For His Service

(A letter written from parents of traumatized children). This is the written version of the above video:    I’m writing this letter because you have expressed an interest in my experience as a parent of a traumatized, attachment-disordered child. It is not a story I relate to you lightly. My child has some very special needs and because of this, so do I. I need people to understand what our family faces, not just judge us as incompetent. It isn’t fair what happened to my child. But it is what we are all facing together as a family,and we face it together everyday. First, I’d like you to know that this letter was not written just by me. Parents from all over the country are using it to tell a uniquely tragic story. This letter isn’t the ranting of one isolated, overwhelmed, and oversensitive adult. I did not "do" this to my child. My child came to me this way. Chances are she would be struggling with these same behaviors and emotions in any family. My child's pr...

Are there perfect people on earth, people that don't mess up, hurt others, regret words, wish they said things differently?  No, we are all sinners, sinners who still mess up... who still think selfishly at times, who still struggle to put ourselves aside and think of others first. I think our actions, the way we display love, is the only way they will see Christ.    Our call is that of a peacemaker,  building peace within the church and making peace with those outside of it. Jen Hatmaker stated it this way:   We should refuse to contribute to someone’s pain by speaking about them abstractedly, distantly, as if they aren’t real human beings whose lives bear actual repercussions of our casual public conversations. The sterile public sphere outside of the protective confines of relationships is not a safe place for such weighty discussions, and we should not add to the pile of condescending, degrading comments about real human people. These precious, fragile co...

So did you see today's news? Since Duck Dynasty, which is a company that sells duck calls (who happens to be believers with a "reality TV show"), has now decided to sell and market a brand of wine, Family Ministries has dropped them as a speaker at their conference.  Why?  They said that they didn't want people that drink wine to speak because they want the attending teens of this conference to be non-drinkers.   The full article can be read here.  .http://www.tricities.com/news/local/article_bfd2b520-4b3f-11e3-ac7e-0019bb30f31a.html.                but here is one quote:   Our greatest responsibility is to the young people we serve. Therefore, we feel that in light of the recent news that the stars of the show ‘Duck Dynasty’ are partnering with Trinchero Family Estates to launch Duck Commander Wines, to continue with this event would send mixed messages t...

We all know the story of Jonah. Jonah's name means dove, but he certainly isn't peaceful like.  He was  disobedient to God (Jonah 1:3), fearful (Jonah 1:9), critical (Jonah 4:1), and bitter (Jonah 4:3, 8) God told Jonah to go to the rebellious people of Ninevah. Jonah said, "No."  Jonah tried to run from God via a ship.  God caused Jonah to be throw overboard and swallowed by a Big Fish.  He was in the belly of the Big Fish for 3 days..and God caused the fish to spit Jonah out on dry land.  God said, "Go!"  Jonah went... the people did repent from their evil ways.  Did Jonah rejoice... as more people are entering eternal life?  No.... Here is Jonah 4 (all of it) .. Jonah's Anger and the  Lord 's Compassion 4  But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, [ a ]  and  he was angry. 2  And he prayed to the  Lord  and said, “O  Lord , is not this what I said when I was yet in my country?  T hat is why I...