One Shepherd's Story

Janie stretched her back as she stood to walk around her herd once again. Being a shepherd was not an easy job, despite what people thought. She nodded to a fellow shepherd, giving her a quick smile as she softly petted one small sheep that was nuzzling her. Off in the distance, on a hill, she could see a couple other shepherds. One man was sitting on the ground while another was leaning on his crook, talking. The night was quiet, with a slight breeze. Despite the long hours of the job, Janie loved being outdoors, tending her sheep.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Janie saw a bright light in the sky! Fear immediately gripped her. Fear for herself, fear for her sheep, fear for the other shepherds. Janie was terrified! Seeing her fellow shepherds reacting the same, she jerked as if to run when she was stopped by a loud voice. "And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.'"

Suddenly, faster than Janie could even respond, there was a great multitude of the heavenly host, with the angel, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward mankind.'" Then the angels left and went back to Heaven. (Luke 2)

Janie looked at the other shepherds and said, "Let's go to Bethlehem, now, and see for ourselves what the Lord has told us!" And they ran and got to Bethlehem and saw.....there was Mary, and Joseph....and then they saw Him, just as the angel had said, lying in a manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes. It was true!

And they told everyone and made known everything the angel had told them about this child and everyone was amazed at what the shepherds said. And Janie knew that her job of being a shepherd would never be the same.

Merry Christmas!
~Tricia

I Know Exactly What to do About Bill Cosby

I read an article in Christianity Today about the Bill Cosby scandal wherein the author of the article, Laura Leonard, stated that she does not know what to do about Cosby in light of his abuses having come to light. I can help Laura because I know exactly what to do.

First, care for the victims. They not only need acknowledgement that what was done to them was wrong, that they did nothing to deserve the abuse, that they did not bring it on, they also need to know they are not alone. The isolation that sexual abuse brings is nearly as devastating as the act itself. Many of these abused women have said they thought they were the only one. That's very isolating, especially when the perpetrator is so famous and loved by the world.

Second, give the victims a voice. The focus needs to be on the victims and we, as a society, should show our outrage over their abuse. We should collectively denounce his behavior and show compassion to the victims, giving them time to not only process the fact that their victimization is no longer a secret, but give them time to grieve as necessary and seek wise counsel.

Third, seek justice for the victims. The Living God is the God of justice and violators should be prosecuted and punished for their crimes. There's a reason there is no statute of limitation on some crimes; they are too hideous to be limited by time.

Fourth, realize who the perpetrator really is. People have said they learned so much from Bill Cosby on The Cosby Show and it impacted their lives and that Bill Cosby's character, Heathcliff Huxtable, was such a great dad, etc. I have news for you. You did not learn all those life lessons from Bill Cosby. He was simply the actor who portrayed an image assigned to him. The writers of the show taught you all those things. It was the writers. Bill Cosby played a part. That's all it was. Television programming is not real; it is filled with people playing parts and play-acting roles they are assigned. Bill Cosby was an actor playing a part, that is all. The fact that our society mixes up actors with their roles on TV shows is quite disturbing to me. His "job" as a great TV dad was nothing more than a role assigned to him, for which he received a hefty paycheck.

So, I hope Laura finds this helpful so that she'll know what to do about Cosby. I, for one, will be glad if his show, now in syndicated status, is off the air for good. The networks were wise to remove 7th Heaven when Steven Collins' sins were found out.

It seems to me that the world knows better than Christians when it comes to what to do about abuse. While the world immediately took action on Bill Cosby, Steven Collins and others, the Duggars, while proclaiming themselves "Christian," continue to promote Bill Gothard's teachings and will not separate themselves, even in light of his sexual abuse of more than 35 young women. They continue to distribute his literature, use his resources and will not condemn his behaviors. This is suspicious to me. (Add this to the fact that Jim Bob Duggar hardly ever gets through even one episode of their show without making some sort of inappropriate sexual comment, even toward his own daughters. Am I the only one who finds this grossly disturbing? By his own admission, he can't even give them a platonic hug.)

~Tricia

Lost in Translation?

Can God be limited by humans? Do we mere humans, on earth for but a split second in comparison to eternity, limit the One Who created us all and without Whom we cannot even so much as breathe? Do we want to serve a God we can limit?

Does my wording of this question make the idea seem ludicrous?

Psalm 78:41 says, "Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel."

Is that it, then? Does this mean we have the power, as created human beings, to put limits on the Living God, the One Who created us?

Does this mean the created have power over the Creator?

Not so fast.

A more in-depth study of this verse reveals the truth.

The Hebrew word used for "limited" in this verse is actually "twh." Twh means, literally, to distress or hurt. Deeper meanings include provoked, offended, vexed and wounded.

That changes everything. More accurate translations include:

"Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and distressed the Holy One of Israel."

"Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and hurt the Holy One of Israel."

"Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and provoked the Holy One of Israel."

"Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and offended the Holy One of Israel." 

"Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and vexed the Holy One of Israel."

"Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and wounded the Holy One of Israel."

Not one Hebrew source listed "limited" as a viable translation of the Hebrew word "twh."

Dig more deeply into Scripture. Some things do get lost in translation. As a former translator (English to Spanish), I learned this the hard way. I'm not suggesting that God's Word can get "lost" in that He will not preserve It, I'm just suggesting that you search the Scriptures daily to see if what you are being taught is true. (Acts 17:11) In your searching, go deep.

Now you know.

~Tricia

Courting and Isaiah's Social Media Status

Just today, I read a blog post by a young woman who's been married about 5 minutes and I felt compelled to address her blog post here. I hardly know where to begin in expressing my issues with the theology expressed in this blog post. This young woman chose to "court" instead of "date," which is not a problem at all. (It's all a matter of definition, but not the reason for this blog post.)

My problems with this blog post began when this young woman listed all the blessings of her wedding day and boldly proclaimed that God blessed them so "because we were obedient to Him in our courtship."

That's where her theology takes a stumble. I really, really hope she does not continue to go through life thinking that way. I truly hope God banishes that thought from her heart and life so she'll be more in tune to really love Him. Right now, that love is not evident. Self-love is evident.

"The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it?" said Jeremiah in chapter 17, verse 9 of Jeremiah. 

My problems with her theology in thinking that God gave them all those wonderful blessings on their wedding day come with the idea that they believe God rewarded them because they stuck to some human-made ideals and God was apparently happy with them. No, that's not it.

The problem is, God's goodness is not dependent on our obedience or "good" acts. God's goodness is rooted in His character, His attributes; in the fact that He is the only good, that all good comes from Him. And, perhaps most importantly to this young woman, that God's goodness is still intact when bad things happen to her, and they will. 

The sun shined on everyone in that town that day. It shined on the drunk who was beating his wife. It shone on the young man who was abusing his little neighbor. It shined on the drug addict who took his last overdose that day and died. It shined on the teenager stealing cigarettes from a drug store. The sun shined all around, even while the pride of two human hearts united in marriage.

Back to Isaiah. Isaiah the prophet. Isaiah, whose 40-year ministry spanned the reigns of four kings of Judah. Isaiah, whom the LORD of hosts used to deliver a great message to His people. Isaiah, who wrote a book of the Holy Scriptures. Isaiah said, "Woe is me for I am undone! I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."

This is what happens when the gospel impacts a person's life. This is what happens when we finally get our eyes off our own perceived righteousness and see the King. 

He talks about our righteousness. Isaiah said it in chapter 64, verse 6, "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as the leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." That's Isaiah's social media update.

God does not shine on us because we are good..... because we are not good. God shines on us because He is good; and He only is good. (Mark 10:18) 

If we can get this, really get this, really understand this, it will change our lives forever. This is the gospel at work. God is good even when His blessings don't shine on us. He's good even when a loved one dies from cancer or is taken in a tragic car accident. God is good when the sun does not shine. God would still be good if people had died of heat stroke at that young couple's wedding. God is good even if it had poured rain that day, or a tornado had torn through their outdoor wedding.

We can't love Him if we do not know Him and strutting our own perceived righteousness does not show that we love anyone but ourselves.

This young woman's blog is a perfect example of secular humanism and how it invades our thinking. We must resist this thinking on all levels.

We must raise our kids on the gospel, not on standards of living that we hold up and call "righteous."

~Tricia

No One Would Listen

Much to my relief, there is finally an article spelling out what we suspected, but couldn't prove, about a former pastor in Austin, MN. We tried to stop him. We had questions about this man and we tried to get local and statewide investigations going, to no avail. They laughed in our faces and praised and defended this pedophile to our faces. Shame on them.

It's news now. Read the article here.

No one would listen.

~Tricia

Hang Up Your Dishrag and Pick Up Your Bible

I am struck by Mary's behavior in her sister, Martha's, home. Luke 10:38-42 describes a scene that most people who have ever read the Bible are familiar with. Jesus, along with a number of His disciples, was traveling and came to the home of Martha. Her sister, Mary, was also there and the Scriptures tell us that Mary sat at Jesus' feet and heard His Word. Martha, however, was distracted with much serving. No doubt she was a good hostess, wanting to make sure all her guests were fed and taken care of.

We think this is necessary. As a veteran hostess, I have served hundreds in our different homes over the years. I love entertaining, cooking, preparing for guests and making their stay in our home as comfortable and pleasant as I can.

I have observed that, in the church and in Christian circles, women are often relegated to the kitchen to prepare, serve and clean up while men often enjoy fellowship around the Word of God. I attended a pastors & wives fellowship a few years ago. Before going, I was told by the hostess that the women generally stayed in the kitchen, talking, while the men studied a specific doctrine. My interest was piqued at what the men might be studying and I asked her for more information. She didn't know, but said that the women don't attend those sessions.

When I got to the meeting, I saw an outline of the day's study and really wanted to sit in and learn. So, when things started, I walked to the men's meeting with my husband. The hostess told me, again, that the women usually stayed in the kitchen and talked, then helped put out lunch. I honestly couldn't bring myself to stay in the kitchen. While I felt a little bad for her, I ended up leaving her in the kitchen alone, wishing she would join us in the study.

The study was excellent! It was an expository study, complete with an exegetical guide that we all got copies of. None of the men seemed to think it strange that I was there with them, and, in fact, there was another woman there, too. I attended several more of these meetings, and by the 3rd one I attended, all the women were sitting in on the sessions rather than hanging out in the kitchen. Score! Amazingly, lunch was still served and everyone ate and was satisfied.

Mary sat at Jesus' feet, learning from Him. Even at Martha's pleas to do so, Jesus did not tell Mary to get up and help. What He did say is surprising to our culture. He said that Mary had chosen "that good part which will not be taken away from her."

As a woman, I do not feel that my place is in the kitchen. I feel that my place is at the feet of Jesus, learning of Him and teaching others of Him. Even as a hostess, I have intentionally tried to ease the preparation of food so as not to miss out on opportunities to learn of Jesus from others, or participate in a study. Jesus said this is "the good part" and that it "can't be taken away" from us.

Why do we women often allow this to be taken away from us? We need to hang up our dishrags and pick up our Bibles and take a stand against traditional roles that exclude us from deep Bible study and participation. You have permission from the King, Himself. You have His approval to stop being sidelined when it comes to deep Bible study. Mary not only had His approval, but His praise. Imagine being praised by the Savior, Himself.

I dare say that if Jesus came to my house in the flesh, I would have someone order take-out because I would not leave His side long enough to even make a phone call to place the order, let alone cook something. I don't want to miss a word.

~Tricia

My Surprising Shingles Story

I had heard all the horror stories of shingles. I'd listened to the TV commercials touting the importance of the shingles vaccine. I'd heard friends and relatives talk about how bad shingles was, that they wouldn't wish it on their worst enemy, that their life was completely altered by its presence.

Then an unusual pain started in my left side, just above my waistline. Since my doctor was not available, I went to a walk-in clinic. There, after spending three minutes and $95, I was told I'd pulled a muscle. I was sent home with a prescription for a muscle relaxer. After three days of taking that at night, my pain was gone. I went on with life; traveling to Atlanta, taking care of my family, etc. This was a busy summer.

After two weeks in Atlanta to welcome my 3rd grandchild, I came home and was as busy as ever. Then, 10 days after I got home, that pain in my left side came back. This time it was worse because it seemed to wrap itself around my upper torso and hurt like crazy, squeezing me hard. I went to my chiropractor, told him I'd pulled a muscle, that it had gotten better, then worse. He did his exam and concluded that not only was a muscle out of whack, but the nerve traveling around my upper torso was inflamed, greatly.

Inflamed nerves that wrap around an area = shingles.

Ugh. I braced myself for the worst. The pain was bad, but not something I would define as horrible. It was not what I'd expected. Maybe I have a high tolerance for pain; I did give birth to eight people. A few days after that chiropractic visit, I noticed a few little spots on my skin around that nerve pain. Ah, the telltale shingles rash! What was I to do? I dreaded this with a passion. I'd been told the rash is worse than the pain. I'd already altered my wardrobe to wear only loose-fitting clothes that did not bind. I'd already switched to cool showers because hot water caused such bad pain. How was I going to shower at all with hot, horrid blisters around my middle? How was I going to keep up the family schedule with my husband's long work hours and the kids' appointments?

The day after the spots appeared, they began to itch terribly. I was filled with dread, again. Ugh. I began to research how to treat shingles at home. Not having insurance makes people do all kinds of things to avoid the expense of going to the doctor. I'd already spent $95 at the doc's and a few at the pharmacy.

I discovered that there were things I could do to lessen the symptoms of shingles. I began to do those things immediately, that very day, which were really just abrupt dietary changes. The very next day, the itchy spots began to fade. They did not break out into blisters, but the area remained red and sensitive. Within a few days, the spots had completely dried up, the itching stopped and they faded away. The pain persisted, but the spots never developed into a rash or blisters.

It has been  a couple of months since my symptoms first appeared and, while I still have some pain, I believe I am over the worst of it.

I was very surprised at how effective my actions against the full effects of shingles were. I was also surprised that I'd never heard of these actions; that no one I'd ever talked to had mentioned that there were things a person could do to control the symptoms of shingles. I had heard many people's shingles stories and they were all horrid. I found out through this personal experience that shingles does not have to be so horrid. So, I wanted to share my actions here in hopes that someone else who might be facing shingles can have a milder case than they might think they can.

What I learned:

Shingles is part of the Herpes virus.
The Herpes virus thrives in a weakened immune system.
The Herpes family of viruses is affected by a person's L-Arginine to L-Lysine ratio. These are amino acids that are found in the human body and come from foods. There has to be a greater L-Arginine level for shingles to survive. Therefore, a diet higher in L-Lysine helps prohibit the virus's effects.

Foods high in L-Lysine....and thus should be eaten often.....are:
Meat
Fish
Dairy
Eggs
Cheese
Apples
Pears
Pineapple
Apricots
Avocado
Green Beans
Asparagus

Foods higher in L-Arginine.....and thus avoided....are:

Tomatoes
Wheat germ
Brussels Sprouts
Cashews
Grapes
Pumpkin seeds
Pecans
Blackberries
Blueberries
Peanuts
Chocolate
Sugars

I immediately altered my diet to include more of the top list and avoid all things on the bottom list.
It worked!
Other things I did:

Put ice on the pain several times a day.
Wore loose-fitting clothing that does not bind (still doing this one).
Took cool showers.
Saw my chiropractor regularly (weekly) as balance in the spine helps so much.
Sleep. I slept in as much as I could and took naps when able.
Ibuprofen.

I am now able to eat a little tomato and not have effects, as well as a little chocolate. Avoiding tomatoes during the month of August was hard since they are so fresh!

I had always thought shingles was something that, if I got it, I had no choice but to take it however it came. I thought I had to sit back and let it hit me. I had never heard of anyone having a more positive experience with shingles. People younger than myself have had it with horrible symptoms that lasted a very long time.

Maybe I was just fortunate enough to have a mild case. I do have a tremendous capacity for recovery and that must have helped. My advice to shingles sufferers is to take these dietary changes seriously and follow them faithfully. They make all the difference. As soon as I learned about them, I abruptly changed my diet and my results were very fast.

Note my other actions and see which ones you can manage.
I do hope you never get shingles.
I do hope that if you do get shingles,you heed this advice or research on your own to find solutions. You do not have to take what shingles has to offer.
You can take action.
This is just my story. This is what happened to me. I'm not saying this can happen to everyone in the same way, but I wanted to share my story because I am proof that there are shingles stories that are not so horrid. There are things we can do to help create a mild case; at least this worked for me.
~Tricia