Project 365 A Day Late - November 1, 2009

I'm a full day late for Project 365 this week so I hope Sara will excuse me. :) I don't have much this week since I haven't been watching the girls as much.

Tuesday: Remember that longhorn behind the chain-link fence? Word Girl took that picture from a moving vehicle and now she has entered it in a science competition. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of her with the picture so I settled for the picture en route to the drop-off location.

Thursday: I took Word Girl to the orthodontist so we got to spend a little time together just the two of us. We don't get a lot of that. Okay, just the two of us and Tobi.

Sunday: This is actually from yesterday but since I had so little for the week I wanted to share this. We visited a new church yesterday and when we were walking to the truck to go home, Miss Personality found this rock in the parking lot. I let her know that it was a special "I Love You" from God to her.

The girls came over after church so since we had the ROCK, we quickly learned another Bible verse.

The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. My God is my rock in whom I take refuge. Psalm 18:2

I allow paraphrasing as long as it doesn't alter the meaning of the verse. I figure if they can paraphrase the verse then they have a pretty accurate grasp of God's Word. After I explained "fortress", "deliverer", and "refuge" the paraphrasing was something like "The Lord is my Rock, my Protector, and my Saver..." Sometimes the word Rescuer was used and occasionally while they were practicing, the word Hero came out it. I didn't accept Hero as an alternate word but I imagined God was just beaming with pride.

Enjoy your week!

"A girl needs to be so lost in God, that the guy is going to have to seek HIM to find her!" ...Maya Angelou

Changing the Culture

I used to love Greek mythology as a child. The imagination that went into these stories of different gods and how they controlled our world was fascinating to me. I didn't believe any of the tales and had no idea that anyone else did either. But Greek mythology was actually a part of the religious practice in ancient Greece. The cult and ritual practices in the worship of these gods was very real and prevalent in the land. It was a regular part of their culture.

Early Greek religion was a blend of the Achaean, Dorian, Minoan, Egyptian and the Asian cultures, and came about as a result of the mingling of these cultures. Each city was under the protection of one particular god, who was worshiped with unique emphasis in that city. Athena is the goddess of Athens, Artemis is the god of Sparta, Aphrodite was worshiped at Corinth, Apollo worshiped at Delphi and Delos, and Zeus, the king of gods, was worshiped with special reverence at Olympia.

Blood sacrifices of animals such as oxen, sheep, horses, swine, dogs, birds, fish, fowl etc were held in the temples of the gods. During sacrifices, the people offered the blood, bones and hides of the slaughter animal to the god, and the remaining portions were used up as food for themselves.

Paul traveled through Greece with Silas and after some trouble with the Jews for preaching the gospel, he was sent to Athens to wait for Silas and Timothy. (Acts 17 )

While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. Acts 17:16

Paul was always looking for an opportunity to present the gospel in a way that was relevant to the person or people he was speaking with. In this case he chose the culture's dedication to religion.

"For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you." Acts 17:23

Paul used that as his opening remark to tell the people about the salvation that comes from Christ. He didn't join in their customs and practices, but rather, he pulled something out from it. He wasn't trying to add another god to their extensive collection of gods. What he was trying to do was change the culture and it's practices. He was introducing the Unknown God, our Savior Jesus Christ, to the people with the full intent of displacing all other gods, beliefs, and religious practices in the culture. I like the way Alistair Begg stated it in a recent message on Acts 17. "Becoming a Christian involves a radical transformation and a break from all non-Christian habits. Becoming a Christian does not mean simply adding a Jesus package to a lifestyle of our own choosing."

With the onset of Christianity, the Greek religion slowly became extinct. This happened because the believers turned away from the practices of the culture and taught new believers to do the same. Do we, as followers of Jesus Christ, do that in this culture? Do we try to displace any evil that sets itself up against Jesus, or do we accept it, tolerate it, and even embrace it while we set up our belief system right next to it?

"...and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. ...for they will turn your sons away from following me...This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire. For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession." Deuteronomy 7:2,4-6

"A girl needs to be so lost in God, that the guy is going to have to seek HIM to find her!" ...Maya Angelou

Taking Every Thought Captive

I have always been drawn to things mysterious so it's not surprising that in my youth and as a young adult, I became involved in things of an occult nature. Many of us have played with a Ouiji board at some time in our lives thinking it was a harmless game. Then there are the *innocent* séances that kids, teens, and sometimes even adults will have when a group gets together and start talking about all things mysterious. By the way, using a Ouiji board is a form of a séance.

These things held an interest for me and I looked into a variety of occult practices. I have had my palm read and did some studying in palmistry. I studied a little numerology and looked into the power of crystals. I touched on witchcraft, white witchcraft of course because I didn't want to do anything evil. White witchcraft, I was told, is the kind that is only used for good, black witchcraft is the evil kind. Fortunately I didn't step into the realm of witchcraft but if the culture had been what it is now, I'm sure I would have.

I studied astrology in depth and learned how to create an astrological chart and how to read it. I was always looking at where the planets were and how they lined up with the planets in my chart and how they were affecting my life. Much of the astrology that I learned and practiced is still embedded in my mind and comes to the forefront when I see someone's astrological sign even though I push that thought right back out. But what's the harm in reading your daily horoscope? After all it's just for fun. So does that make it okay? By the way, did you know that your blogger profile displays your astrological (zodiac) sign unless you specify that it doesn't?

I also learned to read Tarot cards and have been to a number of psychics. Most that I went to knew very little and I found to be a waste of my money, but there were a few who knew their stuff. Oh they weren't 100% accurate but a lot of their predictions came to pass. One of the ladies I went to on several occasions, kept a picture of Jesus sitting on her table and prayed before each reading. I also used to pray in Jesus Name before I would give myself a reading. Did that make it okay? If I was doing it in Jesus' Name then did it insure that my readings were not coming from an evil source, and that I wasn't participating in evil?

That's what I thought. That's what I believed. But as I continued to read my Bible, I found many references to such things and I took them to heart.

“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, be very careful not to imitate the detestable customs of the nations living there. For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord." Deuteronomy 18:9-12

Psalm 47 makes references to astrologers.

It became clear that even though I was doing all of it in Jesus Name and covering it all in prayer, I was still participating in an evil practice. It didn't feel or look evil in my opinion, but God didn't ask my opinion, He showed me what His Word says. I could choose to obey or disobey. I had to ask myself what was more important, continuing in my long-time practices or pleasing God? I gathered up all of my books and supplies and tossed them all in the dumpster.

Even the simple reading a daily horoscope just for fun is participation in astrology. That alone makes it evil according to God's Word. The spiritual battle is very real. It's at the point where a sin or an evil appears fun and innocent that the devil gains his foothold, and he will do everything he can to keep his foot in that door. And as long as he has his foot in the door, he will attack not only the person who gave him the foothold, but their children, and spouse, and grandchildren. The only way to prevent or stop that attack is to close the door.

...do not give the devil a foothold. Ephesians 4:27

You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell. Psalm 5:4

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Definitions:

A Ouija board, also known as spirit board or talking board, is a flat board marked with letters, numbers, and other symbols, theoretically used to communicate with spirits. Ouija is a trademark for a talking board currently sold by Parker Brothers.

A séance is an attempt to communicate with spirits.

Palmistry (“divination”), is the art of characterization and foretelling the future through the study of the palm, also known as palm reading.

Numerology is any of many systems, traditions or beliefs in a mystical or esoteric relationship between numbers and physical objects or living things. Numerology and numerological divination were popular among early mathematicians.

Witchcraft, in various historical, anthropological, religious and mythological contexts, is the use of certain kinds of supernatural or magical powers.

Astrology is a group of systems, traditions, and beliefs which hold that the relative positions of celestial bodies and related details can provide information about personality, human affairs, and other terrestrial matters.

Tarot reading revolves around the belief that the cards can be used to gain insight into the current and possible future situations of the subject. Some believe they are guided by a spiritual force.

"A girl needs to be so lost in God, that the guy is going to have to seek HIM to find her!" ...Maya Angelou