New

Hello, I've decided to write my blogs at a new blog address. It is https://cynthiagill1972.livejournal.com/ Hope to see you there! Enjoy...

Racism

The problem of racism exists, it has since Adam's fall. It is horrible, despicable and terrible. In this blog I will state 5 reasons why I do not subscribe to the "Wokeness" or Critical Race Theory view as the solution to racism. You may not agree with me, but hear me out. After all, this is America, and we're allowed to have differing opinions, right? 1) Racism is a human problem, not just a "white" problem. What about the possibility that Black, Asian, Latino, and native people can be racist? All over the world, in India and in Africa for example, people of one race brutally subjugate another. Dr.Martin Luther King said in 1966, "A doctrine of Black supremacy is as dangerous as a doctrine of white supremacy." Condemning all whites does not respect the fact that all people can be saved, that we are made in the image of God. 2) To heal racism requires forgiveness, not revenge. Proponents of critical race theory teach that the only way to purge the world of white privilege is to dismantle our institutions and give minorities special privileges. Isn't this partiality that the Lord says to avoid in Jame 2:1,9 and Ex. 23:3? This contradicts the very character of God. "Burn it down," the mantra of some of the Black Lives Matter and cancel culture people is NOT God's heart, nor His way. 3) "We are guilty" says wokeness. Guilty of past crimes, and guilty of present crimes of which we don't know. We cannot overcome this guilt, we can only embrace it, live under the shadow of our failings, and seek secular means of restoration. But the Scripture says that "The child shall not share the guilt of the parent." (Ezek. 18:20) How much more the guilt of the great-great-grandparent? Openly teaching that a German child born today is guilty of Hitler's atrocities, or a newborn Japanese baby for Tojo's horrors is ridiculous. 4) CRT is itself racist, and empowers elites to persecute others. It teaches that whites should strive to be "less white." That is "less oppressive, less confident, less arrogant, less defensive, less ignorant more humble, listen, break with white solidarity." This is "antiracism" and whites must realize that they cannot truly overcome this condition, but must, like an alcoholic, "manage" it. They are "closing the door, locking it, and throwing away the key '' to the solution. In Christ one is freed from such negativity and bondage. We're free to enjoy our heritage, background, and community. 5) Critical Race Theory treats people as oppressors and oppressed due to skin color and power dynamics. CRT teaches that parents oppress their children, police oppress the people by administering the law on the street, governments oppress those they have civic leadership over, and pastors oppress the churches they lead. Scripture teaches us that all authority figures must guard against sin, but it nowhere says that having authority makes you corrupt. Trapping us in a cycle of anger and victimhood, it drains us of compassion. Though wokeness promises tolerance and compassion, it in reality produces rage, resentment, hostility, and terrible division.Only by embracing the Christian Gospel can we find peace, forgiveness, and reconciliation. (Eph. 2:11-22 explain that Jesus died to make all groups into one, through grace, not anger.) I wish every pastor, every church, in America could have a copy of the book I am reading on Wokeness by Owen Strachan. John MacArthur said that the doctrine of Wokeness and CRT is the worst threat to the Gospel he has seen in 6 decades of ministry. What a statement! What an indictment on it! Sadly, many evangelicals have accepted it. We can only pray for a revival, and that these Chrstians will return to their first love. (Rev. 2:4) If you really want to find a solution to racism, I would suggest finding something written by a black conservative; someone who does not subscribe to the Critical Race Theory. There are lots of them. Dr. Ben Carson and Candace Owens come to mind, but these are just 2 of the better well known ones. . Our exhortation is to "fight the good fight of faith" (I Tim. 6:12), so we do that. It's interesting that in ITimothy, Paul's number one priority is to "urge certain men not to teach strange doctrines." So too we must do all we can in our spheres of influence to hold high the banner of truth. "Keep on keeping on!" We say it to each other for encouragement. We know who wins in the end. Easter shows us that "the last thing is not the bad thing." Quotes come from the book Christianity and Wokeness: How the Social Justice Movement is Hijacking the Gospel- and the Way to Stop it, by Owen Stachan. I also quote Lee Grady's excellent article "Why Woke Race Theory Contradicts Christian Faith" in Charisma Magazine, August, 2021, and "Critical Race Theory" in The AMAC Magazine, August, 2021.

How Do We Know if We're Resting in the Lord?

Or...Resting in the Lord doesn't mean sleeping in your quiet time! When I'm under intense pressure, like right now, I can only focus on resting in God. How do I know if I'm resting in God? I notice flowers and appreciate them. I notice sayings that I have up around my house, and think about their message. I don't speed on the highway (!). I don't hurry. Move quickly sometimes, yes, but absent is the stress that comes with not planning ahead, not leaving enough margin, or lack of self discipline. I have patience with other people, but a razor sharp focus on my boundaries of who I should be involved with and who not. This last week and next week I've had to cancel almost everything but work out of my calendar, to do a project that has been thrust upon me suddenly. But God is giving me grace, and rest. I'll take a Sabbath, exercise, have fun,and worship. I'll work hard the rest of the time, at my computer at 7:00 am many mornings, finishing with a 13 hour day at 8. Praise God, His grace is sufficient. Rest in the Lord. I've heard it said that we get more done if we rest in the Lord than if we don't. I believe it! I heard a teaching on resting in the Lord tonight by Bill Johnson of Bethel church in Redding, CA. He said the Hebrew word "rest" in the Bible is also translated "to give birth." Ah yes, we're giving birth when we're resting in the Lord. Hmmm, I'll have to think about that one for a while! Suffice it to say, that Hebrews 4 and Psalm 37 have a good and much needed message for us in this hectic day and age. "Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him..." Not a passive thing. Wait expectantly! --

A Train Whistle

Our country is more divided now than it has been since the Civil War. What are we to do? Can we ever find unity again? I for one have strong political opinions (like many of you), but do not talk about them much at work, nor when I'm with family members. However, when I'm in a prayer meeting, then I let loose. Many people are urging us to get involved, to stand up and be counted. After agonizing over it for a while, I read in Joel Rosenberg's Implosion :" Some of us God has instructed not to be involved in politics." He goes on to explain that some of us are called to pastor, to heal, to minister to people from both sides of the aisle, and we can only do that if we're not involved. I'm called as one of those people. However, I want to publish a quote from Dutch Sheets here, as I think it's relevant.  ‘“I lived in Germany during the Nazi holocaust. I considered myself a Christian. I attended church since I was a small boy. We had heard the stories of what was happening to the Jews, but like most people today in America, we tried to distance ourselves from the reality of what was really taking place. What could anyone do to stop it? ‘“A railroad track ran behind our small church, and each Sunday morning we would hear the whistle from a distance and then the clacking of the wheels moving over the track. We became disturbed when one Sunday we noticed cries coming from the train as it passed by. We grimly realized that the train was carrying Jews. ‘“Week after week that train whistle would blow. We would dread to hear the sound of those old wheels because we knew that the Jews would begin to cry out to us as they passed our church. It was so terribly disturbing! We knew exactly at what time that whistle would blow. And we decided the only way to keep from being so disturbed by the cries was to start singing our hymns. If some of the screams reached our ears, we’d just sing a little louder until we could hear them no more. I still hear that train whistle in my sleep. I can still hear them crying out for help. God, forgive all of us who called ourselves Christians, yet did nothing to intervene.’”2 Please don’t allow anything to drown out the silent screams of the unborn. Don’t hide from the truth. Post it. Preach about it. Write about it. Do a podcast about it. Publicize it. For God’s sake, stop the singing and listen. Lord, have mercy on us.

Are We Too Religious?

The otherday I saw a photo of Jonathan Roumie, the actor who plays Jesus in The Chosen,goofing around being silly, sliding down a railing. He was even in his robes!  My first impression was that “this is irreverent”. Kind of like I felt in 1972 when I heard they had underwear that had “Jesus loves you” on it. Yuck, a definite aversion. Then the same day I heard a podcast by Dutch Sheets in which he talks about Jesus dancing and having fun. Hmmmm, is God trying to tell me something? Too often our impression of Jesus is that He is stoic, serious, ready to call out sin, never laughing or having fun. Is this accurate? Could it be that He is greater than we imagined? That in our zeal to defend His holiness, we actually keep people FROM Him?  Dutch Sheets prayed this prayer the other day: "Teach us that HOLY DOESN'T MEAN SOMBER... Bring a presence movement to the Church that shows the world how irresistible you are." Let's let ourselves believe in a more marvelous revelation of Jesus than our religious upbringing has taught us. "The coming great awakening will result in the greatest celebrations of worship in earth's history." As I think of Jonathan Roumie playing with his friends, I am warmed by Jesus' humanity, and love Him more because of it. Two suggestions: 1) watch The Chosen. You can download the app, it's truly fantastic.2) read The Pleasure of His Company by Dutch Sheets. You can download an app to hear him or read his material at Give Him 15. The quotes in this blog are taken from this book.God is doing a new thing, let's not miss it!  

Americans Don't Do Grief!

Grief. Will we comfort with wisdom and understanding, or use meaningless platitudes? The latter can cause more pain, suffering, heartache. Do we want to be guilty of that? Read on…. “I acknowledge your pain. I’m here with you.” Notice that I said with you not for you. For you implies that you’re going to do something. That’s not for you to enact. But to stand with your loved one, to suffer with them, is incredibly powerful. Just be present, as long as is necessary. Don’t leave when you feel uncomfortable or when you feel like you’re not doing anything. In fact, it’s when you feel uncomfortable and like you’re not doing anything that you must stay. It’s in those places- in the shadows of horror where we rarely allow ourselves to enter- where the beginnings of healing are found. The healing is found when we have others who are willing to enter that space alongside us. Every grieving person on earth needs these people. Some things in life cannot be fixed, they can only be carried. Grief is brutally painful. To say the awful words “Everything happens for a reason” is spiritual, emotional, and psychological violence. It denies their humanity. It robs them of the chance to grieve! It shows a tremendous lack of understanding on the part of the person who says it. In so doing, we steal a bit of their freedom at the intersection of their greatest fragility and despair. Wow, digest that for a minute. Re-read the last paragraph. Think about the last time you said that. Vow never to say it again! Grief does not only occur when someone dies. When relationships fall apart, you grieve. When opportunities are shattered, you grieve. When illnesses wreck you, you grieve. Trauma is a source of tremendous grief. Yet our culture treats grief like a problem to be solved or an illness to be healed. Americans do not know how to grieve well. We've done everything we can to avoid, ignore, or transform grief. So that now, when you're faced with tragedy, you usually find that you're no longer surrounded by people — you're surrounded by platitudes. (Tim Lawrence) Mistakes well-meaning people make in trying to help those who grieve: 1. Not listening well a. Giving unasked-for advice b. Minimizing the pain, saying “I know how you feel” c. Giving them quick solutions d. Criticizing them e. Becoming distracted, not really listening with the heart f. Becoming impatient, or putting them on a time schedule 2. Misunderstanding of the need for processing grief a. Not allowing the person to feel angry or hopeless b. Trying to hurry them along in the process c. Harboring the belief that crying is not acceptable d. Expectation that they will “get over it & move on” quickly e. Trying to teach them before they are ready f. Pressuring them to forgive before they have processed and are ready. Let’s be emotionally intelligent people! Let’s really comfort people, not add to their pain.

A week in Haiti!

Words fail me. The experiences in Haiti were humbling, and I’m having trouble finding expression for them. Let me start by saying what an amazing organization Healing Haiti is. Only 15 years old, God’s favor certainly rests on it. Unlike past many mission trips, we did not take anything down for the people there. “You can’t compete with free.” Our leader told us. “Our goal is to create jobs and empower families.” They are doing just that in a phenomenal way. Fleri, their bread business, has rapidly increased in production, now employing nearly 300 Haitians. Many of their customers are wholesalers, who go on to earn their own money from reselling the bread. All of their families, with multiple hundreds of children, benefit. Soon Fleri will purchase more ovens, without any outside help from the US. Truly God has blessed and multiplied this bakery, whose name means “flourish” in Creole. Healing Haiti works primarily in 3 locations: Cite Solei, Port au Prince, and Titianyen. In these places, schools, medical clinics, and churches have been established. They’re staffed by Haitians who are trained and devoted to the improvement of the community. I was impressed that they have nearly 900 children enrolled in school. Some have graduated from Grace Academy and are attending medical school, business school, and other professions- with an eye and a heart to help their people in the future. We ministered to elders in the elder care program, by massaging their feet and bodies with lotion. Rubbing a person’s tough, leathery skin was precious, as I thought of all the places she had walked in those feet during her lifetime. When we sang with them, how their faces lit up with joy! There’s so much more I could tell. Like holding babies at Mother Theresa’s Sisters’ home. And helping slave children carry water in Cite Solei. I really hope you’ll go to the website www.healinghaiti.org to see more pictures, getting a taste of what we saw and did. Personally I was humbled to serve alongside such a remarkable staff. God convicted me of selfishness and challenged me to do more for His kingdom. I intend to obey. After seeing the Haitians serve with such abandon, how could I not? Praise: A wonderful team, all 15 of us connected quickly and beautifully. Safety, health, and effective serving. God spoke to everyone on the team! Prayer Requests: Revival in the communities of Cite Solei, Titanyen, and Port au Prince. Continued flourishing in Fleri, Grace Village, and Hope Academy For the government of Haiti to have more integrity and less corruption.

An Antidote to Entitlement in Kids...

I haven't written a blog in a while because I was busy getting my new book out. "Why is the Driveway on Fire? Parenting Your Teens and Tweens" is a compilation of 15 blogs on the subject of parenting that I've written over that years. It's available in e-book and in paperback from Amazon. Today I want to highlight an article from NPR on parenting that I thought was very interesting. It looks at other cultures and how they teach their kids to help/do chores. Very good! I'll put the link here, and you can go to it. It caught my eye because of the catchy title: "Are We Raising Unhelpful, Bossy Kids? Here's the Fix." That's one of the antidotes to entitlement-itis: doing chores. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/03/05/974069925/are-we-raising-unhelpful-bossy-kids-heres-the-fix We Americans can learn a lot from other cultures, so let's humble ourselves and do it!

American History? The Controversy

“American schoolchildren today learn two things about Thomas Jefferson: that he wrote the Declaration of Independence, and that he was a slaveholder. This is a stunted and dishonest teaching about Jefferson.” (Larry P. Arnn, Ph. D., president of Hillsdale College) Arnn goes on to explain that when our nation expanded into the Northwest Territory, slavery was forbidden in that territory…on the motion of Thomas Jefferson. They don’t learn that Jefferson wrote “I tremble for my country, when I reflect that God is just…The Almighty has no attribute that can take side with us in … a contest (between master and slave).” Focusing on the issue of slavery alone is like a peacenik person condemning the world for going to war against Germany in 1914 and 1939. Sure, it would be ideal, but there are other things in the mix. Is slavery wrong? Yes, but did Jefferson and others wrestle with the question? Are we communicating that to our kids? People are complicated, and have many complex issues in every era to wrestle with. To say that slavery was the only issue worth looking at, does our kids a disservice. I was sad to hear an 8th grader tell me that she wouldn’t wear a patriotic mask, because it “wasn’t her.” “I’m not ashamed of my country when I go to other countries,” she hastened to explain to me, “But it just isn’t me.” I responded by saying that “Being patriotic isn’t wrong…” but I didn’t know exactly how to answer her. After all, she’s been taught a different US History that I was. The 1619 Project is a curriculum that makes a person ashamed of America. It’s pre-supposition is that we were focused on slavery, and had nothing but greed and hatred in our hearts as the nation unfolded. The 1776 Curriculum, however, is more objective. It looks at the good that America has brought to the world. “After all, all men are sinners!” I told this 8th grader who has been taught that our founding fathers were all hypocrites. “But what good did they accomplish?” America has been and is today a refuge for many people from nations that do not respect freedom. I pray that many of our youth will see that, and become proud of the United States. In world history, there has never been a country with so many freedoms. May we keep them.