Bible lessons... from a chicken?!

I have recently noticed that the bright brown chicken with the fuzzy feet, Honey, has been alone lately. The other three chickens all stick together, but Honey is always by herself.


The other day I went out to say hello, and check for some eggs. When I opened the egg door they all gather around, and one of the black chickens pecked at Honey and made it very clear that Honey was not welcome. Now, this immediately tainted my view of that black chicken.

When I bought chickens I chose them for their egg laying abilities and chose breeds that were known for their friendliness. Out of all of my chickens, the two black chickens are the most productive and the most friendly. They are always the first to come say hello when I visit the coop. They do everything right, except for one thing... they treat Honey like dirt.

Since I have noticed this I have made a special mission to take Honey under my wing. Since she is neglected by her peers, I will treat her as a pet. Today the kids were thrilled when I came into the house with a chicken in my arms, especially Juneau, who did not want to say goodbye.

Honey is beautiful, she is somewhat friendly and loving, but nothing spectacular. Not compared to the lovingness of the black chickens, but she is being mistreated. I do not even know if she is a very good egg producer. Except for those stinkin' adorable fuzzy feet, there is not much that would set her apart as a favorite, as far as the things that I wanted in a chicken.

Tonight when I went into Bear's room to say goodnight, I saw his bible on his table and picked it up. I opened to Luke 11: 39-42. I read trying to glean what I was supposed to learn. It did not hit me until I was in the kitchen thinking about chickens.

In Luke 11:39-42 Jesus is hassling some Pharisees. The pharisees are being scolded for "cleaning the outside of the cup and dish", but inside being "full of greed and wickedness." Jesus advises them to "be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you."

⁴² “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone."

So I think I have finally found names for my black chickens, I think I will call them the Pharisees. There are two of them, and I never had names for them. I think one of them is named Michelle, an inside joke of Bear's.

These two black chickens have done everything right on the outside, but on the inside they lack love for their fellow chicken, Honey.

There is also another layer to this story, a girl I know is also named Honey, and God is working on me with that one. If she were a chicken, she would not be a very good egg layer. She would not even be one of the friendlier chickens, but she would probably be a loner and she is hurting right now. Even if she had adorable fuzzy feet it would make things a tad easier, but alas... God beckons, and now He know I know it is Him, and there is no getting out of it now.

We are Laodicea

Have you ever read the letters to the seven churches? We are Laodicea!

(We) say,"I am rich. I've become wealthy and don't need anything." But (we) don't realize how pitiful and miserable we have become. (We) are poor, blind and naked (spiritually). -Rev.3:17


We are a nation that knows the word of God and believes the Word of God, but does not feast on the Word of God. We eat spiritual crumbs. We have fire insurance. We know we are going to Heaven through belief in Jesus Christ, and have stopped there in large part. There are exceptions, of course. There are many who I know that have a wonderful relationship with Jesus, and relish in growing closer to God. I know of many miracles and testimonies in our close circle, and that is the way it is meant to be! God's treasures are in Heaven, but they are meant to be enjoyed on earth as well.."On Earth as it is in Heaven!!"



I just got done reading a book by Heidi Baker, a missionary in Mozambique. Her stories are amazing. One of the stories that starts off the book, Compelled by Love, is a vision she had concerning the Western Church. She had a vision where she looked out at the well-fed comfortable audiences of the western church, and super imposed over them were images of the starving, bloated bellies and emaciated faces of her Mozambican children. God told her to love the spiritually starving in the western church. May we all yearn to become closer to God and may we all become spiritually rich! May we fall head over heals in love with Jesus, just as he already is with us!!!

Our goal is to become so in love with Jesus that His love fills us to overflowing. When we are overflowing with Jesus' love, it overflows onto everything we do, everyone we meet. We will find that we desire to help the poor, desire to spread the happiness that Jesus has created in us! May we gain such an enthusiastic faith that we can't help but share it with others! That is what we are meant to be, and everything else pales in comparison.

Fear Not... the Truth shall make you Free!!

Do you know what command is seen most frequently in the Bible? .... Fear Not!

It the most frequent command from our Lord! The ONLY thing to fear is the Lord, our God!!! He is the only one worthy of our fear!

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This week I received a whole new understanding of the verse, "You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. (John 8:32)"

What is truth? "...Your Word is Truth!!! (John 17:17)"

I have realized the importance of knowing the Truth of Scripture to be able to stand against the lies of the enemy, and the truth has made me free!!!

I have found lately, especially when struggling with fear, when I hold to the truth... in this case, that only the Lord Jesus Christ is worthy of my fear and my worship, I can reject the lie that is fear of everything else.

I found a great anti-fear verse yesterday... it talks about the antidote to fear, LOVE!

I love truth and love! They are the polar opposite to fear.

So, 1 John 4:16-19
"We have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. In this, love is perfected with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; for we are as He is in this world. There is no fear in love; instead perfect love drives out fear because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because He loved us first!"

This paragraph is so often quoted that almost everyone is familiar with portions of it, but I had never heard taught what I am about to point out...

The antidote to fear: "The one who fears has not reached perfection in love". Why have I not heard this more strongly emphasized? I have been fearful for so long, and it has all been centered on lies, and the truth has set me free.. but now I know what to do if I ever find myself becoming fearful again, it is probably because I am believing some lie, or because I have not reached perfection in love. So, if we find ourselves fearful, LOVE MORE! Draw near to God and concentrate on His love and your love for Him. His promises to be your shelter, the fact that "He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world". The fact that God is "in your midst" and "near", that He is our "dwelling place" and our "strong fortress".

Do a concordance search on "God is". That guy is nothing short of absolutely amazing! He is cooler that Superman! When I read the results of that concordance search, it gave me greater insight into the true nature of God! God is Love!

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Biblical Answers to Negative Emotions: Fear

New year, New project...

I am currently reading through the New Testament, and while doing so have gotten a couple of big ideas. I tend to give more credence to ideas that pop up while reading the Bible or praying, especially ideas that seem especially uncharacteristic of my own thinking. And that is why I am going ahead with the 'Local Charity Art Auction at the Grand Ledge Opera House' idea.


I have no experience with gathering donations or organizing charity auctions, but hey... why not! Sounds like fun!! (and a bit intimidating, but we'll ignore that part for now) So, it begins!!

Here is the general premise, I went to bed a couple weeks ago all excited about getting rid of all my stuff and selling it off to charity. Total Luke 12:33. I went to bed dreaming of all the things I can sell, and than woke up realizing I don't have a stinking clue how to do it! So, fast forward a couple weeks and I was reading and this full blown idea popped into my head. A Local Charity Art Auction at the Grand Ledge Opera House with proceeds going to a local food bank. It should be a good time, getting to know all the local artists and getting affiliated with the local charity community. A night at the opera house surrounded by cool people and art from local artists doesn't sound half bad... So, now I just have to figure out how.

What the heck is Net Neutrality?!

John and I were talking over dinner last night and realized, we both have very vague ideas about what the heck net neutrality is and does, and why we need it in the first place... we both hit all the main points and understood what the bill is meant to do, but had different feelings about the whole thing. We both felt fairly "neutral" about the whole thing, it seems to be a fairly harmless bill to prevent a non-existent problem, so whats the big fuss?!



Here is the basic arguments for net neutrality (from the ACLU), It's the "We must prevent future problems that may or may not happen, because so far the internet is awesome and we do not want that to change!!" argument. I totally agree. The internet is awesome and we would like to keep it that way, so lets keep things going with the free market solutions that have kept it that way so far, and worry about correcting market failures if there ever is actually evidence that the market has failed us and our freedoms.

It's not like people's lives are at stake if some bastard company slows a customer's connection speed or blocks a website, but rather an area that has been successfully been kept in check by the free market of the internet up to this point. If the things that the net neutrality proponents actually do start to happen, then we can talk, but for now I think we are alright with our regulation-free wild, wild west environment of the internet and it seems to suit us just fine. One thing that both sides of the 'net neutrality' argument seem to agree on is... the internet is freaking awesome and we would like to keep it that way!

I just don't understand how allowing the government to enter into regulation of the internet helps to keep it the same as it always has been, rather it seems to open the door for some huge changes. I would like to keep the political pressures of lobbyists and special interests away from my internet, thank you very much!!!

As far as I can tell, this is a regulatory measure that seems relatively harmless and does pretty much nothing. It is just the government kicking the door open to further regulation and claiming its territory over the internet. It's kind of like an animal marking it's territory... it is relatively harmless other than the fact that it tells you that the animal is planning on coming back again.