Christ's Free Servant

NOT normal - take this from one who was abused by her father severly. He has no business even seeing their bare bottoms unless it is a medical emergency. And, spanking bare skin is more likely to leave injuries. And, spanking should be reserved for direct defiance only. Too many parents spank for everything, and that shouldn't be. And, it should be done consistently, with a full understanding between the parent and child of the rules and the consequences, and it should never be so hard as to leave any kind of mark. It should be enough to get the point across and to hopefully deter the child from returning to that behavior, but not enough to cause injury. There are also other creative methods of child discipline that don't involve spanking at all. I think spanking should be a last result thing when nothing else works, though I don't believe in bribing children or giving in to blackmail. I do believe in rewards for good behavior, but not while the child is acting up as a way to bribe the child to behave. Rewards should also be preplanned in advance and the child should know that certain behaviors result in certain rewards. And, last of all, spanking should never be done in anger. Well, that's my take on the subject.

DC, You always bless my heart. I can see that God is moving in your life. Yes, just keep trusting Him, keep listening for his voice, keep following him wherever he leads you, and yes, always ask for prayer when you need it. I'm learning that, too. I will pray for you today and throughout the week as God brings you to my mind, which I'm sure he will. Love ya sis!!

Why? I don't know. Why is prophecy so complicated? I mean, look at all the OT prophecies and NT prophecies about End Times. Are they not convoluted? They are certainly not straightforward, otherwise we would all understand what they mean and we would not have all these differences of opinion over the meaning of them. And, look at the parables of scripture. Are not many of them convoluted? I mean, even those who lived and walked with Jesus on a daily basis did not always understand his parables and he had to explain them to them. So, not only are there many words in scripture that are convoluted but scripture is not all that black and white. It is filled with symbolism. So, God speaks much through symbolism. He says that he speaks through dreams and that in these last days he will speak in dreams and visions, etc., so from a scriptural standpoint, we have no cause to disregard the possibilty that this was a message from God. We can neither say that it definitely is nor can we say that it definitely is not. That is something that DC will have to determine between her and God. I believe if the Lord has a specific message he wants to deliver to any of us at any particular point in our lives that he can use whatever means he chooses apart from anything that would be contrary to his divine nature. Since all through scripture the Lord spoke to people in dreams and since he says that he will speak through dreams in these last days, then it is perfectly in line with his divine nature to speak to people in dreams and visions. This is his way, or one of this ways, of letting the individual know that he has a very specific message for him or her about something. Yes, it is true that dreams of having babies can certainly be a normal occurance. I've had four babies, but I never dreamed of having a baby, except twice in my life - once was in March of 1990 and once was several weeks ago, and both had spiritual contexts to them.

DC, Many women right now are having dreams about having babies. I believe you are dreaming about the birthing of revival, especially since you said you went for a shower and the water broke. A shower represents cleansing and cleansing represents revival for believers. I think it is interesting how you describe the placenta and the cord being stuck inside you and you having to push and you threw up and then they came out. I think that, too, represents revival - throwing up sin out of our lives; pushing it out. I would not disregard this dream at all, DC, but would take it before the Lord in prayer and during your time in His Word and ask the Lord to increase your understanding. I believe very much so that the Lord is about to birth revival in the church and that is why so many of us are having such dreams. We all need to be praying for revival in our homelands. God is ready to move. I believe it with all my heart.

It means that time passes way too fast! I remember when you first joined. You do? Is that good or bad? Or, maybe a little of both?? Iused the "cool" smiley so that must be good Sue. I was just messing with you. I know you meant it as good. And, I appreciate it, too!! So, thanks a bunch!

It means that time passes way too fast! I remember when you first joined. You do? Is that good or bad? Or, maybe a little of both??

Thanks!

Did they throw you a BIG party? Or, did they just throw something at ya? Just kidding, of course! Well, belated "Happy Anniversary" to you, too!! It is good you are here.

I've only been here since August but I'm certainly glad YOU are here!! Awwwwwwww, shucks! Thank you ma'am! I'm glad you all are here, too, not meaning that you are "you all" but just including everyone while I'm at it.

Congratulations, happy anniversary. Second anniversary gifts are traditionally cotton. Would you prefer a pair of socks or a set of towels? Well... I just bought me a bunch of socks for Christmas since mine were all worn out, so towels would be swell!!

I've been on Worthy for two whole years this coming Sunday. I don't know what that means, but I just thought I would share.

OK! Thank you all. I know I hear a different melody in my head from the traditional one, so I guess it is just the old hym put to new music. Too bad I don't have a way of humming it for you. I will say this, though: A-ma-zing grace how sweet - is all just two notes repeated 3 times, and then it goes up on "the sound" (one note repeated twice) and then back down on that saved a wretch (same two notes repeated twice) and then goes down further on like me. Ok, I don't have a keyboard here - no room for it - but I think the notes could be C D C D C D E E C D C D B A if that helps and it could be in the key of D, at least in my head it is.

There is a contemporary Christian song, maybe a P&W song that has these words in it from an old hym: "When we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise than when we first begun." Does anyone know what contemporary P&W song contains these words? Oh, Nebula, I have to tell you something funny, well... funny to me. I had another song stuck in my head, only this time, I could not remember any of the words - zip! I only knew the tune, but by the time I found someone to tell, the tune was gone, too. I was telling my daughter about it, and she said, "Did it have to do with people?" You know, that song that all I could come up with was lalalalalala people or lonely people or plastic people? And, it turned out to be two separate songs in a Casting Crowns album and one follows the other. I told her how I frustrated you on that one, not on purpose, though.

It worked for me. Try again, or maybe just do a cut and paste. Links are funny things sometimes.

I don't agree with everything in this article, i.e. I am a post-tribber, but I do think Jack Kelley writes very insightful articles about current events in relation to End Times, and I found this one particularly good. He helps to tie up some of those loose ends, I think, and he brings things into perspective. It is worth the read. It connects a lot of the dots.

This Week In Mid-East Prophecy - Jack Kelley - http://www.gracethrufaith.com With so much news from the Middle East this past week, we're going to delay publication of the next chapter of our commentary on the Book of Romans to bring you a prophetic perspective of current events. With so much news from the Middle East this past week, we're going to delay publication of the next chapter of our commentary on the Book of Romans to bring you a prophetic perspective of current events. First, a quick review. Russia Iran Connection The Russian sale of anti-missile batteries to Iran was completed this week, enabling Iran to protect its nuclear installations from attack. In addition, it's been reported that the promised delivery of fuel rods for the Bushier reactor, which Russia had delayed, is back on the schedule again for sometime in 2007. North Korea Iran Connection Iranian scientists, having been present at North Korea's nuclear test site are now hosting their North Korean counterparts in Iran. Their purpose? North Korea is helping Iran prepare to conduct its first test before the end of 2007. If successful this will dramatically alter estimates of Iran's progress toward full nuclear capability. As I've reported before, North Korea is really acting on behalf of Russia and China. Both countries stand to gain substantially through this, oil and gas for China, influence in the region for Russia, cash for both. Iran Threatens US Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed this week to hit back at US interests world wide if Iran is attacked. Another high-ranking Iranian Ayatollah said that being surrounded by US troops "works to our advantage. It means that the US is now within our firing range in the East, West, and elsewhere." The US has to be taken out of the picture before Iran can make good on its pledge to wipe Israel off the map. To this end Iran has mounted attacks against the US monetary system, is involved behind the scenes in Iraq, and claims to have sleeper cells in the US ready to launch terror attacks against the infrastructure and even civilian population centers. Hamas Fatah Unity Government Hamas and Fatah have been convinced to agree on a unity government for the Palestinians. Saudi Arabian King Abdullah negotiated the agreement, strongly advising the US and Europe to go along even though it doesn't obligate Hamas to renounce terrorism, recognize Israel, or abide by prior PLO agreements with Israel. King Abdullah further said that if the West doesn't resume aid to the Palestinian Authority now, Saudi Arabia will pick up the tab itself, effectively undercutting Western influence. Hamas seems to have gained the upper hand in the agreement. There are early concerns that Fatah, which is seen by the West as being more moderate and therefore preferable, may be seeking accommodation with hard-line Hamas, which is aligned with Iran. If so, it will give Iran a position in Israel's south similar to the one they enjoy in the North with Hizbollah. Iran has placed 4000 rockets in the South with Hamas and 3-4 times that many in the North with Hizbollah, all pointed at Israeli population centers. It appears that the real driving force behind forming a Palestinian unity government may be to make final preparations for war with Israel. Lebanese Firing On Israel's Border. Russian Spotters? After Hizbollah planted some major explosives along the Lebanese border with Israel, the IDF went into the buffer zone between the two countries to remove them. The Lebanese Army began firing. Israel returned fire, and the UN forces stepped in. Russian intelligence has all but taken over the town of Sidon in Southern Lebanon and advises Hizbollah, Lebanon, Syria and Iran on IDF troop movements in the north. Many qualified observers expect the Israel-Lebanon war to flare up again as early as this spring. Both Syria and Russia appear ready to take part. Iran will likely rely on Hizbollah for now. Islam Demands That Israel Stop Repairing Gate To Temple Mount Threatening an intifada worse than the one begun in 2000, Islamic national and religious leaders have demanded that Israel be forced to stop repairing the temporary footbridge leading to the Western Wall Plaza. This footbridge is Israel's only self controlled access to the Temple area and Moslems have been waiting for years for it to collapse so they can shut the Jews completely out. While there's no work being done within 50 yards of the Temple Mount, Moslem officials have accused the Jews of destroying two rooms of the Al Aksa Mosque to make way for a new Jewish Temple. The rhetoric coming from the Islamic world is strikingly similar to that which preceded the last intifada, as are the behind the scenes preparations. Perspective Get ready; be prepared, you and all the hordes gathered about you, and take command of them. (Ezekiel 38:7) This verse is a direct command to Russia and the Moslem Coalition from the Lord Himself. For students of Ezekiel 38-39 the purpose behind Russia and Iran's involvement in these recent events is clear. They're working feverishly to prepare themselves and those allied with them for a future attack on Israel. Russia has sold air defense systems and anti-tank weaponry to Syria as well as Iran and runs a state-of-the-art intelligence gathering service from Lebanon. And we already know about Russia's plans to build a deep-water port in northern Syria and re-locate a portion of its Naval fleet to the Mediterranean. Iran has re-armed Hizbollah and is consolidating its power in Gaza. It plans a nuclear test before year end. Iranian involvement in Iraq is becoming the world's worst kept secret. Joint US-Iraqi action beginning this week in Baghdad is intended to disrupt Iran's flow of men and weaponry to terrorist groups there. The addition of another US Carrier Attack Group to the Persian Gulf is for the purpose of patrolling the Iran-Iraq border from the air and disrupting cross border traffic. President Bush has authorized US troops to kill or capture any Iranian combatants they encounter. Clearly Russia and Iran are obeying a call from the Lord they don't acknowledge, as He sets them up against His people. His purpose is to defeat them so completely that Israel and all the world will recognize that it was He Who did this. "I will display my glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the punishment I inflict and the hand I lay upon them. From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God." (Ezekiel 39:21-22) This will be Israel's wake up call, the unmistakable sign that the long night of their diaspora (scattering) is over. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God, for though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind. (Ezek 39:28) This supernatural victory will result in a national demand for a Jewish Temple. Without one they can't properly worship the God Who didn't abandoned them after all, but will have come to their rescue in the time of their most desperate need. As Jews from all over the world stream into Israel, the thing they'll want first is a way to acknowledge their God according to the Jewish religion. And as the treaty that permits the Temple's construction is put into force, Daniel's 70th Week will have begun. Two Stops Earlier A man on a bus asked the one seated next to him which stop he should get off at to reach his destination. After determining where the man lived, the seatmate replied, "It's two stops before mine. So when you see me get off, you should have gotten off two stops earlier." That sums up our interest in the End Times Scenario. When Daniels' 70th Week begins it means that Israel will have officially returned to their covenant relationship with God. Otherwise they would neither need nor want a Temple. When they return to their covenant relationship, it means that the Battle of Ezekiel 38 will have been won. Otherwise they wouldn't be in covenant with Him again. And that means that the Age of the Church will have ended and the Church will be gone. Otherwise God wouldn't have turned His attention back to Israel. Acts 15:13-16 tells us that after the Lord has taken a people for Himself from among the Gentiles, He'll return to rebuild David's fallen Tabernacle (the Temple). And Paul wrote that Israel's heart will be hardened against God until the full number of Gentiles has come in. (Romans 11:25) You see, we'll be getting off two stops earlier. You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah.

And our other options are? The problem is, where does it end? If you give in to the temper tantrums of a spoiled child once, he will do it again, because he has learned that it worked. And, if you do it more than once, the "other children" learn they can play the same game, and pretty soon who is ruling whom? It is just like giving in to terrorists. And, we certainly can't expect them to keep their word. That is why we don't negotiate with them. They'll just bleed us more and more until they have conquered us. Seems to me that our only option is for America to get on its knees before God and to call on the Almighty to intervene. That, I believe, is our ONLY viable option.

This is not Elementary School. Would you rather give them a bunch of money, or have them continue to build more Atomic Weapons? Do you really trust them? What if this is all a hoax in order to get our money to help them to continue with their nuclear ambitions, or better yet, what if they take the money and help Iran with their nuclear ambitions since they seem to be helping them anyway, along with Russia and China?

Ok, I'm not the most brilliant political analyst here (by far), so correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this blackmail? I mean, N. Korea misbehaves and they say they'll stop misbehaving if we agree to give them a bunch of money. Isn't that kind of like negotiating with terrorists? At the very least, it sounds like giving in to a spoiled brat. If the "child" learns that this works, then what is to keep the "child" from doing it again, only making higher demands? And, if this "child" gets away with it, will it not encourage the "other children" to follow suit? Am I missing something here?

N. Korea Agrees to Nuclear Disarmament Tuesday February 13, 2007 6:31 PM AP Photo TOK207 By AUDRA ANG Associated Press Writer BEIJING (AP) - North Korea agreed Tuesday to shut down its main nuclear reactor and eventually dismantle its atomic weapons program in exchange for millions of dollars in aid, just four months after the communist state shocked the world by testing a nuclear bomb. The deal, reached after arduous talks, marks the first concrete plan for disarmament in more than three years of six-nation negotiations. The plan also could potentially herald a new era of cooperation in the region with the North's longtime foes - the United States and Japan - also agreeing to discuss normalizing relations. ``These talks represent the best opportunity to use diplomacy to address North Korea's nuclear programs,'' President Bush said in a statement read by his spokesman. ``They reflect the common commitment of the participants to a Korean Peninsula that is free of nuclear weapons.'' Making sure North Korea declares all its nuclear facilities and shuts them down is likely to prove difficult, nuclear experts have said.... http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/stor...6413286,00.html

My real name is Sue Love (Susan Jane Love), age 57, mother of four, grandmother of 4 and 2 (or 3) more on the way. I live in Rock Hill, SC. If you (people I know on here, that is) are ever my way, give me a holler. Beyond that, I don't give out personal information because people out there tend to abuse it. If you want to contact me personally, you can PM me.

We as a church started out with this "formula": Start with a Book of the Bible...We recommend 1 John. Then read, but only until you can satisfy these areas, then STOP reading: Message: What is God's Message to me in this passage? (General) Promise: What is God's Promise to me in this passage? Command: What is God's Command to me? Principle: What is the main Principle? Application: What is my Application? Be specific. I used spiral notebooks for these journals. One thing to remember is to not be wordy, confining to 2 or 3 sentences. It is a good exercise in seeking out God's Word to you pesonally. It adds depth to your prayer life as well, ans the Application becomes part of your prayer for yourself. Many of us have doen this for a few years. We have since moved on to another way of Journalling, but this is still done by many still. Try it! It has served us very well! After 1 John, we continue on to 2 & 3 John, then move on to the rest of the epistles, as they are easier to pick out Promises and Commands. By the time you finish with them, you will be an old hand at it! Doing this daily is a great way to bring discipline into your life...all good men of God were disciplined people. Thank you Floating for this reply. I am going to start doing it like this as of tomorrow! This is actually a very good method. I began with something very similar to this 30 years ago and it really opened up the Bible for me and God's words became alive. When they were alive and he was speaking, it was so exciting that I wanted to write all about everything he said. I hope that you will have that same or a similar experience. I guess I stand as a living testimony that this works and you can still be journaling 30 years later.

I look at my journal as a record of my conversations with God. I write out what I'm praying about and then I write whatever he says to me. I write every day because I can and because I want to. Journaling is a wonderful way of having a quiet time with the Lord, because you can always look back on it to see what you were learning, where you were in your spiritual journey, etc. at any particular point in your life and it is a tremendous source of encouragement and hope. I have journaled on and off over the past 30+ years, but it has only been in the past 5 years that I have journaled nearly every day, and I'm so glad that I do. I don't know that there is any particular formula for maintaining consistency in this. I do it because of the reasons I stated above and because it is like God and I are sitting down together and having a personal conversation and I want to record what he says, because his words are so precious to me.

I never was much into reading fiction. I'm a slow reader and it took me too long to read a book. It was easier for me to get my fiction in a movie where it was over in two hours. But, I did love movies and we owned tons of them, but our interest in them has been declining to practically nilch. We've been reading the Bible, Christian authors, listening to Christian music, playing sermons, etc. We also have become news watchers and watchers of history shows or documentaries. Current affairs is much more appealing than fiction now. And, we do lots of stuff with our kids and grandkids, too. The only free night we have this week was Wednesday night. And, we both had bad sinus headaches, so that was a bummer. Tomorrow night we lead a bible study and Friday night our daughter and son-in-law are coming over. I don't know why, but they like to come and hang out with us old people. We must be a cheap form of entertainment.

The question is, who sets the standard for what is normal? If we had to pick a model "Normal" person, who would it be?