Child's Rights vs Mom's Rights

My son came home from school one day,
with a smirk upon his face.
He’d decided he was smart enough,
to put me in my place.

“Guess what I learned in Civics Two,
that’s taught by Mr. Wright?
It’s all about the laws today,
The ‘Children’s Bill of Rights.’

“It says I need not clean my room,
don’t have to cut my hair.
No one can tell me what to think,
or speak, or what to wear.

“I have freedom from religion,
and regardless what you say,
I don’t have to bow my head,
and I sure don’t have to pray.

“I can wear earrings if I want,
and pierce my tongue and nose.
I can read and watch just what I like,
and get tattoos from head to toes.

“And if you ever spank me,
I’ll charge you with the crime.
I’ll back up all my charges,
with the marks on my behind.

“Don’t you ever touch me,
my body’s only for my use,
not for your hugs and kisses,
that’s just more child abuse.

“Don’t preach about your morals,
like your mama did to you.
That’s nothing more than mind control,
And it’s illegal too!

“Mom, I have these children’s rights,
so you can’t influence me,
or I’ll call Children’s Services Division,
better known as C.S.D.”

Of course my first instinct was
to toss him out the door.
But the chance to teach a lesson
made me think a little more.

I mulled it over carefully,
I couldn’t let this go.
A smile crept upon my face —
he’s messing with a pro.

The next day I took him shopping
to the local Good Will store.
I told him, “Pick out all you want,
there’s shirts and pants galore.

I’ve called and checked with C.S.D.,
who said they didn’t care
if I bought you K-Mart shoes
instead of those Nike Airs.

And I’ve canceled that appointment
to take your driver’s test.
The C.S.D. is unconcerned
so I’ll decide what’s best.”

I said “No time to stop and eat,
or pick up stuff to munch.
And tomorrow you can start to learn
to make your own sack lunch.

“Just save that raging appetite,
and wait ‘til dinner time.
We’re having liver and onions,
a favorite dish of mine.”

He asked, “Can I please rent a movie,
To watch on my VCR?”
“Sorry, but I sold your TV,
for new tires on my car.

“I also rented out your room,
you’ll take the couch instead.
The C.S.D. requires
just a roof above your head.

“Your clothing won’t be trendy now,
and I’ll choose what we eat.
That allowance that you used to get,
will buy me something neat.

“I’m selling off your jet ski,
dirt-bike and roller blades.
Check out the ‘Parent’s Bill of Rights’,
It’s in effect today!

“Hey hot shot, are you crying,
and why are you on your knees?
Are you asking God to help you out,
instead of C.S.D.?”

Three Who Got Something Good at the Tomb

From Carolyn Dowd's Easter Sunrise Sermon...

• Mary Magdalene's hope was renewed.
• Peter received a second chance.
• John received a reason for living.

John Loren Sandford - Elijah Among Us

p59

Unfortunately, many times what God intends when He speaks through His prophets is aborted because His people do not respond in faith and obedience. Sometimes God’s first and best will is not done because we interfere. If His will were always done, our Lord would not have commanded us to pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

p62

Whenever God promised something good is coming, duck! God is most likely going to humble and prepare your heart first. Sometimes prophetic blessings do not come because we fail to pray consistently until the blessing comes to pass. [regarding Dan 10] Don't leave your “angel” stuck halfway. Pray your prophesied blessings all the way to fruition.

p63

Job 31:32 “The stranger did not lodge in the street: but I opened my doors to the traveler.”

More verses on Hospitality:

• Matt 10:41 - receive a prophet, get a prophet’s reward
• Gal 6:7 - sow & reap
• Matt 6:9-10 - lay up treasures in heaven [via good deeds?]
• Luke 24:28-29 - Emmaus road “constrained”
• Heb 13:2 - entertained angels unawares
• Gen 18 - Abe entertained God
• 2 Same 6:11 - Obed-Edom hosted the ark

p64

The people knew this principle and prayed that a holy man might come and stay with them.

p65

This is also why Jesus sent His disciples out without provisions and extra clothing (Matt 10:9-10, Luke 10:5-7)

2 Kings 4:10 - The Shunamite woman who made a room for Elisha

Job 31:16,17,19-22,32

p69

Sirach 2:1 “My child, when you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for testing..”

p73-74

[Story of Gladys, healed of lung cancer] But the people were not glad she had been healed! This would mean that God was real and that all of their sins were upon them.

p82

Bill Hamon, Prophets: Pitfalls and Principles:

The line between pronouncing God's genuine prophetic judgments and ministering out of a wounded heart or spirit of rejections is a thin one.

[Judgment] is an area most susceptible to presumption and carnal judgments rather than the purity of the Holy Spirit.

p97

When a sheep does not walk closely enough, the shepherd breaks its leg.

p142

Many students of prophecy believe they know how to decipher verses about the end times. They know what “seventy weeks” means, for example, and have charted history in clever timetables that seem to “fit”...

These studies walk close to divination because they try to see what God has kept hidden.

p143

The Lord said to me, “John, before I came the first time, all the biblical scholars thought they knew who I would be and what I would do, and they were all wrong.”

p150

Do not make your prophecies happen... wait for the Lord to engineer His own answers — do not try to make your prophecy come true.

p157

Very seldom have I received any revelation from the Holy Spirit that was not connected to some immediate need while serving Him.

p159

The secret of abounding or suffering is found in losing your life for Him, until you literally do not care what people thing about you.

All your security is vested then in His love for you, and ambition withers and dies like a plant that no longer finds nurture.

p164

Numbers 12 - Five Ways God Speaks to Prophets (in order from least clarity to most):

• Dreams
• Visions
• Dark Speech
• Mouth-to-mouth Directly
• Aloud

Three Levels of Visions:

• Only imagination seems involved
• Imagination plus cognizance of the Holy Spirit’s involvement
• Physically-opened eyes like Stephen

p205

You have no authority unless you are under it.

p206

When the Lord makes a list, He normally begins with the most extreme. For example, in a list of negatives, He names the worst first.

Recommended Reading

Bill Hamon - Prophet's Personal Words
Ernest Gentile - Your Sons and Daughters Shall Prophesy
Michael Sedler - Stop the Runaway Conversation
John Paul Jackson - The Veiled Ploy

Positive Results of Troubles and Trials

• 1 Peter 1:6-9
• Romans 5:1-5
• James 1:2-3

We retain:
10% of what we hear once
40% of what we hear twice
60% of what we hear three times
50% of what we see
80% of what is acted out

N. T. Wright - The Challenge of Jesus

Chpt. 1, p. 31

This is not a task simply for a few backroom specialists. If church leaders themselves spent more time studying and teaching Jesus and the Gospels, a good many of the other things we worry about in day-to-day church life would be seen in their proper light. It has far too often been assumed that church leaders stand above the nitty-gritty of biblical and theological study; they have all done that, we implicitly suppose, before they come to office, and now they simply have to work out the “implications.” They then find themselves spending countless hours at their desks running the church as a business, raising money or working at dozens of other tasks, rather than poring of their foundation documents and inquiring ever more closely about the Jesus whom they are supposed to be following and teaching others to follow.

Chpt. 2, p. 37

[Three options open to the Jesus who had their geographical deliverance, but not their political or theological deliverance:

1. Quietest: Separate/hide and wait on God, like the dead sea scroll writers at Qumran
2. Compromiser: Suck it up and prosper, like Herod or Matthew/Levi
3. Zealot: Fight, like Simon Zelotes

Jesus was not any of those.
] He went back to Israel's scriptures and found there another kingdom-model...

p. 39

If His way of bringing the kingdom was the right way, then Herod's way was not, the Qumran way was not, and the Zealot way was not. And the Pharisees, who in Jesus’ day were mostly inclined to the Zealot end of the spectrum, were bound to regard Him as a dangerous compromise.

Three Main Thrusts of Jesus” Kingdom-Message:

1. The End of Exile
2. The Call of a Renewed People
3. The Warning of Disaster and Vindication to Come

p. 40

Isaiah 6:9-10 is quoted in all four gospels and Acts:
Matt 13:14-15
Mark 4:12
Luke 8:10
John 12:40 Acts 28:26-27

Mark Buchanan - Your Church is Too Safe

Comments on John 1:14 (,,,full of grace and truth)

Good news is always show-and-tell.

God pulled out all the stops to create creation. How much more to create new creations?  To accomplish the first, God spake. To accomplish the second, God came.

"Full" - not one more drop of truth or grace could fit in Him.

He bursts at the seams with both.  Everything He is, everything He does, drops truth, exudes grace. There's never a moment when Jesus runs short on either. If Jesus were facing an enemy, or dealing with disappointment, or saw a beautiful woman, or was betrayed by a friend, or met a gay man, or was given a million dollars, or whatever, what He would say and what He would do would be the perfection of grace and truth.

When we speak truth, it should be so grace-soaked, it's hard to reject; when we show grace, it should be so truth-soaked it's hard to accept.

Rosaria Butterfield - The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert

Sexuality is more a symptom of our life’s condition than a cause, more a consequence than an origin.

Importantly, we don’t see God making fun of homosexuality or regarding it as a different, unusual, or exotic sin. What we see instead is God's warning: if you indulge the sins of pride, wealth, entertainment-lust, lack of mercy, and lack of discretion, you will find yourself deep in sin — and the type of sin may surprise you.

Homosexuality, like all sin, is symptomatic and not casual — that is, it tells us where our heart has been, not who we inherently are or what we are destined to become.

Sin is not a mistake.  A mistake is taking the wrong exit on the highway.  A sin is treason against a holy God.  A mistake is a logical misstep.  Sin lurks in our heart and grabs us by the throat to do our bidding.

Lorretta Kelley - Dream Stealers

When you commit your works unto the Lord, even your thoughts will be established.

Delay does not mean denial.

You cannot transform another's life - only God can do it.

Fatigue can steal or kill your dream... you gotta learn to say, "No!"

Not everyone will support your dream or vision... you gotta be careful who you tell it to.