Classical Education...

“Because the classical educator believes in a real world that gives up ordered knowledge of itself, he teaches the student how to get that knowledge. The seven liberal arts were quite deliberately developed for precisely that reason. Believing that we can know truth, and believing that truth sets us free, classical educators spent thousands of years refining the tools of truth-seeking that were used from the beginning of time, but were first codified by Aristotle."

- Andrew Kern, in "What is the Difference Between Classical and Conventional Education”

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Friday, November 11, 2016

Indivisible--Don't forget That Important Word



"IT'S TRUMP"...that is what the front cover of the newspaper declared in bold, block letters on Wednesday morning, November 9th, 2016. When a race is this debated, it is always a perk to go out and purchase a memento of the election, making sure to have a brief record of an event that will be brought up for elections to come.

"IT'S TRUMP" was not the only cover option that Wednesday morning, though. If you wanted an article focused on Trump, you purchased that newspaper; however, if you were focused on H. Clinton's side of the election, you could choose, "She's Out."

Despite the recent rioting in the streets (which is illegal) as well as the sense of loss by women that a female did not win the Presidency (which is inconsequential on the greater scheme of things), life as we know it will go on.  Obama was considered an extremist, and even with his 'change,' America still stands, grocery stores still have food, people still go on vacation, and freeways are still crowded daily with workers commuting.  The focus after the declaration of Trump as the future President should have been that the public voted, a decision was asserted for the leadership most desired, there will be change to come, and American women should pursue personal hights instead of living vicariously through H. Clinton.

TJ Brown expresses his thoughts on the female scorn of H. Clinton's loss below.

________________________________________________________________________

Dear Women: A Hillary Clinton Loss Does Nothing To Harm Your Personal Ambitions

The public reaction to Trump’s victory has been an unrelenting frenzy. Two sides forecast something that's either Utopia and Armageddon. Maybe it could be somewhere in between?

And something else is on people’s minds as well, particularly among the left: what does this mean for women?

What does Hillary's defeat mean for women? Nothing.Throughout her campaign, Hillary Clinton has been no stranger to using the appeal of her gender to garner support. To many women, this was a major reason to support her. The narrative has been of aspirational transferation by the shattering of the glass ceiling. Women and girls everywhere were supposed to finally find personal inspiration by electing the first woman president of the United States via identity politics.

And now that that opportunity has passed, many of these women and girls are heartbroken and dispirited. All I can say to these people is: don’t let the failure of one woman influence your perception of what can and can’t be achieved by women.

From someone who was fed the same line from the left when we elected the first black president, I can confidently say that you’re not missing much. Sure, there was a temporary “wow” factor that came with electing the first black president. Being a black man myself, I was bombarded with reasons as to why this means black people can do anything they set their mind to.

But later I realized that having a black president doesn’t mean I’m any more or less likely to achieve success. The same should be true for women.

Your Own Success
The validity of one’s hopes and dreams shouldn’t be measured by other people's record of achieving them. I didn’t realize my potential through collectivist association. I don’t believe in what I can achieve based on someone else's merits. Especially for reasons as trivial as skin color. And women shouldn’t find themselves feeling any more or less ambitious because of the failure of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

The glass ceiling isn’t broken by putting one woman in office, or one black person on the CEO board. It’s broken by individuals, millions of them, pursuing their own path towards happiness. Don’t allow feminists or left-wing pundits to feed you lies about how a loss for Hillary is a loss for women. It’s not. Quite the opposite, in fact.

The loss of any authoritarian ruler, woman or man, is a win for the possibility of individual achievement. The four-year continuation of economic and social micromanagement, cultural division, war, corruption, and lies was inevitable with either Trump or Clinton. Neither have any interest in what truly contributes to what breaks glass ceilings: being independent and freed.

Progress and Ballots
The greatest accomplishments of women in history weren’t realized at the ballot box. They were realized in the market, through human action and individualism. So tell your wife, sister, mother or daughter that Hillary’s loss is a loss for Hillary alone.

The greatest accomplishments of women in history weren't realized at the ballot box.The evolution of civilization – including the whole of humanity – will continue long after Hillary’s political career. And by then, billions of women around the globe will have played a far more monumental role in innovating and directing the course of history. 99 percent of them will do so through voluntary means, via the volition of their own personal freedom and pursuit of happiness.

You can either be a part of that 99 percent who change the world, or you can sit on the sidelines waiting for one person to do it for you so you can feel good about their success while neglecting your own. I personally hope you choose the former, because the beauty and imagination that clouds your mind right now, will prove to influence more lives in the long term than any politician could dream of. Don’t rely on Hillary Clinton to legitimize your dreams. Don’t allow Donald Trump to negate your humanity or your character.

Elitist Figureheads
Take the first step in being the change you want to see in the world rather than just voting for it. And the best part is, you don’t have to become president to accomplish this. Capitalism yields opportunity for all people's creativity and visionary passions.

The only thing holding you back from this accomplishment of self-determination is your willingness to go for it. So drop the political admiration and aggrandizement of elitist figureheads. Exploit liberty to its fullest potential; that’s how you smash the patriarchy.
TJ BrownTJ Brown
Taleed J. Brown is a content intern at FEE and hosts the popular YouTube channel "That Guy T".
This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the original article.

________________________________________________________________________



As a woman, I understand that it is nice to see 'one of our own' succeed in higher places in our government and world; however, my success, achievements, and future are not based on whether 'one of my own' ultimately achieves a position. My opportunities, as well as my children's, are based on personal drive, intellect, and pursuits. While I can understand why some people--who voted for H. Clinton--are dubious of how Trump will do in office, is he really any less prepared than Obama was when he sky-rocketed onto the scene and swept up the election in 2008?

Since Trump was declared the future president-elect, there have been groups arising and rioting...not protesting, but actually rioting. As Americans, it is our right to peacefully assemble and protest occurrences in our government; however, there is no right to riot. It all seems rather childish and petty, actually.

When Obama won his first election, there were no riots, yet Republicans were just as afraid of him as Democrats are of Trump.  Perspective is what is needed.

No matter who you voted for, there is now going to be a change in power in the White House, and the Republic has spoken. Isn't that what we want? To be heard? Whether the person I supported won or not, the public was heard, and perspective and rational thought is needed to prevent the extremists from rioting and causing social disruption.

The time has come to concede the loss, appreciate the dynamic shift in political runners, and know that any ceiling 'not' broken by H. Clinton 'not' being elected does not stop the next qualified woman from throwing her bonnet in the ring and trying to provide support and guidance for the American people as a future president. 

Becoming president should not be about gender or race.  It must be about what is best for the Republic: this ONE NATION, UNDER GOD, for LIBERTY and JUSTICE FOR ALL. When it becomes about one's gender and not the benefits of having that person in the office, we have lost sight of what government office is all about. It is not about wealth, fame, and power; it is about governing to the benefit of the nation, under God, and indivisible. 

By making an election about labels and titles, we divide ourselves. We must be Americans before we are Democrats or Republicans. We must strive for unity before lashing out like children and rioting in the streets. We must ask God for strong, capable, honest, and knowledgeable leaders to step up and run for office BEFORE we get wrapped up in the symbols of donkey or elephant. 

Liberty. 

Justice. 

For all. 

Focus on the liberty the upcoming president can provide. Focus on the justice to be restored for American citizens, and focus on the idea of all of us working to better ourselves, encourage our children, and provide a better country for future generations of leaders, no matter what color or gender.

Friday, November 4, 2016

Approaching Education

Image from Lifehack.org


Recently reading articles about education in America and where it has gone awry, I came across Laura Wheldon's article "How School Crushes the Child's Natural Love of Learning," and I thought she did a very good job assessing standard, public-school-style learning in confined classrooms, filled with too many children, too much to cover, and too little mental freedom.

While she does well to remain focused on issues with current, mainstream school, she does not shy away from then suggesting--at the end--that the organic processes associated with traditional education--day-to-day lessons on life and personal interests--are those most productive.

For a republishing of the article, click HERE.

Sunday, October 30, 2016

Understanding Pronoun Usage

Shorter but Not Always Better

Everyone remembers what a pronoun is in standard English: a pronoun replaces a noun in order to avoid repetition.  However, if you have not clearly established (in a thesis, topic sentence, or closing sentence) the subject of the sentence, you cannot use a pronoun to avoid repetition because it is not avoiding repetition if there was not a clear subject indicated to begin with in the sentence.  Using a pronoun, in this case, causes confusion.

Pronouns are vague, and while they can be used in any type of sentence, you should only use them when the noun that they are replacing is very clear.  While pronouns are a perfectly acceptable form of noun replacement, you need to make sure that you are not incorrectly using them in the most important sentences in your essay: thesis statement, topic sentences, and closing sentences.  Thesis statements, topic sentences, and closing sentences need to be written as if they could stand alone, be read by the reader, and the full intent would still be perfectly clear.  These types of sentences must contain CLEAR subject usage through a noun or proper noun. Pronouns are vague, and it is required that they only be used when the noun is very clear.

For more detailed information on pronouns, click HERE.

Computer Usage...Be Not Afraid

Standards and Fears

I can remember way-back-when...in middle-school...when my step-father brought home our first computer.  What was it?  Hmmm...let's see, it was something we don't use today but was famous (the most-sold computer system in the world to this day)...oh, so many years ago...I have to dig through my gray matter to find the name...


Does this look familiar to any of you?  While the age of my students ranges from 11-111 (Nah, not really.  The oldest student I have had was 62.), there may be some of you who know what this is.

"The Commodore 64"

This was my first exposure to a computer at home...the Commodore 64.  I can still remember my parents trying to instill the fear of the 'money-god' in me to not break it.  While it is not impressive by today's standards--and size--this was a very exciting (and scary) item to have in our house.  

At school, there was a computer lab (in the library) for teacher and student use.  It was home to two of the most prized items on campus...Computer Terminal A and Computer Terminal B (just obscure names for the two computers the whole school--students, faculty, and staff--had to share).
"The Commodore PET"

These 'school computers' looked like this one, and we had to learn C: Prompt codes to get into the internal system that everyone refers to today as the 'desktop'.  So, for those of you old school folks out there who have never been too keen on operating a computer yet find yourselves in a classroom that requires the use of Microsoft Office WORD to complete all of your assignments, I'm sure that you have a lot of questions.  For young students who might not have had much exposure to formal use of Microsoft Office WORD since the modern student uses Facebook, Twitter, and SKYPE more than word processing programs, then have I got great news for you!!!  Below you will find a list of links to take you to a wonderful site that will teach you the basics--and more--about using Microsoft Office WORD.  

If you do not know how to formally double space, create headers, headings, indent, hang-indent, insert images, and wrap text, then you must learn the concepts below as soon as possible.  For an academic class, you will need to learn the basic concepts below to make sure that your work is double-spaced, in Times or Arial font, size 12, contains proper headers with content and page number inserts, and so on.  

While these things might initially send you into a state of shock--similar to how I felt the first time that I sat down in front of that Commodore 64--you will soon get the hang of it.  

So, before we sail off into the future, let's take one last look at the side of my first keyboard...

Do you see those plug slots?  Those would be comparable to today's USB 2.0 and 3.0 slots.  The two on the left were where you plugged in your perrifferial items. The slot on the far right is the power cord slot, and the switch next to it actually turned the power on and off to prevent power surges. Do you own anything today that would work in these holes?  Believe it or not...I still do.  One of these days, I will get the courage to crack off the case of my college computer (an old MAC), and I will attempt to learn it and rebuild it...if it is even still possible by then.  In the meantime...I'll keep focused on the 'new' around me and guide you to the lessons below.

Happy Learning!!!!  The computer is your friend (despite Dan Rather's quote below)!


Learn Formatting of MO Word Documents

The information in this section (below) comes from the Goodwill Community Foundation LearnFree.org as assistance to writers using various programs and are in need of training. The content below is not my own creation. Please see the site for more details.





Saturday, October 8, 2016

Mr. Murray's Classrooms

Websites to Help with Education: Mr. Murray's Classrooms



Mr. Murray's Classrooms is a site that links you to three or four of Mr Murray's classrooms.  


The reason this site is unique is because it is led by a male instructor.  I know that sounds awful to say in the politically correct, women's lib atmosphere of today, but I firmly believe in the difference between men and women: humor, insights, ways of learning and teaching, as well as relating to children.  While I do not know Mr. Murray, personally, Figure 1 depicts Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Kindergarten Cop, and you have to admit, that movie showed how men and women approach both children and education differently--while getting the job done!!


                    
Figure 1: Arnold Schwarzenegger in Kindergarten Cop




Men were made to be different than women (look it up in the bible).  Even though we all can attempt the same activities and careers as each other, there is a difference between how a man implements an activity versus a woman.  Not better, not worse, just different.  Therefore, I like his site.  He has a different approach to reaching the students than the female instructors I have run across.  Take a look.

Virtual Middle School Library

Websites to Help with Education: the Virtual Middle School Library


The Virtual Middle School Library is a site that I recently came across while trying to find help for one of my Freshman Composition students online.  While the site is label as a Middle School virtual library, I believe that all education is ripe for students at their maturity-level or education-level and down.  
Let me put it to you this way, when I used to manage a Classical Conversations (CC) community for homeschoolers, if a student from an older class was uncomfortable with his/her placement, the peers in the class, or the knowledge of the others at that level, I would encourage the parent and the student to consider stepping into a younger-aged classroom*.  The content was the same at all Foundations levels of CC—just as it is in a children's Sunday School classroom—it was just a different approach to conveying that same content.  If it would make the student feel better to be the teacher's assistant, this was fine, but the goal was to place the child in a room where he or she could feel confident.  


When you are confident, you are at ease…  
When you are at ease, you learn better…


Studies show that it is easier for you to not only learn information better, but to retain it longer, when you are feeling at ease in your educational environment.  
An older child in a room full of 'littles' is a good role model for the ‘littles’, and it makes them strive to know as much as the older student.  What child have you known who did not want to be looked up to or who did not look up to older children?  On the flip-side, though, I would never suggest moving a child to a class of older children, even if the child seemed precocious.  If the student is in his/her age-group or lower, this still promotes enrichment and then you have the added benefit of younger-level comprehension to assist with repetition, thus producing mastery.  
Education has always seemed to work well when you access your maturity level and lower.  Some may argue that this stops the student from aiming high—stops advancement into higher levels of maturity.  I disagree.  We are talking about education, here.  Education is best processed in a state of peace and calm.  Stretching too far beyond your maturity- or comprehension-level only produces confusion, embarrassment, and stress, which are the opposite conditions to promote long term knowledge.  It is also the quickest way to stop a child from enjoying education.  The ultimate goal of education is not to get a high-paying job—despite what our culture may be touting these days.  While higher pay is one of the benefits of attaining and education, certainly, there is more to life than where you work or how much you get paid.  Life is about how you interact with the world, at any income level.  
The goal of education is to produce life-long learners.  A life-longer learner will find life much easier to handle throughout the ups-and-downs. Therefore, I promoted the Virtual Middle School Library to my college students.  While they might think that they are 'above' using something designed for middle school students, the fact of the matter is if they are struggling in some area of language arts (the writing process, editing, comma usage, sentence structure, research development, formatting sources, etc.), and if they need help to learn specific lessons to help them advance through their current course, then where else should you go but back to middle school?


*For those of you who are not familiar with how the Classical Conversations (CC) curriculum works, let me provide some guidance here.  CC is a curriculum that is based on the Classical method of education.  The Classical method of education focused on repetition and mastery while moving from knowledge, to understanding, to wisdom.  Foundations is what CC calls their knowledge phase of their curriculum.  While many people—specifically home school parents in their 30s and 40s—often think of ‘content knowledge’ as simply memorization, it is not. 
Memorization has received a bad ‘rap’ in last 30 years, and so many people think that memorizing facts is low-level thinking and a waste of time.  Would you say that to your doctor?  A doctor-friend of mine told me once that 80% of everything he did in medical school was based on memorization.  He had to memorize body parts, terms, locations, functions, surgical tools, operation procedures, the correct steps and combinations for administering medication, and the list goes on.  Your doctor is a walking dictionary of medical terms he memorized to have the knowledge to be able to properly guide you through issues with your body.  Don’t tell me that memorization is a waste of time.  It is not.  However, memorization without development might be seen as useless.  Learning facts through memorizing is the first step in being able to move to the next step in education—understanding. 
When you were learning to drive, did your mom or dad simply put you behind the wheel and give you directions to go?  No, you had to learn the key terms, components, and functions of the parts of the car.  From there, your parent could properly school you on those terms and components so that you could safely drive.  The same holds true for the CC curriculum.  While the Foundations level of the curriculum is about content knowledge, the goal is not simply memorization.  The goal is to grasp the key terms and phrases of something so that deeper development can be had at home, and deeper understanding can be had later, when the child is developmentally ready.
CC has created a curriculum for students to use in a three-cycle period.  This means that students go through Cycle 1: Ancient Times [let’s say at age 5], they then move on to Cycle 2: Pre-Reformation to Modern Times [all new content—at age 6], and then they move into Cycle 3: Columbus to Current Events [again, new content, we are now at age 7] (Figure 1). 


Figure 1: Classical conversations Cycle Progression Chart


When the child turns 8, Cycle 1 is back up for the curriculum focus of the year.  What does this mean to the child?  To the parent homeschool teacher?  It means you can dig deeper now.  It means that the child repeats the same readings and content, but three years later, the maturity-level, content-knowledge, and understanding of the world is drastically different.  The child now triggers the original content—which puts him or her at ease—yet the parent can take that content and go deeper with it, thus promoting long-term retention of the material.  This goes on at 9 when the Child enters Cycle 2 again, and then at age 10 when Cycle 3 is back on the table.  Each time you move through the curriculum, the parent is emboldened to seek out new supplements to enrich the child’s knowledge, and the child is stress-free because the content is familiar and he/she is simply revisiting the topic and seeking out a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of that topic.

While I am no longer part of a CC community, I would recommend home school parents look at it and give it a try for one year.  I think you will be pleasantly impressed, and there are more CC communities popping up every day, thus making it possible for you to attend a community day one a week with the other homeschoolers who actually live near you.  



Saving WORD Documents in Compatible Format

 97-2003 Compatible Format

I often send and receive WORD documents through the Internet.  Since I am an online instructor, it is important for my students to  send me work in a way where I can open it, review it, and score it.  In my home school, I have my children submit the final versions of their writings to me through WORD as well, and even though we are one family, we are not using the same computers or even the same computer systems.  It is essential that all of these documents are saved in a way that is compatible for any viewer.
Have you experienced issues like this?  Has someone sent you a document--in MO WORD--and you could not open it and did not know why?  While there are various ways to work around this issue, the easiest one that I have found is to simply save all WORD documents that you wish to share in the Compatible format.  Of course, you could simply save it as a .pdf, but the receiver is unable to make modifications to it, leave 'comments' embedded in the document, or easily copy and paste sections to refer to at a later time.  Saving your WORD documents in a Compatible version is the quickest and easiest way for full sharing potential: at least from what I have found.
Have you been having problems saving your work in a format that is compatible with everyone you share documents with through the Internet?  Have you tried saving documents in the Compatible format for WORD?  The steps below will provide you with everything you need to complete this requirement.
Once you read my directions for how to complete this type of 'save,' you will laugh at how easy it is and wonder why you did not try this sooner. 
In the WORD program:
  1. Go to SAVE AS
  2. Locate the folder where you want the work to be saved.
  3. Create a name to identify your work: Your Name, Assignment, and formatting Style
    • Sample: Vida Bendecida Essay 1 MLA
  4. Underneath the NAME of the document, you will see a drop-down box that lets you choose 8-12 different types of formatting settings for your program's document.  You want to choose the 97-2003 COMPATIBLE option.
    • You do not have to have any of the 97-2003 WORD programs to complete this save.  However, by saving your WORD document in this format, it makes it possible for ANYONE with a WORD program to open the document.
  5. Click on the 97-2003 Compatible Version option.
  6. Double check that the name is what you want, that the folder you will be saving it to is correct (after all, you want to be able to find it), and that you have successfully changed the program formatting to the 97-2003 COMPATIBLE style.
  7. Click SAVE.

You have now finished properly saving the document for an online sharing situation, and you are now able to upload your work into an email- or cloud-system as a COMPATIBLE WORD document.
By following these steps, you can save your MO WORD documents in a way that they will end in .doc, which, in turn, will make the document accessible to all parties who need to view it, no matter what version of MO WORD they are using.
I suggest doing this for ALL documents that you send through the Internet to share with others.  It makes it so that your work stays accessible to anyone you send it to for review.  However, if you do not want the person to be able to modify the work, embed comments, or easily copy and paste it, you simply choose the .pdf option in stead of the 97-2003 Compatible Version option in the drop-down menu.
If you have other tips or tricks to saving Microsoft Office WORD documents in a way that makes it easily accessible for review and possible modification, I'd love for you to leave a comment below.

Friday, September 16, 2016

FREE Bible Study Resources

FREE Online Bible Study Courses

Online Bible Study Courses

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Please study all lessons in each course, looking up the Scriptures. Each lesson includes questions with simple instructions showing how to submit your answers to the studies. Please take each course in order as listed below, and please study each lesson in each  previous course before beginning a new course. Thanks for your cooperation!
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Course #1: The Gospel of Mark
Studies in the life and teaching of Jesus Christ, the Founder of the Christian religion. Ten lessons about His miracles, parables, death, burial, and resurrection.
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Why we believe in God, Jesus, and the Bible: evidences for the Christian faith. The lordship of Jesus, the meaning of discipleship, salvation, forgiveness of sins, obedience, baptism, and Divine authority vs. man-made traditions. Learn about the church Christ established, worship of God, and the origin of denominations. Eight lessons with quizzes.
Course #3: The Book of Acts - Course AStudies in the history of the early church and the beginning of Christianity as revealed in the Acts of the Apostles. Discusses the kingdom of Christ, church organization and worship, examples of conversion, the nature and purpose of miracles, the Christian faith, and the work of the Holy Spirit. Seven lessons with quizzes.
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(A continuation of Course A. Seven lessons.)
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Studies about how to grow as a disciple of Christ: spiritual maturity, discipleship, and Christian growth. How to change yourself, how to study the Bible, prayer, attending church worship meetings, and giving. Eight lessons with quizzes.
Course #6: Following Jesus - Course BFurther studies about Christianity and living as a Christian: human relationships (family, business, government, and race relations); morality, ethics, and moral purity; responsibilities of Christians in a local church; church organization (independence vs. centralization) and church work (Social Gospel vs. spiritual gospel). Eight lessons with quizzes.
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Studies about forgiveness and salvation from sin. Learn about the nature of sin, God's grace, Jesus' sacrifice, faith, repentance, confession, baptism, faithfulness, and the church. What about infant baptism, sprinkling and pouring? How does one become a Christian? What attitudes and commitment are required? 
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Thursday, September 15, 2016

The American Narcissist, PART 1



Please see the article about Identifying an Evil and Wicked Heart after reading this post. 
Some links on this page for Gaslighting no longer work.  Please visit this page for additional information and links for Gaslighting.



PART 1

Ahhh...Narcissist, the vain male of Grecian stories who ignored Echo and loved himself so much that he stared at himself in a river and eventually fell in and drowned.


Self-love...the Bible advocates for it, Psychologists encourage a mature and balanced level of it, but how does it really operate in the American culture?

Over the years, I have encountered both types of Narcissists: grandiose and vulnerable...the website lonerwolf.com explains them as engulfing and ignoring narcissists:

  1. Engulfing Narcissists — these are parents who see their children as extensions of themselves. In other words, engulfing narcissistic parents become obsessively involved in your life to an extreme extent. They don’t respect your boundaries or acknowledge you as a separate person. 
  2. Ignoring Narcissists — these are parents who have very little interest in their children. Ignoring narcissists clearly see the boundary between themselves and their children. As a result, they neglect to take care of their children or show an active interest in their lives. 
But no matter how you classify them, there is one who is too stupid to know that they are not that great (grandiose or engulfing) while the other one is so crushed and confused by those who influenced them the most (vulnerable or ignoring) that they bounce back and forth between thinking they are the greatest to thinking that they are nothing...and so when push comes to shove, the vulnerable (or ignoring) narcissist reacts in an explosion of "No!  I'm great!  Why don't you see I'm great?!?"

Continue Reading HERE...


Saturday, September 10, 2016

September 11th -- 15 year anniversary



Spend time to remember September 11th...not the war afterwards, not the external conspiracies that erupted and linger to this day...but remember those who were effected by this tragic event in American history.

No matter why it happened, who made it happen, or what has been done in retaliation after it happened...just remember the LIVES, the EMOTION, the IMPACT it had on America. 

We spend time remembering the blessing of our American military and their continual willingness to go where the Commander in Chief arranges with Congress for them to go on numerous holidays throughout the year.  AT THIS MOMENT, in preparation for tomorrow's 15th anniversary, please spend time to remember the LIVES that were so dramatically effected on September 11, 2001:


 

15 Septembers Later--click this link

tv-pg

Thursday, September 8, 2016

God Works in Mysterious Ways


A few years ago my family was entrenched in spiritual conflict by fellow-Christians.  When we sought help from our church, the church erupted in a satanic swirl of corruption, elitism, and gossip.  Within a month of seeking mediation in the church, the spiritual warfare oozed into the lives and minds of those in charge, resulting in spiritual abuse of my family on many levels.

Needless to say, we left that church, and it put a strain on our relationship with the unity of the Church of Christians in our lives.  God grew my family during this turbulent time, and it was actually a blessing that those closest to us turned their backs on us, for it led us to a closer reliance and walk with Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. 

If you have never encountered spiritual abuse in a church, then God has sincerely blessed you.  It is more damaging than abuse in a family, more deeply piercing than a divorce, and more fracturing to one’s soul than you will ever know.  We survived, and yet, still, every day there is a memory of this life-lesson that comes up in our interactions with our children in our homeschooling classroom, as we raise them on the Word of God, digging deep into the lessons of the Bible. 

Being the youngest of my original, nuclear, human-family, I had the benefit of learning from my sisters’ trials, successes, and worldly- (as well as spiritual-) challenges.  I learned that there is nothing more beneficial than taking lessons that others have gone through and entrenching them into your own life as a valuable lesson for your own life.  After all, why would you want to ignore things that made them successful or worse yet, things that scarred or traumatized them?  I know that I do not like being hurt, and learning from others hurts, especially those closest to us, can greatly enrich your life.

This is why we use our time of spiritual abuse as a life-lesson for our girls in our homeschool.  If we do not teach them how to avoid such abuse, we would be hiding our knowledge under a bush, failing to let the light shine from the knowledge gained.  We recount the issues, point directly to the Bible, and guide them on how to survive such challenges of their own.



God had a plan; I know this.  God had more for us, better for us, and every day we can see and feel these blessings.  We have been freed from the superficiality of the church we once called our ‘home,’ our ‘family’.  This is not to say that we have abandoned the Church in its universalness, the Church that unites Christians as believers of Jesus Christ as our savior and example, but it is a daily process.  It is a daily healing.  The wounds were deep, and since they involved our children, the emotions were engulfed in that all-entrenching, often over-whelming “mama bear,” and “daddy lion” surge of emotional adrenalin.  You simply do not mess with people’s children.  The reaction is one from the gut.  It is one that surges through you to dig deep within yourself to do all that you can to protect your children.  This is what lingers…the astonishment of a church willing to hurt children to protect themselves from the world seeing them exposed.

But, I digress…as I usually do on my postings here.  My point for this post was to reflect on the information that came through email today.  Part of that church is being shut down.  The ministry we were involved in will not continue this year, and I have to say…this is God’s hand.  Whether the ministry revives or not is God’s plan as well.  While I value the ministry, and I know it serves God’ people, the trials it goes through at that church will hopefully grow those involved.  My gut reaction to the information that the ministry would not continue was one of pleasure.  “Good,” I thought!  However, I know that this is not about them, me, or even my family.  This is about Christians being Christians, acting like Christians, and serving others in a Christian way to the Glory of God.  If the ministry revives, I pray for those involved.  I pray they will turn toward God for guidance, for strength, and for wisdom.   What a Friend We have in Jesus

May God bless all the ministries of churches across America, where Christianity seems to falter the most, often, resulting in a cult-like following of the leaders of a given church, not to the Glory of God, but only to glorify themselves.  Be strong Christian friends.  Know that one day you will come to the end of your earthly life, and you will feel all the love that God was trying to surround you with as you walked through this fallen world.

To leave you today, I hope you will turn to God as you reflect on this song that can lead you to your heart’s desire: God.  As the Deer




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Songs cleaned through ViewPure:
As the Deer:  http://viewpure.com/-gaT4q9eJ1U?start=0&end=0
Because He Lives: http://viewpure.com/4M-zwE33zHA?start=0&end=0
It is Well with My Soul: http://viewpure.com/AHe_qmo3gX4?start=0&end=0
What a Friend We Have in Jesus: http://viewpure.com/8SCorW9r_Is?start=0&end=0
Blessed Assurance: http://viewpure.com/XOv7RmXi7VE?start=0&end=0 

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