Birthing wind series 1: don't sweat the small stuff

Taking the kingdom part 4 - Ruth, Kingmaker

Practical Christianity 5: What will it take to be in harmony with God?

Practical Christianity 4: Lets make it legal

Practical Christianity 1: What comes first, chicken or egg, practicality or spirituality?

The righteous state

Through the years I often heard somewhat naïve statements about how the world would only be a better place if it had a Christian government. That is unrealistic. In time yes, not now.

It led me to a controversial question: “Could our world or our society carry on indefinitely, if it functioned righteously?” 

No, I am not saying, “if it was Christian”. Our lessons of Jewish and church history disqualify the viability of a theocratic state, per se. Frankly the church needs to get its own house in order.

Thus to argue that only a Christian state is workable is as wrong as saying that any theocratic state would work and endure, which history invalidates. Besides, theocratic states, as in say the Sharia model, tend to be intolerant and repressive, rarely righteous. However, the secular state of Islamic Turkey has historically proven to a moral beacon in our world.

My cup runs over

Our moods ebb and flow in cycles. We are oft desensitized to that because of contemporary lifestyles, diets, “feel the same every day” stimulants or the demands of life.

So, as I am feeling spiritually flat right now, I googled that and found a topic at the top of my search list, which seemed off subject. It was about menstruation.

Before artificial light dominated our world, the full moon stimulated the pineal gland to induce ovulation, but the darkness of a new moon induced menstruation.

That ebb and flow ensures her mystique. The menstrual pause heightens sexual sensitivity, to add the tension that saves the relationship from becoming predictable.

God is preparing His people for war, His children for battle

This is a prophetic word for families.

The bible foretells a merging of ages, so that in heaven the old will be young again and the youth will be mature. But God is already shortening the days, so that you may endure what lies ahead. Forty day journeys will become 40 month or even 40 week journeys and maturity will come quicker because of the demands of the age. Blessed are the sons and daughters of the saints, for to them will be given wisdom beyond their years and character beyond their station, so that they can take their place alongside you without weighing the family down. As they acquire years, so you will lose yours, thus regaining vitality and strength.

Social networking: Good or bad?

During a lunchbreak on the course I am currently facilitating, we got around to talking about social networking. At the table was a deputy headmaster, a CEO, some engineers and two consultants. We all agreed that the younger generation have adopted the new fad very well and the deputy head was quick to add that in his opinion the youngsters at his school, one of the top schools around, were anything but spoilt in terms of relationships and friendships.

That, notwithstanding, kids are becoming increasingly two-dimensional and relationally challenged. They may well find a steep challenge in the workplace - or else there may be other consequences for this generation, including a general state of denial.

Why is love a battlefield

Jordin Sparks recently had a major hit with her song, “Battlefield”, which asked “why does love always seem like a battlefield?

Her point related more to the struggles of early love, but if she but knew it love is also a long-term battlefield. I have never known a time in my 24 years of marriage where there was not some kind of struggle. Oh, of course there were times when we had to adjust to each other and the seven year slump, where reality hit home. There were other more personal battlefields that confronted us with real crises, and raising children presented its own difficulties. Of course every struggle was both normal and worthy of the fight.

However, beyond such everyday struggles is a far greater spiritual battlefield that is not just about marital or familial love, but also about spiritual love. The great darkness that broods over this world is loveless, cold and destructive. It is the antithesis of love, for God is love. It is hell-bent on destroying every last vestige of love, to remove all traces of God – and it will burn on regardless of how many homes or lives it yet breaks.

Love is a battlefield. Yet every war that was ever fought was waged and won for a greater cause. The cause we fight for, when we defend love, is a worthy cause indeed. Nothing will heal the nations and revive the broken more than love … for love is without envy or strife. Love is without boasting or vengeance. Love is patient and kind. When all else is lost, love will still remain … for God is love.

(c) Peter Eleazar @ www.4u2live.com

What value a wife

What is the value of a wife? The bible calls her a good thing, but there are as many with doubts, as there are wives with doubts about husbands. The concept is a fading throwback to a romantic era.

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All or nothing

Are we complete in and of ourselves. Can a man truly be effective without his wife. Can a woman reach her potential without her husband? Were we even designed to go it alone, regardless of our personal prowess, potency or other amazing features. Well, Abraham was more than potent enough, but to God he was still nothing without his covenant partner. It was all or nothing.

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