A safer alternative to a smartphone but with the same look

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PURCHASE PHONE

For years I’ve been writing about screen addiction, digital detoxes, and electronic boundaries to protect our families and our children. The first post was a letter to my boys about why I limited their electronic usage. After watching that post go viral multiple times, I realized this was a topic important to millions of families just like us. I began exploring the topic more and sharing my findings and insights here with you all. You can find many of those posts here.

I’ve never been a fan of a smartphone in the hand of a kid or even a young teen.

When Zachary turned 13 we bought him his first phone. It was a flip phone. I thought that would be the safest option. As it turns out, it’s not much better than a smart phone. On the flip phone you are unable to disable internet access. Yes, the flip phone has internet access. But with little to no parental controls.

We have bought 2 flip phones. Each time we’ve gone to the store we’ve been told there was only 1 option, 1 flip phone. No choices. We have also been told there is no demand and soon we will have no flip phone options.

I disagree with the lack of demand. I talk to too many parents and listen to you all share your heart for wanting a safer option.

Now that Zachary is almost 15, a flip phone isn’t the coolest thing in the world. To text on a flip phone is not super easy. So he’s reached a point where he began asking for a smartphone, but we aren’t ready to open that world to him at this point. He has more than enough internet access via computers and iPads in our home, we really don’t want him carrying access to the world in his pocket. And let’s be honest, we adults struggle to manage the distractions, so expecting our kids and teens to filter through the mess online is a setup for frustration.

I’ve scoured the internet for safe phones for teens. I end up finding nothing. Then one day as I scrolled Facebook an ad popped up. This one instantly spoke to me because it advertised a phone with no internet access, the look of a smartphone, with all the major functions important to us.

The price was perfect, the monthly service was the exact amount I already paid, so I bought it right off the ad. I don’t think I’ve ever bought from a FB ad before!

Ya’ll! I’m in love with this phone.

Company mission:

Put really simply, our mission is to protect children, connect families and encourage life outside the screen.

This video explains the heart behind this company and their mission. Created by a dad who found himself in the same place I did, standing in a phone store realizing the market held nothing to give our kids what they wanted while protecting them the way we want to protect them.

Key features of this phone:

 

Phone, Text, Camera, Calendar, Calculator. Unlimited talk and text for $19.99 and month. And the coverage is excellent!!

No internet, no app store, no social media, no games, no ability to send and receive pictures (which is becoming a major problem with inappropriate images sent and received by kids).

I bought our phone when it was on sale for $69. Currently the Gabb phone is being offered for $49, plus I have a promo code for an additional $5 off. Just use promo code RENEEROBINSON when you check out.

PURCHASE PHONE

 

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Defending the Truth, Offenses, Divisiveness, oh my!!!! And the coming day!

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Here’s some posts over the past several days. Scripture I’ve pondered, books I’ve read, thoughts I’m taking to God. And at the end of the day, settling back on the only unchanging hope we have. He is good always.

The only power to help us


“The crisis of the age we live in is the abandonment of truth, inevitably in the decline of moral values.”“Most of the early twentieth-century sociological works I read claimed that crime was caused by environmental forces such as poverty and racism. But in 1977 psychiatrist Samuel Yockelson and psychologist Stanton Samenow published a landmark seventeen-year study called The Criminal Personality, which refutes that claim. The only adequate explanation for crime, they conclude, is individual moral choices. The solution to crime, therefore, is “the conversion of the wrongdoer to a more responsible lifestyle.”

“But in an age of relativism, this worldview has steadily lost its grip on American culture, largely because Christians themselves have failed to recognize how God’s truth applies to every aspect of life.”
Charles Colson quotes from Born Again.

I just finished book 46 of 2020. Born Again by Charles Colson. He was convicted of Watergate-related offenses and spent time in prison on those charges. Jesus Christ saved Him, made him a new man, and used him to shine a light in the dark prison world. He has a unique story from inside the White House and political system, inside the prison system, inside law and justice as an attorney, and finally as a converted man, saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

This book, again, was timely and powerful for me to read.

Let His Word settle you

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“We are not made for brilliant moments, but we have to walk in the light of them in ordinary ways.” Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest.

This inspirational #teatowel reminds us that the majority of our lives are filled with ordinary, mundane moments, but lived in the Spirit of God they are holy.

May we do all for His glory.

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Anyone weary? Our souls weren’t created to receive the load of information and news we take in each day. Is God asking you to come to Him and receive rest?

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“But avoid foolish debates, genealogies, quarrels, and disputes about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. Reject a divisive person after a first and second warning, knowing that such a person is perverted and sins, being self-condemned.” Titus 3:9-11

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“Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows he will also reap.” Galatians 6:7

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Jesus told the crowd that it wasn’t what they ate that made them unclean, it was what was already inside them, residing in their own hearts. The disciples came to Jesus, talking about the religious Pharisees, and said, “Do you know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard this statement?”

I love how Jesus responds in Matthew 15:13 “Every plant that my Heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted. Leave them alone! They are blind guides. And if the blind guide the blind, both fall into a pit.”

In the margin of my Bible I have written “it’s not worth arguing with the blind.”

Jesus spoke the truth and the truth offends. Period. The truth is offensive to the blind. Is it our job to make them not offended? Nope. We speak the truth in love. It may offend. Jesus didn’t go back to make sure they weren’t offended. He said “Leave them alone.” They are blind and my Father will deal with them.

Another thing worth noting, be careful we aren’t following the blind. Otherwise, we may find ourselves in a pit when they fall. Stay in step with Jesus and you never worry about being on the wrong side.
For the full account read Matthew 15:10-20.

There will come a day…

Imagine a day where millions of people simply disappear from the earth. You are driving down the freeway and cars start running off roads because drivers disappeared into thin air. Planes fall from the sky as some pilots are gone. You are at the checkout counter and the clerk is gone. Literally people vanish. Chaos is everywhere. And no one knows what has happened to all the people. Then lawlessness takes over. Evil has taken over. Sounds super freaky and far fetched right? Well, it’s not. It will happen. And I believe sooner than we realize.

Here’s some of my story.

I’d been resisting God for years in my life. I didn’t have all my questions answered, I thought my life would become stale and boring, and I didn’t think I could live to God’s standards. So I kept pushing Him away. But He chased me down. Everywhere I turned someone was telling me about Him or inviting me to something. Then my mom gave me the book Left Behind. I devoured the entire series. I read about what the Bible says will happen at the end of the world and I was stunned. I was terrified and realized I didn’t want to be left behind. The horrible things were coming to deal with evil. Yet I didn’t feel I fit on the side of God or of evil. I was just hanging in the middle, doing “good” on my own without repenting and surrendering to Jesus. I realized that by default put me on the side of evil. I had to make a choice now before it became too late which side I wanted to be found on.

I gave my life to Jesus and He made me a new person. The burden that lifted off me that day I didn’t even know I’d been carrying. I remember standing in an atrium feeling free. Like a prisoner who was just released from jail. I didn’t know I’d been living in chains.

That was almost 20 years ago. I’d been married for 4 months. Jesus saved my life and I have made the rest of my life about knowing Him and making Him known to the world.

I remember in Left Behind the main characters trying to figure out where their mom and brother had disappeared to. The mother and brother were Christ followers but the dad and sister were not. The beginning of the book became about survival.

When Jesus takes me and my family out of this world while He deals with evil once and for all, I know that strangers will be in our home taking all the things we left. I wrote a letter placed in a Bible explaining where we went and how they can join us there. How they too can still be saved.

My goal in the next few days is to make copies of that letter and place it in all our Bibles and all over our home. When evil comes in, I want to still leave the path that leads towards hope. To Jesus.

“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.” 1 Thes 4:13-18

Is Silence Really a Bad Thing?

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Catchy phrases that rhyme don’t make them true. I’ve seen this one quite a bit lately “Silence=Violence”. Well, that’s simply not true no matter how cute it sounds.

The word silence has drawn my attention the past few days. I’ve held close to my heart the scripture from Ecclesiastes 3:7 that tells us there’s a time to be silent and a time to speak.

I continue to let that be the prayer of my heart. Often I’m tempted, or even follow through, on speaking out of my emotions or my sin of pride. The Lord will reveal to me, often through the convicting word of another, and I have the opportunity to repent, remember, and choose wiser next time. God’s mercy is fresh daily. Praise God!

So I’ve been mulling over the word silent. When does God instruct us to be silent? Some circumstances demand we speak, but others request our silence.

First, we ask God. We seek Him. We find Him in prayer, in His Word, and later He will speak to us through others and our world as we move through our day seeking Him.

As I prayed asking God to direct me toward knowing when to be silent, He brought me to the book of Amos.

Verse 5:13 “Therefore the wise person will keep silent at such a time, for the days are evil.”

Friends, we are in fact living in evil days.

The study notes say that because the people with power were so hostile to anyone who told the truth in the courts of law, honest and decent people were being silenced. Now if that doesn’t make us pause and consider what we are seeing in the world today, I don’t know what will.

I read a further commentary on this verse that said it didn’t apply to the prophets who were called to reprove no matter the consequences, but the private person by speaking out would only bring on ill will and hear God blasphemed, which would hurt them deeply.

Remember last week God kept bringing me the word light especially connecting the light to the darkness? Well, here we are again.

Amos 5:20 Won’t the Day of the Lord be darkness rather than light, even gloom without any brightness in it?

Amos 5:8 The One who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns darkness into dawn and darkens day into night who summons the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the earth. Yahweh is His name. He brings destruction on the strong and it falls on the stronghold.

The Day of the Lord is near. God will deal. God won’t be silent. For a little while more, evil will remain, but its escalation is simply due to the fact that the demons at work know they are on borrowed time. I believe we are seeing events played out we’ve only read about. Now we are living them in real time. That means we better be living armored up, strengthening our faith, and shining light everywhere we go.

Seek God.

Ok, so there’s definitely times to be silent. But when do we speak?

Proverbs 28:23
“One who rebukes a person will later find more favor than one who flatters with His tongue.”

There’s a lot of flattery going on right now friends.

In my study Bible, the notes explain the exception to this is when rebuking a mocker with a cross reference to Proverbs 9:7 “The one who corrects a mocker will bring dishonor on himself; the one who rebukes a wicked man will get hurt.”

Looking at the study notes again it explains we are to avoid the unteachable.

Avoid the unteachable, the fool, the mocker. They will NOT receive your wisdom. They speak a different language. You will become distracted and dishonored in the process.

Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Again looking at the study notes to help it make sense. “The wise are teachable BECAUSE they are humble and they fear the Lord.” They don’t fear man, they fear the Lord.

This is key. I’ve approached people with truth and love and received vastly different responses. But as believers we are SUPPOSED to be humble and teachable. So if we are rebuked, and a friend speaks truth into our lives, we should be humble enough to consider the words by taking them to the Lord. And if we see something false or needing correction in the life of our fellow believer, it’s loving to point them back to God’s Word.

James 5:19-20 “My brothers, if any among you strays from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his life from death and cover a multitude of sins.”

Right now the world is filled with prideful spirits totally unteachable and believers wandering from the truth. I pray out loud a particular prayer with one of my boys every single night. “Lord, give him a soft heart and a teachable spirit.” The reason I pray that with one child is his bent is not towards teachability ?

Here’s where I landed as I wrestled this down with God yesterday. Each situation is unique for when we speak and when we are silent.

For our brothers and sisters in Christ, when we see them following a path of lies opposed to the truth of God’s Word, I believe we speak. But when the mob is speaking and we feel tempted to speak against it, it’s likely wiser to remain silent unless we speak the gospel and the gospel alone.

Until God captures the human heart, it lives in rebellion to Him. Right now more than ever we need to be praying for wisdom and discernment. Otherwise we may be carried away with the popular voice that echoes the world.

Lord, our prayer today is to give us a heart for you. Guide us by your Spirit, fill us with your wisdom, teach us when to speak and when to be silent. May we spend so much time with you that we overflow your love to those around us. This world is in desperate need of You and You’ve been here the entire time, but we’ve removed you from our schools, communities, and our lives. Forgive us. Heal our land. Send us out to make disciples of all nations. Protect your people, ready our hearts for the season we are living in. Amen.

Shine a light in the darkness

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This is a series of posts I posted on social media the day many people muted themselves in order to listen and learn in response to the riots happening around the nation. When I began my series I didn’t realize it had been given a name “Black Out Tuesday”. The interesting thing is God began to show me over and over again ‘light’ and to call out the light.

Post #1 of I’m not sure how many….

Apparently the latest social media trend is to mute one’s self, go silent, darken the screen, and listen in order to solve sin and wounds that began thousands of years ago. Like a fast of sorts.

I’m baffled. 100% baffled. I sat with the Lord so speechless this morning and told Him I just have no words anymore. Covid seems to have disappeared overnight, and what took its place is worse. Not only is the world at war, but the responses have me with my jaw dragging the ground.

I’ve been asking God to direct me when to speak and when to be silent. Today the first verses He led me to were in Isaiah 58.

“”Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins. For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God.”

I think it’s about time we let God’s voice speak. All these posts saying we are going mute to allow other voices to be heard, what about God’s voice? Why aren’t we making space for His Word?

Honestly I’m wearied of man’s thoughts and opinions. I desperately need God right now. I need to hear His voice.

As He directs today I’ll be sharing from His Word. Maybe it’ll be only this post. Maybe it’ll be many. I don’t dare plan how God will move, but I’m asking Him to speak.

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Jesus is the answer to every single social issue, every virus, every fight, every hurt, every fear.

Jesus is the light for our dark world.

Just Jesus. Jesus plus nothing. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus.

John chapter 1

4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.

9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God

Lord, we cry out to you. We realign our hearts to you. Forgive us. Heal us. For those who have salvation in You, lead us by your spirit. For those who are crying out for help and don’t know you as Savior, may today be a day of salvation. Light up their world by your love and supernatural reach.

Today, may God’s light shine.

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God lights the dark. He didn’t call us to sit in the darkness. He illuminates our darkness!! Only Jesus.

Psalm 18:28-36

28 Lord, You light my lamp;
my God illuminates my darkness.
29 With You I can attack a barrier,[f]
and with my God I can leap over a wall.
30 God—His way is perfect;
the word of the Lord is pure.
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
31 For who is God besides Yahweh?
And who is a rock? Only our God.
32 God—He clothes me with strength
and makes my way perfect.
33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer
and sets me securely on the heights.[g]
34 He trains my hands for war;
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 You have given me the shield of Your salvation;
Your right hand upholds me,
and Your humility exalts me.
36 You widen a place beneath me for my steps,
and my ankles do not give way.

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Isaiah 58:6-12
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness[a] will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.”

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This is why we don’t lose hope. This is why we don’t despair. This is coming!!!!

Revelation 21:23-27

The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

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“You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lamp stand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, so they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in Heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16

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“Everything exposed by the light is made clear, for what makes everything clear is light.”
All of Ephesians 5:6-14 is so good!

God has much to say about light. Shine a light, shine a light. That song is running through my head today. God takes me on interesting treks. Thanks for joining me on this one today!

 

God continues to bring me to scriptures pointing out the light. 1 Thessalonians 5 tells us that when Jesus returns, it will feel like a thief in the night for those who don’t believe. But for those of us who do believe, it won’t be a surprise because we are able to discern the seasons and times we are living in.

2020 has felt like a living nightmare. One thing after another, each event more intense than the one before, events closer together. As we draw closer to the return of Jesus, we will experience world events the Bible says will feel like labor pains.

I had no epidural with my last birth and I know that I thought I was dying near delivery as the pains were so intense and close together. So it will be for us here as we wait for Jesus to rapture us home.

Verse 4-5 “But you, brothers, are not in the dark, for this day to overtake you like a thief. For you are all sons of light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or the darkness.”

It’s time we move back into the light where we belong. Shine a light so bright for the world to see God’s glory and His intense love for this world.

It’s time to live ready to leave this temporary home at any moment. It’s time to stop living distracted by the chaos Satan creates around us. Time to stop focusing on the issues and get back to loving God and people with such intensity we change the world, one person at a time, until we meet Jesus in the air

 

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Avoid Dissensions and Factions

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Proverbs and Galatians spoke right to today’s culture and climate. God’s Word always delivers the truth and sometimes pokes us awake.

I knew we had found the church God had for us in Omaha when I learned the heartbeat of the church: develop self-feeders, people who read the Bible for themselves every single day. Today’s readings from our church reading guide were perfect for what we see today in this climate and culture.

“Mockers inflame a city but the wise turn away anger.” Proverbs 29:8

“A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man holds it in check.” Proverbs 29:11

“When the wicked increase rebellion increases, but the righteous will see their downfall.” Proverbs 29:16
(I confess I felt guilty when this verse made me feel better. But keep reading with me and you will see why I let that guilt go.)

“An angry man stirs up conflict and a hot tempered man increases rebellion.” Proverbs 29:22

“A person’s pride will humble him but a humble spirit will gain honor.” Proverbs 29:23

“The fear of man is a snare but the one who trusts in the Lord is protected.” Proverbs 29:25

“An unjust man is detestable to the righteous, and one whose way is upright is detestable to the wicked.” Proverbs 29:27 (Well doesn’t that just explain why when we post about Jesus or anything in line with His teachings we receive such pushback)

Ok, now let’s move to Galatians.
“You were running well. Who prevented you from obeying the truth? This persuasion did not come from the One who called you. A little yeast leavens the whole lump of dough. I have confidence in the Lord you will not accept any other view. But whoever it is that is confusing you will pay the penalty.” Galatians 5:7-10

Here’s where I let go of my guilt over wanting to see the downfall of the wicked. Paul continues explaining to the Galatians why they weren’t bound to the Jewish law of circumcision because the cross fulfilled all the law and now they lived under grace. But Paul says this and I have to admit, I love when I see a little fire and sarcasm from Paul. “I wish those who are disturbing you might also get themselves castrated!”

Then in verses 16-18 we are instructed to walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh. To be sure we knew the difference, Paul calls it out directly to us. Emphasis added by me….
“Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, HATREDS, STRIFE, jealousy, OUTBURSTS OF ANGER, SELFISH AMBITIONS, DISSENSIONS, FACTIONS, ENVY, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I tell you about these things in advance – as I told you before- that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21

Believers!!!
The definition of
dissension: disagreement that leads to discord.
factions: a small organized dissenting group within a larger one, especially in politics.

Please don’t miss this. It’s in the bible for a reason.

“Believers” everywhere are splitting by joining dissensions and factions. We are called to a higher standard.
We have the mind of Christ. We are called to live in unity.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, we must also follow the Spirit. We must not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” Galatians 5:22-26

God’s Word changes me every single day. It convicts me when I’ve been walking in my flesh. It guides me back to His heart. It shows me the better path. It fills me with joy I can’t get in the world.

Sheep Among Wolves and Peace and Safety

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I’m still catching you guys up on the posts I’ve shared on social media…..

“Look, I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as harmless as doves.” Matthew 10:16

Don’t speak to a fool, for he will despise the insight of your words. Proverbs 23:9

Two verses that stuck out to me today.

I read a few headlines. I’ve stopped giving my time to the articles when the title makes obvious it’s purely propaganda. I read some comments on the threads though. People are angry and mostly waste their time and energy engaging with foolish thinking. Wisdom and foolishness don’t speak the same language.

But one comment stood out to me. A lady said how interesting to see how the evil act of one man brought on (thanks again media) insane riots filled with acts of hatred that are no better than the act that sparked the fire. And how that started a movement to break down law enforcement. All the while the media still beats the drum of fear of this super scary virus they’ve warned us will be the thing that destroys us. This all leads somewhere. We know this right?

Fear will destroy us. Fear will absolutely destroy us if we allow it to.

I saw an article about climbing case numbers while posting a picture of a couple dining at a restaurant. There is an agenda. I hope we are wise as serpents and innocent as doves. I pray we have learned a lesson in this season about how the media operates, the power of group think, and the damage and control of fear that happens overnight.

One thing I’ve really noticed in this season is how bandwagon we really are. Like sheep led to slaughter. I’ve watched sheep loaded on a trailer taken to slaughter. It’s no different watching group think and bandwagon jumpers in our current culture.

I wish we could start a movement like happened this week where people muted in order to listen and learn to instead of muting themselves we’d mute the media, including and especially, right here on social media.

I actually did mute some people I follow because I was tired of their bashing of our President. Mute is a button we may need to use more often to maintain our love for people.

But I fear we are addicted to the intoxicating effects of fear and drama. We seem to thrive on living in a state of shock, awe, and outrage.

Love is intoxicating as well. It offers something that lasts. It actually changes people and cultures. But it’s not sensational and never makes the front page. Because it often looks so simple. Like the neighbor that sits on the porch with her elderly neighbor and listens to her heart. Or the friend who chooses to overlook an offense and live free of resentment in the relationship. Or the man who noticed the distressed bystander and stopped to see how he could help. Or the people giving hours to clean up vandalism from riots.

Maybe the next big social media movement will be to share and spread allllllll the amazing stories of hope and love instead of the ones of fear and hate. Fear and hate are here til Jesus returns and establishes His reign. And for everyday we have left on this earth, we can show love too. I wish those stories spread like wildfire.

Love is so much easier than hate. But we can’t show love when we’ve not experienced love. And there lies the problem. There’s an entire world that has never experienced the radical love of Jesus. They can’t show love because love comes from God. That’s why Jesus gave us the job to tell
the whole world about His love.

Nothing other than Jesus can change the human heart. Until lives are changed by Jesus, true cultural change won’t happen.

We shouldn’t be shocked that a world that doesn’t know Jesus acts in vile ways. We shouldn’t be shocked by the things we see when we realize that apart from Jesus we can do no good thing.

Let’s get busy!! The solution we aren’t talking about has already been given thousands of years ago. Jesus. Jesus. All we need is Jesus. We are spinning our wheels and getting nowhere because we are ignoring the true source of power.

God is love. Love wins in the end.

Have you read The Giver by Lois Lowry? It’s pretty intriguing.

They live in a world of conformity. A world that has no choices. A world of “sameness”. No one and nothing is unique or different. All the same. No color. No choices because what if people made a wrong choice. It’s for their safety and their own good.

The phrase that we hear whether covid or riots is “be safe”. Spirits of fear are roaring and roaming beasts.

There’s a term we are to be on the lookout for. Peace and safety.

1 Thessalonians 5:3
While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

Believers, the verse before tells us we don’t need to be given a date and time bc we know how to read the seasons and signs. Then verse 3 tells us what people will be saying right before Jesus comes like a thief in the night. A thief in the night for the unbeliever! This should not take us by surprise.

Are your ears tuned to the propaganda right now? Or are they tuned to Jesus? Friends, he’s asking the church to WAKE UP. Wake up and get about His business. That business isn’t long social justice posts. That business is going to your offended brother and seeking forgiveness. That business is releasing bitterness and offering forgiveness. That business is using our finances to help the poor and needy. That business is to stop the scroll and sit with our children and retell the most amazing rescue story ever told. That business is to hold that foster baby in your arms and tell her she is known and loved. That business is to get down on our knees and pray for the voiceless. That business is to notice the person at the store with empty eyes, smile, tell them they are loved. That business is to tell the world about Jesus.

Much of the church is asleep, lulled by complacency and deception.

2020 has been awful. For the believer, we have a job. Resist evil, advance God’s kingdom. Resist and advance. All with the hope and excitement that any day we are called out of the battle to our heavenly home.

For the unbeliever, 2020 is nothing, nothing, nothing compared to what the 7 years will bring when you see all the Christians have disappeared from planet Earth. It wasn’t an alien. It wasn’t a conspiracy. It was Jesus taking us away from the destruction to come. During that time people will beg for death and not find relief of death.

One will come offering peace and safety. He’s a liar and deceiver. But the majority will believe his lies. I never understood that until 2020. We’ve never witnessed greater deception and its blinding effects.

Here’s the good news. If you are breathing right now and don’t know Jesus, today can change everything for you. It’s all a position of the heart. The day that changed my life, I prayed a simple prayer: Dear Jesus- I confess I’m a sinner. I need a Savior. Forgive me of my sins, wash me clean. From this day forward I want to follow you. You are the Lord of my life. Fill me with your Holy Spirit and lead me by your love to love others.

If you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord you will be saved. Romans 10:9

If you prayed today to receive Jesus go tell someone!!!! Find someone to mentor you! Message me so I can pray for you as well.

Believer, it’s so time. Time to wake up, pray for wisdom, protection from deception, and courage to love radically. Our lamps better be lit. Don’t darken those screens anymore. Shine his light and be ready.

Do Facts Matter? Light vs Dark. Agitation over evil.

/in , /by

As promised I’m sharing here on the blog posts I’ve written on various social media platforms. I’ll be sharing these throughout the week in the event you’ve been on a social media fast. Happy reading!

Remember the line from A Few Good Men…..”You can’t handle the truth!”

Last year I heard Dennis Prager of PragerU speak and he talked about how this culture of today doesn’t care about facts. It’s all based on feelings and emotions. I didn’t really get it then. Boy do I get it now.

Facts matter little. Feelings are everything. And everything is offensive.

Galatians 4:16 “Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?” Paul wrote to the Galatian church, who seemed to love him when he said what they wanted to hear, but when he spoke the truth, which didn’t tickle their ears, they turned on him like an enemy.

Friends, that’s what’s happening now. Stand firm in the truth. The world can’t handle the truth, can’t stand the truth. But God’s Word never fails!

For a week God has been drawing me to the word light and the comparison of light and dark. I feel the heavy weight of the darkness of this world and He draws me back to His light.

Psalm 36:5-9
“Lord, Your faithful love reaches to heaven,
Your faithfulness to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the highest mountains;
Your judgments, like the deepest sea.
Lord, You preserve man and beast.
God, Your faithful love is so valuable
that people take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
They are filled from the abundance of Your house;
You let them drink from Your refreshing stream,
for with You is life’s fountain. In your light we will see light.”

Now more than ever we must fix our gaze on Him. Y’all, I feel the world has lost its mind. It’s so overwhelming and heartbreaking I can barely take it. Then I read His Word. Not a social media post, not the latest opinion thread, not the outrage. Just His Word. I’m beyond over hearing how everyone has figured out the best way to eradicate sin and evil in the human heart. Jesus is the only way. Like it or not, man can’t cure the wickedness in the heart of man. But Jesus died for it that we may be saved. He is good! He is faithful!!! In Him is the light this dark world needs.

Read all Psalm 36 today. Human wickedness and God’s love ??????

Oh man…..God knew the state of my heart this morning and He dealt with it by His Word.

I’ve been agitated. Agitated since March, whether covid or now race wars and civil unrest, at the deception, the lies, the fear, the evil, all of it.

Proverbs 24:19-20 says “Don’t be agitated by evildoers, and don’t envy the wicked.For the evil have no future; the lamp of the wicked will be put out.” I followed the cross-reference for these verses to Psalm 37. Do yourself a favor. Open your Bible (or open on your screen) and read all of Psalm 37. Here’s some of my favorites from that passage.

Trust in the Lord and do what is good; dwell in the land and live securely. Vs.3
Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act, making your righteousness shine like the dawn, your justice like the noonday. Vs 5-6

Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for Him; do not be agitated by one who prospers in his way, by the man who carries out evil plans. Refrain from anger and give up your rage; do not be agitated-it can only bring harm. For evildoers will be destroyed, but those who put their hope in the Lord will inherit the land. Vs.7-9

The wicked person schemes against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him. The Lord laughs at him because He sees that his day is coming. Vs.12-13

I needed to read Psalm 37 today. If you are struggling in this season because you feel our world is drowning in evil right now, go read it. You will feel so much better.