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Yesterday afternoon the sun streamed shafts of light through the blinds, warming my cheek and highlighting the page I was reading in the Bible about the birth of Christ. Suddenly I grew hungry to know more about this magical story. I’ve heard it since I was old enough to speak, and I have known that it is actually not a story. It is truth. It really happened! A long time ago my parents taught me the distinction between the fictional account of the North Pole, Santa Claus, Elves, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and the non-fiction account in the Bible of Jesus’ miraculous circumstances of birth. From the first chapter of Luke, we learn that:
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you![d]”
Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.
Confused and disturbed indeed! The angel Gabriel had appeared to Daniel long before this time and then recently appeared to Zechariah. Both Daniel and Zechariah were filled with fear at his presence, even though Daniel said that the angel looked like a man. There must have been something about him that struck awe in them, though. The presence of this angel not only just appearing but telling her that she was blessed and that the Lord was with her had her very agitated! The Greek word is diatarrasso, and it means agitated greatly. Yea, I think I would have been greatly agitated too!
“Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel[e] forever; his Kingdom will never end!”
Mary had found charis with God. It means grace, or the spiritual condition of someone who is governed by divine grace. There are no mysteries to the meanings of the original Greek words here. The angel clearly states that Mary will conceive (the word means conceive), and give birth to a son (meaning the same), and that he shall be called Jesus.
Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”
Luke used the word ginosko for virgin. It is a Jewish idiom for intercourse between a man and a woman. Get ready for the miraculous!
The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she’s now in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.[f]”
The Holy Spirit will eperchomai — cover over, descend upon and operate in — Mary. And the supernatural power — dynamis — (power for performing miracles) of the Most High God will literally throw a shadow over — episkiazo — Mary. We have all three persons of the Godhead in these verses: God the Father (Most High God), God the Son (baby to born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God), and God the Holy Spirit (The Holy Spirit will come upon you). It is wonderful that something so significant and miraculous as Jesus’ birth is attended to by all three persons of the Trinity. The angel goes on to tell Mary about Elizabeth’s pregnancy in her old age. Why would he do that? Perhaps to encourage the young Mary who is likely dumbfounded and confused by what she’s just heard. Can you imagine? And then we are reminded: nothing is impossible with God.
Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.
Mary showed a great deal of courage and faith to respond in that way. Earlier in the chapter we learn that Zechariah questioned Gabriel’s message from God about the coming pregnancy of his barren wife — and then he lost the ability to speak because of his doubt. But Mary did not doubt. She had the attitude of a servant — the Lord’s servant. She offered up her own life for her God.
This nonfiction account has me sitting here in awe at those who have gone before me. Do I have the attitude of the Lord’s servant? Have I offered up my day to him? It’s ironic that the very holiday we have set aside for Him — Christmas — is often the time we push him to the back burner. Insert a whiny tone of voice and see inside my mind:
- Why am I baking these cookies? Oh no, I just burned an entire batch (insert bad word here).
- The dogs just unwrapped — and ate — an entire package (it was chocolate). What a cotton-pickin mess!
- I can’t stand this traffic! Can’t you people merge?
- What do you mean you don’t have any of this kind of toy left? I stood in line for how long?
- You mean to tell me it will cost me over $100 to get this package there by tomorrow?
Christ is God with us all year, all the time. Not just at Christmas time. And if the thoughts that have run through my head are any indication, now is the time of year I really need Him! I need the Christmas miracle to wash over me just as the shafts of sunshine warmed my face yesterday afternoon. Today while my sweet daughter and hunky hubby are busy concocting and creating a homemade present for me, I will sit back, drink some tea, and spend some precious time with Jesus, reflecting on the miraculous.
This post is a rebuttal to a 3-part post against Huckabee by SpunkyHomeschooler, another homeschooler. Before reading my discourse, you might want to read hers. It can be found here. A friend sent me the link to her site.
I have only been homeschooling for one-and-a-half years. Before I had my daughter, I taught in a Texas public school for three years. I loved my students with every ounce of my being; teaching was an emotional roller coaster. They came from homes and backgrounds that I could not possibly relate to — 97 percent of the students in our school qualified for free and reduced meals. Getting a parent to a conference required immense effort and was, at times, so frightening that we teachers “sat in” on each other’s conferences when we had a belligerent parent threatening us. Other times we had to rely on the bilingual teachers to communicate with our English-speaking students’ parents; the students spoke English, but their parents did not. Another challenge we faced was a very fluid student body. We had many migrant worker families who drifted in and out of the community with the seasons. Their children hopped from school district to school district. Getting past records was difficult, and each school district in Texas (this was ten years ago) taught each subject at their own individual schedules. So while our district had already covered multiplication, some of my new students had not yet been introduced to it. This was a huge stumbling block for them and a time drain for me as I tried to fill in their gaps so they could do the same work as the rest of the class. Throw gang problems in the mix and you suddenly had very bright eight-year-olds drawing graffiti symbols on their assignments, refusing to do their work, threatening other students, and displaying defiant behavior to teachers. During this time of my life, these kids were my ministry. I loved them. I was their teacher, their nurse (yes, I learned how to check for head lice and pulled some loose teeth!), their social worker, their counselor, their mom, and their friend. When they asked, I told them that I was a Christian and talked to them about the meaning behind Christmas. We had a “Christmas around the world” celebration each year at our school — this was back in the days when it was still politically correct to SAY the word Christmas in a public school.
In the years after I had my daughter and left the public school, a huge shift started up in the schools. Teachers were not allowed to talk about their own beliefs. Schools could no longer put on a Christmas musical; or, if they did, the kids could only sing songs about Santa…no songs mentioning Jesus were allowed. Prayer at football games and other events was outlawed. Kids were stopped when they tried to distribute information about Bible clubs. The list goes on and on, and if you are reading this blog you’ve probably heard of many of these recent restrictions on religious freedom in America. This is why, when my daughter was ready for Kindergarten, we enrolled her in a Christian school and I taught there as well. I did not want to dissect Jesus out of her education because I believe our Creator is the beginning of our education.
Today I homeschool for several reasons — one of the main reasons is I get to teach my own daughter! I decided that my time with her is precious; I became convinced, after lots of research and a healthy dose of common sense, that one-on-one education is by far superior to one-on-twenty. Her test results indicate that indeed it is — her SAT scores jumped by a very large margin after just one year of homeschooling. I have the flexibility to slow down instruction when she needs more time to really absorb a concept, and we can speed through things that she already knows.
So, I have a perspective on education that is perhaps broader than the moms who have exclusively homeschooled. I have noticed a pervasive “us vs. them” mentality between those who homeschool and those who send their kids to schools, public or private. I say that every child, regardless of whether or not he/she is homeschooled, is important to Christ and deserves the best education possible. Public education is broken, as evidenced by the number of kids in Texas (50%) who have to take remedial courses before beginning college classes. A look at the kinds of questions given to young children in schools just 100 years ago shows that our schools today have watered down curriculum. As David Barton with WallBuilders states:
Americans cherish education. Jesus said: “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21). We spend over $470 billion each year on education; therefore, judging by the amount of “treasure” we invest in education, it must be dear to our hearts. Sadly, however, current statistics demonstrate that Americans are not getting a good return on their investment.
American students now regularly finish at the bottom in international competitions in math and science. Recent international testing found that American elementary students performed above average, junior high students at average, and high school students below average. This sequence of results prompted one observer to remark: “The longer US students stay in school, the less they seem to know.”
I have been blessed with the freedom to be a stay-at-home mom and can therefore homeschool to ensure that my child is not one of those who knows LESS at the end of school than she does now. There are many parents who would like to homeschool but are unable to because of financial hardships or other difficulties. For them, the only education their kids will get is whatever the public schools provide. Just because I homeschool doesn’t mean I don’t care about the kids who are in public schools.
SpunkyHomeschooler does not like Huckabee’s record on education in Arkansas for several valid reasons, from a homeschooler’s perspective. Many homeschoolers and homeschool organizations such as HSLDA work hard to ensure that homeschool freedoms are not restricted in any way. A look at what’s happening in Europe shows what can happen when our parental rights are taken away. (There was a case in Germany where a child was taken away from her home because her parents continued to homeschool her despite being told it was against the law — she was placed under psychiatric care for “school phobia.”)
Mike Huckabee did indeed sign a bill into law that imposed additional restrictions on homeschooling families. It is key to note, however, that this bill was written by a homeschooling father. I think it is worth it to take a good look at what this law actually requires:
House Bill 1724
- Requires parents to notify the school superintendent of an intent to homeschool by August 15 (for those beginning in the fall) or by December 15 (for those beginning in the spring.);
- Requires parents to have a 14-day waiting period before withdrawing students in the middle of the semester (unless waived by the superintendent)
- Requires parents to re-file their intent to homeschool annually for each year they homeschool
- If a child is currently under a disciplinary action, the family must wait until the consequence has been filled (unless waived by the superintendent)
SpunkyHomeschooler writes that:
Our children do not belong to the state and no parent should have to wait 14 days before pulling their child out of a government school.
The back story to HB 1724 is interesting. The homeschooling author of the bill wrote it because others in the legislature were cooking up MUCH more restrictive homeschooling bills that would have required all sorts of hoops for parents to jump through: proof of a parent possessing a high school diploma or GED, proof of a minimum 180-day instruction year, portfolio of student work, instruction required in certain subjects, and a prohibition of a parent withdrawing a student during the middle of a semester unless the student was failing, had serious medical concerns, or had documented safety concerns. In the face of these possible restricts, the homeschooling dad cooked up HB 1724, which is much less restrictive than those described above.
If I were a parent in Arkansas and decided to pull my child out of public school in the middle of a semester, I would first set up a meeting with the superintendent and humbly request that the 14-day period be waived, depending on the circumstances. Or I would just deal with the truancy charges and “render to Caesar what is Caesar’s.” My point is this, from Titus 3:
Remind the believers to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good. They must not slander anyone and must avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone.
As a former classroom teacher who saw a huge spectrum of parent-child relationships, I can see both sides of the 14-day issue. I had students who were physically abused — I shudder to think of what might have happened to them if their parents got angry and pulled them out to homeschool them. I also had students who were fidgety and bright, and the classroom model just did not fit their natural learning styles. Their parents obviously loved them and wanted to help their kids succeed; I would have supported having them pulled out and be homeschooled in a heartbeat. I do not believe the authors of this law and Huckabee intended to prevent homeschooling from occurring by passing it.
A benefit to the “intent” part of the law is that it does allow some form of record-keeping. As a homeschool advocate, I want to shout from the mountaintops that home education is superior to classroom instruction. Our children consistently perform better not just on standardized tests, but also when they get out in the “real world.” They have experience with a wide variety of age groups, not just the ones at their same age. The one-room schoolhouses of yesteryear were very much like today’s multi-child homeschools. There is a lot less bickering and peer pressure when multiple ages are combined, in my experience, anyway. Classroom settings are artificial; there will never be another time in a person’s life when they are subjected to people of exactly the same age, five days a week, eight hours a day, nine months of the year. The workplace has workers of multiple ages, and that presents an adjustment to young adults who have been — shall I say — sheltered from the REAL world? (give that argument to the next person who tells you that homeschooling deprives a child of socialization!) Because many states do not require parents to notify them when they are homeschooling, no one really knows how many awesome homeschooled kids are out there. I believe that keeping track of how many of us there are does a lot to strengthen our movement and does not weaken our parental authority. I’m not doing anything wrong, so why should it bother me that you know I am giving my child a fantastic education?
Another point made is that Huckabee was naive when he said:
“Education has to stop being a [horizontal] issue – left and right, liberal and conservative. Education must be a vertical issue – it will either move our country up or take us down.”
I disagree that he is naive. I think he is a visionary. The “vertical” issue he is talking about is also the issue we Christians deal with in our relationship with our heavenly Father. The more involved we are in studying his word, the more we come to know him “vertically,” the better we are at dealing with all aspects of life in ways that are pleasing to him. Huckabee is trying to show people that all forms of education are important in our country. If we are to recover from this economic downturn, if we are to once again become a beacon to the peoples, then we have got to get our children educated. We homeschoolers are not thinking clearly if the only way we get involved in public education is to turn our backs on it, wash our hands of it. The children in public schools will grow up into adults who will impact the culture just as our homeschooled children will. Who will be the next innovators? Who will find a way for us to get away from our dependence on foreign oil? Who will be the ones who handle the crucial decisions that come up with bioengineering, DNA mapping, cloning, etc.? The children in our country have a lot of filth to face as they become adults. The best way for them to cut through that filth is through an excellent education. Although I homeschool my own child and am holding tight to my rights to do so, I also believe that we have to face the fact that not everyone can homeschool. The kids of those parents matter just as much as our own.
Criticism of P-16
The next criticism of Huckabee is that he was an advocate of the so-called P-16 initiative. I had to read up on this one myself, so don’t feel bad if you don’t know what it is. In a nutshell, it is the belief that education of a student should be seamless and integrated from preschool all the way through four years of college and a bachelor’s degree. It’s an effort to streamline curriculum. And that makes warning bells and whistles blow in the minds of homeschoolers who are afraid such streamlining would lead to the state (or federal) government telling them what they can or can not teach their children. As far as I can tell, P-16 is dealing with public education. It is an attempt to fix something that is very clearly broken. As a teacher of migrant worker students, I would have welcomed such an initiative because it would have meant that my new students would have already covered the same material as my current class. It also addresses what many teachers know — some kids are NOT meant to go on to college — and I don’t mean that as a negative in any way. There were guys at my high school who could fix any engine or build one from scratch, but they couldn’t pass Algebra II or Chemistry. I would rather see high schools develop some sort of apprenticeship programs for those kids who do not want to enter college, whose love and passion is found in a trade. That sort of thing used to be federally funded, but not anymore. Huckabee agrees. From his website, he writes:
As I traveled the country and the world over the last decade bringing jobs to Arkansas, the business leaders I met weren’t worried about creating jobs, they were worried about finding skilled and professional workers to fill those jobs.
Some homeschoolers are afraid that if national curriculum standards (P-16) are adopted, then homeschooled kids will suffer and will not test as well as public school kids precisely because they haven’t been “taught” the test. I want to first of all say that I believe a national curriculum standard is NOT constitutional, and I do not believe Mike Huckabee would sign such a bill. Education is up to the states. Mike Huckabee knows this and has said he will not use the presidency to create national curriculum standards. About state and federal leadership in education, he said:
As President, my education agenda will include working towards a clear distinction between the federal role in assisting and empowering states and in usurping the right of states to carry out the education programs for their students. While there is value in the “No Child Left Behind” law’s effort to set high national standards, states must be allowed to develop their own benchmarks.
Yes, as Governor, he signed education reforms into law, some of which required more restrictions on homeschooling. But not ONE of them required the homeschoolers in Arkansas to change their curriculum in any way. He did not dictate what or how certain things should be taught, or even how many days of school a homeschool must be in session. He used his “bully pulpit” to press on for more music and art in schools and to streamline the curriculum within his state, and look what happened. The test scores and overall quality of education for Arkansas students soared. He has said “leave the homeschoolers alone…they are doing a GREAT job!”
I really appreciate other perspectives on Huckabee’s record on education, but so far I have not been convinced of anything in his record that makes me think twice about supporting him….except perhaps that the NEA supports him. The NEA vehemently opposes all parent-led education…of course they do. If all parents taught their own children, the teachers at NEA would be out of a job. (The NEA has a far left secular agenda, and it is the duty of parents to make sure that this agenda does not filter down into classrooms. If your kids go to public school, be sure and get to know the teacher.) Huckabee opposed the teacher’s union when he was Governor of Arkansas, so I imagine that’s one reason why he was surprised to get NEA’s endorsement! Perhaps they see his success in Arkansas and hope to see the same kind of leadership with him as President. After all, many of the teachers who make up the NEA are not one-eyed Cyclops intent on stamping Christianity out of this country. They work hard and often see the worst of the worst; they want to help kids.
Isn’t that what we all want? Can’t we homeschoolers find some common ground? Do we share Jesus by insulating ourselves away from public school happenings, or do we share him best when we are as vocal for the rights of all children, not just homeschooled ones?
Yesterday I began musing about the difference between condemnation and conviction. I’d just read a wonderful news article about a woman who single-handedly began a Christmas party for the homeless. I was so glad that she had been so successful, but I also felt a twinge of guilt. After all, I haven’t organized a party for the homeless. I don’t frequent downtown shelters. I don’t personally know anyone who is homeless; in fact, we don’t even have people standing on street corners holding “Help, Please” signs in our corner of small town Texas. These thoughts flew through my head as I drove to church. I’m not good enough. I don’t do enough. I’m feeling guilty because I have a warm coat, a full belly, and a family that loves me.
Why is that?
Condemnation is the act of finding someone guilty, wrong, or evil, usually after weighing the evidence (thank you, m-w.com!) In comparing myself to the Christians working in the shelters, to the Mother Theresas of this world, I am, in fact, condemning myself. I hold myself guilty. Sinner that I am, I do not deserve the blessings the Lord has showered down on me. So I feel guilty. I berate myself internally, telling myself that I should have stepped up to help my church with the gift-hand-outs or the women’s outreach. I should have rescheduled a doctor’s appointment so I could go with the church and deliver toys to a women and children’s shelter. I should offer my time and teach English to those who don’t know any. I should, I should, I should.
It’s been a common refrain in my mind for as long as I can remember. No matter how much I do, I feel like it isn’t enough for God. And if I spend my time on doing things that are for me, I feel guilty about it. No wonder I’ve had a month-long headache! The Christmas season fills my head with so many “I shoulds” that I end up feeling stressed and angry.
But…….
It’s amazing how God uses something so simple as a blog to shake some sense into me. My last post ended with some thoughts about there being no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, and that’s what popped in my mind as I drove to church on Sunday. If the Lord himself sat in the passenger seat I could not have heard his message any clearer. It was as if I heard him speaking in my head, saying, “Stop It!” God brought to my mind how Paul experienced much of what I am going through — “what I want to do, I don’t do, and what I don’t want to do, I do…” and this is what he concluded in his letter to the Romans, chapters 7 and 8:
21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power[e] within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.
1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the power[a] of the life-giving Spirit has freed you[b] from the power of sin that leads to death. 12 Therefore, dear brothers and sisters,[e] you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do.
28 And we know that God causes everything to work together[m] for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.
31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
Who am I to condemn myself? Through Christ, God himself has given us right standing with himself!
Now conviction, on the other hand, is not the same thing as condemnation. I have been blurring the lines. A conviction can be handed down, such as a thief being “convicted” and “found guilty.” A conviction is actually the state of being convinced of something, whether of guilt, such as the case of the thief, or of a belief, such as a belief in Christ. Take a look at this verse from 1 Thessalonians 4:
4For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction.
I used to think that word conviction had the “guilty” connotation to it. I used to think that these brothers were convicted in their hearts of their guilt, so they changed their behavior. I have listened to sermons and felt at times as if the Holy Spirit was convicting me of a sin I needed to confess. But I need to remember the other meaning of conviction: being convinced. In fact, the Greek word used in the verse above is plerophoria, and it means full assurance, most certain confidence. When we have full assurance and full confidence, we act in a certain way.
When I let the Guilt Monster occupy my thoughts, I am not being convinced of my “right standing” with God. I am relying on my works, not on his unfailing, beautiful, incomprehensible grace, mercy and love. I am comparing myself to other Christians. Have you ever tried to “out-Christian” another Christian? Why do I think I “should” do a certain kind of work just because someone else does it? We are all parts of the same body.
12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 13 Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles,[e] some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.[f]
14 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15 If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?
18 But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. 19 How strange a body would be if it had only one part! 20 Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 21 The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”
Those words from 1 Corinthians 12 are like rain to my parched spirit! Especially…”God has put each part just where he wants it.” In this season of my life, he has appointed me to be my daughter’s teacher. What an awesome and scary part to fulfill! He has me reaching out to the community through this blog. He has me volunteering as editor of a homeschool group’s monthly newsletter. He has me volunteering in a Sunday school classroom with a terrific group of second graders. He has given me my excellent husband to support, encourage, and lift up.
Rather than beat myself up with the “I shoulds,” this Christmas season I will trust and rejoice…trust in Emmanuel to convict (convince) me about which tasks he wishes to use me for…and rejoice in the birth of my Savior who has called me and given me “right standing” with him.
Some time ago I heard about CNN’s conservative guy Glenn Beck. I watched him a couple of times and laughed. I figured he was sort of like Bill O’Reilly’s counterpart. I even bought his book, An Inconvenient Book, because I loved the name. And while reading the book, I discovered that he is a Mormon.
Way back in high school, I dated a guy who was a Mormon. I’ll never forget the night he took me to a high school dance. Rather than going out to dinner, his family turned their home into a fine dining establishment. (We lived in a very small town where the only ‘fine dining’ to be had was El Chico’s!) His father dressed up in a tuxedo and served us filet mignon. It was a very sweet dinner, and he was a nice guy. Although we drifted apart, I have always been struck by how nice the family was and how courteously they treated me, a self-described Christian who attended a local Protestant church.
Now what was all that about Glenn Beck? I write about him today because he is a Mormon who steadfastly believes that Mormons are Christians, and because he called Mike Huckabee the “one-eyed Mullah Huckabee.” Beck was incensed because of a comment Huckabee had made about Mormon beliefs (in an effort to show how little he knows about them), saying,
“don’t they believe Jesus and Satan are brothers?”
Hmmm. Well, that bothered me a lot. In my last post I exhorted all of you to do what the Scriptures say, and test everything.
So I did. And I was astounded at the information I uncovered — from the LDS’s own website’s question and answer section — about the Mormon beliefs about the relationship between Lucifer and Jesus. Here is what I found:
Jess L. Christensen, Institute of Religion director at Utah State University, Logan, Utah. On first hearing, the doctrine that Lucifer and our Lord, Jesus Christ, are brothers may seem surprising to some—especially to those unacquainted with latter-day revelations. But both the scriptures and the prophets affirm that Jesus Christ and Lucifer are indeed offspring of our Heavenly Father and, therefore, spirit brothers. Jesus Christ was with the Father from the beginning. Lucifer, too, was an angel “who was in authority in the presence of God,” a “son of the morning.” (See Isa. 14:12; D&C 76:25–27.) Both Jesus and Lucifer were strong leaders with great knowledge and influence. But as the Firstborn of the Father, Jesus was Lucifer’s older brother. (See Col. 1:15; D&C 93:21.)
The above quote references Colossians 1:15. As you can see below in context, Jesus was NOT firstborn OF the father. No, he was the prototokos pas ktisis — firstborn every, each, all act-of-creating, founding, establishing. Notice there is no preposition in the Greek. The NIV says “firstborn over all creation.” The KJV says “firstborn of every creature.” The English translators substitute the words “of” or “over” — but there was no such word in the Greek.
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.
Looking at verse 16 helps us see what verse 15 is talking about. By Christ and through Christ, all things were created. It says it again: all things were created by him and for him. He was not, as the LDS quote from above states, an “offspring” as we see our own offspring. No, the Greek words show that Christ was the first Creator. Which leads us to the Trinity — God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is another one of those mysteries I wrote about earlier.
Back to the issue at hand: do Mormons believe Jesus and Lucifer are spirit brothers? Yes they do! Does Glenn Beck not know the tenets of his faith? I read that Huckabee later apologized to Mitt Romney (and later to Glenn Beck) for his comments. My question is this: Why? Hear this, Huckabee, you were right! Speaking the truth does not mean you are standing in judgment. Unfortunately, our politically correct society has whittled “truth” down to falsehood in an attempt to make secular humanism the main religion. “You can have your truth, and I’ll have my truth,” they claim. I stand on the Bible as my Truth-o-Meter.
For the record, here is what the Bible teaches us about Lucifer from Isaiah 14:
12 How you have fallen from heaven,
O morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!13 You said in your heart,
“I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. [a]14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.”15 But you are brought down to the grave,
to the depths of the pit.
Nowhere does it say that Lucifer was God’s son. “Son of the dawn,” in the original Hebrew, is ben shachar. It literally means the son of the dawn. The name Lucifer means “morning star.”
There are other tenets of the Mormon faith that, when “tested” by Scripture (both the Old and New Testaments), show that they have been led astray. This does not mean that I think Mormons are bad people. As I said before, I have known wonderful people who belong to the LDS church. They follow many of Jesus’ commandments. But I believe, and apparently Mike Huckabee agrees with me, they have been deceived.
It all goes back to this:
Test everything. Hold on to the good.
1 Thessalonians 5:21
And the good news is this: that Christ died for our sins. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus! (Romans 8:1).
No condemnation. I’ll have to write about that another time…
Yesterday my daughter and I got caught in one of those weird, Texas-style, torrential thunderstorms. The skies opened just as we left the grocery store. By the time I got her in the car and the groceries in the trunk, I was soaked to the bone. I even had water dripping down my nose and into my ears. The only thing I could do was laugh. It’s a good thing we were going straight home from there!
Now that I’m warm and dry, I’ve started thinking about what it means to be drenched. What, exactly, am I drenched in? Yesterday I was drenched in rainwater. It completely immersed me in wetness and damp. I shivered and my hands turned white (thanks, Raynaud’s) on the drive home. My thoughts revolved around “Get home. Get dry. Get warm.”
Reading the headlines today, I see that oftentimes people in our society are drenched in other things:
…drenched in drugs (IOC strips Marion Jones of 5 Olympic medals for doping)
…drenched in violence (Triple car bombing rocks Southern Iraq, Six teenagers shot at Nevada school bus stop, Hunt for Algeria blast survivors)
…drenched in sex (Six NJ state troopers accused of sexual assault, Boys, 11 and 14, charged with sexual assault on a woman)
…drenched in money worries (Fed plan sends Wall Street soaring, Sallie Mae slashes profit forecast, Treasury prices tumble)
…drenched in political verbal attacks and counter-attacks
What am I drenched in today? I know what I WANT to be drenched in: God’s Word. I want to know my Savior so well that his words become my words. That my every reaction to life’s storms and battles and sweet sunsets and sunrises is based on Christ. That I won’t fly off the handle when everything that can go wrong, goes wrong. That I won’t lose faith when I am up against serious struggles. That I will be wise when asked advice, that I will use my two ears more than my one mouth. I want to be so immersed, so flooded with the joy of the Lord that I shine everywhere I go.
My grandmother is like that. She has a simple faith and has simple needs, and the Lord provides for them all. She is practical with a dose of sweet-natured Southern charm. No one leaves her house without sampling a piece of peach pie. All troubles are given over to God immediately, with a simple belief that He is sovereign. His will, will be done. She is drenched in Living Water.
John 4
10Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”11“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?”
13Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
15The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
As a Christian, I have this spring of water welling up inside me. It doesn’t drown me, but it refreshes me…when I let it. So today I turn my eyes away from the ugly world and fix them on He who provides constant refreshment: Christ.
For those of you who are Huckabee supporters or at least interested observers, don’t let yourselves be drenched in the headlines. Now that he is ahead in the polls, the media and his rivals are doing all they can to cast him in a bad light. The latest jab at him is his comment — taken out of context, meant to illustrate how little he knows about Mormonism — that “don’t Mormons believe Jesus and Satan are brothers?” In response, his campaign released this statement:
“In fact, the full context of the exchange makes it clear that Governor Huckabee was illustrating his unwillingness to answer questions about Mormonism and to avoid addressing theological questions during this campaign,”
It is dangerous to allow our minds to be drenched with what the media says is truth. When we rely on soundbites to tell us about debates, or comments, or interviews instead of watching them or reading the transcripts ourselves, we are, in effect, allowing someone else to do our thinking for us. As we are told in 1 Thessalonians 5:21:
21Test everything. Hold on to the good.
What are you “drenched in” today?
Life. It’s teeming with the mysterious. Scientists spend decades, even centuries, trying to figure out the inner workings of our physical bodies and our mental capacities. We’ve created machines that take us soaring higher than eagles. Computer technology allows us to know about events halfway across the world within minutes of them happening. We can communicate with each other across thousands of miles while sitting in our cars or hiking in parks. With all of these technological advances, the message of the cross to those who don’t believe seems…out of touch. Who ever heard of someone coming back to life after being dead for three days? Who would ever believe that a virgin could give birth to a child?
Yet that’s exactly what happened! Our God often choses the underdog to perform supernatural events, from creation all the way to the present time:
- He chose a Moses, a murderer, to persuade Pharoah to free the Israelites. Moses was not even a great communicator; he talked God into letting his brother Aaron help him with the speaking part of his leadership duties…but God used him for mighty things…and He caused miraculous things to happen around his chosen leader. Manna and quail from heaven. Water out of a rock. Parting the Red Sea. Turning a staff into a snake. Instantly striking dead those who turned to false gods.
- He chose a shepherd boy to slay a nine foot giant. This boy later went on to become one of the greatest and most powerful kings of Israel. David was just a boy. He couldn’t even wear a real suit of armor because he was so small. Yet God still used him. In fact, God’s plan for mankind included David’s ancestors…Mary, Joseph…and Jesus.
- He chose a simple virgin to birth the Savior of the world. A virgin? How can this be? Yes, it’s another one of God’s miraculous, supernatural events. It can be because God planned it to be.
I have been reading some Old Testament prophesies about Jesus. This one from Isaiah 7 is perplexing to some:
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Immanuel means “God with us” or “with us is God.” How could a child be God? It is a mystery…yet what the Potter wills, is done.
Isaiah wasn’t the only prophet who spoke of the coming Immanuel. Daniel not only spoke of him, but he told us when the Messiah would come! In Daniel 9, Daniel had been urgently praying and asking God to forgive Israel’s sins when the angel Gabriel appeared to him in a vision and said:
22 He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. 23 As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision:
24 “Seventy ’sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. 25 “Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ’sevens,’ and sixty-two ’sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. 26 After the sixty-two ’sevens,’ the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing.
Many Biblical scholars and people who study Biblical prophesies point to a mathematical mystery in those verses. The Hebrew word for “weeks” can be translated to mean a group of seven years. Then we have 62 and 7 more make 69 groups of seven….which is 483 years. It gets a bit more mysterious…and complicated, to those of us who weren’t blessed with mathematical know-how. The Jewish calendar was based on 360 days a year instead of our usual 365 days. We can get around that by figuring out how many days 483 years represents in a 360-day year (173,880) and dividing this number by the number of days in our calendar (365.25 days). Our answer is 476 years, according to our calendar. So Gabriel told Daniel that the Annointed One would appear 476 years from the time of the command given to restore Jerusalem.
Guess what? King Artaxerxes gave the decree to rebuild Jerusalem to Nehemiah in 444 BC (see Nehemiah). Remember, we count backwards in BC to zero, then start counting up in AD. If we add 476 years to 444BC, we end up with Jesus the Messiah entering the streets on a donkey in the year 33AD! Which is when it happened! This prophesy also tells that the Messiah would be “cut off.” Did you know that the Hebrew word for “cut off” is karath, and it means “to cut a covenant?” God planned a long time ago for Christ to be cut, sacrificed for our sins. The entire vision is in response to Daniel’s plea for God to forgive his people for their sins…a sin offering was made by cutting an animal, spilling blood. God cut a covenant with us when he sent Jesus into the world. Christ is how God answered Daniel’s prayer.
The world is full of mysteries. A baby, born of a virgin. This child grows up, performs amazing miracles, and is then “cut off.” And it was foretold 476 years before it happened.
The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction….So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. 21 Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. 22 It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. 23 So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense. (isn’t that still the truth??!!) But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. 24 But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.
1 Corinthians 1
As a quick political aside, I saw a recent article that wondered about the cause of Mike Huckabee’s recent “surge” in the polls. He is becoming a “top-tier” candidate…he who was the underdog is now ahead or in second place in the national polls. To those who like Mike and believe he would be a great leader for our country but hesitate to support him because of his underdog status…I challenge you to remember how God works. Mike Huckabee, like David the shepherd boy, speaks the truth, even when “political correctness” dictates that candidates skirt the issues. David spared no words when he challenged Goliath. Huckabee spares no words, either. And like David, he is a man who loves God. Hmmm. I wonder what mystery God will unveil next?
Thank you, Heavenly Father, for keeping me on my toes. I love the mysteries you have wrapped up for me in your Word.
8Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
These words from 1 Timothy 6 continue the instruction God gives those of us in America who are rich. If you are able to read this blog, then you are rich. Maybe you have two pennies in your pocket, but you are rich in education — someone somewhere gave you the incredible gift of knowing how to read, a gift that keeps on giving long after it was first given.
Today we’ll peel the onion a little more so we can find the jewels in store for us when we obey this teaching.
Command them to do good (agathoergeo)
Agathoergeo. It’s a word translated “good,” but it means more than that. It means to do well, to act rightly. The rest of the verse goes on to tell us what “acting rightly” is all about.
To be rich (plouteo) in good (kalos) deeds (ergon)
Plouteo. To have an abundance of or to be richly supplied
Kalos means many things — morally good, noble, honorable. It also means beautiful by being pure of heart. It is being precious, genuine, and useful.
Ergon. Anything accomplished by hand, art, industry, or mind, or anything that is done, any work, business, or employment.
To be generous and willing to share (koinonikos)
Koinonikos is what happened after 9-11 when lines at Red Cross blood banks were overflowing. Everyone wanted to do something. There was a spirit of togetherness in our country in those weeks after that disaster. It means being ready to be sociable, ready to maintain fellowship, to make others sharers in one’s possessions, being free in giving. It’s what happens when we those of us who have “2 cloaks” (coats) give one to someone who has none. (Note to self: take clothes to Salvation Army!!)
In this way they will lay up (apothesaurizo) treasure for themselves
Storing up abundance for future use, to treasure away.
as a firm foundation (themelios) for the coming age (eis mello)
Themelios is a firm foundation. It’s also the beginnings or first principles of an institution or system of truth. The King James Version translates eis mello as “against the time to come.” The Greek word mello means to be on the point of doing or suffering something, or to have in mind or intent.
So that they may take hold of (epilambanomai) the life that is truly life (aionios zoe).
Epilambanomai is taking possession of. The image is of someone seizing something with their hands. Aionios means without end…and zoe means:
life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, in the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ, but after the resurrection to be consummated by new accessions (among them a more perfect body), and to last for ever
To tie up these new treasures, I see that we are commanded to
- Act rightly
- Have an abundance of morally good, beautiful, pure-of-heart works, so that everything we set our hands upon is noble, honorable, precious, genuine, and useful.
- Be generous of our possessions and have an attitude of fellowship towards others; look at our possessions as items to be shared with those who have none.
If we do these things, we are promised that we are building up our system of truth in Christ, strengthening our own faith in the process so that we will be able to stand in the face of trials or suffering. We also will grab hold of:
- understanding that eternal life is our gift (given to us through grace, not by anything we have done…but grabbing hold of it means we draw that gift into ourselves. We clutch it to our hearts as a child grasps a favorite stuffed toy or blanket. We treasure this hope as our foundation!)
- a life on this earth that is vigorous, active, real and genuine.
In the times of life when I feel empty and deflated, I need only to examine my work and my generosity. Feeling weak in faith? Dig through the closet and find some clothes to donate. Volunteer somewhere…find a place that needs hands to do some good work, and then do it excellently. Praise God for the wonder and miraculous gift of eternal life…think on that, on what it means. Treasure it. Let it roll around in my heart the way I let a Dove dark chocolate roll around on my tongue, melting its sweetness into my very being. I think this especially applies during the holiday rush. Let’s put the spotlight back on Jesus and remember…he is God’s gift to us, and it is through the Christ Child that we have that wondrous, supernatural eternal life.
According to the latest national poll of likely voters in the Republican primary by Rasmussen, Mike Huckabee has pulled ahead of Rudy Giuliani. The race is still very close, with 20% indicating support for Huckabee and 17% supporting Giuliani. And in the state of Arkansas, the poll found that Huckabee would beat Hillary Clinton.
The Bible teaches us that the Lord directs the hearts of kings. In Proverbs 21, we find that:
1 The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD;
he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.2 All a man’s ways seem right to him,
but the LORD weighs the heart.3 To do what is right and just
is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
Our country is unique in that we don’t have kings. We have elected officials (not unlike the Judges who were once elected by the tribes of Israel!). My prayer is that on both sides of the political canvas there will be a mighty awakening…that those who serve our country, and those who elect them, will decide to “do what is right and just.” No more muggings along park bike trails. No more sneaking money in a bill to appease campaign donors or special interest groups. Just fair and honest debate, and a passion in our American hearts to “do what is right and just.”
If you make a mistake, own it, and learn from it. If you’re arrested for something that you really did do, take responsibility. Take your consequences, and learn from them. If you are an elected official or a voter, remember that the LORD weighs your heart.
I support Mike Huckabee because he acknowledges that the LORD directs his heart like a waterway. His faith in God drives him. He is a leader who has the heart of a servant.
This has been one of those marathon weeks for my family, and we’re halfway there! The Christmas season brings with it many joys, but also many extra tasks and responsibilities. Yesterday I had what can only be described as a migraine…at least, as far as I know. I’ve never been diagnosed. But I know it’s a tension headache because it begins at the base of my neck and spreads upwards until it engages my entire head and renders me useless for anything except lying still in a quiet, dark room. Today it is a notch better, but I am wiped out. Thus, a very short post today!
Before I got up this morning, I noticed that the muscles in my legs were clenched tightly. My jaw was also clenched, and of course, my neck is tense as well. All this without me being cognizant, all this in my sleep. Why is it that I sometimes feel a low-level anxiety? It has no name to it. I can’t pinpoint why I feel on edge. There are no thoughts running around in my head different than any other day. Yet my head aches, my back is sore, my shoulders feel like they’re made of rocks. So why am I anxious? Sometimes I get anxious trying to figure out why I’m anxious!
And then I remember: it doesn’t matter. The LORD knows me. He doesn’t just know my name. He made me. He knows everything about me, and I mean everything. There is nowhere I can go to hide from him. There is no hide-and-seek with God, is there? That must mean that he knows why I am anxious. This morning he led me to Psalm 139:
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
David wrote those words. They follow his beautiful words to God about how the LORD knit him in his mother’s womb (I just love that part!). David understood that the LORD truly knows us. And that’s a very good thing when we don’t know ourselves. It is comforting to me to know that even David — King David — had moments when he wanted God to search him and know his heart. Why? I’m guessing it’s because David was having a moment when he was anxious and didn’t know why. Just like me.
There are many treasures to be unearthed in those words, digging into the Hebrew used for each. But the one that stands out for me this morning is this one: sar’aph. The NIV translates them as “anxious thoughts.” The KJV just says “thoughts.” But sar’aph can mean either thoughts, or disquieting thoughts.
Disquieting. It literally means “to take away the peace and tranquility of.”
And strangely enough, I find peace when I rest in the thought that whatever it is that is trying to take away my peace and tranquility — God knows about it. He knows about it and will show me and will continue to lead me in the way everlasting. I don’t have to know. I find peace in knowing that He knows, and that he fights my battles for me.
See there? My headache is better already!
The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.
-Proverbs 21:18
Whoa! Those who know me well know that I am someone who LOVES to talk! It’s no wonder that my daughter said her first word at 9 months old and hasn’t stopped talking since; she’s got my genes. But with lots of talk also comes lots of foolishness. Sometimes foolishness leads to gossip, and gossip leads to slander, and then before we know it or words have caused someone else to die inside.
Has it happened to you? Has someone said something to you that was so hurtful that it felt as if an arrow had been shot into your heart? Our Lord knows how powerful words are. In fact, he spoke the world into existence through words. The words that come out of our mouths do much more than fill the air.
In our sermon series at church, we wrapped up a study of friendships with this verse about the tongue. The Bible has much to say about watching what we speak:
2 Whoever of you loves life
and desires to see many good days,13 keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking lies.
Psalm 34
30 The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom,
and his tongue speaks what is just.31 The law of his God is in his heart;
his feet do not slip.
Psalm 37
3 They sharpen their tongues like swords
and aim their words like deadly arrows.
Psalm 64
26If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.
James 1
11Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
1 Thessalonians 5
I don’t know about you, but I definitely “desire to see many good days.” I don’t want my tongue to be used as arrows that bring pain to others. I don’t want to deceive myself. The law of God IS in my heart. Am I speaking it?
My father always used to tell us: Think Before You Act. My personal discipline this week will be to Think Before You Speak. Are these words going to encourage someone? Or will they bring hurt? Will they bring praise and glory to God? Are they wise?
I once heard a magnificent description of the power of words. Imagine that the french toast you’re cooking catches fire right in front of you. Now, you could throw water on it and put the fire out, or you could throw gasoline on it and blow up your kitchen. Our words can be like water, or they can be like gasoline. Sometimes a friend might need a little gas to help them get excited….perhaps they are feeling nervous about an upcoming job interview. In this case, gasoline is good! You can use your words to encourage them, to ignite an excitement and a passion about the job interview. Or, you could use your words to dampen their enthusiasm further by saying something like: “it doesn’t matter what you wear. Your teeth are so ugly no one will even look at your suit.” (I know none of you would ever dream of saying such a thing!) In that case, the words are being used like water in a bad way.
It just goes to show that it’s important to speak intelligently and even slowly. Measure what we say before we say it. Think: does this situation call for some flame throwing or some water? And then use wise words that follow the godly path.
There’s a reason we have two ears but only one mouth!
