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Our Daily Thread 5-18-15

Good Morning!

I went to the zoo the otter day and this guy just begged to have his picture taken. 🙂

5-15-15 1765-15-15 174

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On this day in 1642 Montreal, Canada, was founded.

In 1798 the first Secretary of the U.S. Navy was appointed. He was Benjamin Stoddert.

In 1897 a public reading of Bram Stoker’s new novel, “Dracula, or, The Un-dead,” was performed in London.

In 1953 the first woman to fly faster than the speed of sound, Jacqueline Cochran, piloted an F-86 Sabrejet over California at an average speed of 652.337 miles-per-hour.

And in 1980 Mt. Saint Helens erupted in Washington state. 57 people were killed and 3 billion in damage was done.

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Quote of the Day

“Don’t be afraid to fall flat on your face.”

Eddy Arnold

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Today is Eddy Arnold’s birthday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Sz90Cur_1cU

And it’s Perry Como’s too. 

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Anyone have a QoD?

39 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 5-18-15”

  2. It’s raining for the umpteenth time. Somehow, Becca-boo is sleeping through the thunderstorm … Which is weird because she’s usually up by 5:30–bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

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  3. Well–she’s finally up!!’ Time to snuggle! My favorite way to start the day…

    Today is my BFF’s birthday. We’ve been Bestie’s for forty years… In many ways, I’m closer to her than my own siblings. She’s been a real gift to me!

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  4. “Cattle Call” was Eddie Arnold’s theme.
    Everything he did charted. I think “I Couldn’t Believe it was True” only made it to #5.
    Someone once said that Eddie Arnold owned half of Tennessee. Roy Acuff owned the other half.
    I wish it would rain here.

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  8. Thanks, Chas, for the link to the song by Jim Reeves. I played it for my husband. He used to sing it, but forgot about it. He is always looking for new songs for the nursing homes and other places where he does music. This seems like a good one for that.

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  11. We got shut down by Mt St Helens. My brothers said they heard the boom from the mountain above Moscow, that is quite some distance. My grandmother was staying with me and first but not yet born son as husband was off to National Guard duty. We had gone into town to visit my folks and were stuck in town for several days due to the ash. I still have a can of it.

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  15. I was reading my Bible. They were reading the ‘other’ book. Quietly.

    Until a couple with 5 dogs walked by.

    And I won’t tell you what happened then.

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  16. Dogs will be dogs.

    I love the otter. 🙂

    Anyone watch Mad Men? Perfect ending last night.

    All based on this commercial that I’m sure you all remember:

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  20. I used to hear that Coke commercial on the radio when I was at Purdue. I thought it was the perfect commercial. Still my favorite, right next to the Budweiser horses at Christmas.

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  26. Sea otter as opposed to river otter, right? One of my favorite animals, and I’m jealous you got photos. (I’ve gotten decent ones of river otters, including in the wild, but sea otters are extremely expensive to feed–since they like seafoods considered delicacies–and most zoos don’t have them.)

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  28. Feeling sad & even somewhat despairing right now.

    As you may remember, I am no longer commenting on YF’s Facebook posts. Her posts against conservative Christians were the last straw. But I’ve had in mind to send her an email, as an older Christian sister who cares, to explain to her that we conservative Christians have our reasons for believing the traditional interpretations of scripture regarding homosexuality, that we are not hateful & ignorant of what the scriptures really mean. I had some info copied from a site that is no longer available that went into depth refuting “gay theology”. I was going to write that I didn’t expect to change her mind, but merely show her that there are legitimate reasons for why we believe what we believe.

    But today, before I could get around to writing such an email, YF shared this link, prefacing it with, “Hey there LGBTQ kids who are also Christian/Jewish! If you feel like you’re disobeying God, questioning your faith, or feel wrong and dirty for loving who you love, there’s this fantastic site I found today called hoperemains that accurately and thoroughly combs through scripture and its (many) mistranslations, validates your orientation, and basically let’s you know that you’re not p***ing off God. It’s insanely thorough and after reading through every page on the entire site it’s super helpful. Go check it out!”

    http://hoperemains.webs.com/

    I haven’t read the whole thing, but what I have read seems to be a “scholarly” look at the Hebrew or Greek words used, & the way the grammar supposedly “really” worked (changing the translations quite a bit, of course). IOW, it is not easily or simply refuted. The info I had copied a while back doesn’t hit on the specifics that this site presents.

    So, YF can sit back, smugly convinced of her own enlightenment, & of the ignorance & hatred of Christians who hold a traditional view. I am feeling sick about this. Not because I want to try to win an argument with her about this, but because this stuff is leading so many confused Christian youth astray. And my own Chrissy will read that crap & believe it. (Not to mention YF’s lesbian sister.)

    Could anyone here offer any specific refutations of what this site proclaims (assuming anyone would want to take the time to read through this stuff) or know of a good site that refutes these kinds of claims? (I say “these kinds of claims” because I’ve seen articles that offer more general arguments, but not as specific as needed.)

    Now, before you go urging me not to let myself get into a fruitless debate with YF, be assured that I’m not going to let myself do that. I would just like to have the knowledge to refute the claims at this link if I ever need to, & to be able to maybe share it with YF’s mom, who I’m sure must feel confused about all this. Or even to share it with my daughters, if the occasion arose.

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  29. Karen, the view on homosexuality isn’t the point. Books have been written on this issue, including at least one by a young man who said something like “I had same-sex yearnings from the time I was young, and I desperately wanted them validated. A preacher friend gave me a book that he said would prove that I could be homosexual and Christian, and I wanted to believe it. But I took the book, compared it with the Scripture it used, and it was obviously just not true.” (That’s a summary, not what he said word for word.) The reality is, until the Holy Spirit opens their eyes, the specific issues on which they are deceived are secondary. If they submit to Christ, then (and only then) will they care about what the Bible really says about these issues, and at that point maybe you can research them together, or they can research them. For now, their rebellion against God is the point, not the details of it. You won’t win this as an argument, and it is so far from the “main” issue as to be irrelevant, in my opinion.

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  30. Karen O, she cannot hear you. If God wants to talk with her, he will probably use somebody else. Stop wearing yourself out on this and focus on what God has in front of you. Pray for her, but stop looking at her Facebook stuff and stop worrying about finding just the right words to reach her.

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  31. “What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality” by Kevin DeYoung.

    It’s newly published and has received good reviews. It probably answers the questions about original languages. (But it’s not overly long.)

    I’m actually thinking of dropping out of FB for the election year. 🙂

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  32. Karen, personally I wouldn’t even try to go down the road of refuting specific claims on a site or in a book. That kind of debate can go on endlessly, and it puts the one being debated “in the driver’s seat.” I’d be more inclined (if a person is actually open) to study the issue itself. For example, what does the Bible say about the proper use of sexuality? (That includes the fact that God made them male and female and gave marriage as a gift, that procreation is a big part of the purpose for marriage–we lose points in the argument when we make sentimental feelings the basis of marriage–and that marriage, one man and one woman, is an image of Christ and the church. Sex inside marriage is holy, outside marriage it is improper.) Then we can look at improper uses of sex. For example, all of the following are improper uses of sex:

    (1) adultery
    (2) fornication
    (3) homosexuality
    (4) marriage in which one partner consistently refuses to engage sexually
    (5) marriage in which partners reduce sex to only “fun” (no openness to God blessing the marriage with children)
    (6) bestiality
    (7) forced sex
    (8) open marriage (basically adultery by mutual consent)
    (9) divorcing one person to marry another

    But “Homosexuality is wrong” is an argument out of context. Until we see what marriage, and married sexuality, is, its perversions won’t be clear either.

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  34. As I said, I am not looking to debate YF on this. I am not going to comment on her post.

    Cheryl – Yes, of course I agree that submitting to Christ is the most important thing, & yes, I’ve read about that young man you mentioned, as well as others who have come to the same conclusion. Tragically, there are still other young Christian people with these yearnings who will be led astray by these supposedly scholarly interpretations.

    Quite frankly, it seems there is no longer any point of agreement from which to start. For instance, you mentioned that God made them male & female. This site claims (& seems to “prove” their claim by “properly interpreting” the Hebrew words used) that the female was initially a male who somehow transitioned into a female after the fall, when it was time to procreate. (If you want to see how they come to that conclusion, go to the link, & click on “Adam & Eve / Adam & Steve” on the right hand side.)

    The whole thing makes me feel physically ill, & also sick at heart, when I think about it too much. I’ve been asking Jesus to take this burden from my heart. I know it is not my burden to bear, but it is heartbreaking to see how these lies are being embraced by young people today. Seeing my own daughters buy into this abominable garbage kills me inside.

    (In case anyone is wondering, my daughters & I do not discuss any of these issues.)

    So I try to not think about it too much, although I am reminded from time to time by various things I read or see. And then I have to cast my burden upon the Lord, & trust in Him to move in these situations & in these individuals I love. I need to do that more & more lately.

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  35. We live in difficult and interesting times, to be sure. Seeing much of the intolerance and anger from the left on this issue via social media can be intimidating and mind-boggling. Where does one begin? Or maybe one doesn’t.

    I have no clue, really, as to how to broach this issue anymore — and I confess I largely avoided it altogether.

    I’ve recently read a book called “Thriving in Babylon,” much of it was very helpful. Some of it I felt went too far in suggesting that Christians focus, like Daniel did, on being model citizens, bending over backwards to be good subjects in serving their leaders. It’s left me somewhat conflicted.

    Either way, we Christians clearly have found ourselves on the “wrong” side of the culture (and thus politics and government) and it’s happened (it seems sometimes) overnight. Not really, but at some point the trend certainly did accelerate. And it has affected some (I hope not many) who profess to be Christians, I see them on FB posting faith-filled messages alongside posts that celebrate churches and others who have realized that gay marriage is simply a matter of equality.

    It is hard to process sometimes. And God could be using this to refine his people, to strengthen our faith and conviction.

    The gospel is and always will be an offense, an “aroma of death” (which we will transmit) to those who are perishing.

    From 2 Corinthians: (15) For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; (16) to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life.

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  36. I spotted a story today on Jeb Bush giving remarks in support of traditional marriage — horrified was the response, in general, from those commenting and posting it.

    One simply cannot be on that side of the debate without being pummeled, ridiculed and called names.

    It is sad and hard to know how to proceed. It seems to have reached a stage where it can no longer be discussed.

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  38. In otter news, our latest pet is non otter than a turtle. 😉 A friend of hubby’s found it on the driveway at his business, and now its home is here. Fun times.

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  39. From the end of the Babylon book:

    “Our job is not to win the battle. It’s to follow God’s battle plan … Winning or losing is not the right scorecard. Obedience is. When we do the right thing we’re being faithful. Even if we get the wrong results. … Our cultural influence has far more to do with who is in political power than whether or not the church is living up to its calling (and revival depends on God’s sovereign grace). …

    Re the Roman Empire: ” … it looked like a great victory. But in hindsight, the ascent to political and cultural power was actually a great tragedy. It weakened the church. The more powerful it became, the more people joined in, not to follow Jesus but to gain power and social acceptance. In other words, as the church grew more and more powerful, it became less and less faithful….”

    Re the American church: “The periods of our greatest influence were not necessarily the periods of our greatest faithfulness … Certainly the laws, cultural norms and media of that day were more aligned with biblical values than today. But once again, as in Roman days, a powerful church is not always a faithful church. It draws people for the wrong reasons. … Sometimes the culture responds to godly living and sometimes it doesn’t. It’s out of our hands. And that’s where Daniel comes in. He shows us how to live in babylon whether we’re being promoted or imprisoned. …”

    As I said, I am in some ways conflicted by what he writes — there’s much truth there. But he sets it up as an either-or proposition. Either we’re faithful and without cultural persuasion — or we persuade and become (by necessity?) weak.

    I still remain persuaded, for the most part, that redeeming the culture is part of the Christian calling.

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