this is the moment

Faith is a force, one so powerful that it cannot tolerate anything next to it.
How weak in faith we are: we are constantly letting things outside of God take up space in us!

Adrienne von Speyr
from Lumina and New Lumina


(a meme sent by a friend)

This meme pretty much sums up our collective year thus far…
as in 2020 probably won’t be the year you’ll want to invest in that special case of wine
to save for a momentous occasion on down the road.

The way things are going, there may be no more momentous occasions and
there may be no more roads…just saying.

So yeah, 2020…NOT, a very good year.

My husband and I basically quit watching the news almost two weeks ago.
It had gotten to such a depressing point.
Leaving us feeling helpless, frustrated, and downright mad.

Our leadership is abysmal—plain and simple.

They’ve not been able to handle a pandemic and Lord knows they
are not handling this cultural civil war worth a flip.

Arrogance, infighting, ignorance, hatred…you name it.

I do believe the President is truly trying to cull the madness but
the opposition, along with some of his own party, are making all things
impossible.

I feel like a person who’s been cut adrift in a raft,
drifting helplessly out to sea.

I imagine I am not alone.

I could write on and on about Antifa or Black Lives Matters, both
Marxist organizations bent on violence as an end means at any cost.

I could write about a society that wants handouts rather than hands up.

I could write about the never-ending demands for abortions and the deaths
of babies aborted who actually live– those so-called late-term abortions
that are gone awry.

I could write about a sexually confused swarth of society that
no longer believes in biology.

I could write about the lunacy over the “defund the police” movement…
as that is plain idiocy run amuck.

I could write about the destruction of monuments, statues, buildings,
churches, synagogues all because of a white European legacy…
all of which is simply stupid.

I could wirte about the capitulation by Church leadership
bending to the whims of a progressive culture that takes
no prisoners.
You either get on board or you get destroyed.

I could write about a culture that will strike you dead for
disagreeing with their rabid ideals.

I could write about being woke…or is that arrogantly ignorant?

I could write about violence, hatred, anger and zero civility.

I could write about the emotionalism found in a younger generation who
feels compelled to kneel against a flag and anthem of which is simply
misguided and historically ignorant.

I could write about a pandemic that has crippled a global economy
while leaving those in the know scratching their heads.

But I won’t.

I won’t belabor what the sane amongst us already know.

About 7 years ago, when our son was engaged to be married, I decided,
as the mother of the groom, I needed to get myself into some kind of
presentable shape.

My husband had bought me an elliptical machine for Valentines…a truly heart-healthy
gift…and so I decided I needed to get serious about using it.

I would spend between 30 to 60 minutes daily pushing, pulling and trucking
myself to nowhere all in the confines of our basement.
Sweating like a pig in the process.

After about two weeks I could actually feel a difference in my legs and ‘behind’.
A good difference.
My shorts fit better.
That was then…no so right now but I digress.

When I’d “workout”, I played music to help me push through the pain and strain.
One of the peppier songs was ‘Can’t Hold Us’ by Macklemore.

I didn’t really know all the lyrics…if I had, I probably wouldn’t have listened to it
but the beat was great when one was pumping one’s arms while practically running uphill
via a machine.

I still recall one part of the song that still resonates in my head…

Can we go back?
This is the moment
Tonight is the night, we’ll fight ’til it’s over
So we put our hands up like the ceiling can’t hold us
Like the ceiling can’t hold us

And so yes—
“This is indeed the moment”

All week long I’ve waxed and waned about the notion of discovering one’s true calling.
I’ve written about the differences between a vocation versus a job.
I’ve written about the curse of the repetition of history.
I’ve written about a world gone simply mad.
I’ve written about being lost while longing to be found.

But the one thing I do know, and know most clearly, it that
this is the time for those who call themselves Christians to stand up and stand firm.

You have not been called to be timid.

Those who waffle will fall.
Those who prefer appeasment will be dismayed.
Those who yield to the world will be damned.

It is the one thing that I know more clearly than anything else.

God has called us to be resolute.
This is our Spiritual call to arms.

Accepting a rewritten version of God’s word is unacceptable for a follower of Christ.
Condoning death as a viable and convenient option rather than choosing life is a sin.
Marriage is a sacred union between a man and a woman, end of sentence.
Denying Christ before the vile and violent mob, kneeling before the world might
spare your earthly life but it will not find you seated by Christ’s right hand.

Enough is now enough.
God has given us a voice.
It’s time we use it.

They can kill the body, but they cannot kill the soul.

Cry aloud; do not hold back;
lift up your voice like a trumpet;
declare to my people their transgression,
to the house of Jacob their sins.

Isaiah 58:1

which came first, the chicken or the news…

“Above all, don’t lie to yourself.
The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point
that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him,
and so loses all respect for himself and for others.
And having no respect he ceases to love.”

Fyodor Dostoevsky,

Well, I knew it would be coming…and come it did.
It came yesterday with a new post by our favorite,
formerly from across the pond and now from down under, pastor David Roberston.

David has waded into the proverbial Chicken war.

And no that is not the war between Popeye’s and Chick-fil-A as to who has
the better chicken sandwich…

It is rather the war of words regarding Chick-fil-A and the news over
whether or not the Chicken sandwich giant is distancing themselves from their
Christian charities…
those being The Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Chrisitan of Athletes.

The question raised on this little blog the other day was whether or not the news
was correct in their reporting over such or was Chick-fil-A still very much a contributor
to those particular Christian organizations.

Some say an adamant yes while others continue with their doubts.

Firstly, I should clarify that David is not new to this issue as he wrote a post a
few weeks back regarding the closing of the first Chick-fil-A franchise in the UK—
closing due to the mounting protests of the LGBTQ community as they perceive
the chicken sandwich franchise as being hostile to their varying communities.

That hostility being found in the fact that CFA stands by the Godly principle that
marriage is between one man and one woman–
a Biblical principle that the LBGTQ community finds both repugnant and offensive.
And they will not rest until all businesses and individuals abide by their view
and their view only.

David began yesterday’s post much like I did…

“But this is no joke.
It is an important and revealing issue.
Little did I realise that when I wrote about the intolerance faced by Chick-Fil-A recently –
praising their heroic stance –
that a month later I would be writing about their capitulation to that same intolerance.”

David goes on…

Although Chick-Fil-A have stated that their decision has nothing to do with giving
into political correctness, very few people believe that.
I suppose it could just be a ‘coincidence’ that they have dropped the charities
they have been condemned for supporting, and ended up supporting charities that
their critics endorse – but is it likely? It’s disappointing to watch a Christian company
not only give in to the bullies, but then seek to spin their way out of the criticism.

I wrote David to let him know that a fellow blogger,
whose husband owns and operates a Chick-fil-A here in the states,
wanted to set the record straight and reported that the news outlets had gotten
it all wrong.

David responded that it was not the news agencies who first offered the story but rather
Chick-fil-A itself by announcing their shift in charitable giving—the news merely reported
the story after the fact.

So now we have more confusion.
A conundrum of sorts.

I had later offered up a bit of a retraction to my original post after being informed that
I had perhaps had the wrong information and thus hoped to quell what was now
believed to be misinformation.
I wrote about the issue of truth and false news…but it seems
that we are still searching for the elusive facts.

I personally hope that Chick-fil-A will decide to address this mounting criticism
and questioning by setting the record straight as this issue has now taken
on a global slant.

Hoping to lay low and staying under the radar is comfortable but
we must be mindful and constantly aware that the progressive left is quick to smell
doubt and waffling…they will readily pounce when given any opportunity.

Are we, therefore, willing to take a stand for our Biblical principles or do we prefer to
keep the status quo of safety while choosing the path of least
resistance toward appeasement?
A path that lessens our faith, whittling it away until it is no longer the
faith of the Great I AM but something else entirely?

Here is the link to David’s post:

Chicken Fil-A?