Pure Water Hollow Homestead

Country Boy

1:04 AM, Wednesday, January 2, 2008 .. Posted in N) Misc Musings .. 2 comments .. Link

Here is an unusual post for me. I do not associate much with John Denver or Hank Williams Jr. or Johny Cash and I am not an advocate for much of their music. However, they each have a stanza in a song that I do identify with and I thought it would be fun to put them down here together. These excerpts speak to me.

Well a simple kinda life never did me no harm
A raisin me a family and workin on a farm
My days are all filled with an easy country charm
Thank God Im a country boy
I live back in the woods, you see
A woman and the kids, and the dogs and me
I got a shotgun rifle and a 4-wheel drive
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive
Country boy, you got work to do
Country boy, in the morning dew
You gotta plant the seed, you gotta cut the weeds
There's many a row you know you gotta hoe
When it's quittin' time, and your work is through
There's a lot of life in you
Country boy, you lucky thing
Country boy, I wish I was you, and you were me

Why I Do Not Celebrate Halloween Eph. 5:8-16

11:40 PM, Wednesday, October 31, 2007 .. Posted in A) Learning About God .. 1 comments .. Link

I preached this sermon last Sunday to our home church. Actually, I don't preach word for word what I type out, but it is usually pretty close. Most of the time I don't even type out the sermons that God gives me, but from time to time I feel led to. I thought I would share it here, just to demonstrate some more of my convictions. They are not always popular, but I always feel strongly about them. There is much more that could be said about Halloween, but this is the direction that the Lord led me this week. Our pastor had touched on some of the evil components of Halloween the previous week, but left open the possibility that it may be OK to participate in many aspects of the "fun" part of the holiday. I have difficulty seeing anything about the celebration being appropriate "fun" for a Christian.

(I am always amazed when God allows me to put together a message and uses me to deliver it. This message was not copied from anyone else, but the Lord led me through prayer and study. What follows is a copy of my notes for the message with the actual Bible verses put in where they would have been read aloud):

Why I Do Not Celebrate Halloween Eph. 5:8-16
8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.
13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.
14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
I have been asked by many people over the years, why I do not celebrate Halloween. I was not brought up with any convictions against Halloween. I participated in Trick Or Treat as a child, I’ve been to many Halloween parties, I’ve even helped to organize a full fledged "Haunted House" at a church where Lisa and I were the youth leaders.
As I grew in Christ, and started looking around at what Halloween is really all about, God convinced me that there was nothing about Halloween that should interest me as a Christian. Today, for me as a Christian to want to celebrate Halloween would be like a Russian citizen wanting to celebrate the 4th of July! It just doesn’t make much sense when I consider the main elements of Halloween.

1) Darkness is Enhanced v8
2) Fear is Embraced v9-10
3) Sin is Expected v11-12
4) Death is Exploited v13-14
5) Evil is Exalted v15-16
I. Darkness is Enhanced v8

8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
Illus: Just look at the decorations surrounding Halloween, and they are everywhere. Halloween decorations are meant to celebrate evil and darkness. The Good Housekeeping Book of Entertainment: "Orange, black and red, the devil’s colors, are the colors associated with Halloween, and this scheme should be carried out as far as possible… Have paper streamers and lanterns hanging from the ceiling, or you could make a giant spider web with black and orange strings, or with narrow strips of crepe paper for the four corners of the room, complete with a large spider – one of the devil’s followers."
a) Darkness hides evil
"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkenss rather than light, because their deeds were evil." –John 3:19
b) Darkness is opposite to God
"If we say we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth."1John1:6
c) The light of Christ dispels the darkness
"Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." –John 8:12

II. Fear is Embraced v9-10

9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
Illus: Haunted houses, haunted trails, scary movies
a) Fear is not from God
"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." –2 Tim 1:7
b) The love of Christ casts out fear
"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." –1 John 4:18
III. Sin is Expected v11-12

11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.
Illus: What teens do when they are too old to trick or treat. Egging, corning, toilet paper, bashing mailboxes, road blocks, etc
Illus: Police verify that there are more crimes committed during the Halloween season.
a) Sin is enticing
Proverbs 1:10-16
10 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
11 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause:
12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:
13 We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:
14 Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:
15 My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path:
16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
b) The cross of Christ crucified sin
"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, shuld live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed." –1 Peter 2:24

IV. Death is Exploited v13-14

13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.
14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
Illus: Slasher movies glamorizing brutal, serial murders. Horror movies glamorizing the supernatural.. Wicked movies dealing with the undead like zombies or vampires.
a) Death was not from God
Genesis 2:16-17
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
b) Death is an enemy
1 Cor 15:26
26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
c) The victory of Christ defeated death
1 Cor 15:21-22
21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1 Cor 15:54-57
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
V. Evil is Exalted v15-16

15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Illus: World Book Encyclopedia "Halloween’s beginnings preceded Christ’s birth when the druids, a pagan group of devil-worshipers in what is now Britain and France, observed the end of summer by making human sacrifices to the gods. It was the beginning of the Celtic newyear. They belived that Samhain, the lord of death, sent evil spirits abroad to attack humans, who could escape only by assuming disguises and looking like spirits themselves. The waning of the sun and the approach of dark winter made the evil spirits rejoice and play nasty tricks. Most of our Halloween practices can be traced back to the old pagan ites and superstitions."
Illus: Today there are real Satan worshippers and witches who consider Halloween to be their "high holy day"
a) We should hate evil
"Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good." –Rom 12:9
b) We should overcome evil
"Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." –Rom 12:21
c) We should not look evil
"Abstain from all appearance of evil." – 1 Thess 5:22
d) The Devil is evil
1) Satan wants to be exalted and worshipped
Isaiah 14:12-14
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
2) The manifestation of Christ destroys evil
"He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." – 1 John 3:8
Darkness is Enhanced - The light of Christ dispels
Fear is Embraced – The love of Christ casts out
Sin is Expected – The cross of Christ crucified
Death is Exploited – The victory of Christ defeated
Evil is Exalted – manifestation of Christ destroys
Ephesians 5:17 is the verse immediately following our text:
17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
Halloween is celebrated on 10-31 so let's end with a 10:31 from the Bible:
1 Corinthians 10:31
31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

A Semi-Private Blog

4:47 PM, Tuesday, February 13, 2007 .. Posted in N) Misc Musings .. 4 comments .. Link

I have made some changes to this blog that probably will not affect many folks here. I plan to continue posting the same type of entries I always have, with the same types of pictures. The people who will be able to see them is the only thing that will be different.

After much prayer and consideration, I have decided to make this blog much more secure and private.

If you are not logged in to the homesteadblogger website, you will only be able to see a few of my posts, even though I am continuing to post new ones. So if this is one of the first things you see on my blog it is because you are not logged in.

I have had zero problems with any kooks looking at this blog, and according to my counter, every visitor has come through the homesteadblogger website.

The recent blog safety post got me thinking, however, and I have decided it would be wise to change some of the things I am doing. Actually it was the link to the post on "Rocks In My Dryer" that really got me concerned.

As most of you know, I am fond of posting many pictures on this blog. I enjoy sharing these pictures with my family and friends, but I do not like the idea of an evil-hearted individual being able to access them. This whole project has always been mainly just a personal log for our memories and posterity, anyway.

So, I have decided to go back through each entry and make most of them accessible to only registered users of homesteadblogger. The entries where I had included pictures of a slightly more personal nature, I decided to make accessible to only those registered users on my friend list. Out of 58 entries I think I only came up with about a dozen or so with pictures that I don't want in the hands of someone with evil intentions, so by and large, this blog won't be noticeably different to the average registered user who occasionally looks in on this blog.

I do still want to share my blog with our family members and friends who are not registered with homesteadblogger, I just want to make it difficult for a stranger to get in.

I have come up with a plan for those of you who are our family members and friends if you still want to look at the blog. Just call or email us and I will tell you what to do.

Again, I want everyone to know that as far as I can tell, this is a safe environment to blog in and I have not had a single issue, not even with anonymous commenter's. Everyone who has viewed my blog has always come in through the hsb website and not from any questionable, seedy websites. I have not seen one visitor that came in from a search engine, either. We probably have little to worry about, but I have decided that if I err, I want it to be on the side of caution.

Thanks for understanding.