Posted by: the warrioress | December 17, 2011

A Hard Heart

How and why does a heart become hard toward God? What does a hardened heart look like? What does one look like whose heart has been hardened toward God?

Some say that one with a hardened heart is spiritually ignorant or blinded. He cannot see the truth of the glory of God. His intuitiveness is darkened and he has become self focused, to the exclusion of the light. When illumination is cast upon him, he cannot see or even sense it.  His heart has grown cold; it has hardened. The bible also talks to us about hardened hearts. Let’s read what it has to say because it actually sheds a lot of light upon this topic of the hard heart.

Romans 2:5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

The “hard” or “impenitent” heart is one that is not remorseful, or regretful. It is unrepentant, uncontrite. The hard heart doesn’t care about sin and sees sin as something that just doesn’t apply in his life, isn’t important; for him it may not even exist.

Hebrews 3:13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

This passage shows us that sin is “deceitful.” It can fool or trick us. We can be deluded by sin to the point that it begins to harden our hearts. Sin changes who we are and most especially when we give into it and allow it to rule us.

1 Corinthians 2:14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

The natural man cannot understand the things of God. He believes they are foolish. He is not spiritual naturally. He is sinful naturally. Man has a sin nature. He cannot comprehend the things of God until and unless he has a change of heart, and his heart softens toward God. A soft heart opens man up to God.

Mark 8:17 And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened?

Jesus is saying that one cannot perceive or understand when one’s heart is hardened. Something has blinded the disciples and in this case, it’s their hearts being hardened that may be the problem. Jesus points out for us in this passage that He questions why His disciples didn’t understand. Jesus wonders if they have become hardened/ spiritually blinded to what He was saying.

The following few paragraphs make the hard heart a little clearer:

Sometimes it’s difficult to spot the difference between a hard and a seeking heart. I remember once as a student at the University of Minnesota I was having an intense conversation with a fellow-student named Jack about Christ. He kept peppering me with questions about the Bible, the problem of evil, science and Christianity, etc. After about two hours of patiently answering his questions (and honestly admitting when I just didn’t have an answer),

I finally blurted, “Jack, if we could meet for the next few months once a week and patiently study these issues, and if you found answers that were intellectually satisfying, would you be open to accepting Christ as your Savior?” Without hesitation, he looked me straight in the eye and said, “Not in the least. I have chosen my path in life and I don’t want God or anyone else interfering with me.”

Christ and The Pharisees

Jesus and the Pharisees

When the Pharisees asked for a “sign from heaven” it was in line with Jack’s questioning. They didn’t have an open mind; they had a closed and hardened heart. And according to the Bible, this is true for all of us: we are seekers, we are thirsty for knowledge and truth; but on a deeper level, we’re also twisted in our search for truth, we’re on a spiritual journey away from God not towards God (Romans 3:11-12).

This is the problem of the hardened heart. And notice Jesus’ response: he doesn’t play their game. We have a tendency to think that Jesus was always nice and sweet. He wasn’t. Actually, in verse 12 Jesus said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? I tell you the truth (a phrase that literally meant “I’ll die before I do this”), no sign will be given it.” In other words, Jesus was saying, “I’m not playing your petty game. When your heart is hardened by sin, and you’re not willing to face it, there’s really nothing I can do for you. Another ‘sign’ won’t change your heart.”

And then in verse 13 we read “Then he left them, got into the boat and crossed over to the other side.” The bodylanguage is clear: Jesus was saying, “Any further discussion with you guys is a waste of my time. The problem isn’t here (point to my brain); the problem is here (point to my heart). And until you deal with your heart condition, you’ll never be happy with me.”

The natural tendency of our unredeemed hearts, our hearts outside the reach of God’s grace, is to move towards hardness. And there are so many things that can harden our hearts: circumstances, people, our work, our busyness.

But when we come under the influence of Jesus, when we ask and invite the Holy Spirit to come into our lives, when we stand with Jesus at the foot of the cross, when we see that He loved us and gave himself for us and for our salvation even when we weren’t open, we weren’t seeking him, we were the hardened lump of clay (point to the hard lump); all of this begins to break our hearts wide open and then it begins to soften our hearts so God can work in us and God can use us for His purposes (point to the soft clay).

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Posted by: the warrioress | December 16, 2011

God Hardened Their Hearts

I’ve been sharing my thoughts on another blog with a gentleman I respect and basically think a lot of, here.  Most recently, I find myself writing a lot of responses that become discussion and even debate on a host of topics that I would love to share with the crowd, especially those individuals who feel as he does.

In my last response to some of his thoughts, I brought up the issue of the hardening of one’s heart. He had written about this topic in the past a little, but I think this topic is so important, that it needs to be expounded upon at length.

The “hardening of one’s heart” can occur through a choice we make on our own, or God can apparently cause this to happen. The question is, why does this occur by God’s hand?

 I can understand why it occurs when we simply reject Jesus Christ and God, choosing to go our own way, but why on earth would God choose to reject us and actually “harden the heart” of someone?  This seems rather cold and in some ways, even brutal.

There are many times that God has hardened hearts within the bible.  Let’s begin to look at this matter and attempt to understand why.

Question: “Why is God going to send a strong delusion in the end times?”

Answer: The Bible makes it clear why God is sending a strong delusion in the end times: “They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness” (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12). Simply put, God sends a strong delusion to those who chose not to believe the gospel of Christ. Those who take delight in mocking and rejecting Him, He will condemn.

It is man’s choice whether to accept and believe the truth of Jesus Christ as presented in the Scriptures. To receive the truth and the love God offers is in keeping with its teachings, “This is love for God: to obey His commands” (1 John 5:3). Conversely, to know the truth and not obey it is to face the wrath of God: “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness” (Romans 1:18). Frankly speaking, there is no more dangerous condition for man than to know the truth and refuse to obey it. To do so is to harden the heart and make God’s condemnation sure.

When one knows the truth and refuses to obey it, he is subject to any lie, any deception, any untruth that man can conjure up. “For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools” (Romans 1:21-22). Paul goes on in next few verses to describe the mindset and behaviors of those who disbelieve (see Romans 1:29-31). As a result of man’s foolishness and his arrogant disdain of the things of God, “God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done” (Romans 1:28). And correspondingly, “Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things, but also approve of those who practice them” (Romans 1:32).

Isaiah puts it succinctly: “They have chosen their own ways, and their souls delight in their abominations; so I [God] also will choose harsh treatment for them and bring upon them what they dread. For when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, no one listened. They did evil in My sight and chose what displeases Me” (Isaiah 66:3-4).

When men know the truth and refuse to receive it, when they refuse to obey it and hold it in unrighteousness, “they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:12 NLT).

“God is love” (1 John 4:16). He is not some cruel monster who deliberately and inwardly delights in preparing people for everlasting condemnation. But He earnestly and lovingly proclaims the gospel of Christ, “not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

Throughout the Scriptures, God urges people to accept the truth. But when people reject Him and spurn His message, then—and not until then—God hardens them and turns them over to a deluded mind to wallow in their wickedness to their eternal damnation. This is what the Lord says about those who choose to reject the truth: “They greatly love to wander; they do not restrain their feet. So the Lord does not accept them; He will now remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins” (Jeremiah 14:10).

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Posted by: the warrioress | December 15, 2011

Red-Letter Words

a red-letter day

 Why should these give us pause? 

There is a reason the words of Jesus Christ are bolded for us in red. We’ll want to know what Jesus said and pay careful attention to these red-letter words.
 
We’ll want to think about them deeply and peer into the recesses of our minds to see if we’re behaving as He would have us, as He talked to us about, within the special red-letter passages. 

Red Letter
 
When I sit down, bible in hand, my eyes are drawn to the brilliant intensity of the
red letters.  I ponder the words before me quietly, deliberating on Jesus.  His way of speaking is tender, but I imagine His voice to be soft, yet incredibly deep. 
 
I think of this great teacher and His
incredible patience.  I run my fingertips across the red letters, feeling Him near, almost hearing that deep voice audibly.
 
Lord Jesus, I perceive of the desires you have for us through the red-letter words, and I sense the urgency within the phrases. They stand out in the crowd for a reason. They are gifted to us so that we might know your will for our lives.  We can re-live what our brethren lived through before us through the story they tell of you. What you were to them, you are now so much more to us. 

The Good Book
 
These red-letter words are ours after your death and resurrection; they guide, direct, and lovingly teach — if we will but simply make them a part of our daily lives.
 
Thank you, Lord Jesus.
 
 
 
 
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Posted by: the warrioress | December 14, 2011

Letters to God

Have you ever wondered what your child would say in a private letter to God?  Children are very open and honest; they aren’t usually politically correct. They are taught and trained to embellish,  lie, and deceive by the very parents who raise them. What if it were possible to read their pure, unadulterated, unrestricted thoughts written to the Most High?

What if our loved ones broke down and secretly sent off similar silent, private ruminations to the Holy Mailbox?  

Dear God, I Hate Myself

Dear God, I hate myself.

 What would these little gems of truth tell us about the people in our lives? Wouldn’t you like to be able to read one?

How would it change your life and the lives of the people around you? 

This very thing happens to our postal workers every year…

 

******  

The God letters came from grown-ups with perfect penmanship and kids who hadn’t learned to spell.

Most of the writers were hurting. Many didn’t seem to know where else to turn.

Most of the things they asked for, only God could give.

“Dear God, I think my heart is okay for know. But it still herts,” wrote a girl named Alexy, who dots the letter i with a bubble. “Don’t tell my nana but sometimes i use her oxygen. God why do my mom and dad fight? My mom lives 5 states away and they still fight. My heart herts right know.”

“Dear God,” began another girl. “Life is good here since you have made the World. There were some bad things like plane crashes, robberies, people killing 1 another, and child abuse. God those things scare me. I mean what if those things would happen to me? Thank you God … Love, Abby.”

god

A boy named Adam offered a heavenly update. “Dear God, I’m still really sick.  feel terrible. And my throat hurts … so I have to take this medicine that tastes so GROSS. But it feels so good.”

Perhaps the most poignant letter was from a mother in Tampa. Written on notebook paper, addressed to “God the Lord above Heaven,” it was sent off with a stamp of cartoon character Lisa Simpson.

“Dear God,” it begins. “Hi, how are you doing? I hope when you receive this letter you’re doing good. … Well God the reason why I writing you this letter is to ask for your help in three things.

“One can you please help omi to get out of jail as soon as possible so he can come home and be with the family. … Forgive him he deserves a chance please god I know he can do right.

“Two can you help me loose weight give me the energy to do so.

“And three can you help me with my financial so I can pay back everyone I owe. … In the name of Jesus Christ, I really want omi to come home and I really want to lose weight and pay all my taxes back. Please help me thank you.”

The single page is signed with three X’s and three O’s, “Love always.” P.S.: “Protect my kids from all evil. Do not let no evil enter my home.”

Postal workers respond to every letter to Santa on the big guy’s behalf.

So, what about the God letters?

“We’re not going to reply,” Sawtelle said. “How can we?”

He paused, placed both hands on the pile. “I’m not a religious person,” he said. “But I have to believe that you don’t need the Postal Service for these. The minute you put your pen to paper, and address a letter to God, it gets delivered.”

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Posted by: the warrioress | December 13, 2011

Sleep Deprived Society

Stop and Smell the Roses

I haven’t approved of American society’s syndrome of overachieving and workaholicism, ever. I don’t think it’s mentally healthy or a wise way of living one’s life. I don’t believe it hurts someone to strive for a goal and go overboard for a little while, even a year or two, but as a consistent way of living one’s life? Absolutely not; it’s a mistake.

We are teaching our children to pursue their lives this way, always on the run. We train them into unhealthy sleep habits and ways of perceiving the realities and goals of life. We are essentially creating robotic automats’ that don’t appreciate time taken to smell the roses or enjoy the simpler things of life.

We are pushing a materialistic, fast-food culture upon our children, showing them an example of people who are in perpetual motion, at the cost of their physical, emotional, and mental health and well-being.  Well, something has to give.

English: A Sleeping moon in a cap.

It’s time to slow the pace a bit and begin to look at the amount of sleep people need to function properly, but more appropriately, the amount of sleep that children need, that they are not getting. We, as adults, probably aren’t getting the right amount of sleep either; thus we are teaching our children erroneously through our own bad habits and principles. If nothing changes, nothing changes.

When do we call a halt to an obviously aberrant way of living our lives, and demand change not only for ourselves, but more importantly, for our children and their futures?

—————

Children’s Sleep: Time for a Wake-Up Call

Main health effects of sleep deprivation (See ...

Except for a handful of forward-thinking school districts, the continuing resistance to starting high school later to accommodate the biological time clocks of teenagers speaks to the attitudes of the adults in charge of our children. How can it be that despite overwhelming evidence that sleep deprivation in teenagers is every bit the public health menace that cigarette smoking is, school administrators have abided the status quo?

Sleep researchers have convincingly demonstrated that, on average, teenagers need nine hours of sleep and that their brains are programmed for them to stay up later than adults. Sleep researchers have also convincingly demonstrated that, on average, adults need eight hours of sleep. Not getting enough sleep is as pervasive in today’s culture as was consuming two or three packs per day of Lucky Strikes in the 1940s, 50s and 60s.

In reaction to a July 2010 Wall Street Journal article reporting the salutary effects of starting first period later at a Rhode Island prep school, several commenters decried what they termed the coddling of a generation and giving in to spoiled brats’ laziness — precisely how depression was depicted four decades ago — rather than responding to a biological imperative. School boards and superintendents, whose reputation and ranking depend on how many advanced-placement tests their students pass, have not come to grips with the toll that sleep deprivation takes on the developing adolescent brain.

cropped from English: Example of dark circles

Sleep is essential for sustained focus, concentration, and attention, the brain circuitry of which is the same in children and adolescents as it is in adults. The prefrontal cortex, center of complex reasoning, signals the striatum, a deeper brain structure which modulates activity and attention to novel stimuli, which connects to an even deeper area called the thalamus, which relays sensory input from the body and regulates alertness and sleep. Sustained attention requires that these three brain structures, known as the CST system, cooperate, a function of the brain neurotransmitters norepinephrine and dopamine. Sleep deprivation not only reduces CST function, it alters CST norepinephrine and dopamine levels. Amphetamines, the mainstay of treatment for inattention, stimulate CST circuitry artificially by either mimicking dopamine at nerve cell endings or stimulating dopamine’s release. However, clinical experience shows that amphetamines interfere with sleep and in excess act like cocaine, which can overexcite nerve cells to the point they self-destruct. Prolonged amphetamine abuse can produce a syndrome that looks like schizophrenia.

An example of sleeping.

Clinically, every psychiatric disorder I treat in adolescents is worsened by getting too little sleep. Well over half the teenagers who come to me with attention symptoms are sleep deprived. While CST malfunction is not caused by sleep deprivation alone, and amphetamines have a role in medicine’s pharmacopeia, my experience is that medicating the inattentiveness and cognitive impairment of sleep-deprived youngsters with amphetamines — teenagers today bum Adderall from each other like cigarettes — is like trying to paralyze the tail that wags the dog, or like treating a smoker’s hacking with codeine-containing cough suppressants while failing to address the lung disease.

What’s at issue here is an attitude change with respect to sleep behavior. Change is hard. Change requires self-reflection; there is no way around it. Facing sleep deprivation head-on means that the adults in charge of our teenagers acknowledge and deal with their own sleeping habits, including maladaptive sleep behaviors like the widespread use and abuse of sleeping pills and alcohol at bedtime; like stimulant and caffeine dependence and abuse during the day; like snoring and obstructive sleep apnea and the toll snoring takes on sleep-partners and relationships; like arguing at bedtime, as well as a host of unattended mental and physical disorders — depression, obesity and diabetes for instance — that disrupt sleep patterns.

Medical students

Years ago, senior physicians rationalized the hundred-plus hour work weeks they demanded of their bleary-eyed trainees saying, “Four hours of sleep were good enough for me.” Now that we know how many preventable mistakes were caused by secondhand sleep deprivation, medical trainee’s work-weeks have been scaled back to no more than eighty hours.

I am not advocating we lower academic standards; far from it. However, as a physician who cares deeply about the health and welfare of teenagers, I feel it is essential we give adolescents the opportunity to get the sleep needed for optimal brain function. These are the facts: well-rested adolescents significantly outperform their sleep-deprived counterparts academically; their moods are better; their graduation rates are higher; they watch less television; they do more homework; and they are involved in fewer car crashes.

High school should start at 8:45 a.m., or better at 9 o’clock. The successful grassroots campaign of Wilton, Connecticut’s League of Women voters, which moved their high school start time 50 minutes later, proves that logistical complications like busing schedules and after school activities, often cited as obstacles to change, can be overcome when the community is involved and motivated.

It’s only a matter of time until the family of someone killed when a teenager falls asleep at the wheel brings action for reckless endangerment. School board members and superintendents need to wake up now, before they receive the subpoena.

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Posted by: the warrioress | December 12, 2011

Shout to The Lord

English: Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey

My Jesus, my Savior
Lord, there is none like You
All of my days, I want to praise
The wonders of Your mighty love

My comfort, my shelter
Tower of refuge and strength
Let every breath, all that I am
Never cease to worship You

Shout to the Lord
All the earth let us sing
Power and majesty praise to the King
Mountains bow down and the seas will roar
At the sound of Your name

I sing for joy at the work of Your hands
Forever I’ll love You
Forever I’ll stand
Nothing compares to the promise I have
In You

On Mobile Phone View Video HERE

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Posted by: the warrioress | December 11, 2011

Soul & Spirit II – The Soul of Animals?

Pope John Paul II confirmed that animals do have a soul and that yes, they would be with us within Heaven. (Source) Many theologians, however, do not believe this to be the case.

I decided to do some reading on this and was startled to find that opinions vary all across the board.

 Theologians appear to pretty much disagree with the Pope, and feel that animals, while being living “souls” as we are, do not carry an immortal soul that lives on past death, as ours does.

Pet owners of all shapes and sizes disagree with the studied theologians; they feel that there can be no doubt that animals have souls.

As a lover of all animals and life, I tend to agree with the side of the aisle that feels that animals do have a soul, great intelligence and intuitiveness, and the ability to empathize. I’m not sure, however, that animals have a ‘spirit,’ which is the part of us that endures, that lives on eternally after acceptance of Jesus Christ and belief in who He is and what He did for us.

This topic can become complicated and the fact is that no one really knows for sure. I prefer to believe that animals will have the opportunity to live on, and that they will go to Heaven; that we will one day see our beloved pets again and live with them for all eternity. This is very important to me because of the great love I have for my pets, of which I have several. I choose to believe that my animals have a soul and a spirit, and pray I will see them again one day.

The research appears to only bring about greater speculation, as no one can be certain, it would seem.

-*-  -*-  -*- 

Question: “Do pets / animals go to Heaven? Do pets / animals have souls?”

Answer: The Bible does not give any explicit teaching on whether pets/animals have “souls” or whether pets/animals will be in heaven. However, we can use general biblical principles to develop some clarity on the subject. The Bible states that both man (Genesis 2:7) and animals (Genesis 1:30; 6:17; 7:15, 22) have the breath of life. The primary difference between human beings and animals is that humanity is made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-27), while animals are not. Being made in the image and likeness of God means that human beings are like God, capable of spirituality, with mind, emotion, and will, and they have a part of their being that continues after death. If pets/animals do have a “soul” or immaterial aspect, it must therefore be of a different and lesser “quality.” This difference possibly means that pet/animal “souls” do not continue in existence after death.

Another factor to consider is that animals are a part of God’s creative process in Genesis. God created the animals and said they were good (Genesis 1:25). Therefore, there is no reason why there could not be animals on the new earth (Revelation 21:1). There will most definitely be animals during the millennial kingdom (Isaiah 11:6; 65:25). It is impossible to say definitively whether some of these animals might be the pets we had while here on earth. We do know that God is just and that when we get to heaven we will find ourselves in complete agreement with His decision on this issue, whatever it may be.

Source

English: Animals

But does animal intelligence constitute a soul? Does a pet’s emotions and ability to relate to human beings mean that animals possess an immortal spirit that will survive after death?

Theologians say no. They point out that man was created superior to animals and that animals can’t be equal with him.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” (Genesis 1:26, NIV)

Most interpreters of the Bible assume that man’s likeness to God and animals’ subservience to man implies that animals may have the “breath of life,” nephesh in Hebrew, but not an immortal soul in the same sense as man’s.

Even so, the prophet Isaiah says God will include animals in the new heavens and new earth:

“The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, says the LORD.” (Isaiah 65: 25, NIV)

In the last book of the Bible, Revelation, the Apostle John’s vision of heaven also included animals, showing Christ and the armies of heaven “riding on white horses.” (Revelation 19:14, NIV)

Most of us can’t picture a paradise of unspeakable beauty without flowers, trees, and animals. Would it be heaven for an avid birdwatcher if there are no birds? Would a fisherman want to spend eternity with no fish? And would it be heaven for a cowboy without horses?

While theologians may be stubborn in classifying animals’ “souls” as inferior to those of humans, those learned scholars must admit that descriptions of heaven in the Bible are sketchy at best. The Bible does not give a definitive answer on the question of whether we will see our pets in heaven, but it does say, “… with God, all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26, NIV)

Source

Question: Do animals have a soul?

    Answer: As a rule, the complete question involves concern about animals, especially pets, being in heaven.

 The original creation.When we visit the original creation, we discover a number of truths. One apparent truth is the uniqueness of man compared to the lower animal creation. Only to man was it said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness….” (Gen. 1: 26). Animals are next mentioned in the verse, but from the standpoint of their subservience to man.

English: Depiction of a soul being carried to ...

The fate of man and animals. The wise man had much to say regarding man, his birth, life, and destiny. He wrote, “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it” (Eccl. 12: 7). Earlier, he wrote regarding man and the beast: “Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?” (Eccl. 3: 21.) This question is clearly answered in the above noted chapter twelve, verse seven.

    Animals have a soul in the sense that they possess life.A common Hebrew word translated life (soul) is nephesh. Nephesh is used for the life or breath of both animals and man (Gen. 1: 20, 30; 19: 17). Life is that state that is the opposite of death. It is a state of animation, breathing, and awareness. Men and animals alike possess a soul in the sense of breath (nephesh). However, in the sense of possessing a part or element that lives forever, as man possesses, animals do not possess an eternal spirit (cp. Matt. 25: 46). The animal simply and totally returns to the dust, the spirit of man continues to exist (Eccl. 3: 21, cp. 12: 7).

 

 The fact that animals do not possess an eternal soul in the sense that man does, does not de-emphasize their value as companions to man. Pets can and do become an important part in the lives of millions. Also, in man’s charge over the animal kingdom, it behooves man to protect and not abuse the animals (Gen. 1: 26-28).

Source

And one more in depth reading with a variety of opinion upon it, many stating that yes, animals do have souls.

Source 

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Posted by: the warrioress | December 10, 2011

Liebster Award!

I must offer a fond blog of gratitude to Media 4 Life Ministries, (Freddy Winter), at http://media4lifeministries.wordpress.com, who recommended me for the lovely Liebster blog award!

Freddy, you’ve been a doll and have been one of the very first bloggers on this site that welcomed me, in whom I looked toward, to learn the ropes of blogging here, and to kind of pattern myself after. There have been other bloggers who have been wonderful to me, whose blogs I have carefully scrutinized so that I could form a personal blogging style and learn how to blog consistently and faithfully as they do.

These bloggers are all excellent writers; that’s just obvious. There are  so many of you whom I admire that I don’t know how I can choose just five, but those are the rules, so here are my five praise-worthy blog buddies, whom I feel also deserve this award:

 
 
 
 
 
These bloggers are truly awesome and I hope you’ll stop by and visit their blogs and congratulate them. I chose my bloggers based upon their love of blogging and faithfulness to the craft, as well as the fact that they are people I admire, whom I have become close to early on in my blogging experience, who have supported me immensely since I started here. 

Here are the rules for the Liebster Blog Award:

1. Show your thanks to the blogger that nominated you.

2. Reveal your top picks and let them know.

3. Post the award on your blog.

4.Bask in the love and support in blogsphere.

5. And best of all…have fun and share it too.

This award is given to bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers all in the spirit of fostering new connections. Liebster is German and means ‘dearest’ or ‘beloved’ but it can mean favorite.

Thank you again to Freddy Winter, Media 4 Life Ministries, at http://media4lifeministries.wordpress.com, that delightful, excellent Christian blogger who nominated me for this Liebster blog award; I thank you and accept it proudly.

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Posted by: the warrioress | December 9, 2011

Remarkable!

This is unique, hysterically funny, and just different. I can’t tell you why … maybe it’s just my crazy sense of humor, but this just struck me as funny and made me laugh so hard!

Between you and me, I need these little humor breaks to off set the more serious posts.

Some of us write about some pretty heavy topics so it’s good to have a bit of a laugh now and again; I hope the clip made you smile. 

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Posted by: the warrioress | December 8, 2011

Dear Atheists

Dear Atheists,
 
Just as a brief, fyi, I thought I might make you aware that Freedom of Religion, that pesky right that we all have under the constitution, does not mean freedom FROM religion. It doesn’t mean that during the CHRISTMAS season, that you get to be free of all public displays of any particular belief system. It doesn’t mean that tender eyes and ears won’t hear Christmas caroling, or see prominent exhibits that have been put up in the public view for the last fifty years or more before you started whining. Freedom from religion is something you apparently dreamed up but there is no mention of it anywhere in that well known document, the constitution. What you’ve created is another religion known as “secularism,” and frankly, we would appreciate freedom from it.
 If you plan to wince as if you’ve got a toothache every time you see a religious expression displayed publicly, you’re going to be in a lot of pain. Most especially, in Texas, ye old bible belt, we aren’t interested in the petty tomfoolery that comes across as politically correct society, here. We don’t plan to take down our nativity scenes, or dump baby Jesus out of his straw bed in order to appease you, either. That your tender palates could get into such a state over real freedom of religion, is silly and ridiculous. You don’t get to rewrite the constitution as a new, more politically correct version that pleases you. So, please; just get over yourselves, hmm?
 
Christian pastors in Henderson County, Texas, are fighting back against atheists who are demanding that a nativity scene located on a courthouse lawn be taken down.

The group behind the complains, the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation, frequently targets faith and religion projects that are placed on public lands. The group sent a letter to the county that explains how a local resident, who wishes to remain nameless, is offended by the scene.

Here is some of the text from the letter (via Malakoff News):

It is our information and understanding that a large nativity scene is on display at the Henderson County Courthouse and that it is the only seasonal display on the grounds (see photo enclosed). It is unlawful for the County to maintain, erect, or host this nativity scene, thus singling out, showing preference for, and endorsing one religion. The Supreme Court has ruled it is impermissible to place a nativity scene as the sole focus of a display on government property. […]

We request that, as Henderson County Commissioners, you take immediate action to ensure that no religious displays are on city or county property. Please inform us in writing of the steps you are taking to remedy this First Amendment violation so that we may notify our complainant.

“That Christianity was being promoted, endorsed by local government and this made them feel unwelcomed,” said Annie Laurie Gaylor, the co-founder of the Freedom from Religion Foundation. “It sends a message of intimidation and exclusion to non-Christians and non believers this time of year.”

“Anybody walking by that is going to say, ‘Hmmm. This is a Christian government building. I’m not welcome here if I’m not Christian,’” she continued.

But rather than bow down to the atheists’ demands, the pastors are planning to defend their display. “It’s time that Americans stand up and take America back for the faith that we were founded upon,” said Nathan Lorick, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Malakoff, Texas. “We’re going to stand up and fight for this.”

To combat the group’s demands, the pastors are assembling a rally in support of the nativity scene. And it’s not just pastors getting who are on the defense. Henderson County Commissioner Joe Hall calls Gaylor‘s and the FFRF’s attacks “stupid” and he pledges to fight them “until hell freezes over.” According to hall, the nativity has been up for 35 years, without incident.

Tracie Lynda, a local resident, doesn’t see what the big deal is. “What is so offensive about a baby in a manger?,” she asked. “If it does not mean anything to you, why does it offend you?”

The rally to defend the nativity will occur next weekend.

Source

(H/T: Fox News Radio)

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