Where to start-Part 4
Posted on Thursday, October 9, 2008 at 06:30 by faithfarm - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link
The first year will be an interesting one. It doesn't matter if you are starting from scratch or moving into an existing structure. Transforming it into the homestead you want just takes work. The entire first year will be dedicated to obtaining three main goals. Safe, warm and dry. This goes for your family residence and your livestock. I include livestock because in a true independent lifestyle your animals play a vital role in it. Regardless of if it is eggs from your chickens, milk from your goat/cow, or meat from your rabbits...whatever your choice may be there ability to flourish and maintain good health is key to your success and possible future income or bartering sources. In all things that you do the first year it is important to keep it simple. Cover your basic needs and then improve on them once those needs are met. Unless you have an unlimited supply of income-which most don't-doing it this away will allow you to obtain the safe, warm and dry goals. If you start out too big in anything you do the odds of failure increase. By keeping it simple in small steps, improving and growing as you go along, it will allow you to learn and mistakes (that you will make) won't be so hard to overcome. I personally find it very hard to imagine that what you think in the beginning of this journey won't change and adapt as you go along. Your beginning plans, layouts, ect will be useful as a guide but must be fluid enough to change with new wisdom and experience. Be ready to accept failures and learn to accept change. When I started this I was really uncomfortable with both. I was one of "those" people who did not like to fail at anything and changing from "the plan" was extremely hard for me. I got over it-LOL. So for all of you out there who like control and order be advised now-LOL. There are some things out there that are just beyond your control. Like the weather, price of building materials, illness, injury, income loss,rock, mud, insects, varmits, broken equipment, exhaustion....the list goes on and on. You can only do what you can do. But I will tell you when it's all said and done you will have a new found trust and appreciation for how great our Lord is to us. I can't imagine doing any of this without that peace and strength. I think that one of the greatest lessons I have learned in this is the ability to accept what I cannot change. I've learned to be fine with "Well, that didn't work--Ok--let's try it this away". And the day goes on. For some of you that lesson may already be learned-Good for you! Your starting out one big step ahead. Just don't let your lack of knowledge in an area stop you from obtaining your goals. When I say I knew nothing about nothing-I really mean it. Thank God there is other people out there that have already done it and took the time to put it in a book or are willing to show someone else how to do it! I hope one day to be a Blessing to someone else the way so many have Blessed me. >faithfarm
More Apple Goodness...
Posted on Thursday, October 9, 2008 at 06:01 by Chas - 6 Comments - Post Comment - Link
Good Morning!
The other day we talked about making Apple Butter, and boy is it tasty. Yum-o! Well, once you core and peel all those apples you had quite a lot of leftovers... being a frugal homesteader, you don't want anything to go to waste right? If you have pigs, I am sure nothing does, or goats even. ;) But, if you are pig and goat deficient as we are... for now ;), here is a couple of different things you can do with all those wonderful peelings and cores.
First, you can make your own ACV=Apple Cider Vinegar. My friend Kristin shared with me how she makes hers.
Take all your cores and peelings, dump them into a large jar or a food grade bucket. Cover them with water. Cover the jar or bucket with a cloth so it will keep out any flies or pests. Let sit in a dark corner. The apple leftovers will ferment the water, wild yeast will eat up the sugars and in the end you will have vinegar... this process will take several weeks. She says you will know when it is done because of the smell. She posted on the Front Porch, so you can check that out also.
2ndly, you can take your apple peelings and cores and put them in a crockpot or a pot on your stove. Give a generous shake of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, throw in some orange or lemon rinds if you have any... turn on low and let your house fill with the beautiful, rich smell of spiced apples. This can be used several times before it loses its fragrance. Just store in an airtight container in the fridge when not in use.
I had a couple of pictures to share with you for both of these projects, but photobucket is unavailable right now.
I hope you have a terrific day and thanks to all of you who shared with me yesterday.
My Cup Runneth Over...
Late Night Ramblings from me..........
Posted on Wednesday, October 8, 2008 at 10:59 PM by Marcia - 1 Comments - Post Comment - Link
Wow it is later than I thought it was and I am ready for bed, but I need to finish the laundry up before I can go to sleep.. I took a nap today and that was nice and much needed.. I had some time to myself and did some school stuff, took a nap then I read my book.. Wooohoo..
We had free lunch Wednesday again and I believe this just might have been the best one yet.. We had homemade Chicken and noodles with mashed taters, hot rolls and corn.. It was so yummo I could have eaten more.. That is my kinda meal.. I found out yesterday what they were serving today and I made sure I got there early...
I went out and started mowing the yard tonight and the lawnmower was acting weird and then it died so I quit for the night and thought I would tackle it tomorrow.. I need to get that done and weed eat...
I am getting everything done for my informative speech in speech class and I am looking forward to getting that all done. School is going pretty good... It is hard to believe that next week is mid-terms, but I am ready for it..
I have been stocking up on things for our family and doing some research on a few things that might help us out. Crunching some numbers and seeing all that I can figure out.. I know that I have things running through my mind and I am formulating a plan....
Well I think maybe the washer has finished up.. I need to get off here and get that stuff done and get to bed.. I hope that each of you is having a wonderful day and that you are blessed...
God Bless,
Mars
THE NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES
Posted on Wed 8 Oct 2008 at 10:47 PM by GrandmaRosie - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link
This came in my inbox. Thought I would share it. HUGS!
He is the First and Last, the Beginning and the End!
He is the keeper of Creation and the Creator of all!
He is the Architect of the universe and
The Manager of all times.
He always was, He always is, and He always will be...
Unmoved, Unchanged, Undefeated, and never Undone!
He was bruised and brought healing!
He was pierced and eased pain!
He was persecuted and brought freedom!
He was dead and brought life!
He is risen and brings power!
He reigns and brings Peace!
The world can't understand him,
The armies can't defeat Him,
The schools can't explain Him, and
The leaders can't ignore Him.
Herod couldn't kill Him,
The Pharisees couldn't confuse Him, and
The people couldn't hold Him!
Nero couldn't crush Him,
Hitler couldn't silence Him,
The New Age can't replace Him, and
Donahue can't explain Him away!
He is light, love, longevity, and Lord.
He is goodness, Kindness, Gentleness, and God.
He is Holy, Righteous, mighty, powerful, and pure.
His ways are right,
His word is eternal,
His will is unchanging, and
His mind is on me.
He is my Redeemer,
He is my Savior,
He is my guide, and
He is my peace!
He is my Joy,
He is my comfort,
He is my Lord, and
He rules my life!
I serve Him because His bond is love,
His burden is light, and
His goal for me is abundant life.
I follow Him because He is the wisdom of the wise,
The power of the powerful,
The ancient of days, the ruler of rulers,
The leader of leaders, the overseer of the overcomers, and
The sovereign Lord of all that was and is and is to come.
And if that seems impressive to you, try this for size.
His goal is a relationship with ME!
He will never leave me,
Never forsake me,
Never mislead me,
Never forget me,
Never overlook me, and
Never cancel my appointment in His appointment book!
When I fall, He lifts me up!
When I fail, He forgives!
When I am weak, He is strong!
When I am lost, He is the way!
When I am afraid, He is my courage!
When I stumble, He steadies me!
When I am hurt, He heals me!
When I am broken, He mends me!
When I am blind, He leads me!
When I am hungry, He feeds me!
When I face trials, He is with me!
When I face persecution, He shields me!
When I face problems, He comforts me!
When I face loss, He provides for me!
When I face Death, He carries me Home!
He is everything for everybody, everywhere,
Every time, and every way.
He is God, He is faithful.
I am His, and He is mine!
My Father in heaven can whip the father of this world.
So, if you're wondering why I feel so secure, understand this...
He said it and that settles it.
God is in control, I am on His side, and
That means all is well with my soul.
Everyday is a blessing for GOD Is!
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Missouri Voter Registration Fraud
Posted on Wednesday, October 8, 2008 at 08:44 by blessed mom - 4 Comments - Post Comment - Link
For those of you in Missouri, PLEASE MAKE SURE TO VOTE this coming election.
The news just broke out stating that the orginization/ group ACORN has been charged with fraudulent voter registrations. Apparently Acorn help folks register to vote and targets lower income families who vote Democrat. Apparently the FBI is investigating ACORN because many of the registrations they have compiled are coming up as "false signatures names and addresses". This has been reported here in Kansas City.
So please folks - if you live in the great state of Missouri, please make sure you are registered and ready to vote in November.
Missouri is a battleground state and EVERY VOTE counts!
Keep praying for America, we reallly need to keep coming before the throne of Grace on this coming election.
~ gloria ~
If you can your own food
Posted on Wednesday, October 8, 2008 at 7:16 PM by Kris - 1 Comments - Link
Here is a great website on processing times for water bath and pressure canning freezing, tips and more...
The National Center for Home Food Preservation
~Kris
cancer update
I just read the email from my mom that the cancer in her throat is NOT breast cancer!!!!!!!! It's thryoid cancer, which is VERY treatable!!!!!!! PTL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
She still needs to have her adbominal lymph node run to see what kind of cancer that is.
TCG Hotline Mass Calls for Obama Campaign...
Posted on Wednesday, October 8, 2008 at 06:10 by ~Rebekah~ - 2 Comments - Post Comment - Link
I've been getting MASSIVE calls lately which call my cell, hang up on me and NEVER leave messages. When I call them back, I'm greeted with someones cell answering system which says You've reached TCG Hotlines. I am unable to leave comments, nor can I call any other line for it.
Apparently they've been spamming MILLIONS of people Nationally in order to get more votes out there for Obama.
I'm unsure if they have anything to do with ACORN. But after much research, heard it has something to do with several entities on behalf of the Democrats which are not limited to a hotline from the Clintons as well as bloomburg, and yes, all are working for Obamas Candidacy.
Unfortunately, since the numbers are pretty much bogus 800 and other like numbers, I cannot turn them into the FCC. I've tried it already within the month.
Finally tonight I got someone and after hearing the Obama hipe, I quickly told him I have his number, I am on the Do Not Call Registry and plan to turn TCG into the FCC if they do not take me off their list for future calls. He assured me He wouldn't and I assured Him I was a McCain Supporter (though is there truely a candidate worthy of my support these days? Not really)
I just wanted to post the information so others would have it in case you get mass calls as well.
TONS of calls without anyone on them.
It's an Obama supporting company and I let them know I'm supporting McCain. TOTALLY. I have this feeling it's trying to get bogus votes for Him and they' won't get it from ME.
What's Coming: An Explanation Of American Economics And What YOU Need To Know
Posted on Wednesday, October 8, 2008 at 04:38 by ~Rebekah~ - 2 Comments - Post Comment - Link
Here’s my answer to your question of “what’s coming.”
The economy is going to get worse. I know that’s hard to believe considering that in the past 15 months Americans have lost over 2 trillion dollars of retirement savings, that Iceland which has a GDP of $14 billion and liabilities in excess of $100 billion held by its banks and is on the brink of bankruptcy and the International Monetary Fund has just warned of a global “major downturn” in 2009.
A Second Great Depression?
Just how bad will things get? Recently, I had an off-air conversation with one of the titans in the business community. He has been in the thick of what’s happening on Wall Street, the credit crisis and the economy. I’ve been speaking with him about these issues for about two years and he has always been an optimist. Every argument I would make about how bad things were going to be he would counter with an equally optimistic economic prognosis. For the first time he’s now told me that our economy is in for a very “rough landing, at best” and that if our politicians don’t get the bailout exactly right we could see our GDP (a measurement of the total value of all the goods and services produced every year) falling between 15%-20% in one year.
So what does that really mean? A 15%-20% reduction of GDP would be like wiping out between $2.1 to $2.8 trillion dollars from our $14 trillion GDP. To show you how big that number really is, consider that in one year we spend about $583 billion to run the entire Defense Department, $43 billion to fund the entire Department of Homeland Security and have spent less than a trillion dollars fighting in Iraq since that war began.
By way of comparison, in the Great Depression, our national GDP fell 29% over a four year period (1929-1933) and in that period we saw 7000 banks fail, a 25% unemployment rate and a Dow Jones industrial Average suffer an 80% decline. And that was when the pain of a shrinking GDP was spread over 4 years!
About three weeks ago I had the opportunity to walk with very successful billionaire who has spent over seven decades doing business in America. I asked him what it would mean if our economy suffered a 15% reduction in GDP in one year. He stopped mid-stride, thought for a few minutes before saying, “I can’t begin to imagine how bad things would be if that ever happened.”
Credit Card Debt and Greedy Politicians will Prolong our Problems
All the financial ‘experts’ are telling us that whatever is coming our way will be short-lived. Yes, times will be tough, but we’ll quickly emerge and be stronger. I agree that we’ll survive and that we’ll be stronger, but I don’t think it will be a quick recovery.
Unlike the Great Depression we don’t have a large industrial base that will assist in our recovery and too many people don’t have the savings to help them weather the storm. Instead, the average American household carries at least$8,000 in credit card debt. Lastly, our political leadership will be a burden, rather than a help, in getting us back on track. Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Nancy Pelosi, President Bush and Secretary Paulson wake-up each morning and gobble-up larger pieces of the economy and American businesses. They tell us that ‘we need to do this or things will get bad’ but none of them have gone on record and told us that if we follow them we’ll be better off.
The Great Depression showed us that government intervention, at best, will only delay the eventual belt-tightening and pain that must take place to bring the marketplace back into balance. The overbuilding and liquidity excess of the past 10 years has to be brought back into balance. Despite 10 years of government programs under Hoover and Roosevelt accompanied by massive government spending it was not until World War II began that unemployment fell below 10%. It was not a coincidence that the stock market finally regained the strength it had in 1929 only when the prospect of global war appeared to be inevitable in 1939.
How Hedge Funds Could Make things Much Worse
If the government regulated banks can be in as much financial trouble as they are now, just imagine the problems lurking in the unregulated hedge fund world. Hedge funds are a 2 trillion dollar industry. That 2 trillion has been leveraged by several multiples giving it much more influence than the 2 trillion would suggest.
The super-rich invest their money in hedge funds because of their traditionally higher returns. Along with the super-rich, teacher unions, government employee unions and large mutual funds invest in hedge funds, in short, if you have money invested in the market there’s a good chance some of it is held and managed by a hedge fund.
In September, hedge funds around the world recorded their biggest drop since August 1998. Investors that wanted to pull their money out were prevented from doing so by mandatory ‘lock-up’ periods imposed by hedge funds that prevent investors from pulling their money out without giving advanced notice, typically 60 or 90 days. I can only imagine that lots of people have given notice and when they can, will be pulling out their money. When that happens the smaller hedge funds will be wiped out and the larger ones will take big financial hits. The next big test for hedge funds will be October 23rd when an estimated $400 billion in Lehman related credit-default swaps will have to be auctioned and settled, those hedge funds that can’t come up with the money will be wiped out.
Our Politicians keep Playing Politics while our Country is on Fire
Look for our politicians to take advantage of this crisis to promote their own agenda. They keep treating this like a game and are taking actions only after weighing whether their action will help or hurt ‘the party’ at election time. Our country is at the edge and our politicians are worried about elections. This can’t be about Democrats or Republicans. This has to be about saving America.
It’s shameful that Obama and McCain haven’t told the American people that there is no money for all of their proposed spending plans. No, our candidates continue to promise us new plans when we don’t have enough money to pay for the ones we already have.
During the last debate Obama told us that America is the richest country in the world and that we need universal health care. Maybe one of his advisors should tell him that this richest country in the world is borrowing 2 billion dollars a day from foreign countries because that’s how much more we spend than take in, and that was before we started bailing out Wall Street, Main Street and homeowners.
Obama is unbelievably still planning on redistributing wealth in the middle of an economic crisis by taxing those who earn in excess of $250,000 and then redistributing that money to those who make less than $200,000, including sending people who don’t pay any taxes at all $1,000 check. His plan has been called a New Tax Welfare Plan. Call it what you want, we don’t have the money to pay for it.
McCain’s plans for revamping our health care system and his support for a carbon-tax plan are also unaffordable. He should come clean with the American people and tell us that. His failure to so demonstrates that he really doesn’t understand what is taking place in our homes and businesses.
Congress wants in on the action too. Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Barney Frank and Chris Dodd will flood our country with new programs. The progressive ultra-left has taken over the Democrat Party. They are so liberal and so out-of-touch with mainstream America that Senator Lieberman, a longtime Democrat, left the party and is now an Independent who is publicly thinking about no longer caucusing with the Democrats. Longtime Democrat and chief fund-raiser for Hillary Clinton, Lynn Forester de Rothschild, has said that her party is too far leftand is now actively campaigning for John McCain.
Politicians Waiting to Exploit the ‘Right’ Tragedy
Too many politicians are anxiously waiting for the right moment to expand government. They’re waiting for the “Megan Law” moment. That moment when the stars align so politicians can pass legislation over any objections, whether it’s good or bad.
Megan’s Law is named after a 7 year old girl who was kidnapped, raped and murdered by a repeat violent sexual offender. The public had finally become so outraged that the politicians had to act. Megan’s Law requires the posting of information about sexual offenders to the public. Passing Megan’s Law was the right thing to do but it shouldn’t have taken this tragedy to do it—but it took Megan’s tragedy in order to overcome the opposition from the ACLU and other groups who kept screaming about the rights of the accused.
Pelosi, Reid and the progressive left as well as many Republicans still don’t believe that our very survival is at stake with what is going on today. They still look at this meltdown as just another opportunity to score political points. If the Democrats in the House of Representatives really believed that our country’s economic security was at stake then they would have passed the bailout bill. They didn’t need any Republican support. They had the votes. But Pelosi and the Democratic leadership didn’t want to risk a massive voter backlash so they didn’t push the bill through. That is playing politics. If the Senate believed that our country’s economic security was at stake they would have passed a bailout bill without the $100 billion in ‘goodies’ attached. That is playing politics. Do the right thing for the country, stop playing politics.
As the crisis worsens and takes a higher emotional toll on the public we will see tragic stories. We will see more stories about people giving up hope, losing focus on what’s truly important and ending their lives and the lives of people they love. And when the ‘right’ story comes along, it will be exploited to take away more of our freedoms, to shred the Constitution just a little more and grab more money for the government from the people who earn it.
We can also expect our international/foreign enemies and competitors to take advantage of our current economic crisis.
Inexpensive oil is the lifeblood of our economy. It helps us plant our crops, is needed to make the clothes we wear, and keeps us moving freely by car, plane, and ship. America benefits when oil prices are low. Russia, Iran and Venezuela (along with several other countries) benefit when oil prices are high. Iran recently misreported that it forced a U.S. military airplane to land (it turned out to be a Hungarian plane carrying relief supplies). This was an attempt by Iran to spike oil prices temporarily, and it worked, until the truth came out.
Russia’s invasion of Georgia wasn’t about South Ossetia. It was about sending a message to the West that our efforts to build and maintain an oil pipeline through Georgia relied on the good graces of Russia and they didn’t want the West to forget that. Iran has continually petitioned OPEC to cut back on production in order to keep oil prices high and Venezuela is using its petro-dollars to spread his form of socialism.
Russia is also using its massive petro-dollar supply to buy influence on the international front. Remember all those banking problems Iceland is experiencing? Russia is now working with Iceland on a bailout package in an attempt to leverage this crisis into strengthening its international influence. Russia is also reaching out and strengthening its ties to Syria and Iran. Syria announced that it is dredging its fishing port of Tartous so it can accommodate Russian warships.
Iran will continue to develop its nuclear program. The countries of the world will increasingly be focused on reviving and in some cases, saving, their economies. Iran will take advantage or our collective distraction. I am increasingly in the camp that thinks Israel will have to take unilateral action against Iran before it develops a nuclear weapon and that would explain why we’ve decided to sell Israel 1,000 bunker busting bombs.
In the past four weeks Venezuela hosted two strategic long-range Russian bombers, and held joint navy exercises with a fleet of Russian ships, including a nuclear-powered missile cruiser. President Chavez has also been busy working with Columbia’s FARC terrorists and last week renewed his goal of building a ‘civilian’ nuclear program and has called for revolution throughout South America.
These countries will increasingly use more aggressive methods to drive up the cost of oil and expand their sphere of international and regional influence by generously spreading around their petro-dollars.
Meanwhile, North Korea doesn’t have any oil so it’s using the next best thing, the threat of nuclear weapons to get what it wants. It wasn’t too long ago that President Bush was touting a new ironclad agreement between America and North Korea. Well, after promising to verifiably dismantle its nuclear power plants in exchange for financial aid and fuel, the North Koreans have vowed to resume their suspended nuclear program. You can expect the guy with the crazy haircut and glasses to demand more money, fuel and aid for him to play nice again.
Closer to home you will see that Americans are increasingly feeling isolated and detached from their government. Part of the reason is that we don’t think politicians care what we think anymore. The $700 billion bailout bill passed the Senate at a time when only 30% of the country supported it. We felt that a giant stick was poked into our collective eye!
59% of Americans would vote the entire Congress out of office but due to the self-serving way the politicians have drawn their election districts it’s just this side of impossible to do it. Only 49% of the people believe that this congress is currently doing a better job than a group of individuals selected randomly from a phone book would do and 33% of us actually believe the group selected at random would do a better job!
Politicians play Politics with our Economy by Playing Politics with Energy Policy
But our politicians just don’t get it. Look at energy. We need inexpensive oil to make our country work and maintain our standard of living. To be perfectly clear: without inexpensive energy our economy doesn’t work and our standard of living dramatically falls.
You would think that our politicians, who understand this, would put our national interest above their petty desire for re-election, but they don’t. Look at what happened with offshore drilling. The federal moratorium on offshore drilling legally expired at the end of September. In theory, oil companies could have started drilling the first week of October but instead no oil company is even drafting plans to drill, why? Because they know that the politicians aren’t serious about offshore drilling. They know that too many congressmen are servants to the extremist environmental movement and as soon as the election is over will vote to either prevent offshore drilling or impose onerous conditions on any drilling. So the politicians will go home to their districts and tell the voters they are for drilling and then turn around and collect big fat donations from the environmental lobbyists who oppose drilling.
The same thing can be said about coal and nuclear power. Obama tells a national audience during his nomination acceptance speech that he and Joe Biden are for clean coal. Less than 90 days later Joe Biden is captured on tapetelling a woman that coal isn’t going to play a role in an Obama Administration energy plan.
Obama and McCain have talked-up nuclear power on the campaign trail but have done little to actually make it happen in their many years of service in the U.S. Senate. Meanwhile China plans on building about one nuclear power plant a year up through 2020.
There’s a real disconnect between our elected leaders and the people, but the majority of Americans are willing to work through this disenfranchisement. We want to reform government. We want to improve our country and communities but there is a fringe that is actively trying to exploit this disenfranchisement. I have someone on my staff that monitors the extreme blogs—stuff that most people, thankfully, haven’t even heard of. These blogs contain a call to revolution. One writer said that we need to “join with your brothers in arms and through force, return what is rightfully the peoples to the people” and another entry encouraged the reader to “rise up and join us before our nation is taken from us by the crooks and *******s that waste our air, one nation, taken back by the force of the peoples militia…”.
Guys, I told you that this was going to be a sobering letter. We are on the edge of a giant abyss that could swallow not only our economy but the freedoms and security we have enjoyed for over 200 years. Believe it or not, I don’t think that this letter captures the urgency that I feel, but I didn’t want to include wild speculation because I can’t see into the future but I wanted to give you a sense of the Perfect Storm that I have talked about and how the pressures that our economy and country face at this time are once again placing our “lives, fortunes and sacred honor” at stake.
Source: Glenn Beck
A Call To Christians For Scripture Interpretation And Sisterly Advice.
Posted on Wednesday, October 8, 2008 at 03:15 by ~Rebekah~ - 0 Comments - Post Comment - Link
My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.
If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
James 1:19-27
I've been contimplating on this scripture in James today. Praying on it. I'm a bit confused as to what it all means and thought I'd ask for elaboration for those who know His word well.
Not forgetting His word, but "doing it". Sounds as though He's saying practice what you preach. I guess I sometimes wonder about this within the Body and am hoping someone out there can explain this to me so I can understand what He actually means by this.
Recently, I had a discussion about beliefs within the body. Obviousely we know there are many "reilgious" beliefs out there. I grew up believing one way, and when I got older, after much searching and praying, I accepted Christ through Salvation. I began to understand a whole different side to "faith" and a "relationship with Christ" than I once knew.
In the whole process of it all, I have understood there are MANY teachings in the Bible that are non-essentials., BUT, there was one essential that just couldn't be changed or liberally pieced so that it fits with whatever we so choose. That would be Salvation. Confessing with our mouths that we know Jesus suffered, died, was burried, and now lives within each one of is. That it is THE ONLY thing we need to get to heaven and that everything else is non-essential and thus, really not something to be arguing over.
In this process though, I've found so many brothers and sisters alike that have been practicing tolerance even though it goes against the very foundations they have been taught. I've found myself feeling like an outsider and an outcast wondering if what I really believe is actually "real" at all. Trying to find the Truth in what I've read from the scriptures above, while also comparing it to the following scripture:
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
What does our God want us to do? He says anyone who listens and doesn't do, is like a man who looks in a mirror and forgets what He looks like.
In my own opinion, If I believe one way, I shouldn't falter or teach that one way is right if it isn't within Gods guidelines just out of tolerance or respect. On the other hand, If someone chooses to believe another way and hasn't asked my opinion, I am respectful of their faith and tolerant. I just choose not to falter on what I think is Truth based on Christs teachings, if I'm asked my opinion or belief. Often, I made to feel quite untolerant of those believing otherwise who think we should all be tolerant of a paticular belief as a "Christian" yet doesn't really follow the teachings of Christ.
Hopefully I didn't confuse many of you here: I've just been reading scripture on some things pertaining to conviction of myself, while also understanding just what I'm supposed to be doing as a child of God.
I know the biggest command is to "LOVE". Yet, I think we all know that it's hard to love someone when you disagree with them right? In my case, I'm learning not to take things I say too seriously. I mean, I'm not perfect, I DO make mistakes. It's the very reason I NEED JESUS. But I find myself having to change from believing in the Essentials of Christ (meaning only needing Salvation through Christ to get to heaven) within the Body these days, to be tolerant of ALL RELIGIONS that supposedly get us to heaven.
Sadly, I see a whole lot of "Christians" faltering to "The Worlds View" of interfaith tolerance. It's becoming SO confusing to understand Gods teachings anymore as humans have been taking scriptures out of context to suit themselves these days. Especially when those around me who are believers aren't standing on what they believe. "If You don't stand for something, You'll fall for anything" as the quote goes. I'm having a REALLY hard time and my spirit is weary.
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