GodandMe2theMax

ISIS in Jesus' time...

“ Now Herod had arrested John and bound him and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, for John had been saying to him:  ‘It is not lawful for you to have her,’  Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered him a prophet.  On Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced for them and pleased Herod so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked.  Prompted by her mother, she said, ‘Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.’  The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted and had John beheaded in the prison.  His head was brought in on a platter and given to the g9irl, who carried it to her mother.”  Matthew 11:3-11

 

I read these verses yesterday, and all throughout the day, my thoughts rolled back to the daughter of Herodias and I had so many questions I wanted to explore.

*Although clearly prompted by her mom to ask for John’s head, did she willingly obey or did she do it because she had to obey? 
*Did she have the same hatred for John the Baptist as her mother? 
*Did she have nightmares about seeing John the Baptist’s head on a platter? 
*Did she ever experience regret? 
*Was she traumatized for life? 
*Didn’t she realize that her mom and dad were separated because her mom decided to leave her father Philip (Herod’s half-brother) to go be the Herod’s mistress? 
*Did she realize the motives behind the request?  (Herod and Herodias’ hatred for John was only because John condemned the sinful life they were living. )

I’ll never know the answers to these questions; I can only speculate.

I then started to think about the hatred that ISIS has for Christians.  In actuality, they want to eradicate any religion other than their own.  On today, the anniversary of September 11^th, our nation is on high guard against attack.  But a few days ago, my Hindu neighbor who is from India told me that India is actually on high guard against radical muslim attack as well.  (I had no idea!).  

This pure evil hatred that is being expressed in videos is something that they are teaching their children as well.  I saw a video recently of 3 sons of radical muslims who have been trained to be just like their fathers.  The video was a very well-articulated rant of hatred and a threat of eradication of Christians.  When I watched the video, I just shook my head .  These boys were 11 or 12, at best.  And they’ve been taught to allow hatred to consume them.  GOD IS LOVE.  And this video was the complete antithesis of the God I serve.

In light of this passage and the current situation in the world, how much more do we need to instill in our children Godly principles?  If God is LOVE, the antithesis of hatred, am I teaching my kids as much as ISIS is to the contrary?  As much as I’ve tried to teach my children scripture and make daily applications, can I really say I’ve done it with the same passion that is being taught these kids in the Middle East? 

That’s a question I don’t think I can answer in the affirmative, try as I might.

Let’s not just teach our children right from wrong.   Let’s not just teach them Bible verses.  Without the daily application for living, they so easily can be swayed to do things they one day will (perhaps like Herodias’ daughter) regret.  Statistics show that after kids grow into adults, many leave the church, and the #1 reason is because although they may have made a commitment to God and started a relationship with Him as a child, they never really made it their own.  It was their parent’s religion, not their personal relationship.  They never questioned things when they were younger.  They just accepted what their parents said as truth and then once they became adults, they started questioning.  At that point, they’re in college and likely surrounded by the wrong sources of wisdom.

So let’s take some advice from Crosby, Stills, and Nash, “Teach Your Children Well”!

 

--- Beth Banfill
www.GodandMe2theMax.com

 

The Parable of the ugly Crepe Myrtle...

Matthew 13 3-9, 18-23
“Then He told them many things in parables, saying, ‘A farmer went out to sow his seed.  As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.  Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil.  It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.  But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.  Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants.  Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop – a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.  He who has ears, let him hear.’
…(Then Jesus said), ‘Listen then to what the parable of the sower means:  When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.  This is the seed sown along the path.  The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.  But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time.  When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.  The one who received the seed and fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.  But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it.  He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.’ “

 

I’ve said it before.  I have a brown thumb.  I have one living plant in my home, it’s some kind of ivy that is only still alive because I’m told you can’t kill it.  It was sent to me from my old employer at the time of my first cancer surgery, and I’ve been determined to never let it die.  Anything else related to horticulture, flowers, plants, etc., I leave to my sweet neighbor friend Ankita.  

 

Her favorite thing to do is dig in the dirt and plant beautiful arrangements of flowers.  Her yard is pretty bright and full, so this year she moved her creativity over to my yard.  She planted a few flowers, and we’ve talked about what we can do (actually, what SHE can do) to spruce up my boring flower bed area.

When we built the house, I told the builder that I wanted red or pink crepe myrtles in the front yard.  The builder told me the trees were already ordered, but he thought that I was actually going to get some crepe myrtles.  Well, I did.  Ugly, boring white ones that are currently overrunning the front of my house.  I know, I know, I’m pretty picky for someone who doesn’t have a green thumb, but I do have an eye for what looks good…and two big white crepe myrtles just don’t work for me aesthetically. 

As I said, I have two white crepe myrtles, and they anchor each side of my house.  Actually, they are taking over the front of my house.  We trim them back, and they grow more.  (I guess that’s how it’s supposed to work!)  Anyway, Ankita and I devised a plan to make me happy.  We were going to dig up the big white crepe myrtles and transplant them into my back yard.  Then I want to replace them with red or pink crepe myrtle bushes, ones that won’t grow so tall.  By doing so, I’ll get the color I want without having the tall, lanky trunk with ugly white flowers.  (Did I mention white crepe myrtles are ugly?)

So I’ve done some research, and it seems that the best time to transplant a crepe myrtle in Texas is after they go dormant, so I’m thinking that’s going to be in late October, early November.  And that’s what the plan is.

But I can’t help but wonder if the trees will make it in my back yard after I transplant them, or will they be scorched when the heat returns because their roots aren’t deep or strong enough to sustain life.  Our lawn guy told me it’ll probably be a 50-50 survival possibility.  But from what I’ve read, they are hearty trees, and it’s a lot harder to kill them, so I’m going with the internet.  :)  I’m just going to hope and pray the soil in my back yard is the “good soil that produces a crop.”

Bringing the verses back to home, obviously, the tree analogy doesn’t really explain what Jesus meant.  When we share the Gospel with someone who has never accepted Christ as their Savior, well that seed sometimes falls on bad soil.  When that happens, usually the person isn’t ready to hear or is so mad at God about something that they refuse to hear.  That’s when the birds eat up the seed or the seed falls in a rocky place where there’s not much soil.

Sometimes we share the Gospel with people and they show an interest in the seed we’ve planted.  But then something interrupts that desire to learn more, thorns that prevent growth.  And then sometimes those seeds take root and allow growth.

This same parable of Jesus can be applied unilaterally to anything we hear, really.  How many times do we get really excited about something new, but we lose interest and the desire falls by the wayside?  How many times do we become determined to lose weight, eat right, and exercise daily (usually around January 1st) but by January 3rd, the seed that was planted has fallen on rocky soil with birds eating it up.

And for Christians out there, how many times does the Holy Spirit speak to us in a still small voice, nudging us to take action on something for Him, only to forget it completely by Monday morning?

My challenge today is to let the good seed of Jesus, whether it's the Gospel or His still small voice take root in my life so that I don't allow thorns and birds to kill my desire to obey.  My prayer is that 1) when we transplant my crepe myrtles in a few weeks that they will live, but much more importantly 2) when God speaks, I will listen and obey, allowing His seed to penetrate deep in my life, taking root that no one can dig up or kill.  I want my life to be an example of a beautiful red crepe myrtle being used to glorify my God!

 

 

--- Beth Banfill
www.GodandMe2theMax.com

 

Creative parenting...

“Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand…For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks…”  Matthew 12:25,34b

In this passage, Jesus addresses the Pharisees when they accuse him of being the devil himself.  Jesus point blank tells them, “Every kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.”  (Sidenote: This definitely makes me really concerned about the future of the USA with the constant division between republicans and democrats, but alas, that’s not the purpose of this blog…)  

Jesus then goes on to say, “Every city or household divided against itself cannot stand.”  And that’s where I am focused this morning.  The household.  If you know me personally, you will know that my one constant prayer request for about 2 years running now is that we will have wisdom to know how to parent our children as individuals.  Admittedly, parenting is a hard task, and I tip my hat to those who tackle it by themselves.  Unless God puts me in that situation, I can’t imagine ever having to do it.  With our oldest now in college, you would think parenting would be easier, but I’m not finding that to be the case.  At times, I find it overwhelming, especially right now with a full-blown adolescent teenaged boy in the house.

Have you ever built a tower with Lincoln logs or Legos?  Now, truth be told, I haven’t built very many, because my children never really played with those toys.  In fact, Jacob told me the other day that he didn’t play with them because they left nothing to the imagination.  (I thought they were so popular because you could use your imagination to build anything with them!)  Not Jacob, though.  He would rather create something out of paper and tape instead of putting together pre-made pieces that link together to form something.  “That’s real creativity, mom.” 

Top & Bottom Left: A self portrait  Top Right: A set of aerodynamic wings he swears will be able to help him fly (if only he were the weight of a bird)  Bottom right: a net, made from paper and tape, twisted together and tied in knots

Indeed, he has made some incredible things by being creative in this way, and it’s true, even when he was a toddler, he didn’t play with the box of Legos we had purchased.  But if I gave him tape, paper and/or a cardboard box, he would play for hours.  He somehow had a plan in his mind of what the completed project was supposed to look like, and he would execute the plans until the project was perfected.

Top Left - a revolver made completely from tape...not that I'm proud of my son designing a revolver, but you have to admit it's pretty cool.  Top right:  I believe this ended up being transformed into some kind of a shield  Bottom Left: No, this isn't a pitchfork, it's a triton   Bottom Right:  "Rubberband Man", one of my personal favorites, made completely from rubberbands, no glue or anything else.

So if you by chance have played with Legos, imagine working with a partner and laying your foundational Lego pieces.  You begin to build higher and higher, but you realize that something doesn’t look or feel quite right.  You look down and realize the reason is because some of the foundation bricks you laid are no longer there.  Perplexed, you discover that you’re not working with your partner at all to build one big edifice.  You are working together, side by side to build the same thing, but your idea of how it should be done is quite different from your partner, so you end up with two smaller, less stable, very different creations.  Your partner is building a creation and you are building yours. 

When Jesus says “a house divided against itself cannot stand” I can only think of how important it is to be unified as parents in how we raise our children.  This is easier said than done, as I'm learning daily!  Our faith is the first foundation that everything is built on, but then it gets a little tougher.  If you’ve struggled as a parent, maybe like me, you just don’t know what the right answer is.  Do you make them do their homework or do you let them fail?  Are you rescuing them too much or are you being the kind of parent that God wants you to be?  Maybe you’re new to parenting, and you wonder if you should spank your child or if you can correct megative behavior with “time-outs”.  Maybe your husband/wife doesn’t believe in spanking and you believe you should.  Maybe you and your spouse are together building your own Lego creations...separately

As I read this passage, I am reminded that I do not have all the answers.  There are so many “unknowns” in the realm of parenting.  But this one thing I do know, the foundation of parenting must be firmly grounded in Jesus Christ.  I find it interesting that Jesus later says “…out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”  Last week was extremely stressful on me.  Our family was out in California to take our oldest to college, and leaving her out there was the hardest thing I've ever had to do.  My husband stayed an extra week, but I had to come home with our son so he could start his sophomore year of high school.  The stress of getting back in the school groove, combined with a week of single parenting, combined with massive stress at work after being gone for 12 days culminated in a massive outpouring of anger on my son Thursday night. 

After he went to bed, the Holy Spirit nudged me (kicked me, actually) and I realized that although the content of what I said to my son was 100% accurate and truthful, the way I delivered it was in no way a resemblance of my Heavenly Father.  I’m so thankful He gives us fresh mercies every morning, because on Friday morning, the first thing I said to Jacob was that I was sorry for losing my temper with him.  I asked him to forgive me, and he did.  As I look back over last week, my daily quiet time was limited to reading the daily “Jesus Calling” while sitting in the bathroom.  I was going a mile a minute dealing with life's stresses that I pretty much neglected my relationship with God.  On top of that, I don’t sleep well when my husband is out of town, so suffice it to say I was one big mess emotionally, and I pretty much relieved all those stresses on my son.  “Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.”  Yep, that’s what took place for sure.  Again, I’m so thankful that God is a forgiving God who gives new mercies!

But back to parenting...  “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”  Just like Jacob had a plan for each of his creations, as parents, I'm reminded that we must have a plan.  We must have a plan for discipline, for teaching our kids the Bible, and for preparing them for life.  When our kids were younger, my husband and I used to have an annual retreat where we planned out yearly goals for our kids and our marriage.  It was always a time to evaluate what we’ve done right and wrong and a time to ask God to show us the next step.  We no longer have annual retreats, per se, because at this stage of parenting, those meetings have to come much more frequently as we navigate the tender adolescent teenaged years.  Trust me, they more closely resemble weekly, if not daily meetings, trying to come up with a plan that will help tackle whatever the daily problem is.

Top Left:  Helmet (made to size); he eventually spray painted it gold, his favorite color   Top Right: A working bow and arrow, made from post-it notes, tape, and rubberbands  Middle Left: An army ninja  Bottom Left: turtle spinner

So my thoughts are this:  Do you have a firm foundation in your home and marriage?  In Texas, we have to actually water the foundation of our homes to avoid cracks.  Figuratively, are you watering your foundation with the Living Water of Jesus Christ on a regular basis so your heart overflows His love?   Are you consistent in your discipline?  Do you have a unified creative plan in place for each of your individual children?  Do you regularly have marital staff meetings to evaluate your family and set goals?  Are you working together to raise the kids or are you workig your plan and your spouse working his, hoping one of you is doing something right.  And as you work those plans, are you spending the necessary time in the Word so that your heart is filled with God-thoughts and they outpour through your lips? 

All these random thoughts about family, children, and being creative as a unified parental front do really hit home for me.  Parenting is tough.  Sometimes I want to give up.  Sometimes I feel like I can't find a creative way to fix the problem.  Sometimes I try to tell God this isn't what I signed up for.  (Honesty is the best policy, right?  And I'm just being honest here!)  I'm just so thankful for God's Word and how He allows phrases to jump out and hit home in my heart, right when I need to be reminded of them the most.  I'm thankful, too, for a Godly husband who leads our family but mostly for a loving God who loves me in spite of my sinful outbursts and mid-life temper tantrums.

 

--- Beth Banfill
www.GodandMe2theMax.com