial and very important subject.

 Cartoon of the day

Thanks for coming by today Friends. I am so happy that you did. Until tomorrow, may God richly bless you and those you love!

Mothers of the Bible (Conclusion)

Mothers of the Bible. Young or old. God has created women to take on this important role from the beginning of time. 

These are just a few of the mother's in the Bible. And being a mother and even a grandmother is a very important job that God allows us to have. And not only is it a job, but it is also a privilege.
Children are a gift from God. Psalm 127:3-5  We are to be with them and talk to them all through the day and at night. Deuteronomy 6:6-7. We are to nurture them. Titus 2:4. Training them. Proverbs 22:6. And teaching them. Deuteronomy 4:10. Not last but surely not least God wants us to discipline our children. Proverbs 22:6

Being a mother is a very important role today as in biblical days. It is ongoing and changing with every season of a child's life. From pregnancy to adulthood, it brings with it love, encouragement, support, teaching, joy, laughter, and yes, sometimes even pain and heartache.

 And we sometimes as mothers, fail and make mistakes. Some of us were really too young to start families. Some of us came from abusive parents that didn't know anything but abuse themselves. Sometimes we have to work to help support our families. Or some mothers are single and have to do it all themselves without a mate to help them.

Let's face it. Sometimes mothering can be demanding and hard. Even in the best of homes. It can be challenging. Thankless and
makes us want to throw our hands up in the air to just want to give up.

That is why we need to look to God for help because that is where our greatest help comes from.

And looking to God, who created us to take on that role, we know that he helps us through each of those seasons, no matter what they bring. And we do the best we can. And he forgives us when we do fail and when we ask him.

God created us to be mothers. Just as he created those of the bible. If he created us to have that role in our lives, he is not going to leave out the ability to perform it if we trust him. No matter what it brings. No matter what we go through. He will help us. If you have made mistakes in your role as a mother, if you have become discouraged, ask him for help. He will give it to you. Because he created You for it.

I hope you have enjoyed this look at some of the mom's that God created. I hope also that you will come back tomorrow for another look at what he has to say about raising our kids from a biblical standpoint. Take care and have a blessed day!

Mothers of the Bible-Elizabeth (Part 6)

Elizabeth

Elizabeth was married to a priest named Zechariah but they had been unable to have a child. They were righteous people that loved God and lived by his commands.

One day Zachariah was serving in the temple when an angel came to him and told him that God had heard his prayers and his wife would have a son who they were to call John. Luke 1:13-14

Elizabeth was overjoyed that at last, she was to bear a son. Luke 1:25. God had answered their prayers at last.

Mary, the mother of Jesus and Elizabeth were cousins and when Mary went to visit her, Elizabeth's baby leaped in her womb and she was filled with the Holy Spirit.

She did name the baby John and he would grow up to baptize people with water, preparing the way for the Messiah.

God always keeps his promises to us. Maybe not today. Maybe not next week. Maybe not next year. But at the time he deems best as he knows when the time is right for us to receive them. We can be assured that he hears us and wants the very best for us and wants to give us the desires of our hearts. Are you waiting for something you have been praying for and it seems like he will never get around to answering it? If so, just remember these women of the bible that prayed for a long time for children and God gave them to them in his own timing. He will for you as well.

Thanks for your visit today Friends. I am glad you came. Til tomorrow be blessed!