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I have a wonderful friend on FaceBook. Michael says it like it is.

Written by Michael Strickland

HEAVY DUTY DOSE OF REALITY! I have been trying to communicate this reality to Christians for many years. In the New Testament there WERE NO church buildings. They had church like the Chinese have it today ... hidden. If each individual Chinese Christian doesn't keep his own personal fire on the altar, he will not survive. Pastor may be in prison next week, and we may not see him for 3 years. As Paul did, many pastors around the globe in persecuted countries work to earn their own living, while secretly meeting and sharing God's Word.

Michael Jordan
19 April at 09:40
Do you know why Christians are responding to the stay at home orders like they have?

It's because we have created a dependency on a religious system rather than a dependency on God. We have gone to "church" for years and still most don't know that they were created to be the Church. They find their identity in a building with 4 walls rather than finding their identity in the Almighty. They limit Gods ability to move and work to the confines of their church building.

Many are nothing more than Christian parasites feeding off the knowledge possessed by the pastor while never studying, learning, or getting a walk with God for themselves. Many pastors feed continually off the people's wallets bleeding the church members dry. So when anything such as these stay at home orders occur both go scrambling.. no one in the pews mean less offerings.. no one in the pews means if you wanna hear from God you gotta put in the effort yourself..

This virus has done much to expose the state of professing believers and the state of the "church" and it's not good. Many of those clamoring for their 4 walls will be the first to take the Mark cause they are more dependent on their system then they are on God.

I don't know about you but music lifts my spirit.

I grew up hearing that...that " music is the language of the soul "

Greetings Jackie Do you have a preference regarding music?   Or will you listen to any genre of music.   Ellie

"Now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant. Make you perfect in every good work, to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory for ever and ever Amen."
Heb 13.

The God of peace.. Yes God is a God of peace. He is always at peace. God never loses His temper, He is always at peace, He makes His decisions calmly. No matter how much the heathen rage against Him, and shake their fists at Him, He just laughs, it tells us so in Psalm 2 v 4.
But when God moves.. Then look out , nothing can stop Him doing what He wants to do.
But God is a God of peace, and wills and desires that we too know His peace. Jesus told us.. My peace I give you, my peace I leave with you.. so while all around us is in turmoil we still should have that inner peace which is more precious than gold, nothing can rob us of that gift of peace, it calms us in every situation.. Saying... Never fear child I am still in control.
Go this day, to do whatever you have to do, but before you begin just be still before Him and ask that you be kept in peace. It will flood your soul and remove all fear.. Just trust Him.

While I agree with Judy's friend about the CHURCH (us) vs the church (building), I still feel the need to see/be with my Christian friends.  It's good to have all our fancy electronic gadgets, but nothing beats face to face conversations.  I dislike texting because nobody seems to call anymore just to chat and catch up as friends.  Convenient, yes, but not satisfying.  Just my opinion, of course.  So I will be very happy when the lockdown ends.

So much sadness, so much loss.  Now the huge problem with the oil prices.  And we lost a good friend of many years a few days ago...  Problems with how to conduct funeral services.  When this is over, I will plan a memorial for John.  So much to think about.

What a sweet picture in Random Images today, of Jeanne Lee with her mother!

I finished, matted and framed a watercolor yesterday, and am pretty pleased with how it turned out.  If interested, you can see it on my Facebook page.

I hope more of you come in and post today and let us know how you're doing.  We miss you when you're not here; we are such a small group anymore as it is.

Time to go pick up our lunches from the Senior Center.  We drive up and they bring them out to the car!

Blessings!

Greetings Janet    I agree with you, seeing and being with my Christian friends has at all times been a must for me.  Good old fashioned banter beats looking at a smartphone screen and texting!   And the more we text is the less we will phone family and friends.  We watch on a Sunday a BBC programme called Songs of Praise.    It is a BBC religious programme that has presented Christian hymns sung in churches of varying denominations from around the UK since 1961.    I have tried to convert old Isle of Man videos to a form I can send to family and friends today.  Using a splendid bit of computer software 😊    Ellie

Something to remember ladies, this is not forever, it is for our protection and safety.  If we remember back to stories from Russia the Christians had to stay in their homes to worship God. That is what the Chinese Christians and Middle Eastern Christians have to do to this day. 
Perhaps God is preparing us to be worshipping in our homes alone with only code words to identify ourselves as Christian.  It is a scary place out there  when we see Christians persecuted daily for their faith. 
I have heard Christians say even recently, "Oh that will never happen in North America! (US and Canada)" How can we be so blind?  Donald Trump, love him or hate him, is a man for a season.  He is slowing down the one world government, which our leader is pushing.  I have a friend who is not by all accounts born again. She is speaking up against the O.W.G., and how W.H.O. figures in to it. Trudeau our PM is pushing for all he is worth to make Canada a dictatorship.  That my friends is how close we are to the OWG or One World Government. 

Ellie, I love Christian music, especially the old hymns of the faith that I learned as a small child.  I can still sing every word of those, without a book.  I love praise music, too, but prefer a mix.

I went for a longer walk with the doggies today, other than that, have been lazy.  I don't like me much when I'm too lazy. 

Thin k I'll go see what I can find to make for supper.  (We have dinner at noon here in the country. )
 

Janet...
... if i didn't have my MS i would walk and walk amongst our singing and flying ( at freedom ) birds..just hearing our  bird-life singing gives us the hope that life is still very much out there, and gives us some hope... Listening and being amongst  our birds is what gives me my most pleasure...

Janet...I agree with you, we in UK have ALWAYS had our church doors open to outsiders to step inside as and when needed...I am sure they would still want to be doing this but it is our government who are saying no due to this distancing, re church services, which i understand but i still feel that doors should be left open for those who need to step inside and pray for whatever they personally need to be praying for...even though i remember my late father always telling me, one doesn't need a church to pray to God in, we can pray anywhere, ( father was referring to when he was on the front-line during WW2 ) yes of course we can, but we do feel more protected, closer to God when when we are given the chance of stepping inside a church as and when a church is available..

...I too, like all our world are praying for our days back of normality, that this C-Virus will go away as quickly as it came but, i am also asking this question of why did it come in the first place, what is its reason, is it because our world is overflowing with humans, our world overflowing population, and it needs to get the numbers down - or is it because we need to be taught a valid lesson, such as we have been slowly destroying our planet, or, to never take anything in this world for granted, because this will now change everyone, our world as we once knew it will never be the same again, may even be an improvement for us lucky and blessed ones who survive it, as time go by...
Our God is the only One who can answer this question..our world is in His hands only..

From Chris
" My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into various temptations, knowing this, that the testing of your faith works patience." James 1.

Being tempted is not the same as sinning, you might look at something or someone and be tempted.. Then say.. No it's not right, I'm not doing that. You were tempted.. Tested, but you resisted.. Our Saviour had to resist Satan three times in the wilderness. And every time he answered with scripture. He did not "bind" Satan nor use any of the other nonsense that some people today do.
He simply came back at His enemy with the most fitting scripture for the temptation.
We are sometimes very remiss here, forgetting that the Word of God is quick, powerful, sharp as a two edged sword. Separating bone and marrow.
Let's pray that if we are tested today, God will drop the right scripture into our mind.
But remember this, usually for scripture to come to mind we have to know our bible!

Good morning!  It's a beautiful day here in my little corner of Kansas.

Jackie, thanks for your notes to me.  I love to hear the birds sing, too.  Since there are few trees here, I don't get to hear them nearly as much as I would like, but it's always so cheerful and uplifting to hear them singing!  As you said, it surely does give us hope, and a feeling that life will go on.

As for the why of this awful C-virus....I don't pretend to know the reason, but to reduce the world's population, I think we can skip that one.  God loves every person on this planet, and HIs plans for us are always for our good, never to harm.  Now there are people among us who strongly advocate the "reduction of populations" (murder is what I call it) through abortion, letting very poor populations starve or whatever, all while pretending to do everything to help.  Hypocrites!  Bill Gates is chief among them.  I believe that while God did NOT send this plague, He does have vital, valuable lessons for us to learn through it.  I am praying that I can learn those lessons, and learn them well.

Also, I am praying that we, as citizens, stand up and demand our freedoms back, at whatever cost, and not let those who are power hungry keep us under the rules implemented for "our good".  This is supposed to be temporary!  So let the people go back to work!

I am heartened to see that more suits have  been filed by churches against some of the governors' draconian laws against them, even while they were carefully following all the guidelines as to numbers, distancing, etc.
God instituted the church, and He promised that 'the gates of hell shall not stand against it.'  So let God be true and every man a liar. 

Like you said, our God is in control.  He's got this, as people are fond of saying these days.  And as long as we look to Him for every answer, trust in His love and care, we will be okay.  God bless you and continue to listen to our happy feathered friends!

Janet...
... as i am reading your post again ( 6.am UK ) there is a bird chirping -singing outside my office window...yes there is life out there again...there is still hope for us..as long as we have our birds, there will always be hope..and freedom..

All is well, I could not get in here yesterday and today went well after I signed in again. 

Judy:  Thank you for the song "Remember". 

We are noticing a change in our lives and some neighbors and family say the same thing happens.  All of us feel so fatigued in the afternoon and can nap or feel the need of a nap.  I believe it is an inner sadness of missing closeness of family and friends.  We are making more phone calls to each other -

Jackie:  We are seeing different birds here and that is unusual.

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Carol...
... perhaps with less humans about, more birds are flocking back that we once frightened away...

My goodness!  I had a rough night, and didn't realize it was nearly 9 before I got up this morning.  Guess it doesn't matter, can't go anywhere, anyway.

Carol, I am feeling that same lethargy and sadness.  And I think you have pin pointed the cause.  We must just keep praying and trusting God that this too shall pass.

I just called the monument company from whom we bought Beth's (and John's) headstone, to ask them to come engrave his final date on it.  They want $217.00 for that!  GRRR.  He hadn't enough money even to bury him, and we understood that little thing was included in the price we paid for the stone.  So many things to make me feel even worse.  I will be so relieved when all this is taken care of and I won't have to be trying to remember every detail that needs doing.

I need to go back and listen to the songs Judy posted yesterday.  Thanks, Judy.

I need some birdsongs to listen to!

I came back to say thank you to Judy, and to Jacqueline for the lovely music, scenery and birdsongs.  I enjoyed!

From Judy

Rain on the Oregon coast this morning so no birds singing. (I guess they didn't hear about "singing in the rain" ) so it is really pleasant to hear the Nightingale Serenade.  Thanks Jacqueline! 

I can completely agree with you, Carol and Janet, about the lethargy and "need" for a nap.  I also have been feeling that way for a while.  I put it down to my age and the fact that I live alone, but maybe there's a bit of sadness creeping in as well.    Yesterday was the anniversary of Joy's birthday. Whatever it is, we can know that this, too, shall pass.

My granddaughter, Becky, tells me that Karmen is exhibiting signs of "childhood depression" too.   It has a lot to do with not being with her friends, and teacher, at school.  But it is also the case of her never having a place to call her own.  They have been knocking about all her life.  First on the streets of Chicago, then except for a brief time a year ago in an apartment, just staying here and there with one relative or friend and another.  I was able to help Becky with the deposit on a two bedroom condo into which she hopes to move soon.  Hopefully that will help Karmen feel more secure in her young life.  Becky has a good paying job now and, although working from home, she can look forward to better things in her life.  She tells me she is "making a brand new start on life" and is determined to succeed.  I've heard that before and always she seems to get blindsided with either job loss or injury or just plain depression.  I'm grateful she can still come to me for help. She always has good intentions that "this is the last time" but she also is suffering with ADHD so has trouble keeping her head straight and on task.  She has a boyfriend now who, Dottie tells me is a really great guy and good at keeping her on track.  He is a coworker of hers so that helps, too.

Gotta go now  things to do .....  I'll be back later.

Chris Saunders

"If any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God, that gives all men liberally, and doesn't chastise us for asking, and it shall be given him." James 1.
When it comes to understanding scripture it is essential to have Godly wisdom. That's why we are told that the natural man receives nothing, he does not have the Spirit. In Proverbs we are told to get wisdom and with wisdom get understanding!
Wisdom, yes.. But we need to understand how and when to use that gift of wisdom.
In Proverbs again we realise that when God is talking about Wisdom He is talking about the Holy Spirit personified.
Wisdom was there when the Earth and Heavens were created.
God absolutely delights in the person who asks for wisdom to read and understand our Bible, a hungry heart and mind shall receive as much wisdom as he needs , this is God's desire, to give us a hunger for Him and His word. " You have not because you ask not" is very real here, that's why you will sometimes meet Christians who have never progressed very much, they are biblically illiterate , we need enquiring hearts and minds folks, if we want to grow up!
Ask today for wisdom to understand and you will never be fooled by false teachers and preachers.
God bless your weekend.

Jackie: Thank you for the site. 

Judy:  This is a wonderful place to come and forget about the sadness.

It still seems so odd not to get up and go on a Sunday morning.  Many times, we had conflicts but the church has the same service on Saturday nights so we always had a choice. Also, because of Don's hearing problem, he preferred the quiet Sat. service.   

You can laugh at my baking attempt.  For years, my trusty bread maker has been so nice but it has turned on me.  This last loaf looks like a craggy stone.  I cannot find yeast in any store because the stores let people buy the entire lot.  So, I substituted baking powder (after waiting weeks for that to arrive) and found later that I need to have something like vinegar to activate the powder.  I am going to use another recipe and see what happens.  This loaf could be a new doorstop. 

Animals are moving into the city - a herd of elk was seen walking a main street just north of Denver.  Now, we are used to seeing the in the hills but to walk right into town is another thing - miles away. 

The birds singing music background is so very pleasant.  Thanks all!