Polychrist Syncretism

The founders of our nation were not perfect, but they were very intelligent men that understood human nature, and history. They had the benefit of hind sight, they were able to see the noble attributes of the civilizations of the past, and also the failures. They chose to pattern their new government system after the noblest, and most successful system that they could find throughout history, the one that had been perfectly tailored for liberty and freedom, and their choice was the old Republic of Rome, before it became an empire. 

Rome did not start out as a republic, but rather a monarchy. It was a monarchy for 250 years, and then a republic for about 500 years, and then a empire for the remaining 450 years until it was dismembered by turmoil.

It was the republic system that made Rome extremely strong, but the conversion to an empire started its slow decline, and the founders of our nation considered this when they wrote the fail-safes into the foundation so that it would be impossible for a popular political figure to acquire that much power in a constitutional atmosphere. 

Even in Rome's beginning as a monarchy it was strong, and it grew, but when it became a republic it was practicing representative government, and syncretism in its religious system which made it extremely cohesive,and alluring, which created a very conducive environment for solid growth. 

But what is syncretism? Why is it so important for creating a stable National System? 

A Family Devotion on the Miracle of Creation

This summer we have been raising some Monarch butterflies.  We have been learning a lot and it is a wonderful thing for our daughter to see the miracle of creation right in the house.  We have raised 2 successfully so far.  The last one we have is in a chrysalis.  This one I found on accident as I was taking the mail out to our mailbox and noticed that we had wild milkweed growing along side our driveway.  As I was standing there I saw a Mama butterfly lay her egg.  I picked the leaf with a bunch of the milkweed and brought it into the house and put it in our butterfly cage.  In a few days it hatched and was so very tiny.  I had to look at it with a magnifying glass it was so small.  It ate it's egg casing as it's first meal and then began working on the leaf.  The guy was an eating machine, only taking time out to shed his skin and then eat his skin.  After 2 1/2 weeks, he had reached 2700 times his original weight when he hatched and found a good spot and hung upside down in a "J" shape over night and then when his skin split a chrysalis came out.  Then for 10 days it completely rearranges its molecular blocks and forms a beautiful butterfly.  Then once it drys off it flies South.  Four generations fly South with the 4th generation reaching Mexico, there it lives for 8 months.  It lives in the trees and only comes down to drink water.  They then lay eggs and that 5th generation will begin to fly North to find the milkweed and it takes 3 more generation of each flying North and then repeats the process each year.  Now who taught that little creature to do that.  It has no parents to show it what to do.  It is all in the programming of that creature.  

This fun family activity will always be remembered by our daughter and is a living example of the miracle of creation.  This brought to mind, Romans 1:20 

"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen,being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse."

O Lord you are the great miracle worker and all creation shouts of it!

The Grass Withers and the Flowers Fade

Just a few days ago we took our daughter to a Science Museum and I captured this image and the bubble she is blowing reminded me of the fragilness of life, but more about that later. We had lots of fun looking at all the exhibits and Mary's most favorite was the bubble room.  There were bubble walls and large bins of soap solution on tables with large wands to make ginormous bubbles!  While we were there an older couple was in the room with us with a little girl.  The man made a statement, like a tongue in cheek thing, about us having our daughter with us, as they did.  I smiled and thought at first that he was serious and said, "Yes, I was 46 and my husband was 51 when we had her."  I seen the expression on his face change and said, "Oh, this is our granddaughter and we thought that was your granddaughter too.  I am so sorry."  I smiled and said, "Oh don't worry about it, we get that all the time." 

Later when I thought about it and remembered other times that has happened how people apologize to us like they have offended us.  Which they have not.  Neither Rich or I dye our hair trying look younger.  We feel it is healthier and more natural to let your hair do as God intended it to do.  Also we are not trying to hide our age as Mary is a wonderful gift to us.  We were not the people who were so busy with our lives that we didn't have time for children when we were younger and now were pushing the envelope to have a family late in life.  We also were not ones that thought of her as "oops, I guess we will make the best of it" either.  She was greatly wanted and we had asked God for a child, if it was His will.  We both desired a child or children in our youth.  We longed to be married and had some very lonely years in our lives but we both wanted to keep the Lord's word and marry a follower of Christ and one that was not divorced.  This was a tall order in our culture as we reached into our 30s and early 40s.  Most people thought it just wouldn't happen for us, but God in His plan and great love and mercy, seen fit for us to meet later in life, fall in love, marry and 4 years later bless us with a child.  I was 46 when I had her and I conceived her naturally with no medical intervention.  That was a great gift to us. 

Family Devotions: Peter Walks on the Water with Jesus

Today Rich read out of Matthew 14:22-33 of how right after feeding the 5 thousand, Jesus sends the disciples in a boat on the Galilee and he goes off to pray, during the night a storm comes up and Jesus walks on the water to the boat.  The disciples were frightened thinking he was a ghost.  Peter calls out to Him asking if he can walk on the water too.  Jesus calls him to come and he walks on the water until he starts looking at the waves and wind and becomes afraid and begins to sink.  The Lord lifts him up and takes him to the boat.  What a powerful lesson that was and we then thought of Peter and John going through the Gate Beautiful after the resurrection and infilling of the Holy Spirit and telling the lame beggar, silver and gold they did not have but in the name of Jesus Christ rise up and walk and he went leaping and walking and praising God.  We thought of all the lessons they learned from Jesus and how many we can learn too as we read the Gospel stories.  

We found this cartoon clip on You Tube that Mary really liked and she watched it twice.

Here is the link: https://youtu.be/K2t3-S6eSUU

Mary loves the reading and talking about the story, but for her it really comes alive with the little movies.  If you have anything you would like to add to this devotional and tell about a devotional you do, just tell us in the comments below.  Have a very blessed day!  You all are in our prayers.

Whose Disciple Are You?

The other day I Googled, "Who discipled the Apostle Paul?" and came up from this quote by Charles Stanely.  It sounded really good until I clicked on the link that said, "About Charles Stanley".  I was saddened.  Here is what I read:

"After Paul’s conversion, he disappeared into the desert for three years, during which time the Holy Spirit instructed him in the ways of God. He emerged, ready to communicate divine truth.

The Lord speaks to believers so that they will comprehend the truth, conform to the truth, and communicate the truth. These same steps form a road map to discipleship. What happened during Paul’s desert years was only the beginning of a life-long process—God renewed his mind and transformed him into the image of Christ. For the apostle, that change began with connecting his rich biblical knowledge to the revelation that Jesus Christ was the Son of God.

Paul knew Scripture thoroughly, but the truth that Jesus was the promised Messiah made him reconsider the foundation he’d been trusting. Everything he knew about God had to be reevaluated in light of this new information. Paul had a history of wanting to please God, so the Holy Spirit no doubt found him a willing pupil.

The apostle’s spirit had to be shaped according to the Father’s will. And the Lord kept working on him long after Paul left the desert and began his ministry. Every person who reads his letters is a witness to the work of God in a submissive man.

The Lord’s discipleship road map looks similar for every believer. Like Paul, you are the Holy Spirit’s student, and the knowledge you reap from Scripture should be changing your life. Be like the apostle in this way to become a disciple maker by sharing what you learn with others."  by Charles Stanley

About Charles Stanley: "Dr. Charles F. Stanley is the founder and president of In Touch Ministries, whose In Touch radio and television programs have been translated into more than 100 languages. He has also been senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia since 1971.

Dr. Stanley received his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Richmond, his bachelor of divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and his master's and doctor's degrees from Luther Rice Seminary. He has twice been elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention and is a New York Times bestselling author. Charles has written more than 50 books, including In Step with God, Landmines in the Path of the Believer, Living the Extraordinary Life, Finding Peace, Into His Presence, Success God's Way, The Handbook for Christian Living, The Source of My Strength, and How to Listen to God."

My question:  Dear Mr. Stanley why didn't you follow Paul's example? You tell people to dig into the Word and read it for yourself and your list and boast all the people who taught you but I don't see any mention of the Holy Spirit in you great list.

Philippians 3: 4-11

"If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: ⁵ circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; ⁶ as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.

⁷ But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. ⁸ More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of  knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, ⁹ and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, ¹⁰ that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; ¹¹ in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead." 

(I added the underlining)

What is the power of His resurrection?  I think this scripture will shed some light.

Beatitude Series, What Is A Disciple?

1. Poor in spirit.

Disciple:   A person that subjects himself to the disciplines of another.

There are many religions in the world today, and all of them have specific beliefs, and practices that make up all of their own disciplines that they must adhere to in order to achieve what they seek.  In this series we are primarily concerned with the disciplines of Jesus Christ, so we will not list all of the false religions, and their disciplines.  We are going to explore the disciplines of Jesus Christ, which are the primary principles that a follower of Christ must adhere to in order to be considered as a true "Disciple of Christ".     Matthew 5:1 is the beginning of Jesus' explanation of the key attributes that He considers as essential components for Believers that are endeavoring to be His disciples:

"When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him."  Matthew 5:1

Because of the miracles that He was doing, and the things that He was saying, news of Him spread quickly, many people were curious, and came to see Him.  Also there were many who wanted especially to hear what He was saying, because they wanted to be His disciples, and they drew near to listen.  We are going to do that in this series, we will examine the Beatitudes, and see exactly what He was/is saying.

Family Devotions - The Beatitudes

Rich read Matthew Chapter 5. Mary followed along in her Children's Bible and then we had her read several of the Blessed are..., at the beginning of the chapter.  We found this wonderful song on You Tube and sang it several times.  We got out Mary's bucket of percussion instruments and we each took one and played along with the song the second time.  Mary really like the "shake, shake, shake, of the salt of the earth" part of the song.  It is so great to do impromptu music.  Kids love it!  Here is the link to the video to the song and a pic of Rich and Mary playing along.  Have a blessed day as you follow Him.  We are so very happy to see all those following along with us!

Here is the link: https://youtu.be/5yxs5wFpnGg