Written by: Barbara Hart(1916)
Friday, 8 January 2010
A Christian Home
Monday, 28 December 2009
Journals (written by Katrina)
Journals are very important. In them we write about all our hopes, dreams, discouragement’s, failures and God working in our lives. Also, we can read them to our children and they will believe it because they know it actually happened and know that it is true. I would like to have a journal to tell of all my adventures and read it to my kids just like my Dad and Mom do to me.
Posted by:Katrina
photo credit
Sunday, 27 December 2009
Who do you belong to? (by Rebecca)
There is tremendous peer pressure on young girls today. The age at which peer pressure is experienced seems to be happening earlier. It is not uncommon for young girls to have a growing resentment toward their parents if the parents continually ask their daughter to be different from their peers. This resentment manifests itself in girls who aren't permitted to enjoy, without restriction, friends and peer approval. If a young girl is different from her peers, but does not understand why, she will get confused about fitting in when she is surrounded by her peer group. This is usually when and where the real battle starts (Prov.8:1-5), a battle in our heart to see who we really do belong to. John 5:44 says, "How can you believe, when you recieve glory (honor) from one another, and you do not seek the glory (honor) that is from the one and only God?"
Discontentment is the real reason a girl might be feeling restricted. The battle that goes on in our hearts will not happen if we know who we belong to, and why, and we are convinced of both in our hearts. When a girl decides who she is going to give her heart to, she is changing her relationship with her father, either "for better or for worse". "For better or for worse"- this sounds like marriage, and it is, preparing us for our relationship with our husband some day if we marry. If she decides to follow her peer group will she be able to look her father in the eye and see the disappointment? When young girls choose the peer group she is throwing away the love, protection, and leading of her father to follow a life that is hollow and empty.
What kind of women is our future husband going to be waiting for? A true maiden of honor. So why do we want to be like those who's words and actions do not please God? The young men who are giving attention to them are only being led by their visual and temperal desires, having no wisdom, depth, or standard. Jesus knows everything that we think. He knows when we have been coveting things that are not meant for us, or for any daughter of God.
Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are God's workmanship (masterpiece, work of art) created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Then it is our duty to show our peers, and others, what it means to be a woman of God and a daughter of our father. We can do this by obeying our parents and by the way we present ourselves to others. As girls reject the ways of the world God will help them to live a life that is above reproach (see 1Timothy 2:9-10).
Posted by: Rebecca
photo credit:allposters.com
A Good Romance Book for Girls (by Jessica)
Before You Meet Prince Charming is a book that every girl should read. It talks about the dangers of dating, using our "waiting" years for the Lord and to grow in the Lord. It talks about keeping ourselves pure, a concept that is foreign to our culture today. It made me see the importance of purity, not just physical purity, but keeping our thoughts pure as well. Here is an analogy of keeping ourselves physically pure: you spent the whole morning making a cake for a birthday party, you frosted it, decorated it, and it looked perfect. Later someone came into the kitchen saw the cake and took a small piece. Your cake was now ruined. You could put another piece in the gap and from a distance it would look fine, but it would not be perfect, it would always have a scar. It is the same way with us. Even if we just give away a little tiny piece our rose(body) it will always have a little tear, ruining it's beauty forever.Keeping our thoughts pure is important. It is also very hard to do. Take for example romance novels. Romance novels are traps, covered in flowers, waiting for someone to pick them up and get sucked into their world of fantasy, romance and happily ever after. Many girls fall into that trap and spend their days dreaming about romance stories that, for the most part, aren't true. Many romance novels also give the wrong impression of "prince charmings". In real life not too many princes come riding in on a white horse with shinning armor to sweep you off your feet. Movies are also very dangerous. So many girls are looking to the movies to be their guide about what is a man. So many married women are asking, "Why isn't my husband like that, why doesn't he act like the guy in the movies?" What they don't realize is that the perfect man doesn't exist. We should not invest our time watching something that is going to make us discontent and unhappy with the real world.
Another thing talked about is, desire the very best. Don't lower your standards just because you think there is no one to meet them. Our culture has the tendency to "lower the bar". But don't take the one dollar now when you could have ten thousand dollars later. It is very hard to wait. But waiting produces patience, and patience produces character, and character leads to godliness. We often have to wait because God has something better for us and we need to use our "waiting" time wisely so that when "prince charming" comes, we are ready.
Posted by: Jessica
Monday, 21 December 2009
Sisters, love your brothers and help them be men
(ad by dockers)Written By: Jessica
Christmas 2009 Newsletter (written by Jessica)

May - Rebecca had the opportunity to take flute lessons once a week for most of the summer. Starting in May we fed bottle calves every day twice a day for 4 months.
Sunday, 20 December 2009
Monday, 7 December 2009
The Birth of Daniel- A Father's View (for men)
We did plan on having our baby at home, just not by ourselves, but that is how it worked out. And, by God's grace, it worked out to be a good thing, for several reasons. First, it made me recognize how much I trust in man, including myself, without even realizing it. The midwife was involved in another labor and we were behind the time curve on this labor because it went so fast. Suddenly all of my 'props' were removed. When I realized I would have to deliver Daniel it caused me to pray a lot and depend upon God entirely. I know my response would have been quite different had a doctor or midwife been there. So who am I really trusting in? This is subtle and yet robs God of much glory. My hope must be in God, completely.Another thing I learned is that there is great value in a man realizing his own weakness and God's exceeding power, in all things, but especially in his most important role, that as father and husband. My only strength is truly in my utter weakness and dependance upon Him. There is no greater application of this truth to my life than in my home. When I realized that this baby was going to be born and that I was going to deliver, I was anxious. A friend complimented me on delivering Daniel but I must say, "Be impressed by what God did, He really was working with quite a helpless attendant." As men we have reason to live in a state of utter humility and dependance upon God- God has greatly honored us by making us the head of our homes. God longs for men to come to Him as fathers and hubands in humility and dependance as we serve our families. God has not abandoned us as fathers and husbands. His power is great toward us but I am afraid that many of us men have forgotten God. We try to be strong in our own power rather than His, and it doesn't work very well.
Third, what better hands to catch a baby than the hands of the father? A father's hands are probably the strongest in the home, and yet gentle enough for the occassion. Personally, I would encourage midwives and doctors to do this when possible. It is a powerful way of "turning the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers" (Malachi 4:6-7). An elderly friend told me when his children were born the doctor chased him out of the room and down the hall. Dad couldn't get too involved or too near until it was time to pay the bill. My heart and their heart (kids) is going to turn somewhere. The less I have to do with my kids the more my heart turns elsewhere and the more their heart turns elsewhere. It is a fact of life. It reminds me of the Christmas tree Joseph brought in today. It isn't the prettiest tree we have had but it may be the best because of what it means. He went out and found it himself, cut it and hauled it home and it was twice his size. He worked hard. Our hearts are connected to that Christmas tree more than the grandest tree because we know Joseph invested hands-on sweat equity to bring it home. God has designed the family to operate with the input of a father, and no amount of toys, money, or fringe benefits can replace a godly father. There can be no substitutes!
Saturday, 14 November 2009
Thursday, 22 October 2009
Be of a good cheer (by Joseph)
Monday, 19 October 2009
A Clear Conscience and Good Relationships (by Katrina)
most people desire to have good relationships, but a clear conscience is necessary to have good relationships. Our conscience can be clear, it can be guilty, or it can be dead. A dead conscience is guilty but denies the guilt and says everything is OK; it happens when we disobey so much that it no longer bothers us. A guilty conscience is guilty but does not want to confess what it has done because it is afraid of getting in trouble; it gets more and more guilty because it does not confess. A clear conscience is where it does something bad but it is bothered by it so it confesses. Psalm 32:1-5
Confessing our mistakes makes for good relationships because it builds trust in the other person and makes us want to do better next time. It makes us responsible. Six important words are "I AM SORRY" and "WILL YOU FORGIVE ME", but they must come from the heart and not just our lips. A dead conscience ruins relationships and a guilty conscience avoids relationships, but a good conscience builds relationships. 2 Timothy 1:3
Thursday, 15 October 2009
Traditions of Man or the Word of God (by Jessica)
Ken Ham (in his book Already Gone) suggests that even though the research data suggests that the church may be better off by eliminating these programs, that would be too radical. He wants to be "solution" oriented, to focus on the positive rather than be negative. Mr. Ham suggests a makeover of cirriculum and teachers as a starting point. Cirriculum needs to be more apologetic, focusing on specific answers to specific questions and issues common in our culture. Teachers need a new passion and sense of awe in representing God before students.
Mr. Ham's solutions to revitalize a christian education (CE) program that appears to have an 80% failure rate are not new and the problems he is trying to solve are not new. What is new is the accelerating rate of failure and the statistical research to prove it. How long will our churches continue to pursue what is failing, and failing quickly? We need to seek a biblical answer rather than one steeped in man's wisdom. The church's response in times of decline has often been pragmatism, that is, to become more relevant, creative, entertaining, and stimulating in the eyes of man, which has meant a step back from God.
In his final chapter, "Welcome to the Revolution", Mr. Ham suggests that to change the trend we need reform in four areas- parents, christian educators(defined as Sunday school and elementary Christian school teachers), youth pastors, and pastors. Mr. Ham starts with parents and says this, "If our survey should teach you anything, it's that you can no longer depend on the Sunday school and youth ministries in your church to educate your kids in the things of God. In all honesty, this was never their responsibility in the first place. This is your job; this is your responsibility; you need to step up to the plate and take charge." To each of the other three groups targeted for reform, Mr. Ham offers soul searching action points, and yet these challenges are not new, but rather, are good reminders. A refreshing challenge to youth pastors was to "equip the parents"; and don't just say that but actually make it a priority.
One is left, again, with a certain disconnection between church and reality. Statistics shout that Sunday school isn't working and yet man says "let's be positive, it just needs reform". Mr. Ham tells parents they cannot depend upon and look to the church to teach their kids the things of God but his solution amounts to updating the potency of the drugs that parents are so addicted to (ie Sunday school, youth groups, children's church, VBS, etc) for teaching their children about God. If we continue 'as is' we indeed become irrelevant and even hypocritical because we know it isn't working but continue to go through the motions because we honor the traditions of men more than the word of God. Jesus Christ, the head of the church, is bringing about encouraging change.
Thursday, 3 September 2009
Looking at the bigger picture (by Katrina)
Psalm 145: 4 One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts. (NKJV) Posted by- Katrina
Contentment (by Rebecca)
Only God can give us true contentment. There are many places in the Bible where there are stories of people, such as Paul, being content with their situation. Consider the Israelites, who were thankful to God that He led them out of captivity, but when they got to thinking about the food they left behind in Egypt, they started to become discontent. We do the same thing. We are given a gift; perhaps from God or from a person but we focus on the gift and forget the giver.
So how do we stay content? Instead of trying to persuade ourselves to be happy in our circumstances (to be needed, to be beautiful, to be noticed, to be important etc.) we need to believe and trust God's goodness for our lives in what He has already given to us and promised to us. Philippians 4:11-13 Paul talks about learning to be content in whatever situation he is in. Storing God's word in our hearts can help with staying content. Psalms 119:11 says "I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you".
Another way we can be content is to be mindful of who we look up to. We can pick out peers whose lives show that God is their greatest treasure and "keep our eyes on them". It is a way to fight covetousness. Philippains 3:17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.

