While in the car yesterday -- which is where I seem to be spending the majority of this week, and perhaps this month -- and listening to Moody's Prime Time America, I heard an interesting, thought-provoking interview with Tim Challies of The Discerning Reader.

After a quick glance at the web site, I instantly became a fan.  I can't say devoted fan, yet.

I am a book-lover.  And, probably as an outgrowth of that, an information junkie.  The internet supplies an endless source of information, and I find myself signing up for e-newsletters and e-mail updates (as I did for The Discerning Reader, because I'm still not sure how RSS works!), and I download massive amounts of free e-books, free curriculum and free audio, much to the chagrin of my rather limited-in-size hard drive.  I really must get an external drive.  When my poor hard drive is suffering from information overload, I burn things to CD.  I have this vision of my children valuing this inheritance that I have diligently collected for them.  But it's probably not likely.  [sigh]

So, I was thrilled on my first visit to The Discerning Read to find the current top entry about the book Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (RBMW), which I, of course, had downloaded for free quite some time ago.  I started to read it and felt it, for the most part, supported my beliefs, but the busy life of a homeschooling mom of four quickly pushed my reading to the bottom of the proverbial pile.  (Let's face it, I could print the whole thing out and carry it with me, which I've done with e-books in the past, but who wants to waste that paper.  Oh, for a laptop.  Oh, for my own MP3 player.  [I often borrow my sons.]  And when to actually read.  I used to use our time in the car, but since my husband's eyesight is deteriorating and since we now live in a part of the city where it seems no one feels they need to obey the traffic laws, I do most of the driving.  And one of those laws -- I'm sure it's written somewhere - is to not read while you drive, so that's out of the question.)  Sorry.  I digress.

Anyway, I have signed up for the email updates and am hoping to keep up with this "discussion."  (Unlike the one I signed up for at The Homeschool Lounge on "The Excellent Wife."  Oops.  Life just gets so hectic.)

I really need to get back to caring for a teaching my children, and get off this computer!  So, have a blessed day.

Blessings,

Barb

Hi all.  I just listed a new batch of 50-some books at my Half.com shop.  Many books are $0.75.

I was convicted yesterday, after hearing of so many needs in our church family due to joblessness and health, that I needed to do something to help.  We, like so many, are not in great shape in this economy, and I often wish we had better living arrangements, but then I looked around at the "so much" that we have and asked my husband, "So why am I still not happy?" 

So, anything I make off the sale of these books is going to go to provide food or food gift cards or other needs to those in our congregation who are going through a rough time right now.  I'd so appreciate if you'd spread the word.

Thanks so much.

Blessings,

Barb

This is another book in the similar vein as "Family Worship" but it covers a broader scope and is a quick read as it is actually a "booklet" (my copy is 30-some pages). 

We read this in our class today as we began our "Family Driven Faith" book discussion:

"Precious, no doubt, are these little ones in your eyes; but if you love them, think often of their souls. No interest should weigh with you so much as their eternal interests. No part of them should be so dear to you as that part which will never die. The world, with all its glory, shall pass away; the hills shall melt; the heavens shall be wrapped together as a scroll; the sun shall cease to shine. But the spirit which dwells in those little creatures, whom you love so well, shall outlive them all, and whether in happiness or misery (to speak as a man) will depend on you.  This is the thought that should be uppermost on your mind in all you do for your children. In every step you take about them, in every plan, and scheme, and arrangement that concerns them, do not leave out that mighty question, "How will this affect their souls?"

Soul love is the soul of all love. To pet and pamper and indulge your child, as if this world was all he had to look to, and this life the only season for happiness — to do this is not true love, but cruelty. It is treating him like some beast of the earth, which has but one world to look to, and nothing after death. It is hiding from him that grand truth, which he ought to be made to learn from his very infancy, — that the chief end of his life is the salvation of his soul."

You can actually print the text in PDF form (16 pages) HERE.

Blessings,

Barb

This is an awesome book!  It was originally written in 1847, but its truths are still applicable today.  If you're like me, you may have to reread some sentences a couple times just to make sure you get it.  (A shame how our literacy level has so declined!)

"Observation shows that families which have no household worship are at a low ebb in spiritual things; that families where it is performed in a cold, sluggish, negligent, or hurried way are little affected by it, and little affected by any means of grace.  But families where God is worshipped, every morning and evening, by all the inmates of the house in a solemn and affectionate service, are blessed with increase of piety and happiness.  Every individual is blssed."

"Prayerless parents have cause to tremble...They have no right to expect parental happiness.  They place themselves and their household in the defenseless condition of the heathen....One who has any genuine religious faith, any trust in God's promises, must be assured that in the rearing of his household, in providing for their support and education, in governing and restraining them, and in laboring for their souls, no good can ensue but by the blessing of God.  And for this blessing, in the way of direction and grace, the Christian parent should join with his family in asking everyday."

Wow!  I have underlined huge portions of this book.  I highly recommend it.

I found it at Crown and Covenent, but you might want to search around.

Oh, and I just found it to view/download free here:  LINK.

Blessings,

Barb

Stacy MacDonald has posted a video and some reviews about this book that are well worth looking at.  I have not read the book, but it is helpful to be informed should a conversation arise.

"Who Is God?"

Blessings,

Barb

I'm kind of invested now in finding out what happens to Michael Murphy, having read books one and two in the series.  And I'll read book 4.  But this one wasn't as good, in my opinion, as the first two.  The actual discovery of the archaeological find was not very dramatic, and the ending was kinda of blah.  But you gotta love the main character and you hang in there with him.  I'm hoping the next one is better.

The Europa Conspiracy, Babylon Rising Series #3 By Tim LaHaye / Random House, Inc Boy-Scout-turned-Indiana-Jones Michael Murphy may be a renowned field archaeologist, but he's no tweedy scholar living in an ivory tower! In The Europa Conspiracy, Murphy heads to Babylon, determined to unravel one of Daniel s most mysterious prophecies. Can he decipher the true meaning of the handwriting on the wall before evil forces annihilate him?

Babylon Rising, Babylon Rising Series #1 By Tim LaHaye & Greg Dinallo / Random House, Inc Michael Murphy is a field archeologist who defies danger to fearlessly hunt down and authenticate ancient artifacts from Biblical times. His latest discover is his most amazing--but it will send him hurtling from a life of excavations and revelations to a confrontation with the forces of the greatest evil. For the latest ancient secret uncovered by Michael Murphy accelerates the countdown to the time for all mankind.

The Secret on Ararat, Babylon Rising Series #2 By Tim LaHaye & Bob Phillips / Random House, Inc Biblical scholar, archeologist, professor, and hero for our times Michael Murphy is in pursuit of one of the most mysterious and sought-after of all Biblical artifacts, Noah's Ark. As Murphy undertakes his death-defying quest to ascend Mount Ararat, he will discover dramatic revelations of Biblical prophecies and be drawn even closer to the most terrifying evil about to be unleashed on all mankind.

Blessings,

Barb

Wow!  This is a thick book, but I read it in about a day and a half.  I've decided I need to not check out any books for a while, as I have a tendency to leave everything else undone.

Riven By Jerry B. Jenkins / Tyndale House Raised in a dingy trailer park, Brady Wayne Darby has only a death sentence to show for his sad, sorry life. But when weary man of God Thomas Carey meets this no-account with nothing left to lose, the seismic wave of rebirth and redemption will shake a state---and the nation---to the core! 350 pages, hardcover from Tyndale.

I was drawn into the live sof the two main characters and amazed and how their stories merged and the end result.  An amazing book on the impact Christ has on lives.

Blessings,

Barb

Do you have a hard time boxing books up at the end of the school year?  I was putting this past year's history curriculum, among other things, in a box today and typing a label for the outside so I could easily determine the contents of the box once it was in "storage."  My 14yods was concerned that he wouldn't be able to look at the books again, that the box wouldn't be unpacked.

He still keeps on the shelf in his room some of his early Sonlight books, like Usborne's World Geography and Time Traveler.  Now he's having trouble letting me box up Pyramid and City (both by Maccaulay).

Oh, how I long for a big house with lots of built in bookshelves.  I think back to the scene in "Beauty and the Beast" where Beast has Belle close her eyes, then takes her into the library, flings open the drapes, and tells her, "Now."  Oh what a thrill runs through my body at that scene!  Oh to have so many shelves that nothing would ever have to be boxed up!

Blessings,

Barb

I just started reading "Out of the Depths," the autobiography of John Newton.  Wow!  I was hooked on the first page!

I was encouraged by the reference to Deuteronomy 8:2: "Thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led three through the wilderness."  I was reminded that God did not lead the Israelites -- nor does he always lead me -- around the wilderness, but through it.  His desire, His good will, is that we go into the wilderness, that we experience the difficulties that are found there, and that we come out the other end changed, strengthened, challenged, equipped.  He has a purpose for that which he leads us through.

I have a friend whose son was just in a serious car accident.  He experienced a broken pelvis and femur and some damage to the lower spinal cord.  She writes the following update:

[S]urgery went well on Wednesday.  They repaired the pelvis with plates and pins.  The physical therapist got him out of bed on Thursday.  This morning (Friday) he was up and out of bed (it was slow going and painful but he did it) and had breakfast in a chair.  Per the physical therapist, he's supposed to be out of the bed more than in it.  Recovery in these modern times is nothing like it used to be!!   As soon as they wean him from the IV pain meds to an oral medication that works, he will be discharged.  He wants to recover at home ([our hometown versus where the accident occured, where he was residing across the country]) and we are trying to get him there.  He is a trooper and has a very positive attitude.  He keeps us laughing and is taking charge of his recovery process.  Though he is feeling the pain, at this moment behind me I hear him doing his leg exercises.  His fortitude touches my heart and brings tears to my eyes.  I know God is at work in this hospital room.

This young man has not walked with the Lord.  But "God is at work."

How often we complain and mumble about what is going on in our lives.  I know I do.  I've been mumbling about DH not working the last three weeks.  Yet God works as we walk through this wilderness.  He is teaching us to trust him.  And just this morning, after my prayer last night that God would allow him to return to work more regularly on Monday, God provided a gift of $500 through some friends.  I don't yet know whether DH will return to work on Monday.  We're waiting for a call from his boss.  But I can rest more easily knowing that there is money to get us through.

John Newton writes (in language updated by Dennis R. Hillman):

"They were ... surrounded with difficulties that were made worse by their distrust and disobedience."

Wow!  Is that me?!  When things aren't going as smoothly as I'd like them to, do I make it worse by my distrust and disobedience.  I am reminded of recently reading something by Terri Maxwell that reminded me that I should rejoice in the privilege and opportunity that my children's disobedience brings me to instruct them.  Instead, all too often I answer their disobedience with disobedience of my own -- either neglecting to discipline or disciplining in a manner and with an attitude that is sin on my behalf.  When finances are difficult, do I turn to the Lord, or do I turn to the credit card.  I fear all too often, the answer is not what is should be.  Yet still, God has been faithful and has provided.

And again, John Newton writes: "Because of our own ignorance and unblief, we often fail to understand the Lord's dealings with us, and we are all too ready to complain.  If we knew everything from God's perspective, we would rejoice.  For us, however, there is a time coming when our spiritual warfare will be finished, our perspective enlarged, and our understanding increased.  Then we will look back upon the experiences through which the Lord led us and be overwhelmed by adoration and love for Him!  We will then see and acknowledge that mercy and goodness directed every step.  We shall see that what we once mistakenly called afflications and misfortune were in reality blessings without which we would not have grown in faith.  Nothing hapened to us without a reason.  No problem came upon us sooner, pressed on us more heavily, or continued longer than our situation required.  God, in divine grace and wisdom, used our many afflictions, each as needed, that we might ultimately possess an exceeding and eternal weight of glory, prepared by the Lord for His people."

Wow!!!

I am so looking forward to finishing this book.  If you are interested in reading it, please consider using my affiliate link below. 

Out of the Depths By John Newton / Kregel Publications The original and unvarnished account of one of Christianity's most dramatic conversions-the autobiography of John Newton, the author of "Amazing Grace." This is the ultimate full-length "hymn story". The enduring story of a slave-trader turned preacher is a powerful message, as spectacular and compelling today as when it was first written.

Blessings,

Barb

Dear Friends,

I have just listed -- at my Half.com account -- a few books I've decided to "discard" instead of box up and move our new home, and we will be listing many more as we continue this process of packing.  If you especially like cookbooks, please be patient as "chef hubby" will be weeding through his many, many cookbooks over the next several weeks, choosing which ones to keep and which ones to get rid of.  So please check back often.

Whatever doesn't sell by August 23 will likely go in the nearest dumpster.

I hope you find something that might interest you.

Blessings,

Barb

If you have GUYS, this would be a great book for them. We are still working on it, but it's been enjoyable for my dh and my 14yods so far.

Captain Jeff Struecker is now an Army Chaplain, but he was in Mogadishu and many other places, and unlike most Army Rangers, admits to being afraid.

Capt. Struecker will be a guest speaker at this year's Father-Son Camp, which my guys are attending, so in advance of that, we're reading the book aloud.

I haven't decided if I want my 14yo to see the movie ("Black Hawk Down"), as it is quite graphic. But the book is a good read.

Blessings,

Barb

The Road to Unafraid: How the Army's Top Ranger Faced Fear and Found Courage through Black Hawk Down and Beyond By Captain Jeff Struecker with Dean Merrill / Thomas Nelson Jeff Struecker, eventual winner of the Army's Best Ranger competition, was one of the elite U.S. soldiers sent into Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1993 as part of a U.N. peacekeeping operation. Their mission: to break the grip of Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid in order to quell the civil war and famine that was ravaging the country. Struecker and his fellow Rangers, plus others, fought side by side against overwhelming odds. For eighteen harrowing hours, some of the soldiers remained trapped and wounded in the most hostile district of Mogadishu. A rescue convoy, headed by Struecker, was mounted to retrieve them. He led the convoy back into the hell of battle not once, but twice, determined to rescue downed soldiers, all the while expecting to die himself. In this riveting book, Struecker recounts the stories of his life as a top Ranger, from the frontlines of every U.S. initiative since Panama-moments where God met him and delivered peace in the midst of certain death. He also recounts his journey of becoming a full-time chaplain so he could teach his fellow Rangers how to have the "peace that passes all understanding."

I didn't need to be convinced that what I am doing is of eternal value, but I did need to be reminded that God is glorified even in what I might consider the mundane, in that "dying to self" and in the serving. After all, Christ came to serve. I'm reminded that I have a long way to go before I have developed the heart of Christ. I grow weary of laundry and weary of dishes and weary of cleaning. Yet it is in joyfully performing these acts of service for my family that God will be glorified. And yes, it is even in my failure that He will be glorified.

It is easy to buy into that "success" mentality -- that if I keep a clean house, run everything on a schedule, have well-spoken and well-behaved and well-read children who are above-average academically (and not all are!) -- that I have succeeded as a stay-at-home, homeschool mom. I need to be reminded that, while I may be obedient in some areas, it is God who causes the growth, the success as some would call it. I need to check that pride. And in those areas where I am not obedient (i.e., still a work-in-progress), in need to remember that God can work in spite of my failures, and that it doesn't all depend on me. There is a freedom in realizing that I am not the "make it or break it" factor here! Wow! If I will just remember that, then the burden truly is light and the yoke is easy.

I'm looking forward to finishing this book, and will perhaps comment more as I go through it, but I highly recommend this book.

Passionate Housewives Desperate for God: Fresh Vision for the Hopeful Homemaker By Jennie Chancey & Stacy McDonald / Vision Forum Filled with encouragement and words of wisdom, Passionate Housewives is written for women who aspire to live in obedience to Christ, but struggle to reconcile society's definition of womanhood with God's Word. Learn why the "desperate housewife" is a myth and discover why women should embrace their god-given role as a homemaker and helpmeet. Stacy McDonald and Jennie Chancey show how you can find true contentment in God's order and discover overwhelming joy by dying to self. 206 pages, paperback.

Blessings,

Barb

I love using stories to teach character lessons -- after all, isn't this what Jesus did so often?! -- because the lessons really sink in as the characters and situations become alive to the children.

This book is great bedtime reading! Enjoy!

Another Hive of Bees: Stories That Help Build Character for Children 5-10 By A. B. Publishing Danny and Debbie, like their cousins, decide they want to spend some vacation time on the farm with their grandparents. For children who have only know city life- each day presents exciting opportunities for them to experience new situations- especially the first day, when they encounter a hive of angry bees. From this episode grandma chooses stories from her scrapbook and skillfully develops some character lessons for each evening bedtime BEESTORY.

Blessings,

Barb

Wow, what a great video presentation we saw in our discipleship class yesterday.  It was by Norm Wakefield, based on his book I previously mentioned, "Equipped to Love."

If I get angry at someone because they haven't done something that I want, when I want, the way that I want -- and doesn't that sound like what happens daily in our families?! -- then I have given them the power to make my day a good day or a bad day.  I have also made them an idol in my life, because I am looking to them as the source -- of my pleasant and peaceful day, my easy life, my convenience, whatever -- instead of looking to God as the Source.  If I truly believe that God is Sovereign and everything that comes to me is His plan for my good, then even the "bad" stuff is designed to teach me something and comform me into the image of His Son.  When when I react to something without the gentleness, kindness, long-suffering, whatever that I am called to have, I am not acknowledging that God allowed that in my life for my good but am instead looking to the person or circumstance to make my life what I think it should be.  I am missing out on God's best.

We discussed that this was really radical and that it would take time to digest and process all of the implications of this teaching.  Terri Maxwell has often said the same basic thing without using the word "idol," that each act of disobedience is a gift/an opportunity  from God to give me an opportunity to train my children in Christlikeness and I should be thankful for those opportunities.

Lord, forgive me when I look to my children to be my supply instead of looking to You as my Supplier, Sustainer, and Source.  Help me to look at each circumstance and person that comes into my life as a gift from you for my growth, an opportunity to respond to that person in love or that circumstance with grace and long-suffering and patience.  Grow me ever more into the image of Your Son.  Thank you for your faithful love for me!  Thank you that you will not give up until you have completed Your work in me!

Blessings,

Barb

DH and I are reading this together for our home discipleship class.  This really spoke to me:

"Continually pray for grace to receive all things and all people as expressions of God's love for you because God purposely brings them to you to provide opportunities for you to reject the spirit of idolatry and turn to Him for the power to love.  To grumble about circumstances or refuse to give thanks to God for people and their weaknesses, regardless of how inconvenient or hurtful, declares our unbelief in Jesus' lordship and sets us in opposition to His sovereign Word." (emphasis mine)

Wow!  There are some people I really have a hard time with.  I am definitely not thankful for them when they make my life difficult.  But I have the wrong attitude.  I'm expecting them to meet my needs -- for smooth sailing, for a stress free life, for peace and quiet.  I have turned from expecting God to meet my needs.  When they bring chaos into my world, I need to turn to God to meet my needs in spite of circumstances and through it all, to grow me more into the likeness of His Son and use me as an instrument of His love to others.

I'm looking forward to continuing this book.

Blessings,

Barb

While we were all sick last week, I spent a considerable amount of time on the couch just reading.  I got through the following books:

• Dark Moon (can't find it on CBD) -- it was pretty good

• Babylon Rising #1 - by Tim LaHaye -- ditto

• Secret of Ararat (Babylon Rising #2) -- I actually enjoyed this more than the first one because we've always had an interest in Ararat and the Ark, having read "Mystery of the Ark" years ago, the story of Jim Irwin and his quest for the Ark (and amazingly, the book was dedicated to Mr. Irwin).

We're also "plodding" through -- and I mean that seriously as it is not a light read-aloud -- "Cat of the Bubastes."  My 14yo is enjoying it, but I find myself at times substituting words.  It is a really good story, though.

We're also reading aloud "Another Hive of Bees" (purchased off Ebay -- and now I want to get the first, "A Hive of Busy Bees") and that is quite enjoyable for the little one(s).

I've been trying to be more regular about evening reading as it is a good way to make use of time that would otherwise probably be wasted.  Even hubby is enjoying "Cat of the Bubastes."

Blessings,

Barb

I heard an interview on Moody Radio with the author of "Faith in the Halls of Power," D. Michael Lindsay, and it interested me enough to check out the book from the library.  I'm uncertain as to whether he is a Christian or not, but he has written what seems to be a fair and impartial assessment of "how evangelicals joined the American elite."

While I may not have agreed with all of his conclusions/observations, one important thing struck me -- and interestingly, it was not even the main idea of the book but a side issue:  the economic divisions in the church that prevent it from being the mighty force that the 1st Century church was.

Here is a quote from the book:

"To the extent that cosmopolitan leaders are active in a local church, it is almost always a megachurch, not a small congregation in their community.  The declining importance of small, community-oriented churches for these leaders underscores the divide within American evangelicalism.  This division reveals the presence of status and class hierarchies that are grounded in persistent economic divisions...By keeping cosmopolitan and populist evangelicals separate, the parachurch sector may actually be exacerbating this division.  This distancing mechanism is both the cause and the effect of a declining commitment to a communitarian ethic, to a way of life that cares deeply for one's neighbor -- not just around the world but also down the street.  Local community churches are among the last remaining places where cosmopolitan evangelicals interact with people who are significantly less affluent.  The loss of a communitarian ethic among cosmopolitan evangelicals is especially saddening, for it used to characterize much of American religious life." (bold emphasis mine)

Now, I am obviously not a "cosmopolitan"; instead I appear to be what the author calls in the book a "populist" evangelical -- you know the type -- of which we homeschoolers are a big part -- those who make phone calls to government offices, participate in petition and letter-writing campaigns, listen to contemporary Christian music (okay, some of us), and help keep the evanglical publishing houses in business.  Since I am what I am, I know almost no "cosmopolitans" -- with the exception of perhaps one couple, so I hesitate to be hasty to judge.  However, my impression from the book is that those who would consider themselves cosmopolitans tend to "look down their nose" at the rest of us, as if we were the poor relatives that tended to be an embarassment to them.  As the author indicated, this is "especially saddening" as I see such a different model and practice for the church in Scripture.

Acts 4:32-35 tells us a very different story:  "All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need."  Acts 5 goes on to tell the story of Annanias and Sapphira.  It is followed by this passage (verses 12-14):  "The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon's Colonnade. No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number."

It's not a giant leap in logic to realize (by the context of this passage) that the message of the apostles and the miraculous signs they performed worked hand in hand with the "communitarian ethic" (to use D. Michael Lindsay's own words) to give a testimony of faith that made the church attractive to unbelievers.  One can wonder then, why is the church not attractive to unbelievers today?  Could it be this lack of true brotherly love, this lack of concern for those who sit in the pew next to us (or those we choose not to sit in the pew with)?

(Lest I be perceived as pointing fingers at others without examining myself, the same goes for those of us who might be considered "populist."  One could argue that all that money we spend on CDs and books for our own personal enjoyment could be better put to service in meeting the needs of others.  Our pastor once told me that any spending habit I have that prevents me from having the resources to help others needs to be examined.)

I can't help but think if the church would return to true brotherly love as exemplified in Acts, sharing our God-given resources so that no one had a need (and I might extend that to not needing government- or employer-funded healthcare, insurance, etc.), that the world would be knocking down our doors to get in, to experience the love of Christ through the Body of Christ.

Blessings,

Barb

I am blown away.  My "reluctant reader" is about to finish a whole book in a matter of about six hours!  He stumbled onto a "Tom Swift - Young Inventor" book.  After doing some research, I discovered this are newer books written basically the same way the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books were written -- by ghost writers using a pseudonym.  The older Tom Swift series was written the same way -- actually, there were several series -- and I guess now they're coming out with a new series of them.  I did some research on Ebay and Amazon.com and found that the original set from the early to mid-1900s can be rather pricey.  I put a couple bids in, but was quickly outbid and don't really want to play that game.  But I also discovered the original series free online at Project Gutenberg.  My darling son doesn't seem to mind that they are not in "book format" and just wants to read the stories.  So he is quite agreeable to me just printing them out.  I just downloaded all 25 of them.  Hey, if he'll read them . . . . !!!

Blessings,

Barb

Hi all.  I was reading by current "bathroom book" this morning, and this really spoke to me.  This is an exerpt from William Bradford's "Of Plymouth Plantation" in which he records a letter from the Pilgrims' pastor, John Robinson, to the Pilgrims upon their departure:

..We are carefully to provide for peace with all men so far as in us lieth especially with our associations; and for that we must be watchful that we ourselves neither give, nor easily take, offence.  Woe be unto the world for offences; for though it be necessary (considering the malice of Satan and man's corruption) that offences come, yet woe unto the man or woman either, by whom the offence come, saith Christ.  And if offences arising from unseasonable actions, innocent in themselves, are more to be feared than death itself, as the Apostle teacheth (I or. ix, 15), how much more when arising from things simply evil, in which neither honour or God nor love of man is thought worth to be regarded.  Nor is it sufficient that we keep ourselves by the grace of God from giving offence, except we be armed also against taking offence when it is given by others.  For how imperfect is the work of grace in him who lacks the charity that covers a multitude of offence, as the scripture says.  Neither are you exhorted to this grace only upon the common grounds of Christiantiy.  Persons ready to take offence, either lack the charity which should cover offences; or the wisdom duly to weigh human frailty; or lastly, are gross though close hypocrites, as Christ our Lord teaches (Math. vii, 1, 2, 3)....And if taking offence causelessly or easily at men's doing should be so carefully avoided, how much more is it to be heeded lest we take offence at God himself, --which we do as often as we murmur at His providence in our crosses, or bear impatiently such afflictions as He pleases to visit upon us.  Store up, therefore, patience against the evil day, with which we take offence at the Lord Himself in His holy and just works." (emphasis mine)

Whew!  That's a mouthful.  But it really spoke to me as I am quick to get upset when someone says something I don't appreciate.  And I confess at being quick to grumble at the struggles of the day let alone the larger difficulties of life.  Imagine!  Taking offence at God for his Providence.  Ugh!  Forgive me, Lord.

Have a blessed day!

Barb

We have watched the Narnia movie -- saw it at the theater -- and loved it.  So we decided to read through the series, which I've had since I was a teenager, I guess, but never read all of them.

So we were into chapter 8 when I came across the following (the children and the beavers are discussing the White Witch):

"She comes of your father Adam's . . . first wife, her they called Lilith.  And she was one of the Jinn."

OK, this unsettled me.  I'd heard of both terms (Lilith and Jinn) before, and was not comfortable with finding either of them in this book.  I believe that Lilith is used frequently in goddess worship and feminist circles.  Jinn, I thought, has something to do with an Eastern religion, but was unsure.

I'm trying to do some research, because I'm hesitant to continue.  I came across this page today, which gives some background on Lilith:  Judaism 101 - The Role of Women.  I'm also uncomfortable with references to the Jinn.

I'd be glad for any thoughts concerning this.  I know this is not exactly the same thing, but we were Star Wars fans for a while, and had some books and movies in our home.  I just remember waking up one night with a pervasive feeling of evil in my home and feeling led to get rid of anything related to Star Wars.  I just felt the glorification of evil was not something we wanted to pursue.

At the risk of sounding legalistic, I just feel I need to do some more research about this, and have found a few things that discourage the whole Narnia series.

Anyone have any thoughts?

Blessings,

Barb