LIGHTBEARERS

Who doesn't want all things to work together for good?  The verse says they do for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.

Are you one of those?  What is His purpose for you?

Most people wonder about God's demands on them.  They just want to know what it is He wants.  The Old and New Testaments both use exactly the same words to describe what He wants.

Did you think the Old Testament has an expired shelf life?  God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  And we remember Jesus said "Don't think I came to abolish the law; I came to fulfill it."

In our Exodus study at BSF, we just have read how God saved Israel out of Egypt and now is about to give them the law on Mt. Sinai.

Here's how God explained His expectations to Israel:

"You yourselves (Israel) have seen what I did to the Egyptians 

and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself.

Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant,

then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples

for all the earth is Mine;

and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."
Exodus 19:4-6

He wants a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.  Wanting to know more about what that phrase "kingdom of priests" means, I found this summation from Dr. Matthew S. Harmon, a prof at Grace Theological Seminary.  He melted the phrase down to four "I's".  See if this job description for Israel doesn't match our job description, too.

INCARNATE

As they lived, Israel was to be an example to the people of other nations who would see her holy beliefs and actions - and be impressed enough to want to know personally the same God Israel knew.

INVITE

Israel was to proclaim the truth of God and invite people from other nations to accept Him in faith as shown by confession of belief in Him and acceptance of His covenant.

INTERCEDE

Israel would intercede for the rest of the world by offering acceptable offerings to God (both sacrifices and right behavior) and thus ameliorate the general distance between God and humankind.

INSCRIBE

Israel would preserve the promises of God, preserving His word already spoken and record His word as it was revealed to them...so that once the fullness of time had come, anyone in the whole world could promptly benefit from that great body of divinely revealed truth, that is, the Scriptures.

Priests serve, and Israel was called to be servant lightbearers.  So are we.  In 1Peter 2:9, the exact same message is given to believers.  

"You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of His own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."

We are set-asides...consecrated for God's purposes...a holy nation employing intentional missional living.

We were not saved just for going to heaven.  We were saved to carry His good news to the whole world so they might come out from underneath their heavy burden of guilt...and go to heaven with us.  Doesn't that stand starkly opposite to those who make believers at the tip of the sword?

In Revelation 5:10, it says believer priests will "reign" on the earth.  That's not a "lording it over others" rule, but a continuation of service as we take our cue from Jesus, the Servant Leader who came not to be served, but to serve.

GLORY!

"...all the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD."

Well, that sure has happened THIS fall.  The photo on the left (made by D. R. Keck Photography) may be my favorite fall blaze of glory picture.  It was made around the golf course at Bella Vista on October 30th.

Mike and I have spent time this month at our "little cabin in the woods", which is waaay out in the Ozark Mountains and square in the middle of nowhere.  It's where my husband breathes freely and there's even an unexpected cell tower to keep me connected.

God has said He makes everything beautiful in its time and we agree as we see the maples and hickory and gum and understory dogwoods and sumac.

The blaze of this sumac is made brighter with the backdrop of an overcast day and the brown woods.  We took this picture on the way to Hawksbill Crag in the Upper Buffalo River wilderness.

Mike hiked down to Whittaker Point (Hawksbill Crag) while I waited and read up at the trailhead.  It was three miles total and he got some nice shots along the way.

This is spectacular unless you have trouble with heights.

Mike says the people on the trail were all very chatty and friendly; their cars were from several different states.  There was a group of Mennonites (with their hair gathered under their white pleated caps) happily having lunch on the point.

We have heard this place is the most photographed in Arkansas.

And then on the way back to the cabin, had to stop for this tree with soft orange leaves...

...and this creek in the woods.












Our BSF study this year has been in Exodus and several lessons ago we talked about the burning bush. I remember our discussion about how the Angel of the Lord (the pre-incarnate Christ) appeared to Moses in a flame of fire from within a bush that was not consumed.

One morning we had a mini-burning bush of sorts at the cabin.  We had finished breakfast and were sitting, contemplating the view over coffee.

The day was overcast, but the view is always quieting...so I took a picture.

It wasn't two minutes until I thought I was seeing things.  All of a sudden one of the sun's rays broke through in a pinpoint.  You can see it lighting up the trees in front and then the light running up the hill.

Pretty cool, eh?  It made the trees look like they were  on fire.  God's glory made our day.

What is God's glory, anyway?

We see creation and call that glory. We read that we were made for His glory.  Sometimes we hear heaven described as "going to glory".

The heavens declare the glory of God, and so do the blazing trees.  But material things don't last; all the gorgeous leaves will blow away.  A deeper understanding of glory expressed as brightness...is the essence of God's character.  It's His goodness and purity and kindness and mercy and justice that are all the fountainhead of glory.

Later in Exodus, Moses asks the LORD to show him His glory.  God told Moses he couldn't see His face and live, so Moses was hidden in the cleft of the rock.  God covered Moses with His hand while He passed by.  God was sheltering Moses from the dazzling light that comes from God's purity.  In the presence of a holy God, man sees his corruption.  

Moses' sheltering rock was Horeb, the rock that had previously brought gushing water to sustain two million Israelites in the desert.  Now the rock hid Moses from God's justice.  In 1 Corinthians 4 we learn the rock is Christ.  He shelters and provides and covers us from God's wrath.

Glory, hallelujah!

WHO IS GOD?

Many worshippers claim God's name, but they can't all be right because they're so different.

America's tolerant society teaches us to elevate all faiths to an equal playing field.  Such egalitarianism inflates our pride of open-mindedness, but is that what God says?

Who is God?  The LORD tells us in ancient Egypt, defining Himself as He does battle with Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt.


THE PLOT
God gives the nation of Israel an assignment to make Him known in the pagan world and Moses is the point man.

This is larger than a Cecil B. DeMille story about Pharaoh and Moses.  Yahweh is declaring Himself to be God over the little gods.  And He accomplishes the evidence by using the pagans AND their demonic power to prove who He is.

THE PLAYERS
In one corner are two eighties-something poor Hebrew slaves carrying only a shepherd's staff.  In the opposite corner stands Pharaoh, the rich and educated king of the whole world, carrying the importance of being thought to be the reincarnation of the sun god, Ra.

The battle doesn't sound too promising, does it?  It's reminiscent of the time God had Elijah pour water on the wood before He lit it.  Jehovah wants everyone to understand that the power and glory are all His.

THE NARRATIVE
The story is familiar.  God and Pharaoh go head-to-head around three areas of Egyptian worship.  Egypt had about 80 different "nature gods", but the plagues squared off against the most prominent (two river gods, four land gods, and three sky gods).

Each time Moses and Aaron go into the Pharaoh's presence, God is giving  the ruler a chance to know Him.  However, the Pharaoh progressively hardens his own heart until finally, God hardens Pharaoh's heart.  In between, there is much razzle-dazzle as the supernatural powers fly.

GOD'S POWER (over the two river gods)
The first battle salvo was eye-catching.  When the Nile turned to blood, desert people would take notice of the lack of drinking water and crop irrigation.  God was saying to the people..."You pray to the god of the river, but I am the Living Water.  Where is the river god that you think protects you?"  Their sorcerers took note that they could duplicate the phenomenon, but could not reverse it.
And Pharaoh hardened his heart.

After the blood had killed the living things in the water, God caused a malignant number of frogs to appear from the river.  Again, the priests of Pharaoh could duplicate with more frogs, but couldn't remove the frogs.  And since the people worshipped a god with a frog's head, they couldn't very well kill the frogs; that would be like an Indian killing a cow.  Pharaoh begged Moses to take the frogs away, but Pharaoh didn't change his heart.

GOD'S POWER (over the four land gods)
Moses was told to tell Aaron to strike the dust of the ground and all the dust of Egypt became lice/gnats.  God was showing His sovereignty over all of the ground.  Remember, we were made from that dust and so His rule extends over us.  But Pharaoh hardened his heart.

After the gnats came the dogflies, bloodsuckers more damaging than gnats flying up your nose.  This plague affected Egyptians, but not Israelites.  Here the LORD begins to make a redemptive distinction between His people and demon worship.  Beelzebub was known as the Lord of the Flies (or Satan) and Egyptians called on him as an insurance policy to protect them.  But even in Beelzebub's own territory (flies), the "Lord of the Flies" was impotent.  God took away the flies, but Pharaoh hardened his heart.

The third challenge to the land gods again only affected Egyptians.  God sent an infectious disease which may have been like mad cow.  When it destroyed livestock, it hit Egypt's economy because people measured wealth in the number of their livestock.  The worship of Isis (the queen of the gods who sometimes was pictured with cow horns on her head)...and Egypt's other bovine worship...was an affront to the LORD.  The bulls were signs of strength and fertility, and were used as sacrifices in their worship.  No wonder when Moses came down from the mountain and found the Israelites around the golden calf, he threw down the tablets. God saves those who put all other "gods" away.  Idols can be anything from filling your mind with  something other than God...to worshipping a false understanding of God.

When Pharaoh doesn't respond to the destruction of livestock, the severity of consequences are ratcheted up.  We take note that a nation's leader can inflict great damage on his people as we watch Pharaoh's choice result in itchy boils full of puss all over the Egyptians' bodies.  Again, Israel was spared.  Egyptians were known all around the world for their advanced medical knowledge, but it wasn't helping them now.  Think that didn't humiliate Pharaoh's personal physician...and the priests who couldn't even come before Pharaoh because their boils defiled them?  With THIS plague, God hardens Pharaoh's heart.

GOD'S POWER (over the three sky gods)
Today in Egypt, Cairo only receives about two inches of rain annually so the next plague would have been an attention-grabber.  The Lord filled the skies with clouds that brought hail and lightning and thunder.  The hail beat down everything in the fields and stripped every tree everywhere except in the land of Goshen where the Israelites lived.  This time, God told Moses to warn the people of the coming destruction.  Some believed and moved themselves and their cattle into shelters.  Pharaoh's response?  He made a "sort-of" confession, but his heart was not changed.  Again, he hardened his heart.

Then Moses stretched out his hand and the LORD sent a strong east wind that blew locusts in from the Arabian desert.  They ate everything that was left in the fields after the hail; there would be no harvest in Egypt that year.  Now the officials at court begged Pharaoh to let the Israelites go.  They knew the grain god (Nepri) and the guardian of the fields (Anubis) and the deity of the harvest (Min) could not help them.  But still Pharaoh would not let God's people go.

The ninth plague had to do with darkness so complete that it could be felt.  Their choice to live in darkness had been fulfilled in darkness.  But the light that was on in Goshen should have made things pretty obvious.  Egyptians worshipped the sun (Ra) and moon (Heliopolis) and the Pharaoh himself.  Now it's really in Pharaoh's wheelhouse.  Pharaoh offers a compromise, but God does not compromise.  Have you ever tried to cut a deal with Him?

THE TENTH PLAGUE
In the death of the firstborns, God  demonstrates His character traits of justice and mercy.  While all men are sinners who earn their wage of death, God gives unmerited favor to some.  One group (called Egyptians) received JUSTICE for their sins because they trusted idols in the face of great evidence to the contrary.  The other group (called Israelites) were shown MERCY for their sins as they were given instructions on how to trust God's sacrificial way to cover sin.

Both groups are an illustrated picture book for us.  Will we humble ourselves and trust God to instruct us?  In faith, the Israelites applied blood to the doorpost of their homes and the death angel passed over their home.  Sadly, there was loud wailing in Egyptian homes as death visited each house.  With this great personal cost, Pharaoh finally relented and let the Israelites go.

CONCLUSIONS
1.  All worship is not equal.  The Bible was written that we might know who God is and what He expects.  He presented Himself to the Egyptians THEN and He presents Himself to the whole world NOW as we read this big story of salvation.  God said "By this you will know that I am the LORD."

2.  Who are these gods of Egypt?  There are two supernatural forces in the world; God says that if worship is not of Him, it is demonic.  The Bible calls the priests of Egypt "sorcerers" and their magic arts were limited.  God is more powerful than Satan and He says "there is none like Me in all the earth".

3.  This story was really over at the beginning when Aaron's rod swallowed up the sorcerer's rods.  All that lacked then was for the details to be played out.  But the Book says when Pharaoh observed that powerful demonstration of God's power, he left the room uninterested.  With some people, no amount of evidence will sway them.

4.  Did you know that in the end times, the LORD will send similar plagues?   In the first bowl judgment, He will inflict painful sores on those with the mark of the beast that sound much like the boils of the 7th plague.  And in Revelation 16, it says "Great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe."

5.  Egyptians were very religious people, worshipping everything around them.  God came to call them to true worship, proving He was greater than all their gods.  We can take note that it is dangerous to harden your heart.

6.  By the time Israel left Egypt, both sides had a clear picture of God's power and protection and plan.  And surely all those who lived in the surrounding nations had also heard the story as the knowledge of God spread.  Not all in Egypt believed, but the Bible says the ones who did believe went along with Israel in the exodus.

So who is God?  He is MERCIFUL and MIGHTY, the One True God who graciously reveals Himself in His creation, His miracles, and in His Word.  Just as then the Israelites followed His instructions to deal with their sin by the blood of the lamb, now the blood of the Lamb deals with sin once and forever.

God has drawn a red line of expectation in the knowledge of Himself.  He wants us to worship the Creator, not the created.  His demand on Pharaoh's life to acknowledge Him as LORD is the same call He offers each man as He gives us an offer to deal with our sins.  It's a good offer.

DEATH: NOT THE PREFERRED OPTION

In 1989, my mother went in for a biopsy of a lump on her neck.  She took Philippians 4:6 with her into the procedure:  "BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING, BUT IN EVERYTHING BY PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION WITH THANKSGIVING LET YOUR REQUESTS BE MADE KNOWN TO GOD." 

Of course our family and friends were also letting our requests be known to God.  We asked for "benign" but Mother's answer came back "malignant" (non-Hodgkins lymphoma).  Then we turned to the verse which followed:  "AND THE PEACE OF GOD, WHICH SURPASSES ALL COMPREHENSION, SHALL GUARD YOUR HEARTS AND YOUR MINDS IN CHRIST JESUS." 

We knew the course was to be bumpy, but Mother knew the Lord promised to set a guard of peace over her heart and mind.  And part of that peace came in knowing the One who could just have easily made the lump harmless...was still working the plan that He had for her life.  She was to bring Him glory in the way she trusted Him...and she did.

Meanwhile, she would fight with all her might to live.  There was chemo, hair loss, and then the disease went into remission for an 18-month sigh of relief.  Another lump brought dread as we waited to see if the lymphoma had returned.  Again we prayed that the Lord would take it away.  He did not.

In the interim as Mother did what she called "couch duty"... our Tender Shepherd loved on Mother through countless expressions of concern from friends and neighbors.

Mother was sanguine and part of several different communities.  There were the parents of the toddlers she taught in church, BSF Children's Leaders, her church small cell group, friends from her hometown (Des Arc), the town where they raised their family (Jonesboro), and from Little Rock.  All those connections brought such loving offers of help and food and cards and visits.

But when the lights went out at night and Daddy was asleep, it was just Mother and the Lord.  Would she look past her circumstances to His promises?  We watched her grow sweeter as the days went by.  Her outer shell was dissipating, but her inner man gained strength.  And on the day that she died, the family encircled her, sang to her, read Scripture and prayed over her as we thanked the Lord for her life and the way she had loved us well.

Isn't it strange how we seem to fight coming into this world and going out, too?  In Mother's case, she was blessed to be able to live at home until just a hospital stay of one week.  But what about others who suffer prolonged pain and death?  Doctors can help and hospice is a wonderful blessing.  It is one thing to get help from pain, but another thing to intentionally end life.

It stands to reason that the God who gives us life with a purpose ALSO has a purpose in our death.  We watched many nurses and friends leave Mother's hospital room in tears as she lived her faith.  We saw 300+ people turn out for a celebration service that held God HIGH and included words explaining how to come to Him.

A person on their deathbed often has measured breath and we lean in to be sure we hear all they want to convey.  When all else fades away, the important things rise to the top.  What could be more important than how to find the road to heaven?  Mother was a great road sign.

Have you heard of the young woman named Brittany Maynard who is dying and has made public the day she will die?  She moved to Oregon and bought a pill to end her life.  That act takes her life into her hands, but the Book says it is HE who has made us and not we ourselves.  Our lives do not belong to us.

Hearts go out to Brittany as she faces death at only twenty-nine years old.  With so much on her plate, has she factored in what God has planned for her?  We don't know because she makes no mention of God.  Do any of us  know when our testimony is over?  And aren't there always surprises in medicine?

In Brittany's interviews, she comes across as very articulate and reasoned in her quest for "dignity".  But our dignity comes from being made in the image of God and in our commitment to His cause.  Perhaps this young woman's fears have pushed her away from trusting God.  Perhaps she does not know that possessing God's Son saves us from death.  If the latter, she will be leaving earth too soon.

Life is more than a bucket list or getting our way because life is not about us.  Life is knowing Jesus, who has bought our ticket and has gone ahead of us to prepare our place.  We go home at His bidding.

STRATEGY

So aggressive terrorism IS reason to go to war...just as long as you do not characterize it as "war"?

The voices who cautioned that we should never poke a hornet's nest lest we get stung...have been overruled by ISIS' disturbing developments.

Now the nation is leading our leader who has finally determined these guys aren't twenty-first century stingers and they won't listen to reason.

Last Wednesday night we got the plan.  Someone wrote a speech that was patriotic and full of American exceptionalism and strength.  It was just the tone that the polls ordered.

Did the President mean it?  It did conflict with just about everything he has said all along...downgrading, renaming, and mocking ISIS' threat...and even saying we couldn't beat them but we'd just manage them.

There was one encouraging bit of news that we would go into Syria, but the rest of the "strategy" is convoluted.

1.  He said we were at war at
the same time the Secretary of State called it a "conflict" (but has since said "OK, if you want to call it war, it's war") and the National Security Advisor (Susan Rice) called it a "sustained counterterrorism campaign".  Then there's the Vice-President who got all wild-eyed, hollering about the gates of hell.  Could we all get on the same page?

In listening to a montage of audio clips from the media the next day, it was striking that THEY all read from the same script, using exactly the same words, "reluctant warrior".

Some might point out that he may be reluctant, but we ARE bombing.  Yes, the total since it began is now 160something.  That divides out to less than three a day.  Two trucks here, a nest of tents there...hardly serious shock and awe or comprehensive strategy.

2.  Of course HIS war will be different and not evil like George Bush's war.  The difference? There won't be boots on the ground.  Huh? We already HAVE boots there.

Tell me what strategy can bomb without ears and eyes on the ground?  What strategy puts men on the ground WITH permission to defend themselves, but doesn't expect conflict?  What strategy asks others to take the fight while we fight from above?

3.  Besides, what others?  Who will step up to fight for us?

As he looks over his shoulder and calls "Who's with us?"...the
coalition of the willing seem reluctant  to join the reluctant.

Who wants to link arms with a country that draws impotent red lines?  Waffles with Russia?  Indecisively stalls and goes flippy floppy with NATO partners?

4.  Now (so he says) we will arm the Syrian rebels.  His advisors called for that a year ago and he has talked about doing it, but sending MRE's doesn't count.  Talking and doing are different.

It would be nice if we could keep our word and arm the Kurds, too.  They have also been waiting for help for some time.  The Kurds have worn white hats all along and their Peshmerga fighters have proven themselves against the terrorists.

So our unlikely strategy is that while we fly over, the Free Syrian army plus the Iraqi army (who we trained for 10 years, but who never graduated from "stand and fight" school) will take on ISIS.  Australia is IN (gotta love the Aussies), while everyone else shuffles their feet.

5.  We also were told that these guys are not Islamic because no religion kills innocents.

Well, the Koran passages apparently don't view infidels as innocents.

6.  Inexplicably, our idea of justice is bringing killers over here to a courtroom.

Benghazi showed the ridiculousness of that idea.  We can't get to the crime scene to obtain evidence or get to witnesses to be interviewed.  One mad dog brought to justice does not have any effect on the problem...
except to elevate him to martyrdom.

Do we really think a court case will cause the rest to cower?

No, the hornets are out of the nest and they come regardless of strikes against the nest.  Why?  They live and breathe their murderous life purpose.

This LINK gives context to the long-running struggle which festers when "radical Islam" gets a toehold of strength.  As the link points out, Muslims have come close to their goal of world domination several times along history's  timeline...without any provocation from either the Jews or George Bush.

The Bible speaks of "feet who run to do evil" and "feet swift to shed blood".  Is there a better definition of ISIS?  The longer we dally, the longer their numbers multiply.  Top counterterrorism officials testified to Congress just hours before the President spoke on Wednesday.   They put ISIS' numbers @10k, but then THE VERY NEXT DAY another CIA analysis came in at 20-31k.  Apparently the world is full of wanna-be jihadists who long to shed blood for the sheer enjoyment of it.

This whole illustration calls us to choose sides.  How could it be any clearer?  Shall we make room for a strange multicultural affection that puts all "religions" on an even platform?

One side kills for an imaginary god who is pleased with the blood of anyone who will not bend the knee.  The other side lives for the God who is pleased with the blood of His Son, who willingly gave His blood to buy our ticket to heaven.

Americans want an ISIS strategy that will keep them safe.  That's what we pay the President to do and we pray he will do it.

But our real safety comes in an eternal strategy named Jesus.

WHOMPERJAWED

What's up is down and what's down is up.  That's the way of this world.

But aren't we cautioned to not call what is good, evil...or call what is evil, good?

Here are just a few things from the headlines that seem to be awkwardly unaware of such caution.

1.  THE PRIZE
This man snagged an interview with the President for his inaugural broadcast of "Meet the Press" tomorrow.  Know why?

Night-before-last on the news, Brian Williams reports that the President was "CLEAR" when he spoke to the nation about an ISIS response.  I guess if you didn't hear him speak, you could believe that.

All other outlets besides NBC were reporting presidential confusion. That's because his words described our  goal was to "degrade and destroy ISIS"...and later in the same speech said the goal was to get to the point "where it is a manageable problem".

The President's third try to articulate his position was clinical and robotic before he closed by saying (again) they were working on strategy.  He just seems "put out" by having to mess with the overseas stuff that in getting in the way of his peace-time presidency.

2.  THE MISSING.
The AP is reporting LINK that not only has the IRS lost Lois' emails, now they have also lost FIVE other people connected to the scandal.

So we are required to believe that with all the backing up...with all the laws requiring governmental agencies to back up...with all the NASA data-gathering...STILL these specific email accounts went poof.

Lois' email loss strained incredulity; this new news is pure Nixonian.  The only difference was that in Nixon's day, when he ordered his underlings to do illegal things, some of those underlings refused.

3.  THE DEMAGOGUE.
A demagogue is a political leader who seeks support by appealing to prejudices rather than by using a rational argument.  The lady on the left is head of the DNC.  She said this week that the Governor of Wisconsin gave women "the back of his hand" and was "yanking women by the hair and dragging them back".  Say whut?

In 2012, the Governor signed a bill rescinding the equal pay law.  Was that because he likes to demean women?  Oh, please.  He has a logical explanation for his action and it involves the way lawyers are benefiting from the way the law was written.  PolitiFact calls Debbie's claims FALSE in this LINK.

Perhaps you thought she was talking about the President because HE has not narrowed the 13% gap in HIS White House pay scale.  But that can be explained rationally, too.  LINK  Debbie Wasserman Schultz is flopping around looking for any good news anywhere for her party, and has resorted to ginning up two-year-old grievances with awful word pictures.  Today she apologized.

4.  THE TERROR THREAT.
Remember when Bin Laden's hideout was said to have a treasure trove of information?  There were literally a million documents and in the 3+ years since, SEVENTEEN documents have been declassified and released.

Reasonable people could agree that you wouldn't want to give away your game.  But there might be SOME releases that could paint a better picture of what we face.

After Bin Laden, President Obama was saying Al Qaeda was on the run, yet we had embassies being closed all over the world and ISIS was rising.  The House Intelligence Committee reported that the Bin Laden intel generated 400 intelligence reports.  That doesn't sound like Al Qaeda was running away from us at all.

In fact, a larger picture is emerging as we watch AL QAEDA AFFILIATES strengthened around the world.  There is ISIS in Syria/Iraq, Hamas in Palestine, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Boko Haram in Nigeria, Al-Shebab in Somalia, AQAP in Yemen, and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

Perhaps we did declare the war over, but Al Qaeda didn't quit.

5.  MORE MISSING THINGS
Here's a LINK  is to a Sharyl Attkisson video as she explains how the government is not answering any questions about the children they have relocated around the country.

We understand they do not want people to protest.  But how can they put the rights of illegals above the rights of citizens?  Shouldn't the feds be required to at least TELL states when they are shipping people to them?  And when HHS does not cooperate with Congressional requests for information, how can Congress provide oversight into the huge and lucrative contracts being given out (of our pockets)?

6.  AND EVEN MORE MISSING THINGS.
Oh, and they can't find 6,000 foreign students whose visas have expired.  That reminds us that the ringleader of 9/11, Mohamed Atta, was here on an expired student visa.

As exasperating as it is when "bad" is called "good" and mismanaged, we do not expect things to be anything other than whomperjawed on this side of heaven.  We continue to follow Jesus while looking forward to the time He returns to set things right.  THERE'S the place we plant our flag and put our trust.

Can you imagine a world with the absence of sin?  What will a pure heart feel like?  Motives will be scrubbed and intentions will be loving.  The peace in that day will not be a pretend Nobel-prize peace.  All of creation will be restored to Eden's beauty.  Meat-eating animals will get along with grain-eaters as their essential nature is changed.  And we will enjoy great fellowship and joy in the presence of our King.

"BUT OUR CITIZENSHIP IS IN HEAVEN - AND WE ALSO AWAIT A SAVIOR FROM THERE, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST."  Philippians 3:20

FAIR BUDGETING

Over the Labor Day weekend, Laura and I took the three grandgirls to Prairie Grove's 63rd annual Clothesline Fair.  It's a treat to walk around the battlefield and enjoy the big trees.

Hanna, Caroline, and Lily were each given a five dollar bill and an admonition about being careful not to spend it too soon.

We parked the car and before we could cross the road into the fair, Lily lit up when she saw PONY RIDES...$5 pony rides.  Her sisters and Mother began to remind her about the $5 rule.  Mimi was shocked and proud that Lily (at four years old) was agreeable to walk on, practicing delayed gratification.

But once in the fair, each booth held something Lily wanted; she's still perfecting the art of "shopping".   It wasn't long until she loved a pair of flip-flops with a lime green ribbon bow.  Lily listened as her Mother repeated the $5 talk...then the lady mercifully GAVE Lily the shoes.

Well, she IS cute.  And they were just $2.  

Later Lily found a $1 bracelet (that broke before the end of the day) and a $3 beautiful purple ring.  Now she only had to keep up with a $1 bill.  It wasn't long until she spent it on a clucking chicken.  (Picture a Dixie cup dressed as a chicken...with a string down the middle and a sponge at the end.  You hold the cup in one hand and jerk the wet sponge down the string.  Voila!  She clucks!)

The older girls were much more careful.  Caroline held out until the very last thing before she picked two tiny stuffed animals, a dolphin and a snake, who were made out of shiny/scaly material.  

Hanna was torn between a Henna tattoo and earrings.  So she spent $3 on the jewelry and went back to a VERY kind Henna man to ask if she could get anything for $2.  He said "Sure, but don't tell anyone."  He generously gave her an intricate dragon that we knew should have cost much more.  

The key to a lasting Henna tattoo is not to touch it until it dries.  One or two booths later Mimi forgot and took Hanna's shoulder.  That involved tears and Mimi expressing great regret and asking for her forgiveness.  Hanna forgave, but later in the day swimming caused it to fade more.  

It's hard to get anything lasting for two dollars unless you count real life lessons.  

By the time we left the fair, Lily was happy to just get her picture made BY a pony.  Please note she's still holding the pink clucking chicken.

The fair was fun for old girls and little girls alike.  We got to experience the generosity of others...the weather cooperated and didn't rain on us, but kept the heat down...no one lost their $5...Mimi got a connection to a lady who makes great American Girl doll clothes...and the girls got a lesson in money management.

The best thing?  The memories, of course.  The grandgirls are talking about next year when they will come on Labor Day and we will go back to the Clothesline Fair.