AS A YOUNG MAN Jim never sang in public but always in the shower. He was a man of few words. He hardly ever spoke unless it was to say something profound. He thought that when he grew up he was going to be a great 3rd baseman for the Yankee’s. When he was in his 30's he read the Bible cover to cover and was convicted that God is Lord and that changed everything for him.
AFTER COLLEGE and marriage he became a part of the Apollo Space Program back in the 60's. He worked on the Lunar Excursion Module (the LEM). He was part of the program working on the system that controlled the descent rate of the LEM. He was employed by TRW Systems until he moved to Oregon in 1970. Watching the movie “Apollo 13" was like reliving the first landing on the moon all over again for him; and the part the LEM played in the heroic effort and miracle of using it for what it was not created for.
WHEN JIM found himself among God’s people he was determined that when he retired he would live near the church and teach God’s word until he died. It looked like he wasn’t going to be able to do that until about 8 months after we began attending SWCC. He began teaching a Sunday School class once again. In giving his report at a Sunday School Teachers meeting, he said; “I probably would have ended up in the corner crying, if I couldn’t teach again.” When you give God control that is what can happen! When you begin to follow God, you find that giving Him first place can change everything. That is when your walk is personal!
I REMEMBER as a child playing follow the leader. Remember following the leader and you had to do everything he did or drop out? The person behind you would move up and take your place following the leader. Not very creative but a lot of fun, especially if you had a crush on the one in front of you. You got to hold onto his waist as you followed him. Sounds like I was aggressive. I wasn’t speaking from experience but perhaps wishful thinking!
“FOR TO THIS you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps.” 1 Peter 2:21 So many times we feel it is ominous to assume we can be like Christ but that is exactly what the Apostles and the early disciples did. Paul was so bold as to say; “I urge you then, be imitators of me, as I imitate Christ.” 1 Corinthians 4:16 Later on, he writes; “So that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” Hebrew 6:12 The only way we can be imitators of those who led the church from it’s infancy, is by reading God’s word. We see their faithfulness and their dedication unto death.
“REMEMBER your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God; consider the outcome of their life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” Hebrews 12:7-8 Paul is talking to us today! Listen to those who have assumed the rolls of Christian leadership within your church body. Check their actions and faith against those who teach us through the scriptures. “Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings; for it is well that the heart be strengthened by grace, not by foods which have no beneficial strength.” Hebrews 13:9 Be careful who you have allowed to lead you in the ways of God. Look at their lives and listen intently to the things they say.
“BELOVED, do not imitate evil but imitate good. He who does good is of God; he who does evil has not seen God.” 3 John 11 Jim and I spend a lot of time in God’s word. What I don’t understand he clarifies for me. When he wants a better understanding, he asks me. We have grown closer together than most, because of our desires to know our Lord and to follow Him wherever He leads. Get on board and follow the leader, and see just how God can change your life; see how lives can be changed thru your walk! Jane Ann Crenshaw 4/13/10 (update 11/5/15)
Saturday, November 28, 2015
Sunday, November 22, 2015
THANKS BE TO GOD! 11/22/15
HERE WE ARE once again planning our National day of “THANKSGIVING!” Many need to stop and think of what they are thankful for. Usually when sitting around the table with my family, we are asked to share one thing we are thankful for. One thing! Now that is hard. However, since these past few weeks, Morning Glory has been on the subject of abortions, I know what I am thankful for. MY CHILDREN; God’s blessing to Jim and me! What a joy they have been, even before and after the teen years, especially 16!
WHEN MY children were beginning their double digits, and even while we thought they were above reproach, we were told; “just wait until they are 16!” We waited and nothing happened! Don’t get me wrong, our kids weren’t perfect but we never experienced anything like what is described in books; the news on TV and in the papers; nor what seems to come down the pike as stereotypes. Sassy? Absolutely! Bossy? Sometimes! Wanting to wear designer clothes? Right on! Kept their rooms picked up and clean? Never experienced that! We loved them and gave them a safe place to live. We weathered the storms and they became exceptional and deserving adults! Deserving children makes a parent happy, and pleases God!
WE NEVER experienced the drug scene, alcohol, promiscuity, deceitfulness, and trouble with the law. Jim and I would like to take the credit, but the credit belongs to our Savior! He not only saves our souls but He also gives us an identity in Him, which saves us from the world! God made it easy with our children, and we thank Him every day! “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart, to the standard of teaching to which you were committed.” Romans 6:17
I LOVE THANKSGIVING DAY! I am thankful that those in power so many years ago set a day aside for the whole country to give thanks to our God! What an amazing time that must have been! Today, many would like to do away with it; even though so many other countries, have adopted a day of their own to give thanks. Amazing how the world view changes when new people move up the ladder. But even though many hearts change, those who are faithful will continue to receive God’s blessing! “O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures for ever!” Psalms 107:1
SINCE THE DAYS began when Jim and I realized we were reaching that stage of maturity whereby our bodies didn’t want to go when we did, and didn’t want to stop when we thought it should; we have been so thankful and blessed in walking with the Lord. Our walk together began when we were young, married, and with children. We have to admit that it has been like a roller coaster ride, you know; with all the ups and downs, but oh what a ride!
“THANKS BE TO GOD who in Christ, always leads us in triumph, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved, and among those who are perishing. To one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?
We are not like so many peddlers of God’s word; but as men of sincerity. For we are commissioned by God, in the sight of God; to speak of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 2:14-17
TO THOSE who have chosen Christ as their Savior I say; “Thanks be to God!” To those who have not chosen Christ as their Savior I say; “If you want to be happy; choose Christ!
If you want to be a winner; choose Christ! If you want to live life to the fullest; choose Christ!
“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you; He exalts Himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all who come to Him! Isaiah 30:18 I am pleased that I can say ‘Thanks be to God’ for saving my soul! Jane Ann Crenshaw 10/26/15
WHEN MY children were beginning their double digits, and even while we thought they were above reproach, we were told; “just wait until they are 16!” We waited and nothing happened! Don’t get me wrong, our kids weren’t perfect but we never experienced anything like what is described in books; the news on TV and in the papers; nor what seems to come down the pike as stereotypes. Sassy? Absolutely! Bossy? Sometimes! Wanting to wear designer clothes? Right on! Kept their rooms picked up and clean? Never experienced that! We loved them and gave them a safe place to live. We weathered the storms and they became exceptional and deserving adults! Deserving children makes a parent happy, and pleases God!
WE NEVER experienced the drug scene, alcohol, promiscuity, deceitfulness, and trouble with the law. Jim and I would like to take the credit, but the credit belongs to our Savior! He not only saves our souls but He also gives us an identity in Him, which saves us from the world! God made it easy with our children, and we thank Him every day! “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart, to the standard of teaching to which you were committed.” Romans 6:17
I LOVE THANKSGIVING DAY! I am thankful that those in power so many years ago set a day aside for the whole country to give thanks to our God! What an amazing time that must have been! Today, many would like to do away with it; even though so many other countries, have adopted a day of their own to give thanks. Amazing how the world view changes when new people move up the ladder. But even though many hearts change, those who are faithful will continue to receive God’s blessing! “O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures for ever!” Psalms 107:1
SINCE THE DAYS began when Jim and I realized we were reaching that stage of maturity whereby our bodies didn’t want to go when we did, and didn’t want to stop when we thought it should; we have been so thankful and blessed in walking with the Lord. Our walk together began when we were young, married, and with children. We have to admit that it has been like a roller coaster ride, you know; with all the ups and downs, but oh what a ride!
“THANKS BE TO GOD who in Christ, always leads us in triumph, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved, and among those who are perishing. To one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?
We are not like so many peddlers of God’s word; but as men of sincerity. For we are commissioned by God, in the sight of God; to speak of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 2:14-17
TO THOSE who have chosen Christ as their Savior I say; “Thanks be to God!” To those who have not chosen Christ as their Savior I say; “If you want to be happy; choose Christ!
If you want to be a winner; choose Christ! If you want to live life to the fullest; choose Christ!
“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you; He exalts Himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all who come to Him! Isaiah 30:18 I am pleased that I can say ‘Thanks be to God’ for saving my soul! Jane Ann Crenshaw 10/26/15
Saturday, November 14, 2015
ABORT OR NOT ABORT! 11/15/15
THERE ARE many different ways that are used to abort. I am not going into all of them but there are a couple of particularly repugnant methods of abortion, one of which is referred to as “partial birth abortion” and it goes like this. The Doctor reaches into the womb and turns the full term baby around. Then he proceeds with a breach birth. However, when the baby is all the way out except for the head, the doctor stops the birthing process. He then uses a pair of scissors to open a hole in the back of the baby’s head. He then inserts a tube through the hole into the baby’s brain. He then vacuums the baby’s brain out through this tube which of course, produces the desired result...a dead baby!
THIS ABOMINATION has been approved by some of the very highest officials of our land! I heard of another method a few years ago which I also want to share. I heard a young woman talk about her experience at the age of 14. She went to a clinic for 5 days when she was about 20 weeks along. She went through a preparation process, beginning with the first day by inserting a device in the birth canal to start the uterus to dilate, which ended on the fifth day. Then the Doctor inserted a saline solution into the embryonic sac, which caused the baby to suffocate and burn. Then she was instructed to sit upon a toilet where she aborted the baby. After the Doctor removed the after birth and cleaned her out, she was sent to a hotel for the night and then home. Mentally and physically she had never recovered!
INTERESTINGLY there are many birth control methods on the market. Some like the IUD, or the morning after pill, which aborts the fertilized egg. The pill, patch, the catchers mitt, micro chips under the skin, condoms and probably more, since I did my research. The IUD, is a coil that is wrapped around the wall of the uterus so that the fertilized egg has no place to land. I suppose that is a nice way to abort your baby! But it is still a way to abort! God created this process to give life! And who are we to kill it, but murderers!
IN A STAGE production called “Quilters”, in one scene there is a woman, who does not want another baby as this would be her 12th, and her last one laid her up for two months. As the women stand around her telling about all the babies they gave birth to, the Doctor is telling her that there was nothing he could do. Most of them had many with the highest number being 19. I suppose that is about the era that the formula appeared.
I OFTEN wondered why so many women of long ago had such large families! My mother told me that she used everything in the book to keep from getting pregnant, which made me wonder what books she read. I don’t know what I would have done without all of my siblings. Each one was unique in themselves and brought much love and pleasure to me. I could not imagine my life without them. I know that most of Mom’s pregnancies were a surprise. I heard her say once that if she lost one, she knew the Lord would give her another. However, when that happened; she said; “God knows best;” because she couldn’t have anymore babies!
TODAY Planned Parenthood Clinic’s, besides assisting in abortions, began a more lucrative side to their services, by harvesting the body parts. Their methods have changed; they wait for the baby to die in the womb or they remove the baby and leave it to die, so that things will be intact for experimental purposes. “To the woman He said, I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth; in pain you will deliver, yet your desire shall be for your husband. Genesis 3:16 God tells Eve that her sorrow will be multiplied and she would conceive in sorrow. She would have pain! It matters not how we become pregnant, the results are the same. Those who are more blessed are those who know the Lord and do His will. Use your common sense in all instances. Mistakes and/or crimes are not the fault of the child! Your parents gave you life; give your baby a chance to live, and give God all the Glory and Honor! Jane Ann Crenshaw 10/22/15
THIS ABOMINATION has been approved by some of the very highest officials of our land! I heard of another method a few years ago which I also want to share. I heard a young woman talk about her experience at the age of 14. She went to a clinic for 5 days when she was about 20 weeks along. She went through a preparation process, beginning with the first day by inserting a device in the birth canal to start the uterus to dilate, which ended on the fifth day. Then the Doctor inserted a saline solution into the embryonic sac, which caused the baby to suffocate and burn. Then she was instructed to sit upon a toilet where she aborted the baby. After the Doctor removed the after birth and cleaned her out, she was sent to a hotel for the night and then home. Mentally and physically she had never recovered!
INTERESTINGLY there are many birth control methods on the market. Some like the IUD, or the morning after pill, which aborts the fertilized egg. The pill, patch, the catchers mitt, micro chips under the skin, condoms and probably more, since I did my research. The IUD, is a coil that is wrapped around the wall of the uterus so that the fertilized egg has no place to land. I suppose that is a nice way to abort your baby! But it is still a way to abort! God created this process to give life! And who are we to kill it, but murderers!
IN A STAGE production called “Quilters”, in one scene there is a woman, who does not want another baby as this would be her 12th, and her last one laid her up for two months. As the women stand around her telling about all the babies they gave birth to, the Doctor is telling her that there was nothing he could do. Most of them had many with the highest number being 19. I suppose that is about the era that the formula appeared.
I OFTEN wondered why so many women of long ago had such large families! My mother told me that she used everything in the book to keep from getting pregnant, which made me wonder what books she read. I don’t know what I would have done without all of my siblings. Each one was unique in themselves and brought much love and pleasure to me. I could not imagine my life without them. I know that most of Mom’s pregnancies were a surprise. I heard her say once that if she lost one, she knew the Lord would give her another. However, when that happened; she said; “God knows best;” because she couldn’t have anymore babies!
TODAY Planned Parenthood Clinic’s, besides assisting in abortions, began a more lucrative side to their services, by harvesting the body parts. Their methods have changed; they wait for the baby to die in the womb or they remove the baby and leave it to die, so that things will be intact for experimental purposes. “To the woman He said, I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth; in pain you will deliver, yet your desire shall be for your husband. Genesis 3:16 God tells Eve that her sorrow will be multiplied and she would conceive in sorrow. She would have pain! It matters not how we become pregnant, the results are the same. Those who are more blessed are those who know the Lord and do His will. Use your common sense in all instances. Mistakes and/or crimes are not the fault of the child! Your parents gave you life; give your baby a chance to live, and give God all the Glory and Honor! Jane Ann Crenshaw 10/22/15
Saturday, November 7, 2015
NOT A MORAL ISSUE? 11/8/15
I DON”T usually start out with scriptures but this Morning Glory screams for God’s Word! Jeremiah 7:31; Jeremiah 19:5 and Jeremiah 32:35 all say; “And they have built the high place of Topheth, or the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I did not command, nor did it come into my mind.” WOW! “I did not command!” Human sacrifice such as that practiced at Hinnom was explicitly contrary to God’s command. Note: nor did it come into His mind!
AS YOU CAN SEE in regards to Baal worship and sacrificing baby boys and girls to their god Molech, God’s anger was kindled! Notice that this is written three times in Jeremiah; He mentions it over and over again. Many pagan religions were fertility gods, and also gods who required living sacrifices. God’s command to His people was to not intermarry or become involved with these pagan practices. They disobeyed!
WE KNOW THAT aborting babies is wrong, but you may not know that many people in the world, and some of the Christian community, do it not for sacrificing to a pagan god Molech, but to their god of convenience; embarrassment and for financial reasons. Actually that was the exact reason the people of biblical times sacrificed their baby’s. They sacrificed to their fertility god so that their crops would be abundant. However, today, some have chosen to abort from the womb because our laws say that is not murder. A murder charge is no longer given when killed outside of the womb (full term abortions), but is given when birthing is over and the baby is noted as a living breathing child, no longer a baby! Our laws have given women choice and many choose to abort instead of giving life! God’s command is for life!
WHEN YOU read the scriptures following the ones noted here, you will see just how disappointed God was with His people and how He brings down Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom. Later He called this place the valley of slaughter. Eventually the valley became the continually burning refuse dump for Jerusalem. In the New Testament it is referred to as Gehenna (or Hell), because it had the appearance of a “lake of fire.”
I LOVE the passage that reads; “For thou did form my inward parts, thou did knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise thee, for thou art fearful and wonderful! Wonderful are your works! You know me right well; for my frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately made, in the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” Psalms 139:13-16 This passage describes how God created the process for re-creating His creation of man. It shows how even when we were mere substance, or mere egg and sperm that just collided, we were in motion with soul and spirit, which needed this process to give us a body. Most commentators don’t comment on the how many days, but I believe this is referring to the gestation period before birth!
IT BEGINS at conception! That could be through a sound marriage of love or through rape, incest, promiscuity. To kill that baby is murder! Just because at conception it looks like a piece of liver, it’s genetic code already exists, and it is completely different from the mother. At 11 weeks (the first trimester) the baby is formed, it’s organ systems are complete and functioning. He/she from this point on, grows only in size. Today you can actually see that baby in the womb and are able to give it a name. Why would you want to kill it!
IF WE truly believe that God is....then we will want to keep His commandments no matter how inconvenient it is...God loves us and wants us to be happy...we can only be happy if we do what is right, that is how through Christ, we can put on His righteousness! Think about what is happening and choose life! Jane Ann Crenshaw 10/22/15
AS YOU CAN SEE in regards to Baal worship and sacrificing baby boys and girls to their god Molech, God’s anger was kindled! Notice that this is written three times in Jeremiah; He mentions it over and over again. Many pagan religions were fertility gods, and also gods who required living sacrifices. God’s command to His people was to not intermarry or become involved with these pagan practices. They disobeyed!
WE KNOW THAT aborting babies is wrong, but you may not know that many people in the world, and some of the Christian community, do it not for sacrificing to a pagan god Molech, but to their god of convenience; embarrassment and for financial reasons. Actually that was the exact reason the people of biblical times sacrificed their baby’s. They sacrificed to their fertility god so that their crops would be abundant. However, today, some have chosen to abort from the womb because our laws say that is not murder. A murder charge is no longer given when killed outside of the womb (full term abortions), but is given when birthing is over and the baby is noted as a living breathing child, no longer a baby! Our laws have given women choice and many choose to abort instead of giving life! God’s command is for life!
WHEN YOU read the scriptures following the ones noted here, you will see just how disappointed God was with His people and how He brings down Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom. Later He called this place the valley of slaughter. Eventually the valley became the continually burning refuse dump for Jerusalem. In the New Testament it is referred to as Gehenna (or Hell), because it had the appearance of a “lake of fire.”
I LOVE the passage that reads; “For thou did form my inward parts, thou did knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise thee, for thou art fearful and wonderful! Wonderful are your works! You know me right well; for my frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately made, in the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” Psalms 139:13-16 This passage describes how God created the process for re-creating His creation of man. It shows how even when we were mere substance, or mere egg and sperm that just collided, we were in motion with soul and spirit, which needed this process to give us a body. Most commentators don’t comment on the how many days, but I believe this is referring to the gestation period before birth!
IT BEGINS at conception! That could be through a sound marriage of love or through rape, incest, promiscuity. To kill that baby is murder! Just because at conception it looks like a piece of liver, it’s genetic code already exists, and it is completely different from the mother. At 11 weeks (the first trimester) the baby is formed, it’s organ systems are complete and functioning. He/she from this point on, grows only in size. Today you can actually see that baby in the womb and are able to give it a name. Why would you want to kill it!
IF WE truly believe that God is....then we will want to keep His commandments no matter how inconvenient it is...God loves us and wants us to be happy...we can only be happy if we do what is right, that is how through Christ, we can put on His righteousness! Think about what is happening and choose life! Jane Ann Crenshaw 10/22/15
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