The board game, known as “Operation” has been around since 1965. In the game, players use a long pair of tweezers to perform surgery on “Sam”, a very cartoonish character, lying on the “operation” table. Each “ailment” Sam has, lies in a cavity, protected by a metal rim. If the tweezers touch that rim while the “doctor” is operating, Sam’s red nose lights up and makes a buzzing sound … Turn over!

Not too long ago, our family found occasion to replace our Operation game. Sam no longer lit up or made noise and had apparently lived through his last surgery, so we bought another one at the store (I actually think someone got it as a birthday present. :) On the front of the game box is a cartoon drawing of Sam, lying on an operating table with two, reckless, goofy looking doctors, stabbing at him with enormous tweezers. A little boy stands on one side, holding a bucket of water and a little girl stands on the other, holding a wrench and bouncing an apple.

When we brought home our replacement game, it pretty much seemed to be exact – until I examined the front of the box. It is amazing, how much worldview can be reflected in a cartoon! The cartoon had changes which  though subtle, show the manufacturer’s attempt to be politically correct and influence society in the same direction.

One of the first changes you might notice involves the little boy. Where once stood a little boy dressed as a doctor with pale white skin and straight blond hair, now stands a little boy, almost his duplicate but his skin is dark and his hair black and curly … In order to be politically correct, more than one “race” or “people group” must be depicted.

Another change centers around the little girl. Once dressed as a nurse in a cute (albeit rather short) dress, she is now a doctor, wearing a shirt and pants to match the little boy’s. The little girl has to be “equal” with the little boy – if he can be a doctor, she has to be one too – and she has lost a lot of her feminine appearance in the process.

There were a few other changes, but not any more of consequence, though I have noticed that “Sam” is becoming increasingly rare on Operation and has been replaced with Shrek and other TV cartoon characters.

As our society continues down this path of political correctness, I wonder what other changes games (and lot’s of other things) will have in the future …

To the KING be all the glory!

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Bethany wanted me to post this article that I wrote about a year or so ago:

I like to read Mr. Doug Phillips blog on the Vision Forum website. I have learned much from what I have read there. In the first half of 2007, much of what he was writing was about our nations history and what our nation is now considering our nations history.

It is a sad day when our nation rejects God’s hand as a blessing in our history. When they call the early settlers “invaders”. When they say that Pocahontas was forced to become a Christian and was actually murdered! (That is not all they say about her.) When they call Captain John Smith (a true Christian) a liar. It is sad that all these things are happening, but they are true. When all these happen one begins to ask “why”.

Why are they making up these horrible stories? Why are they trying to rewrite history? I think it is because they want to get rid of the memory of God in in history as much as possible.

They have already done their best to take the LORD’s hand out of the beginning of the earth and our creation. Now they want to take His hand out of our nations history as well. Our country does not want to admit that an omnipotent God exists. If they can rewrite history without Him, they will feel more comfortable. They will not be confronted with what the LORD has done if they erase it from the history books.

Our nation needs prayer. Our world needs prayer. We as Christians must pray for our fellow man and not only must we pray – we must shine. We must be a “light” to “the world.” We must be like the city on the that “cannot be hid.” (Matthew 5:14) We must shine for our King. We must show the world that He does exist. He created our world and us. He does have a hand in history. He created history. History is His Story!

Praise the LORD for what He has done in HIS-story!

To the KING be all the glory!

I wrote this last year after a suggestion from our Pastor. Since I never posted it, I thought now would be a good time to do so…

On October 31,1517 a catholic monk nailed to the door of the catholic church in Wittenburg, Germany a 95 Thesis condemning the sale of indulgences thus sparking the fire of the reformation. That catholic monk was Martin Luther.

Martin Luther was born in 1483. He was about 34 years of age when he nailed his 95 Thesis on the church door. Selling indulgences was the practice and belief that a donation to the church would purchase the release of the departed soul of a family member from Purgatory (a place of torment). Selling indulgences has no basis in God’s Holy Word. Selling indulgences was not the only catholic practice that Martin Luther condemned. For example: The catholic church taught that justification comes through good works. Martin Luther believed justification comes through Jesus Christ.

Martin Luther believed in using the Bible as the standard for life, not mortal man’s opinion. For that reason he translated the Bible into German so the common people could read it. Before this the scriptures were only in Latin.

Because of his beliefs the Pope excommunicated Martin Luther from the catholic church in 1520.

In 1521 Martin Luther was summoned before the Diet of Worms by Emperor Charles V. When asked he refused to recant anything he had said against the catholic church unless they could convince him he was wrong, using scripture.

At the age of 42 Martin Luther married a young woman named Catherina. Together they had several children, both  sons and daughters He was the author of several hymns including A Mighty Fortress is Our God.

Martin Luther has been called the Father of the Reformation. After he started to boldly speak out against the unbiblical practices of the catholic church, others followed his example. Those who like Martin Luther protested became known as Protestants.

On October 31st some celebrate Reformation Day. On this day they celebrate – not a man- not Martin Luther – but what the LORD did through Martin Luther and others like him such as John Calvin. Martin Luther was not perfect. Man does not deserve the glory – All glory for what was done during the Reformation belongs to the LORD. Praise Him for what He has done!

To the KING be all the glory!

I started writing this post several months ago and then forgot about it! I decided it would be a good time to finish and post it!

The act of keeping a journal is an old one. Many men and women, throughout history have kept journals or diaries. Like many other things, the keeping of a journal can be bad if done wrongly but if used correctly can be a blessing.

When I was about nine and a half years old, I started recording in a small ring bound journal my parents had given me. It was not at all regular and could not really be called “journaling”. It was more storytelling then. I told about part of a vacation that we went on (Sometime after we returned.), about our failed attempt to adopt and keep a dog and about the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This lasted from February 28, 2000 to November 15, 2001. I filled eight and a half pages then… silence.

On February 4, 2002, when I was about eleven and a half, I started “journaling”. I wrote about things that were happening, while they were happening, from a first hand perspective. I wrote about anything from oil painting to shopping. Then on March 11 of that same year, I decided to make an effort to journal every day for a year. I nearly succeeded. I wrote every day for more then two years, only missing two days in the whole! (I still journal, on average, nearly every day.) Little did I realize how important journaling would become to me. I now have at least ten journals holding a record of my life over the past seven years.

The point of this post is not to boast about my journaling. No, the point is not to boast at all. The point is to show how important and what a blessing a journal can be and to show some guidelines about how the writing within should appear.

A journal can be important. How you ask? Consider the following: In “Northanger Abbey” by Jane Austen Mr. Tilney has the following conversation with Catherine Morland:

[Catherine] “But, perhaps I keep no journal.”

[Mr. Tilney] “…Not keep a journal! How are your absent cousins to understand the tenour of your life in Bath without one? How are the civilities and compliments of every day to be related as they ought to be, unless noted down every evening in a journal? How are your various dresses to be remembered, and the particular state of your complexion, and curl of your hair to be described in all their diversities, without having constant recourse to a journal…”

Now I would say it more like this: “How are your children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren to understand the lessons the LORD taught you in full detail without a journal? How are the blessings the LORD sends you every day to be related as they ought unless noted down in a journal? How are the miracles the LORD has done in your life, to be described in all their diversities without having constant recourse to a journal?”

There is a note of sarcasm in Mr. Tilney’s voice and their is in mine as well. Of course I do not believe that you will be in sin or committing some grave offence if you do not keep a journal but think of how many things are forgotten that ought to be remembered! The Bible makes mention several times of keeping “remembrance”, suggesting that doing so may be important. A journal is one way you can preserve those memories. My journal records such important events as my baptism and the birth of my brother. It also records my spiritual journey in mid 2006 when the LORD turned this wandering Christian back to HIM. (See My Testimony)

There is one thing we need to remember however, when we keep a journal: Too often journals or diaries are used somewhat as a confessional. The writers write anything they think or feel  – then they keep their writings secret. No one is allowed to read them – not even their parents. We need to remember when writing a journal that we should never write anything that would not glorify our LORD or that we would hide from those HE has placed over us on earth. I try to never “gossip” about anyone in my journal, never have a pity party and never slander anyone in my journal. A way to help keep myself accountable is to allow my journal to be read by others than myself. My mother has read a lot of it at times and my father, sister and aunt have all read portions at times. It is true that I am human and have not always kept to these standards to perfection. I have occasionally “lost it” while writing in the wrong mood but I do my best with the help of the LORD to only write that which is pleasing to HIM at all times.

To the KING be all the glory!

“If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless.”
James 1:26

How often, when we consider our speech and what we need to improve therein, do we actually consider the act of complaining? Sometimes complaints can seem to just fly from our mouth, like birds from a nest and we do not realize that we were actually complaining until later. Some people do not regard complaining as wrong (there was a time I could not see the wrong in it), so let us try and look at complaining from a Biblical perspective…

Before we go any further we need to define “complaining”. Mr. Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language gives the following definition: “… finding fault; murmuring; lamenting; accusing of an offense…” The type of complaining of which I am speaking is that of “murmuring” or grumbling. Murmuring is defined as follows: “To grumble; to complain; to utter complaints in a low, half articulated voice; to utter sullen discontent;…” You could also say that to complain is to whine or gripe.

The LORD makes it clear by examples in the Old Testament, that HE does not like complaining. In the book of Numbers chapter eleven, the children of Israel were complaining of the hardships they had to endure. The LORD’s response shows what HE thought of their complaining… “Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of the LORD; and when the LORD heard it, His anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.” (Numbers 11:1) Clearly, the LORD was not pleased with their complaining. The children of Israel begged Moses to pray for them and the LORD allowed the fire to die out.

Another example appears in the same chapter starting in the very next verse: “The rabble who were among them had greedy desires; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna.” To make a long story short, the LORD gave them their desire – he sent an enormous quantity of quail for the people to eat but “While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the anger of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD struck the people with a very severe plague. So the name of that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had been greedy.” (Numbers 11:33-34)

In the book of First Corinthians chapter 10, the apostle Paul, while speaking of the sins of the Israelites, commands us not to “grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.”

Complaining often, if not always, stems, as it did for the Israelites, from discontent. The LORD wants us to be content, as indicated in Hebrews 13:5, “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have…”, Philippians 4:11 “Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.” and the beginning of the LORD’s prayer: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” If we are content, what cause do we have to complain?

In Philippians 2:14-15 it says: “Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world.”

Let us pray with the Psalmist: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14) If we truly say this from our heart, at all times, will we complain?

To the KING be all the glory!